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Matchday 12: Halmstad vs Hammarby 1-1

With every ordinary defender out with injuries, it was a good result. Considering the overwhelming dominance we put up in the second half, we should've won.

Charlie Davies equalized for Hammarby in the 80th minute.

In the Defense, Hammarby had one 18 year old debuted, one defensive midfielder, one winger and one attacker! But the played well, and the offensive lineup showed results.

Next match, on monday at home vs IFK Norrköping.

Back in Black

Okay, the European Championship is over, Spain won it, now let's move on.

June has been a hectic period of time for Hammarby. A lot of players have been training with Hammarby. The club want to evaluate several players, since we're on the hunt for at least one defender and one attacker.

About a week ago, Swedish striker Olof Guterstam signed for Hammarby on a loan until the end of the season. He's recently played for FC Brussels and before that he was in Brommapojkarna. Olof is a large type of player, a classical center if you like.

Today is the 1st of July, and the transfer window opens. I guess we'll see a lot of action in the following days from several Swedish clubs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Swedish Cup, Hammarby stood for a fenomenal comeback in the match vs Malmö FF away. Being down with 0-2, Hammarby came back and won 3-2. The result is even more astonishing when you consider the fact that Hammarby had only one (1) defender available due to injuries.

In the quarter final played on July 10th, Hammarby face division two team Valsta-Syrianska from Västerås.

What's happening?

Why isn't the damn blog being updated?

Well, for starters I got a daughter about a week ago. Sorta doesn't leave much time for blogging, now does it?

But another reason is the European Championships that start on Saturday. It's a month long pause here in Swedish Allsvenskan, but I'll try to keep you posted on news regarding the club, especially signings.

So long and thanks for the fish!

Sebastian Eguren - probably one of the best midfielders of all times in Hammarby - have signed a contract with Spanish La Liga club Villarreal.














Score against Djurgården

After his success last year, Eguren has been on loan since January. In Villarreal he's been a giant in many matches, among other things assisted Villarreal striker Jon Dahl Tomasson's goal in the match vs Barcelona away on Camp Nou.

His legendary status in Hammarby is not lessened by the fact that he in an interview recently stated that he'll return to Hammarby to finish his career. Eguren has a son with a Swedish woman. He finished the interview with, again, legendary comment "Forza Bajen Siempre".

All of Sebastian Eguren's goals in Hammarby!

Swedish Cup; Matchday 3: Hammarby vs Mjällby

Second division team Mjällby stood as opponents in this cup match on Saturday. Mjällby scored 0-1 early in the match, but after that it was only one team on the field, especially after half time.

Paulinho Guará scored three, Charlie Davies and Petter Andersson scored one each in the 5-1 victory at home. A little more than 3000 spectators had come to Söderstadion.

And last night the draw for the next round was made, Hammarby meet Malmö FF away the 28th of June. One day before the European Championship Final. Odd date, if you ask me, but hey...

Matchday 11: Hammarby vs Gefle 2-1

Updated: Watch a video on Vimeo from the match here (both goals are present)! Big thanks to Hammarby supporter with nickname Bajen777!


The last match before the European Championships was to become a classical Hammarby match. After the victory in the last matchday vs Djurgården, everyone hoped for an easy victory at home vs Gefle. But sport, and especially football, is never that easy to predict.

Hammarby started the match powerful, and took command immediately. Ball possession was high, but inside the box Hammarby had difficulties creating nice chances. While Hammarby had the ball possession, Gefle counter attacked. And it was in one of those counter attacks that Hammarby central defender tore down a Gefle attacker and was sent off, red card. A penalty was taken, and even though Rami Shaaban was close to take it, Gefle had 0-1 at half time.

At this point it felt as if Hammarby had a huge obstacle before them, but somehow it felt inside that perhaps somehow they'd make it.

In the second half it's play against one goal. Hammarby, with one man less than the opponents, hammered on and created opportunity after opportunity. But it wasn't until the 80th minute that Charlie Davies finally got a break through. A wonderful equalizer with only 10+ minutes to go. And the last 13 or so minutes were pure magic. It was one of those nights when the attending crowd gave everything on the stands. Their hearts sang with battle will and their voices filled the Stockholm night.

In the 92nd minute Petter Andersson takes the ball down the penalty area, passes backwards where Claudio Dadomo hits the ball with a thunderous drive. The ball is driven in the net by the far goal, and Söderstadion explodes! The 11203 on the stands scream out their joy in the evening, and Dadomo doesn't know where to go.

After the match, Charlie Davies had to be taken care by of the medical staff. He'd become de-hydrated after running so damn much. Davies and Petter Andersson were best during this match.

Hammarby win three points, and since this was an especially important match for us everyone is pleased. Hammarby is now definately in the title race. The season continue in july, after the European Championship is finished.


Starting Line up:

-----------------------Shaaban---------------------
-D.Johansson----Monteiro-Saarenpää-E.Johansson-
-----------------------Chanko----------------------
-Zengin--------------Andersson-----------Laitinen-
--------------Davies-----------Guará---------------

Subs: Dadomo, Helg, Traoré

Matchday 10: Djurgården vs Hammarby 0-2

Hammarby won a wonderful derby with 2-0. Paulinho Guará and Charlie Davies scored for Hammarby, and we were the strongest team on the field as well on the stands.

Children of the Grave - Djurgården vs Hammarby

Yeah, it's Derby day!

It's no-nonsense time. The time has come to look one self in the mirror and to decide: Do we want to have a shot at the title race this season, or not. It's that simple.

Hammarby is in grave need of a victory not only vs Djurgården tonight, which is a derby, but also vs Gefle at home next monday. The reason is that the top teams are winning and soon the distance will be too large.

Hammarby haven't scored in four matches. That is unacceptable, and something has to be done for tonight. The question is what. Paulinho is back from an injury, and is presumed to start tonight. Otherwise I don't want to speculate on the starting line-up.

Our opponents this evening are self-centered, ignorant, wanking bastards. And they know it. A victory tonight would not only be good for us, but we'd do Mankind a service.

(Djurgården direct translation = Animal Garden). Monkeys.

Don't feed the monkeys!

Matchday 9: Hammarby vs IFK Gothenburg 0-0

The first half was vibrant. Hammarby didn't manage to score despite the superiority on the field. This was by far the best half this season, but the lack of a killer in the penalty area is apparent and painful to watch.

In the second half, IFK Gothenburg played better, and had a couple of chances to score, but the match finish 0-0.

Starting Lineup:

------------------------Shaaban--------------------
-D.Johansson--Monteiro-Saarenpää-E.Johansson-
-------------------------Chanko--------------------
-Zengin--------------Andersson-------Laitinen--
-----------Söderberg----------Davies---------------

Subs: Helg, Castro-Tello.

Swedish Cup; Matchday 2: Syrianska FC - Hammarby 4-6

This cupmatch was a match of changes. The first 10 minutes Syrianska FC had everything. Then, Hammarby scores 4 times. After that, Hammarby defender Kleeber Saarenpää cause a penalty and got sent off. In an amazing effort, Syrianska FC manage to reduce, reduce, reduce and in the 90th minute equalize!

Overtime starts, and even though Hammarby have one player sent off, they manage to score 4-5 and 4-6.

It was a spectacular game, not in the least because of the audience. "Supporters" of Syrianska FC attacked Erkan Zengin after his substitution in the 90+ minute, with a crutch! and some coins.

Hammarby starting lineup:

----------------------Björklund-------------------------
-D.Johansson----Monteiro--Saarenpää----E.Johansson-
-Zengin--------CastroTello------Laitinen------Dadomo-
-----------------Guará-------Söderberg----------------

Subs: Traoré, Davies, Sosseh

Goals: Söderberg 2, Zengin 2, Dadomo, Own Goal

New Managing Director in Hammarby

Today, Wednesday, Hammarby appointed Michael Andersson as new MD.

Former MD Henrik Appelqvist, who's sat in that position in 6 years, has decided to step down. He will be remembered as the person who made Hammarby a joint stock company and got Hammarby a new arena.

The importance of Winners

Now what the hell am I talking about? Of course it's important to have winners in the team! Well, yeah, but the lack of winners in Hammarby right now is starting to take it's toll. And I'm not happy about it.

The composition of a squad is not merely about how the individuals play. Sure, you need a balance between more defensive, physical players and offensive, more technical players. In Hammarby we have both. In fact, I'd say the potential in Hammarby is quite high. However, apart from pure technical skills on the field, another factor is just as important - perhaps more. You can't see it, in fact no one ever has. It's an abstract asset, it's difficult to point out if you have it, but the LACK OF IT is obvious. Yeah, I'm talking about winners.

To have one or preferably several instigators on the field is often decisive. I'm talking about players that see every match over the whole season as equally important. If it's an away game vs Trelleborg or a hot derby vs Djurgården is equivalent to these persons. Why? Because the have a fire inside of them, a need to win at every cost. Every match, every situation on the field, every half should be won in their world.

A problem with Hammarby today is that the Winners attract attention by not being present. in my opinion, there's only one true winner in the squad of Hammarby this year, Mikkel Jensen. And that's a problem, as he has been injured for a long period of time and now he's injured again. We had another winner last year, Sebastian Eguren, but he's currently in Spain and start match after match with his Villarreal. When Mikkel Jensen isn't on the field we have 11 anxious players running around, most of them looking unhappy and quite lost. It's as if they're wondering what the hell they're doing there in the first place.

If that wasn't enough, the lack of attitude in some individuals are painfully apparent. The thing is, no one ever became a good football player by performing very well in some matches the season before and the season after doing nothing. It's hard work every training and every match the whole year around that make a player brilliant. If not, you're just mediocre. And as painfully as it's true, that's the situation in Hammarby today.

Swedish Cup; Matchday 2

Hammarby enter the National Cup with a semi-difficult match away vs Syrianska FC tomorrow at 17.00.

The match is played at Södertälje Arena, 25 kilometers south of Stockholm.

Hammarby have had a tough period with losses against Trelleborg and Kalmar, both away, and two draws at home vs AIK and Elfsborg. Perhaps this match will make it possible for the players to relax a bit and play the good football we all know they can.

The squad is presented later today or tomorrow.

Matchday 8: Trelleborg vs Hammarby 1-0

Horrible. Absolutely mindless. Mindbogglingly, horrific, painfully fair result. 1-0 to Trelleborg, and Hammarby wasn't even close.

This is the kind of match that you HAVE to win if you want to compete for the title. As it was, Hammarby didn't put in much of an effort. I don't know if the players are tired or if they really are this bad. But something has to be done, first of all in the defensive part. Some fucking balls, that's what we need.

Rami Shaaban was back in the goal, and I guess he was OK, but had no chance on the penalty that Trelleborg got in the 25th minute.

Starting lineup:

----------------------Shaaban-------------------
-D.Johansson----Monteiro-Traoré-E.Johansson-
----------------------Jensen--------------------
-Laitinen------------Andersson------------Helg-
-------------Guará---------------Davies--------

Subs: Saarenpää, Castro-Tello and Söderberg.

Matchday 7: Hammarby vs Elfsborg 0-0

At the end this match turned out to be a real sleeper. It now shows quite clearly that the frequent match program is beginning to take it's toll.

The first ten minutes of the game was Hammarby's. Nice combinations, especially on the left flank, gave Hammarby some opportunities, but the inefficiency in front of the goal was apparent.

Supporters raised their eyebrows when they saw the starting lineup, instead of a more traditionally offensive 4-4-2, Hammarby started with a 4-2-3-1 line up with Paulinho Guará as the only striker.

Throughout the match, Elfsborg had more shots on goal and they did seem a bit more focused while on the offensive part. However, on the whole this was a match between two injury-struck teams, and the frequent matches are beginning to tire the players.

Simon Helg did a fresh substitution at the end of the match, we'll see a lot more from him the coming matches. Sebastian Castro-Tello had the fattest chance with his shot in the bar.

Hammarby starting lineup:

----------------------Björklund---------------------
-D.Johansson-Monteiro---Traoré-----E.Johansson-
--------------Jensen----------Laitinen-------------
-Zengin--------------Andersson--------CastroTello-
-----------------------Guará-----------------------

Subs: Davies, Söderberg, Helg.

Tomorrow: Hammarby vs Elfsborg

Hammarby on fifth place face a difficult match vs Elfsborg, currently on seventh place in the table.

With injuries on Mikkel Jensen, Suleyman Sleyman and Louay Chanko, coach Tony Gustavsson stand before one of his largest challenge this season.

Both defensive midfielders are out, and the need for a new disposition in the starting line up is high. The question is, how will Tony act? At the same time, the discussion in media regarding the goal keeping situation continue, after Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund's excellent performance in the last three matches.

Tony Gustavsson is forced to do changes, but I'm also inclined to believe that he'll change the goal keeper. In a long point of view, it is of the utmost importance that Hammarby have to good, motivated goal keepers. Rami Shaaban missed the last three matches due to illness, but I think he'll claim the posts once more tomorrow evening. We'll also see some changes in the midfield. Erkan Zengin is back, Dadomo can't play and both our defensive midfielder's are out with injury. Kleeber Saarenpää is back as well, and chances are big that he'll start the match if Tony Gustavsson see him fit.

Presumed starting line up:

----------------------------Shaaban-------------------------
-Monteiro------D.Johansson--Traoré------E.Johansson-
-Zengin-----------Laitinen---Andersson----CastroTello-
----------------Davies----------------Guará----------------

Matchday 6: Kalmar FF vs Hammarby 1-0

A difficult away game vs Kalmar FF where Hammarby didn't manage to grab a point.

Kalmar FF is by many seen as favorites to the Championship this year. Their players are physical, they have a direct type of football, and is difficult to beat.

Throughout the match, Hammarby had some dangerous counter attacks, but heavy Kalmar was too much. In the second half, Hammarby got three (!) players injured, important ones too: Suleyman Sleyman, Mikkel Jensen and Louay Chanko. To further add to the mayhem, left winger Claudio Dadomo was expelled.

Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund was once again a wall, but at overtime it just got too much. A Kalmar player was left free at the far post, where he easily shot 1-0 to Kalmar.

Tough match, tough injuries.

Starting Lineup:

-----------------------Björklund------------------------
-Johansson-------Traoré---Sleyman----Johansson-
------------------------Jensen--------------------------
--Laitinen------------Andersson------------Dadomo-
----------------Davies--------Guará-------------------

Subs: Chanko, Castro-Tello, Monteiro de Macedo

Matchday 5: Hammarby vs Helsingborg IF 2-1

Well, if one man can personify a victor, a warrior indeed, it's the Man of the Match: Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund. Jesus Christ, his savings in the second half were outstanding.

Hammarby started off best, with a quick goal after only 3 minutes by Paulinho Guará. Haris Laitinen was excellent on his left wing, especially in the first half, and Laitinen assisted Guará to that goal.

It was truly a strange match, because after the first goal Helsingborg took over the match with some really nice combinations. But since it's football, a would-have-been-logical goal for Helsingborg didn't come. Instead Petter Andersson could increase the lead with 2-0 in the 23:d minute. And again it's a left wing attack. Emil Johansson, wing back, drives the ball forward, passes in to the center where Laitinen touch the ball to Petter Andersson. Firing his big cannon, it's an absolute killer. From 30 meters, the ball is buried behind Helsingborg goal keeper Daniel Andersson.

Again, after that goal, Helsingborg take command of the match. And quite logical, they score 2-1 in the 40th minute. Henrik Larsson had one goal in the net; but he was offside.

I would lie if I'd say that the match was good from an Hammarby point of view after half time. Helsingborg just took over the match completely; we couldn't clear the ball or take hold of it for more than a few seconds. And in the 50 something minute Henrik Larsson scores, 2-2. EVERYONE THINKS! But he didn't, cause he was offside. So, Helsingborg holds up the pressure, and in the 78th minute, a penalty is given to Helsingborg and Henrik Larsson will take it. Disaster, but Hammarby goalkeeper Kristoffer Björklund had other plans for this night. Henrik Larsson shoots the ball hard right in the middle of the goal and Björklund saves! The stadium explodes like after a goal.

The referee saw fit to add 7 minutes to the ordinary 90, which made him...unpopular. But Hammarby cleared the storm, and thus managed to grab the 3 points. But the match wasn't good from our perspective, and Hammarby coach Tony Gustavsson has some things to ponder about until the next match vs Kalmar FF away.

Best in Hammarby: Kristoffer Björklund.

Lineup:

-----------------Björklund------------------
-Monteiro---Traoré---Sleyman-Johansson-
------------------Chanko-------------------
-Zengin---------Andersson--------Laitinen-
------------Davies-------Guará-------------

Subs: Mikkel Jensen, Sebastian Castro-Tello, Claudio Dadomo.

Today: Hammarby vs Helsingborgs IF

After the Derby on Monday, Hammarby coaches and players have been nothing but positive. Even though the result (1-1 after opponents receive penalty in the 92nd minute...) was a disappointment, the general feeling is that Hammarby was the better team over 90 minutes.

This evening, Helsinborgs IF are the opponents, and they come from another draw; 2-2 @ home vs Gefle. But Helsingborg is unbeaten so far, and their pre-season consisted of many UEFA-Cup matches where they performed well, especially Henrik Larsson (yeah, that guy from Celtic, Barcelona and Man U).

For this evening, three players are unavailable in Hammarby. Kleeber Saarenpää got knocked on the head in the Derby, so he’s out with a concussion. David Johansson just got a child and Rami Shaaban still got the flu, so they’re out too. But as left defender we’ll probably see Emil Johansson tonight. He made an excellent substitution on Monday, and hopefully he can perform as well tonight. Charlie Davies was speedy and dangerous vs AIK, even though he didn’t score. But it feels like he’s on his way to his top game, and hopefully he can score tonight.

It’s gonna be a tough game, because Helsingborg is an attacking team. But if we play our cards right, we’ll come out as victors. If it weren't for the referee, Martin Hansson. He's a son-of-a-bitch, we've had him before were he have performed lousy. Crap.

The squad vs Helsingborg:

3. José Monteiro
4. Christian Traoré
5. Emil Johansson
6. Louay "Lolo" Chanko
7. Suleyman "Sulan" Sleyman
9. Petter Andersson
10. Charlie Davies
11. Freddy Söderberg
14. Mikkel Jensen
16. Claudio Dadomo
17. Erkan Zengin
18. Haris Laitinen
19. Paulinho
22. Sebastian Castro-Tello
26. Simon Helg
30, George Moussan
35. Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund

Presumed starting formation:

--------------------------------Björklund--------------------------------
-Monteiro--------Traoré-----------------Sleyman------Johansson-
---------------------------------Chanko----------------------------------
-Zengin----------------------Andersson---------------------Dadomo-
---------------------Davies-----------------Guará-----------------------

Matchday 4: Hammarby vs AIK 1-1

The derby vs AIK would become something of a scandal. If you ask me.

A little more than 23 000 spectators had found their way to the desolate areas of Solna and Råsunda Stadium.

An hour before the match I received the news that our ordinary goalkeeper, Rami Shaaban, would not, infact, stand between the posts due to sickness. Instead, the replacer Kristoffer Björklund, would have the honors of keeping the goal.

Match started off, and almost the entire first half was dominated by AIK, except for a period in the middle. But Kristoffer Björklund proved to be rock solid in the goal.

The second was Hammarby's from the start to the end. We shot off with a flyer in the 68th minute, when Louay Chanko struck a free kick from just outside the goal area. The ball landed perfectly in the top left corner, and the Hammarby supporters were ecstatic! In the situation that led to that free kick, AIK got one of their defenders sent off with a red card.

After the goal, Hammarby players start working their magic. An immense pressure was put on AIK, until some fucking cunts in the AIK stand starts throwing stuff like lighters, coins etc onto the field, and more specifically at Hammarby players. Referee pause the game, he gives it another try, the AIK supporters do it again and that's it. Game temporarily aborted.

After 15 minutes the match commence again, but at this point Hammarby lost the momentum. The match is flowing back and forth, until AIK receive a penalty in the 92nd minute. Can you fuckin' believe it?

Anyway, AIK equalize and that's the end of the match, 1-1.

Personally, I think it's a disgrace that individuals can affect the outcome of a derby to such an extent.

Hammarby starting lineup:

---------------------Björklund--------------------
-Johansson----Traoré----Sleyman----Saarenpää-
----------------------Chanko---------------------
-Zengin------------Andersson-----------Dadomo-
--------------Guará------------Davies------------

Subs: Emil Johansson, Mikkel Jensen and Haris Laitinen.

Today: Hammarby vs AIK Solna (DERBY!)

Alrighty then, it's matchday, first Derby of the season - in other words, a recipe for Disaster...

Woke up today nervous as hell. It's the first Stockholm Derby of the season. As you know by know there are three teams in Stockholm - Hammarby, AIK and Djurgården. Between 25 000 and 30 000 spectators are expected tonight @ 8 pm. But why am I nervous? Here's a small selection of why:

1. We play away. According to Swedish Football Association, we play at home. Does that make sense? No? Well, our home arena Söderstadion is not considered to be safe enough for a Derby. Even though the organization in Hammarby is saluted after every match for being top of the country, our home Derby's are ordered to be played in Råsunda by the police. Råsunda is natively the home arena for AIK. Which we play at home today. But away.

2. We lost our last match. And it wasn't unfair, to be honest, due to the plenty individual mistakes made during the match. I'm worried, since Hammarby doesn't seem rock stable in it's organization on the field. And in a Derby you HAVE to be on toe, from the first minute to the very last.

3. Nothing rational, just that gnawing feeling in the stomach that everything is about to go to hell.

This is the appointed squad for tonight:
1. Rami Shaaban
2. David Johansson
4. Christian Traoré
5. Emil Johansson
6. Louay "Lolo" Chanko
7. Suleyman Sleyman
9. Petter Andersson
10. Charlie Davies
11. Freddy Söderberg
14. Mikkel Jensen
16. Claudio Dadomo
17. Erkan Zengin
18. Haris Laitinen
19. Paulinho
21. Klebèr Saarenpää
22. Sebastian Castro-Tello
35. Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund

How will Tony rally his troops?

I think the starting lineup will differ from the last match:

------------------Shaaban-----------------
-Johansson--Traoré---Sleyman--Dadomo-
------------------Chanko------------------
-Zengin---------Andersson----------Haris-
----------Guará----------Davies-----------

Matchday 3: GAIS vs Hammarby 2-0

After an absolutely awful start of the match last night, Hammarby lost quite fair to GAIS. The first thirty minutes were far from "OK". The Defense in general, and the lack of communication between the team parts in particular, was painful to watch last night.

1-0 was the result of a bad clearing after a corner. 2-0, right at the end of the match, was a header straight on corner. We HAVE to get more physical, more decisive than what we have seen so far this season. Embarrassing.

But after GAIS' 1-0, Hammarby tried to put pressure on GAIS. And we succeeded, after the first 20 minutes of the game, ball possession was ours and we also saw some pretty combinations while attacking. But what does it matter when you can't score?

Tony Gustavsson, Hammarby coach, took a decision before the match to let some players be on the field from start that normally is not considered starting players. This was the team:

---------------------Shaaban------------------
-Johansson-----Traoré---Sleyman---Dadomo-
---------------------Chanko-------------------
-Laitinen----------Andersson----Castro-Tello-
-----------Söderberg-----Davies--------------

Zengin, Jensen and Paulinho were all substituted in the second half.

Now, I understand why Tony want to circulate the players. It's a long season, we have both the Swedish Cup and the league to perform in. But I have to ask myself; would the result have been different if the ordinary starting players where on the field from start? Only the Gods can tell. Also, I want to see Mikkel Jensen more on the field. It's time, now.

On Monday it's the first really big match of the season; AIK at home(away; we have to play or home derby's at AIK home arena, Råsunda, due to security reasons.)

3 hours to go

On site now in Gothenburg. Hammarby supporters are boycotting this game, but I'm "forced" to see it live. Since long, I've bought tickets for this game as I've invited some vendors to see this. You have to keep your customers happy!

I don't think that Tony Gustavsson will do large changes in the starting line up. But this is how I'd like the starting line up to look tonight:

------------------Shaaban--------------------
-Johansson---Traoré--Sleyman---Saarenpää-
------------Jensen-----Chanko---------------
-Zengin---------Andersson----------Laitinen-
------------------Paulinho--------------------

My thought is to secure defensively with Mikkel Jensen (back from long time injury) and Louay Chanko as defensive midfielders and thus be able to give the three offensive midfielders more freedom. Perhaps Charlie Davies can enter the field when opponent's defenders are getting tired.

A bit nervous, but who wouldn't be on a matchday?

Matchday 3; GAIS vs Hammarby

Tomorrow, thursday, only 3 days after the home premiere vs GIF Sundsvall, Hammarby travel to Gothenburg and the match vs GAIS. By many, the opponents will have to struggle this year to stay in Allsvenskan. In their last match they lost 1-3 to Trelleborg away.

Hammarby come with great confidence. After the 5-3 victory at home, I think that coach Tony Gustavsson is keen on keeping the defense tight. But the offense will nevertheless be prioritized. However, as always I'm a bit worried, as GAIS want to show their supporters that the team will remain in the highest league this year.

We'll see how many Hammarby supporters travel to this match; a boycott has been announced by United Hammarby supporters. I'll be there, as I'm in Gothenburg due to work related matters, and I'll attend with some of my colleagues.

These are the players that Hammarby have assigned for this match:

1. Rami Shaaban
2. David Johansson
3. José Monteiro
4. Christian Traoré
6. Louay "Lolo" Chanko
7. Suleyman Sleyman
9. Petter Andersson
10. Charlie Davies
11. Freddy Söderberg
14. Mikkel Jensen
16. Claudio Dadomo
17. Erkan Zengin
18. Haris Laitinen
19. Paulinho
21. Klebèr Saarenpää
22. Sebastian Castro-Tello
35. Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund

I think that we'll see the same starting lineup as in the match vs GIF Sundsvall.

Hammarby vs Sundsvall 5-3

In this home premiere, a battered Sundsvall stood as opponents. In their first game, Helsingborg won 3-0 in Sundsvall's home arena. Sundsvall were out for revenge, and the first half was mostly theirs.

But Hammarby started off well. In the 12th minute, Petter Andersson won the ball on central offensive half. He advanced to the right, rounded the defenders and struck well at the far post. 1-0 to Hammarby, and the 12 800 spectators were more than happy. But shortly after that goal, Hammarby starts to relax. And in football, that's never a good sign. Just minutes after the first goal, Sundsvall equalize. Hammarby defense never manage to clear the ball, and the Sundsvall striker did no mistake. After 30 minutes a nightmare unfolds. It's Petter Andersson that try to dribble on the mid field, but looses the ball. A Sundsvall midfielder looks up and see that goalkeeper Rami Shaaban is outside the goal area. He strikes the ball, and even though Rami touches the ball with his fingertips, Sundsvall manage to take the lead. Total silence on Söderstadion. Hammarby didn't seem to manage to get the play together. But, luckily for us, just before half time Charlie Davies breaks loose to the left in opponents goal area. He passes to the center where Erkan Zengin receive the ball. He spins around and shoot the ball in the net. 2-2 and Hammarby is stung at half time.

I don't know what Hammarby coach Tony Gustavsson said at half time, but it worked. Hammarby came out and completely hammered Sundsvall. A couple of minutes after half time, Louay Chanko find Paulinho Guará at the far post. With a distinctive header he take the lead back to Hammarby. Hammarby plays very well throughout the second half, but it's not until the 80th minute that Haris Laitinen take a shot from center offensive half, and buries the ball behind the Sundsvall goalkeeper. And just minutes after, Charlie Davies break loose from his closest defender. He dribbles the goalkeeper, moves to the right and hammer the ball behind the keeper. It's 5-2, and Hammarby is putting up a grand performance.

The victory is somewhat stained at the end, as Sundsvall manage to score 5-3. Four Hammarby defenders is just bystanders as the Sundsvall striker get lots of time to aim, and it's out of reach for Shaaban.

There's no doubt that Hammarby truly hammered Sundsvall tonight. Even though Hammarby was shook after Sundsvall's 1-2, the sense was that Hammarby would manage to come back. And they did! But the Hammarby defense must be sharpened, as we now enter a very hectic period with many matches in a short period of time. On thursday it's GAIS away, and next monday, April 14th, we take on AIK at home (away, really, the match is played at Råsunda Arena. They say that our arena is not that safe for Derby's to be played).

League leaders!

Them Olde Wankers

Since the early 90's, Swedish football has exploded. A huge focus from media, lots of supporters in the stadiums, and an economy that has a close to an absurd development rate over the last years.

In the 80's, Swedish football had problems. The audience didn't come to the matches, and Sweden was shot out of the 1990 World Cup with three consecutive losses (1-2,1-2,1-2). Then, something happened. Hammarby supporters, Bajen Fans, perfectly exploded. The foundation had been laid ten years earlier, in the 1982 final vs IFK Göteborg. But now the time was ripe. Mostly influenced by Italian ultras, Bajen Fans got famous with their never ending positive support. With Bengal fires and huge flags we occupied towns and cities throughout the 90's. The supporters of other teams followed, and today we have a quite healthy culture on the terraces.

Off course, there are darker sides to this development. Subcultures has sprung forward, or rather changed scene, that has violence built into them. They are called Firms, and the individuals Hooligans, and every major team in the highest league has one or more of these firms. They do fight, and they do cause some trouble, but for the LARGEST PART, they carry out their work outside of the arenas. Perhaps they meet with their antagonists in some park somewhere, and they quite accurately fight it out. We, who live our lives on the terraces, acknowledge this tendency as a SOCIAL PROBLEM. Not a problem directly correlated to football itself. Young men have fought against each other for ten thousand years; it's not exactly fresh news. In loosely formed groups, they met and fought it out. In the early 1900's, gangs related to city parts would fight it out, and today the scenario is what team you are related to.

The Swedish Football Association, SvFF, is less impressed. Since the early 90's, they have ever tried to oppose this development. In their world, everyone should sit down at the matches, pay their high ticket prices and shut the hell up. The SvFF is glancing at England, which after their rather troublesome 60's, 70's and 80's, carried out a rather extensive legislation program. Which led to a point where you as a spectator has to sit down, and much accurately should shut the hell up.

The reason for this article, is that the time has come where not only a guiding principle has been drawn up by the SvFF, but the prosecutors of the city has proposed new legislation to tighten it all up. That's fine, to some extent. If you hit another man in the face, you should be prepared to receive a punishment. Nobody oppose that. But the problem here is that the SvFF in particular is judging everyone alike. If there are 10 000 supporters in an arena, not everyone are hooligans! It's what, 100? 150? I STRONGLY oppose to this type of collective punishments. It's one of the ugliest sides of our society, that large authorities has the tendency to punish a collective instead of an individual.

As an example, the majority of the Allsvenskan teams have passed a new legislative proposition which means that the visiting team has to pay for the security of ALL visiting supporters. This is nothing short of an outrage, since the majority of the teams do not have any supporters to speak of. When one of the big teams - Hammarby, AIK, Djurgården or IFK Göteborg - travel to another city, perhaps a thousand or three times that travel their. The costs of keeping security is large. But it doesn't stop there. Additionally, the visiting team does not get anything from sold tickets in the away sections. The home team get all the money, while the visiting team has to pay. It's also odd in another sense, as the home team is always responsible for the event itself. In fact, the team's very existence in Allsvenskan is regulated by how well you arrange the events.

As a result, Hammarby supporters united association, Bajengruppen, has decided to boycott the two following away matches, against GAIS on Thursday and then vs Kalmar. We HAVE to show the SvFF and try to create an opposition among the regular audience, that we, as a collective, will NOT be treated as criminals, we'll NOT be frightened to silence, we'll NEVER sit down in matches (until we get old) and we'll sure as hell never accept to be compared to hooligans. Because we're not. We're just passionate supporters that do everything in our power to stand by our team, in good times as in bad. We happily pay high ticket prices, we travel 600 kilometers for an away match.
And what do we get? Mistrust. From whom? Wankers!

Supporters of other teams are following behind. AIK supporters are first out, they are probably going to perform some type of protest in the following matches. That's positive!

--------------------------------------------------------------
As a side note, I think one major problem is that we, the supporters, and the SvFF does not speak the same language. When we say "supporter" the SvFF hear "hooligan". One of the first things you have to do when you discuss something, is to clearly define the true meaning of the words you use. In plain English: To know what the hell you're speaking of. That's a whole science, in fact, and it's called philosophy.

Today: Hammarby vs GIF Sundsvall

The home premiere, and everyone are nervous as hell. After the win away vs Ljungskile, all the other kick-and-run football teams have managed to draw. Or, if they won, they drew or lost in the first match day. This means, if Hammarby win tonight, we're at the top of the table. Imagine that.

It's gonna be a challenging match tonight. I was about to say difficult, but I don't really mean that. This match is more of a challenge, a hurdle we have to pass. Sundsvall, promoted this year, lost THEIR home premiere vs Helsingborg, 0-3. They'll probably tighten up their defense for this game, and it's highly probable that Hammarby with their highly skilled players will have a huge amount of ball possession. Which is fine, as long as you do something with it. The players as well as the crowd need to have patience tonight. If so, we'll probably win with a couple of goals.

As I've discussed a little bit earlier, Allsvenskan consists of 16 teams for the first time. In a longer series than what we're used to, it's extremely important to win matches that seem simple. And I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. But it has to be done, if you want to compete for the league title. We won the first match against a newcomer. Let's win this one tonight, too.

Here's the squad for tonight:
1. Rami Shaaban
2. David Johansson
3. José Monteiro
4. Christian Traoré
6. Louay "Lolo" Chanko
7. Suleyman Sleyman
9. Petter Andersson
10. Charlie Davies
11. Freddy Söderberg
14. Mikkel Jensen
16. Claudio Dadomo
17. Erkan Zengin
18. Haris Laitinen
19. Paulinho
21. Klebèr Saarenpää
22. Sebastian Castro-Tello
35. Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund

We'll probably see the same starting line-up as we did vs Ljungskile.

Aftermath

It's been roughly 48 hours since the match ended vs Ljungskile the other night, and I can't help but feel more and more optimistic. I know, it's in the very nature of a supporter to be positive about his or her team, but this is a little more than that.

In the second half, it was obvious that the Hammarby players were not even tired. They ran and ran and passed and dribbled. Ljungskile just couldn't cope with the higher tempo Hammarby possessed. But then again, as newcomers they shouldn't have either.

But no premiere without something dirty. Erkan Zengin, right midfielder in Hammarby, supposedly was spit on by Ljungskile left wing defender Edwin Phiri. After being spit on, Erkan gave back by touching Phiri in his face, nothing more than that and surely not a hit. We'll see what happens, but if Phiri spat on Zengin, there's no doubt he'll get his punishment from the Swedish Football Association.

On Monday, Hammarby face Sundsvall in the home premiere. It's gonna be a tough nut to crack, especially since Sundsvall lost THEIR first game, but again I feel positive. No injuries, three points in the last match...we'll see. Looks like it's gonna be sold out too!

Ljungskile vs Hammarby 0-1

It took 45 minutes. Hammarby players were still in pre-season when referee blew the whistle to start the match. Ljungskile had the best opportunities in the first half, not so much from their skill as Hammarby's lack of commitment. Claudio Dadomo was invisible. Erkan Zengin tried, but got nowhere. Petter Andersson and Chanko was all the way down in the Defense to gather balls. Paulinho Guará and Charlie Davies looked like two Bambi's in the offense.

It was obvious that Hammarby coach Tony Gustavsson had a word or two for his players in halftime, because the second half was much better than the first. Offensive midfielder Petter Andersson woke up from his hibernation, and played excellently in the second half. Dividing balls, trying breakthroughs and playing physically. We need to see more like that, Petter! Charlie Davies picked up his performance in the second half, and was able to disturb a Ljungskile defender enough that he managed to head the ball into his own goal. 1-0 to Hammarby, and the more than 1000 Hammarby supporters went totally mad! Great joy.

In truth, the whole second half was dominated by Hammarby, Ljungskile had a couple of opportunities but never managed to break through. In the end, Hammarby should have probably made a second and perhaps a third goal, but a premiere is always a premiere. The most important thing is to win the matches early in the season, and this is exactly what Hammarby did today.

A word or to has to be spoken about the Hammarby supporters on location. More than a thousand supporters had traveled the 450 kilometers to Ljungskile. Before the match we all gathered in a small hotel close to the arena, the only place open that served alcohol in Ljungskile.

Lot's of fun, lot's of people!

Hammarby lineup:

--------------------------Shaaban----------------------
-Johansson--Traoré---Sleyman--Saarenpää-
---------------------------Chanko----------------------
-Zengin-------------Andersson--------Dadomo-
---------------Paulinho----------Davies-------------

Subs:
Söderberg for Davies
Castro-Tello for Zengin
Laitinen for Dadomo

RBA Points:
3 points: Petter Andersson
2 points: Louay Chanko
1 point: Klebeer Saarenpää

Countdown; 3 days left. Breakdown; Defenders

Last year, the defense was supposed to be Hammarby's weak part. But after the first couple of matches, it was clear that Hammarby's defense was still strong. But throughout the season, even though the defense was doing alright, in many matches we saw a lot of individual mistakes that lead to goals for our opponents.

In 2008, there hasn't been any changes in the squad on the defensive side, although Uruguayan Claudio Dadomo has the capacity to play left wing back if needs be.

If everyone's healthy and sound, here's how the Defense will look like this year (from left):

-David Johansson-Christian Traoré-Suleyman Sleyman-Emil Johansson-

David Johansson came from Hammarby TFF in 2004, and immediately put in a strong performance. Since then, he's ever been a stability in the defense. As a wing back, nowadays you are supposed to be offensive too, when your team attacks. This is David Johansson's strongest ability, with at times perfectly astonishing breakthroughs, while his defensive play mixes brilliant efforts with individual mistakes. Need to raise his standards and erase mistakes.

Christian Traoré - originally from FC Copenhagen but recently came to Hammarby from FC Midtjylland (DEN), is the central defender in Hammarby that probably have the highest individual skills. His defensive game is always impressive, but some matches he can become almost entirely anonymous. His capacity is great, but he needs to take more initiatives.

Suleyman Sleyman - captain of the team after Mikkel Jensen's bad injuries, is the most physical player of all in Hammarby. As the classical car sticker in the 1980's said, Sleyman "Brake for Nobody". What he lacks in technique he makes up in good positioning and physical attributes. Sleyman is very popular among the supporters, but in some matches his capacities does not match his opponents, especially if the opponents are exceptionally fast.

Emil Johansson - the youngest player in the Defense, his future potential is enormous. Having been injured a little bit too often, his greatest abilities are in his speed and technique. As opposite to Sleyman, truth to tell Emil Johansson is not a large player. But size isn't everything, some say, and Emil's speed and technique have impressed on me in some matches. He must stay healthy, if Emil manage to stay on his feet during the season, he'll be invaluable to Hammarby.

Apart from these four "ordinary" defensive players, we have a some backup-players:
Kléber Saarenpää, Matthias Olsson, Fadi Malke, José Monteiro de Macedo.

Saarenpää, having played for the National Team, have by far the most experience of these four. He's excellent as a backup, since his individual mistakes are very few. But his age slow him down, and repeated injuries makes him unreliable. Monteiro is perhaps the most likely of the four to become ordinary in the Defense. He's fast, have reasonable technique, but is somewhat lacking in the positional play. Fadi Malke and Matthias Olsson are young players, have great potential in a long term, but is not considered to start many matches this season.

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Hammarby need to strengthen the Defense in a long term. We need a backup central defender, or a central defender that takes a shirt immediately.

Score: 3,5 out of 5

Countdown; 4 days left. Breakdown; Goalkeepers

It’s 4 days left until Allsvenskan starts. The first match of the season for Hammarby is Ljungskile away on Monday, March 31^st. In a series of four parts, Rumours About Bajen will inspect each part of the squad and present the players in detail. We’ll also try to assess the weaknesses and strengths of each part. We start off with our GOALKEEPERS!

Last year, Hammarby started the season with Ghana National Team goalkeeper Richard Kingson. He came to Hammarby on loan, and his stability drove Hammarby to the top of the league. When Kingson left in the beginning of the summer 2007, everything fell apart. During the rest of the season, no less than 3 more keepers stood between the goalposts for Hammarby. The Green and White slowly but surely descended in the league table, finishing in position 6. After the season, the main objective for Hammarby recruiters was a goalkeeper with high standards, and Rami Shaaban was signed in February this year. With the signing of Shaaban, Hammarby now have three keepers:

Rami Shaaban (considered number one)
Kristoffer Björklund (reserve)
Erland Hellström (out on injury)

In our second team, Hammarby TFF that currently is situated in Swedish third division, George Moussan guard the goal. He put in some performances last autumn when no other options remained, but as he’s young he’s considered to be a prospect for the future.

In the training match vs Brazil on Wednesday 26^th, Rami Shaaban played the second half. A terrible mistake 20 minutes from the end by Shaaban made him the scapegoat of the evening. An nonsuccessive clearing landed on Alexandre Pato which made no mistake. But I couldn’t care less. Every goalkeeper makes a mistake like that throughout a season, and it’s much better that Shaaban did his in the National Team rather than Hammarby. He’ll probably be reserve in this summer’s European Championships behind Manchester City’s Andreas Isaksson, but that’s only positive as the risk of Shaaban being injured is reduced.

Our reserve goalkeeper, Kristoffer Björklund, give Hammarby stability if Shaaban should be injured. For the last years he’s been guarding the goal for Brommapojkarna, last year for the first time ever in Allsvenskan and now in Swedish second division.

Erland Hellström, son of legendary Swedish National Team goalkeeper Ronnie Hellström, is unfortunately lacking some of his father's potential. He have had several opportunities to grasp the first position in Hammarby during the last years, but never really took it. Currently he's out on an injury, and I doubt he'll ever guard the goal for Hammarby again.

In an Allsvenskan point of view, there’s no doubt that our set of goalkeepers are of the highest standard.

Score: 5 out of 5

Kappa to applicate for summons

Yesterday we received the news that former Hammarby sponsor has applied for a summons against Hammarby Football. The application is said to comprise more than 28 million Swedish Krona.

In 2007 (Thanks Klas!), Hammarby cancelled the sponsor agreement with Kappa. The reasons, Hammarby said, were that the equipment (shoes, clothes etc) did not fulfill promised standards. Kappa on their part, argue that Hammarby broke the sponsorship agreement when several Hammarby players neglected to use Kappa football shoes during matches.

To me, this is nothing short but a huge surprise. I think that most Hammarby supporters still saw Kappa as a really nice brand when it comes to clothing, but now Kappa has surely burnt their bridges in Hammarby land. Not one Hammarby supporter will buy another Kappa item for years to come, which makes me think that the long term loss for Kappa will far exceed the 28+ millions.

Update:
It turns out that the company responsible for the application, Danish Primetime Nordic, is a company not to be taken too seriously. They probably bribed their way to become Nordic distributors of Kappa, and one can only suspect that the application for summons vs Hammarby will be nothing short of a bad joke. But, time will tell.

Personally, I think Hammarby should fire back with the same weapon if possible. An application in return, if it'll turn out that the application against Hammarby is indeed faulty, will surely bite hard.

(I love the expression "it turns out" by the way...it indicates that someone really important, probably a scientist or something, has thought a lot around a subject, did some experimenting too and has come to a conclusion. A rather impressive conclusion, and thus not to be questioned by anyone short of a genious.)

Final result: Hammarby vs TPS Åbo 1-2

Well, the training match did not became what many had expected - a display of great football and a team (Hammarby) in perfect harmony. Actually, far too often for my week heart, we we're given proof of the opposite.

Now, TPS Åbo is not a football team that resemble Barcelona even a little bit. They are, however, a very physical team and they keep their football very basic. They mix long, swirling balls towards a nearly two meters tall giant up front, with a short no-nonsense and quite effective close range game.

Hammarby had difficulties at the start of the first half, and it seemed mostly the problems were in the heads rather than the feet. One week until the season start for real, no player takes unnecessary risks to chance an injury. And quite soon, TPS takes the lead after a dreadful clearing from Hammarby defenders. Unable to get rid of the ball, a TPSer easily drives the ball past reserve keeper George Moussan. After that goal, Hammarby takes charge of the situation and position themselves more often on the opponents' half. Even though the pressure is no where near constant or as close that we are used to when playing at home, Hammarby manage to equalize just before half time. After a situation the ball trickles to the right where Petter Andersson finds himself. A nice long ball find Paulinho Guará on the far end, and his header is lethal as it find it way just pass the keeper by the goal post high. Beautiful goal, and thus it's 1-1 at half time.

The first ten minutes of the second half is easily the best Hammarby manage to perform tonight, but after that TPS once again takes charge with their more physical gameplay. In the middle of the half, our right defender for the night is overplayed and cannot catch up. A play to the center of the goal area is delivered where another TPS fellow doesn't make any mistake, 1-2.

Hammarby's best opportunity after that goal is a free kick in the very last minute by Louay Chanko, but it swirls past the left goal post.

One of the evening's brightest moments where when defensive midfielder Mikkel Jensen entered the field after close to a year in rehab.

Summary: It's always good to win training matches, but today Hammarby couldn't deliver. Whether or not this is how good we are or not is too early to say. It's clear however, that the players need to show more heart and not a little more head in their game to win the first game of the season next monday, away vs Ljungskile.

Hammarby players and their RAB points (1-10):
Keeper:
George Moussan 2
Defenders:
Christian Traoré 4
Suleyman Sleyman 3
Kleeber Saarenpää 3
David Johansson 2
Midfielders:
Petter Andersson 3
Louay Chanko 2
Claudio Dadomo 2
Haris Laitinen 4
Attackers:
Paulinho Guará 5
Charlie Davies 2
Subs, played too little time to receive points:
Freddy Söderberg, José Monteiro, Mikkel Jensen

Today: Hammarby vs TPS Åbo (FIN)

Tonight at 18:30, it's time for Hammarby's dress rehersal. It will be played at Söderstadion, but the big question for tonight is whether or not it will be a match at all. I look outside and it's all white. The snow is absolutely teeming down, I know that the field is covered until the match tonight, but still...

One important player is missing, Rami Shaaban is in England with Swedish National Team for a training match vs Brazil tomorrow, wednesday, at Wembley.

Here's how I think Hammarby's starting lineup will look tonight:

-------------------Moussan--------------------
-Johansson---Traoré---Sleyman---Saarenpää-
--------------------Chanko--------------------
-Castro-Tello-----Andersson---------Dadomo-
------------Paulinho-----Davies---------------

Haris Laitinen might start instead of Castro-Tello. Zengin is PROBABLY out due to a minor knee injury, otherwise he'd start on the right side. We might also see left wing back Emil Johansson come in later in the match.

Hammarby 4 Gefle 0

The figures say everything. Although Hammarby had some problems in the defensive part of the field, Hammarby had no problems with Gefle. 4-0 with a hattrick from Petter Andersson was a fine result, and it show that Hammarby will be quite stable this year.

Hammarby's starting line up was exactly the one we hoped for in the previous post. And although Hammarby won with 4-0, the players feel that they could have done a better job.

Let's just hope they keep it this way.

Hammarby has now not conceded a single goal in 6,5 matches (13 halves.)

Forza Bajen!

Time for Match: Hammarby vs Gefle (training match)

Today at 2 pm Hammarby face Allsvenskan opponents Gefle in a training clash on Cyprus.

The match will be commented live on Hammarby official site www.hammarbyfotboll.se.

Probable lineup Hammarby:

-------------------Shaaban--------------------------
-Johansson-Traoré---Sleyman-Saarenpää-
-------------------Chanko----------------------------
-Zengin---------Andersson--------Dadomo---
-------------Guará-----Söderberg----------------

Stay tuned for the result!

Fate against Hammarby

It seems that Mother Luck has turned her back on Hammarby. Yesterday, reserve goalkeeper Kristoffer Björklund was involved in an accident during some free time on Cyprus, where Hammarby is stationed on a training camp. While riding on a four wheel motorcycle, Kristoffer fell off trying to avoid another car.

After spending some time at the hospital, x-rays show that his spine and wrist are damaged. Preliminary reports says that Björklund is out until after European Championships.

After last season's injuries on goal keepers, one had hoped that we would have better luck this season. But, as it turned out, the problems continue.

Hammarby is not yet sure how they will face this problem.

R.A.B. looks into the future

In just a few weeks Swedish premier division Allsvenskan will start. For the first time the league consists of 16 teams, and there's no doubt that the teams that can cope with the extra days will have an advantage. In 2008, there's also a pause in the league as the European Championship is being played this summer. This will put extra pressure on the teams, as the season is shrinked. Some weeks will consist of up to three matches.

Now, to the prediction!

There's always room for speculation before the season starts, and here's my 5 cent how the league table will look when the season end:

1 Hammarby
2 IFK Göteborg
3 Helsingborg
4 Djurgården
5 Kalmar FF
6 Elfsborg
7 Halmstad
8 Malmö FF
9 AIK
10 IFK Norrköping
11 GIF Sundsvall
12 Gefle
13 Örebro
14 Trelleborg
15 GAIS
16 Ljungskile

I guess the prediction follow my heart. There might not be much sense in it, I know, but hey - I'm a dreamer.

The Adventures of Charlie Davies

While the squad of Hammarby is doing their best on Cyprus to get in shape for the start of the season, one player is absent. Charlie Davies is currently in the U.S. participating in the Olympic qualifications with his U.S. U-23 team.

On Saturday the 15th, U.S. beat Honduras with 1-0 after a penalty by Eddie Gaven in the 95th minute (!). The penalty was conceded by an Honduran player who tripped Charlie Davies inside the area. Already in the 62nd minute Charlie Davies was given another penalty, he was brought down, but Davies missed it (shot wide to the right).










Photo: www.ussoccer.com Davies no. 9

U.S. was the most offensive team throughout, but the match was hard won as the finalizing goal didn't appear until the 95th minute.

Again, Charlie Davies contributed to the win in a spectacular way.

Hammarby on Cyprus

Hammarby has travelled to Cyprus for a one week training camp between the 13th and the 20th of March.

2 matches are planned, against IFK Norrköping and Gefle.

Yesterday, Hammarby played the match against IFK Norrköping and won with 2-0. Scorers were Freddy Söderberg and Sebastian Castro-Tello. Apparently it was a fairly good match in which Hammarby created the most chances. Although Norrköpings corners were dangerous, Hammarby managed to hold defensively. Both goals were beautiful, especially the second one from Castro-Tello.

On an airport near you

Business have forced me to visit Gothenburg, and sitting on the airport waiting for my flight back to Stockholm I just realized:

Humanity's best inventions:

1. Penicillin or some other great medicine.
2. The Ipod.

Best live albums of all times:
1. Black Sabbath - Reunion (Live)
2. Iron Maiden - Live After Death

Oh, and Hammarby is having a 20 year old striker from Carlstad United on trial this week, Pär Eriksson. Scored 11 goals on 25 games in Swedish third division. I just doesn't feel like he's our man...but we've been wrong before, time will tell on this one.

Rami Shaaban signed for Hammarby! And some thoughts around that...

I mean, it's not in me to repeat things, but in this case I cannot stress the importance this signing has for us Hammarby supporters in general.

It's huge. No, more than that. It is gigantic. Either way, there's no doubt that Bajen has made an astounding signing. External capital has been allocated to make this one happen.

Rami Shaaban is a goalkeeper. He has always been number two in the National team after Andreas Isaksson, but many "experts" as well as the average Swedish football supporter now think that Rami Shaaban is the one that should guard the goal in the upcoming 2008 European Championships. Isaksson has been informed by his manager in Manchester City, Sven-Göran Eriksson, that he is no longer considered to be a first team player. With no regular match exercise, it'll be difficult for the Swedish National Team managers to motivate Isaksson's position before Shaaban.

For Hammarby, this signing is extremely important. To start with, the big subject among Hammarby supporters 2007 was the lack of a regular number one keeper. Now, the stability in the defensive part of the field will be invaluably increased. One POSSIBLE downside to a signing of this magnitude could be that the pressure from media will be immense this season. Will Hammarby be able to cope with such a scenario? I think so.

However, Hammarby's squad anno 2008 is not yet perfectly balanced. We are now extremely strong in goalkeeping, very strong in the defense and very strong in the midfield. There are however some question marks regarding our offensive section. We have only three strikers right now, and it's really only Paulinho Guará that has a solid proven record as a goalscorer. Charlie Davies is by all means a great talent, and also manged to score three goals in the last match of 2007, but behind him there's a totally unwritten card with the name of Freddy Söderberg. He's large, strong, and has a sense for scoring, but he cannot be relied upon in Allsvenskan, not yet at least. If one striker is injured, we're in deep trouble. There's always the possibility to temporarily use a midfielder in a striker position, but in the long run this position need to be reinforced. But not until the summer 2008 transfer window opens. In all cases, if there are no big injuries on key players, there's no doubt that Hammarby will be in the top four when Allsvenskan pauses in the summer for 2008 European Championships.

In the next transfer window, there are some indications that Hammarby will have launched a new risk capital model for supporters and sponsors. Figures between 20 and 30 million Swedish Krona has been discussed, but until the money is in the bag it's only a rumour.

How 'bout them updates?

Well, been a long time since I've updated this site, too much to do and too little time to do it.

Anyway, here's a summary of the last weeks news:

- RAMI SHAABAN SIGNED A 5 YEAR CONTRACT WITH HAMMARBY!
Yeah, it's true. Definitely the most anticipated, longed-for signing in the history of Hammarby (except for Jari Litmanen, who never turned up...) is finally here - the Swedish national goalkeeper Rami Shaaban. His experience (Arsenal amongst other teams) and capacity will surely put Hammarby among the favorites in media for winning the league this season.

- Hammarby returned from Los Angeles and the training camp where they played three training matches. The first, against Red Bull New York, ended in a defeat with 3-1. Claudio Dadomo was the scorer for Hammarby. In the second game Hammarby faced Cal State University. Hammarby won with 3-0, scorers were Louay Chanko, Paulinho Guará and Sebastian Castro-Tello.

A couple of days later the last match was against Ventura Fusion, a match that Hammarby won easily with 5-0. Scorers this time were Petter Andersson, Nicklas Gustafsson and Paulinho Guará (3 goals!!).

Last weekend Hammarby played two training matches on the same day in Stockholm. The first against Gröndal ended in a green-white victory with 2-0, scored by Paulinho Guara and Claudio Dadomo. The second game, against IK Brage, finished 4-1 with goals by Magnus Törnstrand, Christer Gustafsson (two goals) and Alagie Sosseh.

Up next is the following weekend, two matches on the same day again, this time against IK Sirius and Falu FK. After that, on the 15th, is a training match against newly promoted IFK Norrköping.

Stay tuned!

Hammarby to Los Angeles for training camp

In less than one week Hammarby will travel to U.S. and Los Angeles for a training camp at the Home Depot Center. This is not the first time Hammarby travel to Los Angeles, in fact this is the third year in a row, and the camps are much appreciated by both the players and the staff. The Swedish pre-season is long and tiresome, and the U.S. camp is seen as a vacation, even though the training is quite rigorous. Two training matches are planned against "very good opposition". Personally I have high hopes for a match against Los Angeles Galaxy, with superstar David Beckham. However, Hammarby will not meet a national team as they have done previous years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The whole Rami Shaaban story has now taken an absurd turn. Apparently, Hammarby and Rami has agreed on a contract proposal lasting three years. All details have been approved by both sides. The only thing that remains now is to buy Shaaban from Fredrikstad FK, his current club. The Norwegians have turned down three offers from Hammarby, claiming that the Swedish national goalkeeper is worth more money. The whole situation is absurd since Shaaban is lost for Fredrikstad no matter what. In November Shaaban's contract will end, and at that point he will move to another club without having to be bought. In other words, either Fredrikstad take the money now, or the wait and get nothing. Hammarby are trying to stay cool and wait for Fredrikstad to accept, but there's the problem that Hammarby really need a permanent solution to the goalkeeper position. Rami Shaaban is that man, the only question is: Will he arrive before the season start?

Sebastian Eguren on loan to Villareal (ESP)

Late on Wednesday evening, news came that offensive midfielder Sebastian Eguren will join Villarreal C.F. from Spain until the summer on a loan. It's not surprising in that sense that Eguren has been totally dominant in Swedish premier division Allsvenskan last year, but for Hammarby supporters it's a hard blow since no one saw it coming.



It was in the nick of time for Villarreal, as they say, since the International Transfer Window closes tomorrow at 24:oo hours.

On the field, Eguren is a true leader that never stop play until the referee has blown the final whistle. I've ever been impressed by Eguren's capability to perform in every game and he has a distinct habit to close big matches with deciding goals.

For Hammarby, this deal has an economically and perhaps in a longer term also a sporting positive side to it. Bajen receives cash for the loan period, and probably also a sum for an option to buy Eguren if Villarreal wants to this summer.

If Eguren is sold, it will most likely be the largest transfer fee of all times for Hammarby.

With the cash that Hammarby receives now, they probably have the funds to go ahead and close the deal with goalkeeper Rami Shaaban from Fredrikstad. For many Bajen supporters, a signing of Rami's magnitude is a decider for the coming season.

Villarreal C.F. is currently in position three in La Liga, the Spanish premier division.

Uruguayan winger signed on for Hammarby

Claudio Dadomo, 25 year old from Uruguay, signed a contract with Hammarby on thursday. Claudio's contract period is until the summer of 2008, but the terms for an extension of the agreement has already been negotiated.

Dadomo is left footed, has experience from playing in both 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 tactical systems. He's speedy, his left foot is said to be highly sensitive and he's good on the head. As Claudio is used to the responsibility of taking care of a whole left flank in the 3-5-2, it's obvious that he'll contribute with much on Hammarby's left wing.

Claudio Dadomo hasn't participated in a match since May because of contract issues with his previous club.

We say WELCOME TO HAMMARBY!

A new year, new rumours and (most likely) a new player

While some of us were busy stuffing our faces with Christmas food and Christmas candy, others obviously took some time to make a couple of phone calls or something. This is a round up of the last week's activities:

A Uruguayan player is in Stockholm to take a medical test before he'll be offered a new contract. It's the 25 year old Claudio Dadomo, left winger/left defender, that is in town to aim for a contract with Hammarby. It's Hammarby player Sebastian Eguren's friend from the time when Eguren played in Montevideo Wanderers. Obviously it's Eguren that has recommended Dadomo as a good signing.

Hammarby Chief of Football Lars Eriksson says to Hammarby official site: "We've gotten excellent impressions of Claudio thanks to our connections in South America, and Sebastian Eguren have been a good reference since they have been teammates".

The much feared pre-season starts today, Monday, for all Hammarby players. It's a 4-months long period in which Hammarby players will have the doubtful joy of running, weight-lifting, tactical-, positional-, and technical training.