Shaaban closer to Hammarby

Apparently, not all are feasting on traditional foods and sweets during the holidays.

Today a Swedish newspaper says that Hammarby and National Team goalkeeper Rami Shaaban has agreed upon a 4-year contract. The personal details are settled between Hammarby and the 32-year old, and all that remain are the transfer between the two clubs. Sources to the newspaper says that Fredrikstad ask 5 million Swedish Krona (roughly about $750.000) and that Hammarby's first bid was rejected.

It remains now to see whether or not Hammarby can "put their money where their mouth is". Some cash may be available when the international transfer period starts on January 1. Hammarby attacker Paulinho Guará and right midfielder Erkan Zengin are the hottest prospects to be sold.

Unforgettable Match Days - Abroad Part 1

In 2004, I went to Milan with some friends to see the last match of the season between Milan and Roma. For most of the season, Roma had been at the top of the table, but as the last match drew near Milan had closed the gap and could now decide the season at home. Thousands of Romanisti had travelled from Rome to Milan for this Match-Of-The-Season.

Since we had bought our tickets on-line, we had to go to a box office outside San Siro to retrieve our tickets. Only problem was that the office was just where the Romanisti landed with their buses. “Crap”, I thought, but we gotta have the tickets! As the Roma supporters appeared, it was obvious that they had not come in peace. In fact, they were in the business of war-waging, truly aggressive Djingis Khan-style. After two minutes the whole area outside San Siro looked more like a scene from Omaha Beach at Normandie than something else. The Italian Carabinieri, not exactly known for their reluctance to use force, immediately applied tear-gas. The Romanisti answered with throwing bottles, Bengal lights and other stuff at the police. At the same time, Milanese Ultras prepared an assault on the Romanisti, they charged, and there was chaos.

To retrieve the damn tickets, I had to run through all of this. I leaved my friends at a safe place, and advanced slowly. The air was dense with smoke from Bengals and the tear gas stung in the eyes and nose. Eventually I got my tickets, but it took some time because I had to advance slowly and with caution.

Once inside the arena, the atmosphere was electric. The Milanisti drew first blood as Shevchenko scored after just 2 minutes. Even though the match was intense throughout the 90+ minutes, Roma never managed to recover. However, the match was interrupted several times as the Roma supporters threw Bengals on to the field and on the surrounding stands. Milan supporters threw stuff back at the Romanisti, but eventually the match ended with Milan as victors. A match day I will never forget.

Charlie Davies scored for his U.S.A.

In the sunday clash between China U-23 and U.S.A U-23, Charlie Davies managed to score once as the match ended in a draw. U.S. Soccer site have this to say about Charlie's goal:

"An attempted through ball in the U.S. half by the Chinese was intercepted by Wynne, who deftly first-timed a pass to Robbie Finley. The striker alertly sprung Charlie Davies on a through ball down the right flank, and the speedy forward outran his defender to close in on goal one v. one. With the ‘keeper frozen, Davies calmly slotted a low shot to the far post."

I'd like to congratulate Charlie Davies, as it seems that his form is continually strong after the season has ended. The host of the U.S. squad will also go to the 2008 Olympics in China, if U.S. qualifies.

Hammarby players represent their National Teams

On Thursday, Charlie Davies participated in the training cap between U.S. U-23 and China U-23. The match ended 0-0, and Charlie Davies played until the 88^th minute. According to reports from people that watched the game, Davies put up a stable performance.

Yesterday Louay Chanko, defensive midfielder, was appointed to participate in the Swedish National Team training caps in January. Sweden will play against Costa Rica and U.S.A. in the North American tour. We congratulate Chanko, he’s well worth this opportunity. In fact, it’s a big mystery why he hasn’t been appointed earlier…

New goalkeeper has signed for Hammarby

On Wednesday, Hammarby signed 29-year old goalkeeper Kristoffer "Poppen" Björklund from newly relegated Brommapojkarna. Kristoffer played for Hammarby in his youth, and has now signed a 2-year contract.

Although Hammarby has signed Björklund, there's no doubt that Hammarby is still on the hunt for a true starter : "We will have a stable and safe goalkeeper situation next year, and that means two new goalkeepers" says Hammarby official Thomas Andersson to www.hammarbyfotboll.se.

Will Rami Shaaban be that longed for keeper? Time will tell.

I'd consider to activate that Adword stuff...

...they say it'd make me rich, er, or at least earn some money. But it's just another way to put up ads on some innocent site, I'm convinced.

I mean, to really earn some money on a semi-pathetic blog like this, I'd have to have thousand of visitors (that also clicked on those damn ads - now who does that anyway? Not anyone I know of...) and right now I average of about 100 viewers per day. Not nearly enough.

Besides, this blog is not about earning money. I work to earn money, this is more for the hell of it rather than cold cash. I've read about blogs being worth this and that much, but really, is there anyone out there that actually makes a livin' on their blogging?

Match days 2008

This schedule is preliminary, and will most likely be changed as the broadcasting companies have said their part. But for now, this is the 2008 match schedule! (Exact kick-off time and location will be added or changed)

Day 1
March 31st: Ljungskile–Hammarby

Day 2
April 7th: Hammarby–Sundsvall

Day 3
April 10th: Gais–Hammarby

Day 4
April 14th: Hammarby–AIK (Derby)

Day 5
April 17th: Hammarby–Helsingborg

Day 6
April 20th: Kalmar–Hammarby

Day 7
April 23rd: Hammarby–Elfsborg

Day 8
April 27th: TFF–Hammarby

Day 9
May 4th: Hammarby–Göteborg

Day 10
May 7th: Djurgården–Hammarby (Derby)

Day 11
May 12th: Hammarby–Gefle

----European Championships 2008 - Brake---

Day 12
July 2nd: Halmstad–Hammarby

Day 13
July 7th: Hammarby–Norrköping

Day 14
July 14th: MFF–Hammarby

Day 15
July 20th: Hammarby–Örebro

Day 16
July 28th: Örebro–Hammarby

Day 17
August 3rd: Hammarby–Ljungskile

Day 18
August 11th: Sundsvall–Hammarby

Day 19
August 14th: Hammarby–Gais

Day 20
August 25th: AIK–Hammarby (Derby)

Day 21
September 1st: HIF–Hammarby

Day 22
September 14th: Hammarby–Kalmar

Day 23
September 25th:Elfsborg–Hammarby

Day 24
September 28th: Hammarby–TFF

Day 25
October 6th: Göteborg–Hammarby

Day 26
October 20th: Hammarby–Djurgården (Derby)

Day 27
October 26th: Gefle–Hammarby

Day 28
October 29th: Hammarby–Halmstad

Day 29
November 2nd: Hammarby–MFF

Day 30
November 9th: Norrköping–Hammarby

Pre-season 2008

It's still 2007, but already the plans are being formed for 2008. The pre-season is important for the team to be in optimal shape when the season starts. This is even more important next year, as the European Championship significantilly shortens the Swedish season.

This page will be updated when new training matches and events are made official. Stay tuned to see the results and dates for Hammarby pre-season 2008! Among other things, Hammarby will go to Los Angeles (which they have done now for a couple of years).

*On 11th December, four training matches has been decided. Whole squad will be rotated, so two matches will be played on each day.

March:
1/3/2008:
Matches against Gröndal and Brage. Time and location to be decided.
8/3/2008:
Matches against Sirius and Falu SK. Time and location to be decided.

Lars Eriksson new Head of Football (Manager)

Hammarby is changing the organizational structure. Last night it became official that former goalkeeper coach Lars Eriksson will assume the position as Head of Football. This is interesting in two aspects; first that Hammarby is shaping the organization towards a more professional sort, second because the new position is not called Manager, as has first been communicated.

His new role means that he is responsible for the sport result towards the Hammarby board. To assist him, he has a team of coaches underneath him, with Head Coach Tony Gustavsson as his closest man. This is also a way to define the areas of responsibility towards the board. Hammarby CEO Henrik Appelqvist will be in charge of business and the economy, whilst Lars Eriksson will be responsible for all sport activities. He will also have clearer economical boundaries to sign new players.

I think this latest change in organization is a way for Hammarby to position themselves with work of the new arena and the challenges that it conveys. It is extremely important to have a very clear organization for the club to be able to cope with the future challenges, both to keep focus on the sporting results and to deliver a great arena.

Hammarby information meeting

On Monday the 10th, Hammarby arranged a meeting for members in Hammarby Football. The purpose was to inform the members of the situation in the club, and has been arranged several times before. Hammarby CEO Henrik Appelqvist held in the meeting, and this is a very short summary of what was said:

Ec Economically, Hammarby has done a bad year. This is a combination of less income from sponsors, the scandals on the terraces in our home matches, which probably has led to even less sponsor income and fewer visitors. Additionally, the attendance on the derby’s has been worse than before.

T The work with the new arena is steadily going forward. Apparently, two proposals is being considered, but economically there are still some questions that need to be investigated.

- Hammarby is doing changes in the organization. See separate article.

Rule of the game - celebrating a goal

Skimmed through the new game rules that just now have been decided by the Swedish Football Association. And there's one rule that have always fascinated me - when they punish a goalscorer for celebrating too much. The whole thing is really silly, especially when you consider that the whole issue have been examined by a number of people on the FA, probably in several meetings. I cannot in my wildest fantasy understand how it's possible to use so much energy to suppress happiness (which is the immediate and fully understandable reaction of a goalscorer).

Here's what the FA has concluded. Don't laugh:

A player will be issued a warning (yellow card) if he when he celebrates a goal:
- Removes his shirt, completely or partly
- Climbs on the fences against the stands
- If he covers his head or face with a mask or a similar object
(Has anybody seen that? I haven't, so post a link to youtube or whereever.)

Now, imagine yourself in the starting lineup of your favorite team. You're a striker, and it's a big game; like a derby or whatever. You score, no, you score the decider in the last shivering seconds of the game. Happy? Ecstatic? Do you really, really wanna celebrate the goal? Ah, now, you can't do that. It's not allowed. Sure, you can run around or jump in a big pile with your team mates, but you can't pull off your shirt, not even partly, and you can sure as hell not climb the fences to the supporters.

I think silly is not the right word for it. It's more than silly, it's utterly ridiculous.

First Match Day of 2008 Season

Yesterday, Swedish Football Association made public the first match day of next season.

Hammarby have to travel across the country to the west coast, where recently promoted Ljungskile will try to stop the Bajen-train.

We do not wish them luck.

The entire first match day:

Ljungskile SK-Hammarby IF
Örebro SK-Trelleborg FF
IFK Norrköping-Djurgårdens IF
Halmstad BK-Gefle IF
AIK-Kalmar FF
Gais-IF Elfsborg
Malmö FF-IFK Göteborg
GIF Sundsvall-Helsingborgs IF

Sweden undressed

Due to work related issues, I'm stuck in a small town in central Sweden. And, to tell you the truth, it's not until you go here that you really get perspective on things. How far from the rest of Europe and the rest of the world Sweden's really located is, I guess, not comprehensible until you're here.

Actually, and this might or might not be interesting for you U.S. readers, I'm now in a part of Sweden where many Swedish emigrants lived before they traveled to the U.S. one way or the other. Descendants now living in Minnesota or New York or wherever have relatives in the next house from here.

Anyway, who cares?

Hammarby is on the hunt for a number one keeper, but it seems like Hammarby is not alone in the chase. Swedish 2006 champions IF Elfsborg have, according to Swedish newspapers, received an offer on their current keeper Johan Wiland from a Romanian club no one ever heard of. Apparently, it's alot of money, and some think that if Wiland will transfer to Romanian Cluj, it's likely that Rami Shaaban is one of the potential targets.

Personally, I think that Shaaban could've transfered to Elfsborg last year, when they were fresh champions and all that. Now, I think it's unlikely. If he'd go to Sweden it's for his son. Now living in Stockholm. Elfsborg's and Hammarby's results this year was comparative, but Hammarby is located in Stockholm and is likely to give him more time with his son, which is why I think that IF he comes to Sweden, he'll go to Hammarby - or another Stockholm club.