It's Ghotbi Perfect! Afshin Ghotbi - Welcome to S-Pulse!

Barry writes:

ا Yep, I thought about it for a while, and that title was just about the worst I could come up with. :)

Today S-Pulse announced our new coaching staff for 2011. As expected, Ghotbi takes the role of manager. Check out his full impressive CV here. Welcome to any readers from Iran! Personally I can't wait to to see how Ghotbi takes to the job. Joining him is Takashi Kiyama who becomes head coach, with Tomofumi Kuriyama as assistant coach.

A new physical, goalkeeping and additional coach have also been announced, full details available in Japanese on the official homepage.

Honda

In other news, Kashima have woken up to the fact they're a spent force and are trying to lure our Takuya Honda away. He's still under contract, so it'll cost them. The fella is instrumental to our midfield, and sure to play a central role under the exciting new regime, so hopefully Takuya will do the right thing, and tell Kashima to stick it.

Kenta Hasegawa to Resign

Barry writes:

Breaking news. Kenta Hasegawa is to resign as manager at the end of this season. Can't say it's a surprise, but for all my moaning and whinging I'm not blind to the fact he took us a long way from the near relegation fodder we were back in 2004.

The main reason behind his decision is said to be the inability to turn a team including the likes of Okazaki and Fujimoto into a truly competitive outfit. The news is expected to he officially announced November 2nd; Tuesday.

The biggest thing I'm worried about is that Kenta's kids, like Jungo, will follow him out the door.