Peter tells us that the Yomiuri Group is going to sell Verdy to a group called Risou Education Ltd.

Let me be the first to start the Inamoto to Vissel Kobe rumour, which could well have some mileage in it – probably at the end of the season in Europe…. while the Shunsuke to Vissel rumour that I am about to start may not be as far-fetched as it seems, as I write if Mikitani – president of Vissel and all-round rich boss of Rakuten – is as serious as i’ve heard, Miyamoto is just the beginning!Can’t wait for the new season!!

If we have often thought that the J.League was tight… seen the Premier League lately?It’s 3 points (one win) from 20th to 12th – the bottom nine place are all within three points!If we take it a little further, from 8th position to the bottom, 20th – it is ONLY 7 points!On the other hand from 8th to 5th, it’s 14 points, before the top four (including Aston Villa) are separated by only three points, though Liverpool may add two points to that on Monday night.While the top 5 are probably fixed already, just the order to sort out, ANY of the 13 teams from 8th to bottom could easily go down!Amazing, J? Who wants to predict the relegated teams from the Premier League?I’ll go for West Brom, Stoke and Portsmouth? Any other offers?

As expected – for the UK the player needs to have played in 75% of the last two year’s worth of internationals (usually)… Ienaga’s work permit application was rejected…. so how did they handle it at Celtic with Koki Mizuno, I wonder? Or is Scotland a different case from England?http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_4803025,00.html

It’s true… Vissel’s two main forwards have taken the stage out of town, but the cash received and the youth coming through bodes well for Vissel, I believe…. the Brazilian imports look decent enough and then there’s TSUNEYASU MIYAMOTO, who will announce his signing for Vissel Kobe today at a press conference…. Mr. Japanese Football, in my opinion, immensely popular with fans, players and press alike, intelligent and talented and all-round nice guy… welcome to Kobe, Tsune! This can only be good for Vissel Kobe.

Okubo started for Wolfsburg and scored their first goal in a 4-0 demolition of Greuther F

Here are the groups that feature a Japanese team… FYI… looking forward to it!

Ryuji Bando came on as a 105th minute sub and promptly scored the winning goal in the 118th minute!! Nice one Ban-chan!! I hope my message on your answerphone doesn’t break your ear drums!!

Reysol overcame FC Tokyo 2-1 at Shizuoka’s Ecopa Stadium earlier in the day before a tired-looking Gamba earned a final place with a 118th minute winner from lucky talisman Yamazaki, for a 1-0 win against Yokohama F Marinos, at Kokuritsu (National) Stadium in Tokyo. Lee Tadanari scored the 88th minute winner for Reysol, giving late excitement to both games. The final will be played at Kokuritsu on January 1st at 2 pm.

Peter sends me an update as I laze on a beach in Thailand!!Walter Zenga, manager of Catania, started Morimoto against Roma yesterday and he scored two goals in Catania’s 3-2 win over great rivals Roma. It was Morimoto’s first goal for 16 months and only the third time in history following Nakata for Parma and Shunsuk