Peter sends us this report …Sergio Soares da Silva, who played 9 games for Kyoto Sanga in 1996, has emerged as the favourite to get the Cerezo manager’s job. Sports Hochi thinks he may be appointed before the end of the year.Soares (44) seems to have had an undistinguished playing career. Since retiring he seems to have been in almost continuous employment as a coach, but in that Brazilian system where everyone appears to play musical chairs almost every year. Apparently, what attracts Cerezo is his spell at St Andre, a club which has traditionally yo-yoed between the Brazilian League’s Division 2 and Division 3. In 2008 Soares led St Andre into Division 1, with the team scoring 71 goals in 38 games. Cerezo see him as a young manager who can continue the club’s tradition of playing attacking Brazilian-style footie.http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/soccer/jleague/news/20111210-OHT1T00249.htmFrom Brazilian Wiki: 1996, the year Soares played for Sanga, seems to have been his first year as a player; otherwise he seems only to have played 24 games for Brazil’s Juventus, although he did have an eight-year career as a pro. Japanese Wiki only shows his 9 games for Kyoto and Brazilian Wiki, only his 24 games for Juventus, so neither can be relied on as being comprehensive.Even if you don’t understand Brazilian Portuguese, the Brazilian Wiki is useful for letting you see his continuous record of employment.http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Soares

The top, the bottom and all parts in between. And what we said at the start of the season to compare and check how right (or wrong) it was!Please read on for the JSoccer.COMment…

Some notes on the last weekend action for some of our boys overseas… Kagawa, Otsu, Yano, Inoha, Makino, Inui, Honda, Nagatomo, Kimura, Morimoto, Abe and more …. read on for a line or two on your favourite player.

Last night the final Best XI for J1 was announced (I posted the original “best 29″ yesterday – see below)Ｊリーグは、２０１１シーズンにおける最優秀選手賞、ベストイレブン、ベストヤングプレーヤー賞をはじめとする各賞の受賞者を、以下の通り決定いたしました。　受賞者については、本日横浜アリーナにて行われた「２０１１Ｊリーグアウォーズ」にて表彰されました。 Leandro Dominguez (no surprise there!) was the MVP and the full Best XI (3-5-2 formation) is:GK – Narazaki (Grampus)DF – Kondo, Sakai (Reysol), Tulio (Grampus)MF – Jorge Wagner, Leandro Dominguez (Reysol), Endo (Gamba), Fujimoto (Grampus), Kiyotake (Cerezo)FW – Kennedy (Grampus), 194cm Havenaar Mike (Ventforet)ＧＫ　楢崎　正剛 名古屋グランパス ＤＦ　近藤　直也 柏レイソルＤＦ　酒井　宏樹 柏レイソルＤＦ　田中　マルクス闘莉王 名古屋グランパスＭＦ　ジョルジ　ワグネル 柏レイソルＭＦ　レアンドロ　ドミンゲス 柏レイソルＭＦ　藤本　淳吾 名古屋グランパス ＭＦ　遠藤　保仁 ガンバ大阪ＭＦ　清武　弘嗣 セレッソ大阪ＦＷ　ハーフナー　マイク ヴァンフォーレ甲府ＦＷ　ケネディ 名古屋グランパス

Who DO YOU think is missing? Or shouldn’t be there!!?ゴールキーパー ベガルタ仙台 林 卓人 Takuto HAYASHI柏レイソル 菅野　孝憲 Takanori SUGENO名古屋グランパス 楢﨑正剛 Seigo NARAZAKIディフェンダーベガルタ仙台 角田　誠 Makoto KAKUDAベガルタ仙台 鎌田　次郎 Jiro KAMATA柏レイソル 近藤　直也 Naoya KONDO柏レイソル 酒井　宏樹 Hiroki SAKAI横浜Ｆ・マリノス 栗原　勇蔵 Yuzo KURIHARA横浜Ｆ・マリノス 中澤　佑二 Yuji NAKAZAWA清水エスパルス 太田　宏介 Kosuke OTA名古屋グランパス 田中　マルクス 闘莉王 Marcus Tulio TANAKA名古屋グランパス 増川　隆洋 Takahiro MASUKAWAミッドフィルダー鹿島アントラーズ 野沢　拓也 Takuya NOZAWA柏レイソル 大谷　秀和 Hidekazu OTANI柏レイソル ジョルジ　ワグネル JORGE WAGNER柏レイソル レアンドロ　ドミンゲス LEANDRO DOMINGUES川崎フロンターレ 中村　憲剛 Kengo NAKAMURAジュビロ磐田 駒野　友一 Yuichi KOMANO名古屋グランパス ダニルソン DANILSON名古屋グランパス 藤本　淳吾 Jungo FUJIMOTOガンバ大阪 遠藤　保仁 Yasuhito ENDOセレッソ大阪 清武　弘嗣 Hiroshi KIYOTAKEフォワードヴァンフォーレ甲府 ハーフナー　マイク Mike HAVENAAR (194 cm)ジュビロ磐田 前田　遼一 Ryoichi MAEDA名古屋グランパス ケネディ Joshua KENNEDY名古屋グランパス 玉田　圭司 Keiji TAMADAガンバ大阪 イ　グノ LEE Keun Hoガンバ大阪 ラフィーニャ RAFINHAサンフレッチェ広島 李　忠成 Tadanari LEE

コンサドーレ札幌 MF 河合　竜二 Ryuji KAWAI水戸ホーリーホック GK 本間　幸司 Koji HOMMA栃木ＳＣ MF 水沼　宏太 Kota MIZUNUMAザスパ草津 MF 熊林　親吾 Shingo KUMABAYASHIジェフユナイテッド千葉 FW 深井　正樹 Masaki FUKAIＦＣ東京 DF 今野　泰幸 Yasuyuki KONNO東京ヴェルディ MF 阿部　拓馬 Takuma ABE横浜ＦＣ MF 野崎　陽介 Yosuke NOZAKI湘南ベルマーレ FW 高山　薫 Kaoru TAKAYAMAカターレ富山 FW 黒部　光昭 Teruaki KUROBEＦＣ岐阜 FW 押谷　祐樹 Yuki OSHITANI京都サンガF.C. FW 宮吉　拓実 Takumi MIYAYOSHIガイナーレ鳥取 MF 服部　年宏 Toshihiro HATTORIファジアーノ岡山 DF 植田　龍仁朗 Ryujiro UEDA徳島ヴォルティス MF 柿谷　曜一朗 Yoichiro KAKITANI愛媛ＦＣ FW 齋藤　学 Manabu SAITOギラヴァンツ北九州 MF 安田　晃大 Kodai YASUDAサガン鳥栖 FW 豊田　陽平 Yohei TOYODAロアッソ熊本 GK 南　雄太 Yuta MINAMI大分トリニータ FW 前田　俊介 Shunsuke MAEDA

Jubilo Iwata 2-1 Kawasaki Frontale Yamaha 12,349Omiya Ardija 3-1 Ventforet Kofu NACK5.S 10,628Vegalta Sendai 2-0 Vissel Kobe Yurtec.S 18,575Albirex Niigata 0-1 Nagoya Grampus Tohoku Den.S 26,300Cerezo Osaka 7-1 Avispa Fukuoka KINCHO.S 11,009Shimizu S-Pulse 1-3 Gamba Osaka OUTSOURCING.S 18,670Yokohama F.Marinos 1-1 Kashima Antlers Nissan.S 26,973Montedio Yamagata 1-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima ND.S 7,016Urawa Reds 1-3 Kashiwa Reysol Saitama.S 54,44154,000+ people saw Reds capitulate and give the title to Kashiwa Reysol!Gamba Osaka and Nagoya Grampus also won away, but it was not enough as Reysol had their fate in their own hands and didn’t disappoint their fans.

1 Kashiwa Reysol 72 +232 Nagoya Grampus 71 +313 Gamba Osaka 70 +274 Vegalta Sendai 56 +145 Yokohama F･Marinos 56 +66 Kashima Antlers 50 +137 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 50 +38 Jubilo Iwata 47 +89 Vissel Kobe 46 -110 Shimizu S-Pulse 45 -911 Kawasaki Frontale 44 -112 Cerezo Osaka 43 +1413 Omiya Ardija 42 -1014 Albirex Niigata 39 -815 Urawa Reds 36 -716 Ventforet Kofu 33 -2117 Avispa Fukuoka 22 -4118 Montedio Yamagata 21 -41Down to J1 go Montedio, Avispa and Ventforet. Champions are Reysol and go into the AFC ACL along with Grampus and Gamba. Reysol also play in the Club World Cup!

FC Tokyo’s Konno made an offer by Gamba Osaka … Konno is the player who scored the goal that gave FC Tokyo a 2-2 draw against Cerezo Osaka in the final game in 2005. That goal, on 89m. 57s. took two points from Cerezo and dropped them from 1st to 5th, giving Gamba Osaka the trophy! Irony! And what would be an excellent acquisition for ANY team!

Nikkan Sports have picked up what was hinted at in Issue 2 of JSoccer Magazine – Wagner Lopes is indeed returning to Japan (as he said he “hoped to one day”! As I hinted even more yesterday on Facebook and Twitter – he has already quit his position in Brazil for a “foreign” offer. Nothing else official yet, but watch this space and await news. Issue 3 PLAN is for a Ramos interview so expect him to be looking for a managerial position soon, too!!? :-)Here’s how they said it on NikkanSports.comＧ大阪の来季監督に、元日本代表ＦＷの呂比須ワグナー氏（４２）の就任が２９日、確実になった。１０年の長期政権を任せてきた西野朗監督（５６）の退任を２３日に発表し、クラブ側はすぐに後任監督の人選に着手。ブラジル出身で日本国籍を所持する同氏は、９８年Ｗ杯フランス大会で救世主として日本を初のＷ杯出場へ導いた。日本への情熱とカリスマ性を重視し、西野監督の後任として適任と判断した。既に条件提示を済ませており、１２月中に正式発表になる見通し。