That's dangling, folks This is AIK goalkeeper Tomi Maanoja suffering from a bout of what the professionals call Djibril Cisse syndome - a mere dangling broken leg to you and me. If this doesn't make you say "Ouch!" the first time you see it then you have no heart and possibly no tibia. Best wishes to Tomi [.

Some great news coming from Sweden concerning the Englishmen plying their trade in the Allsvenskan. Former Portsmouth and Kidderminster Harriers striker James Keene has propelled his Elfsborg side to the top of the league, while ex-Millwall man Kenny Pavey has played his part in cementing AIK in 2nd spot.

With no action taking place on the pitch in June, activity is instead found in the transfer market. It's a mid-year silly season that is particularly sweaty for us AIK supporters. The biggest target for rumors and speculation just happens to be AIK's most valuable player and the hero of the spring season, Ivan Obolo.

Ivan Obolo scored the winner in tonight's Stockholm derby at Råsunda, where AIK beat Djurgården 1-0. "A really fine goal," Obolo told Canal Plus. Modest, isn't he?

AIK's Sporting Director was asked about Obolo's future after the game, and with the transfer window approaching, he fell short of a resounding commitment to keep the Argentinian in Sweden.

I've described the derbies against our true antagonists Djurgården and Hammarby as the Battle Ryales of Swedish soccer. A derby against Brommapojkarna never truly reaches the same levels of anticipation and hysteria. This is a instead a game that I've dubbed the Novelty Derby. It's a novelty because it's a rather new derby as Brommapojkarna is only playing their second season ever in Allsvenskan.

I mentioned the hoolietwattery in my previous post, so it's only fair that the amazing tifo AIK fans put on for the derby against Djurgården last night gets a mention too. This is unbelievable stuff.

In a brief moment of clarity I once wrote that I will avoid making predictions because doing so will eventually offer proof that I have no idea of what I'm talking about. While I was smart enough to figure that much out on my own, I am unfortunately dumb enough to ignore my own advice.

The following entry will present my predictions for the fall season in Allsvenskan.

The eighteenth round of Allsvenskan sees an historic five derbies played in the same round. On the surface it doesn't look like much will change in the top of the table as most top teams face relatively easy tasks. The bottom could see a bit more movement as Djurgården and Hammarby meet up in one of the most interesting bottom feeder battles of the year.

While the Aughts have been full of speculation/proposal about the Old Firm joining the EPL, the 90's was about the Old Firm joining what was dubbed as the Atlantic League. It was a joint proposal from the big clubs in the Netherlands, Scotland and Portugal. ESPN is reporting that there may be another attempt at this break away league, which would involve the aforementioned clubs along with Belgium and the Scandinavian clubs.

And so it was made official. Antonio Flavio Aires dos Santos, formerly of E.C. Santo Andre, has signed on for our beloved AIK. It is still unclear when the 22-year old attacker will be available for play, but early August is the most likely timeframe for his debut in AIK.
Antonio Flavio made it known through AIK Fotboll's official website that he is looking forward to getting to know the club and its supporters.

After browsing the Allsvenskan fixtures earlier today, it struck me that there are no less than five derbies in the upcoming round. The derby on Saturday between AIK and Brommapojkarna will most certainly be the most interesting match and of course it's one that I have carefully planned my entire weekend around.

The game against Trelleborg meant another 1-0 game win for AIK. But it wasn't just another 1-0 win in the sense that AIK played one of their best games of the season. Great play along the wings for once and Antonio Flavio proved that he can perform at a level above the opposition. Excellent technique from the young Brazilian tonight.

The semi-final game in the Swedish Cup will be a game that will live on in the memories of AIK supporters for a long time to come. One of the most mind-boggling last minute turnarounds brought AIK to a sixteenth cup final with a solid chance at an eight cup title.
AIK was the best team over 90 minutes and it looked like it was going to be yet another 1-0 win following an early goal from Ivan Obolo.

AIK's last game of the season will be played on November 1st against IFK Göteborg. The game, which will be played at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg, could very well be a decisive match in the title race. Any real supporter would obviously do whatever they can to be on hand for that event.
Since AIK supporters are arguably the most devoted fans in Swedish soccer, the tickets to the AIK sections are now sold out, almost two months ahead of the game.

The Good:
1. Extended records and league lead for AIK
2. Ivan Obolo's world class finish
3. Antonio Flavio's first goal
4. Solid performances from the entire team
The Bad:
1. We won't get to play Häcken anymore this year
The Ugly:
The stadium, Rambergsvallen, should be torn down.

Our tifo video series rolls across from Belgium to Switzerland, and we find ourselves in Lausanne, a small French-speaking city perhaps best known as the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee.

Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport, founded in 1896 and successful for their first half-century, haven't won the league championship for other forty years.

Today, our tifo series swings to Asia for the first time.

We check out Japanese fans at the Nabisco Cup (also known as the J-League Cup) final between Kawasaki Frontale and FC Tokyo, held earlier this week.

This video is a little slow to get going, but there's some gorgeous colour, some impressive banners, and generally well choreographed displays from supporters of both teams.

The seventh 1-0 victory of the season has everyone talking about 1998. This was of course the year AIK won Allsvenskan after having scored only 25 goals in 26 games. While there are a few noticeable differences between this year and AIK's last gold-winning season, we can certainly find several similarities.

With fifteen rounds behind us we have now reached the halfway point of the season. In theory anything is still possible, but realistically it appears that the league has been partitioned into three distinct segments. In the first segment we find the five teams that all have a serious shot at the gold; in the middle of the table we have another segment of six teams; and in the bottom of the table we have five teams all struggling to stay out of the relegation zone.

AIK managers Mikael Stahre and Björn Wesström are currently spending some time in exotic Brazil, the crown jewel of South America. They are there to meet interesting and stimulating people of an unfamiliar culture... and possibly sign someone to AIK.
Björn Wesström traveled to Brazil earlier in the year with the obvious goal of finding a replacement for Ivan Obolo in case our Argentinean star ends up leaving AIK this season.

A home game against IFK Göteborg represents one of the most anticipated and prestigious matches of the year. Even on a bad year this game is at the very least a good old-fashioned hate match. This year, both teams are involved in the very top contention of Allsvenskan and 2009 must be considered an extremely good year for AIK to beat the Geat.

In a brief moment of clarity I once wrote that I will avoid making predictions because doing so will eventually offer proof that I have no idea of what I'm talking about. While I was smart enough to figure that much out on my own, I am unfortunately dumb enough to ignore my own advice.
The following entry will present my predictions for the fall season in Allsvenskan.

The Novelty Derby against Brommapojkarna gave us an exhilarating come-from-behind 2-1 victory for AIK. At this point it almost feel as if I can make a macro that can be used to describe every single AIK game. Imperfect play is overcome by the impressive team morale and points are won thanks to a solid defense and a late goal.

Normally I wouldn't cover these type of training matches, but the mid-season friendly against AIK's feeder-club Akropolis IF on Wednesday is of special interest. The match will see the a non-official AIK debut for exciting new Brazilian signing Antonio Flavio.
The game will be played in a rather unusual location in the northern Stockholm suburb of Akalla.

Monday's game against Halmstad is yet another crucial match for AIK, but one that wouldn't raise my pulse much at all if wasn't for the fact that AIK is involved in an intense title race. Halmstad is after all a pretty dull club. They show up twice a season as an opponent, but they usually fail to leave much of an impression or elicit very strong emotions.

If I were to put a positive spin on this game I'd say that AIK is still the team with the longest undefeated streak in Allsvenskan. Oh, and that AIK still remains in first place for another day or two. But if I had to level with you, I would say that the draw against Kalmar still feels like a bit of a letdown.

Matches against Trelleborg tend to conjure up images of AIK struggling to break through a ten-man defense in order to break a stiff and cold deadlock. I usually hate those types of games as they tend to be the most nerve-racking ones. Although Trelleborg has shown themselves to be a far more positive team this season, I still approach this game with a bit of trepidation.

AIK vs. Djurgården. AIK's Black Army with a pyro display. September 28, 2009.

Photo credit: pelle_T on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo Daily: Újpest FC Ultras Pyro Display
2. Photo Daily 07.

This week, our new tifo video series has shown displays from supporters in Australia, Northern Ireland and Sweden.

Now we make a short hop to Belgium to take a look at supporters of KV Mechelen, a team who have historically been close to becoming a dominant force in the Belgian league, but who have somehow often fallen short.

In the pre-game analysis of this 0-0 match I commented on the fact that Malmö has been a team that often plays a great game but falls short right when it's time to put the ball in the back of the net. I also noted that AIK often plays an imperfect game of soccer, but has despite this managed to fight tooth and nail to grab enough points to stay in the top of Allsvenskan.

Since AIK remains deeply involved in the title race, every new match brings higher stakes and increasingly nerve-racking battles. The last game against relative minnows GAIS may have been crucial, but it was a soft breeze compared to the upcoming away game against Malmö FF. This game represents a nightmare for AIK.

It's a bit of an odd tradition in Allsvenskan to mark the halfway point of the season with double meetings where two teams meet up in two consecutive games. A week ago AIK traveled to Gothenburg to face off with GAIS in a game that ended in a 2-2 draw. This Monday the teams will meet up again in a rematch at Råsunda.

In all my years as an AIK supporter there have been two particular signings that have left me ecstatic and wondering how in the world AIK managed to sign players of such high class. The first time was when AIK brought home Andreas Andersson from Newcastle United and the second time was the purchase of Derek Boateng from Panathinaikos.

A draw against the second-to-last team in Allsvenskan could either be considered a catastrophe, or in this case, another GAIS surprise. I won't call it any of those things, because the result was neither a catastrophe nor much of a surprise really. I would even go so far as to call this an inspirational effort by AIK.

It's time for yet another match against a Gothenburg team. This time AIK has the questionable pleasure of traveling to Sweden's backside to meet up with GAIS. We usually like to refer to IFK Göteborg as the herrings, which is a derision based on the fact that Gothenburg is something of a fishing metropolis.

IFK Göteborg and IF Elfsborg had a golden opportunity to make some space for themselves at the very top of the league in this fourteenth round. But instead this became a round for the history books as far as AIK supporters are concerned. Göteborg continued their poor form and lost to AIK in one of the most exciting games of the year.

Two full weeks have passed since the transfer window opened in Sweden and several players have left Allsvenskan for foreign clubs. Still, many of the top targets for transfer speculations remain available for moves in the near future. While transfer activity is likely to remain high in the coming weeks, here's a rundown of the most significant moves so far this summer.

During the past two weeks I did my utmost to hype the importance of this crucial match. But anyone with half a brain was already aware of the fact that this was the key game of the year for our beloved AIK. With tons of hard work and a good measure of luck, the AIK players battled their way to another narrow win.

We all knew that the Swedish Cup quarter-final against Mjällby would be a tricky match-up, so it didn't come as a complete shock when illustrious striker Erton Fejzullahu scored the first goal of the game after only nine minutes. At this point the Mjällby supporters at Strandvallen surely felt that this game could become another chapter in their ongoing Cinderella story.

An even game at Behrn Arena where Örebro SK controlled the first half as AIK struggled with their game. Talented midfielder and man of the match Nordin Gerzic opened up the scoring after pouncing on his own rebound to make it 1-0 for ÖSK. Saihou Jagne scored the equalizer by pure killer instinct as he pounced on a rebound that came off a stunning free kick from Ortiz that had hit the inside of the post.