With Rangers getting closer and closer to almost becoming Leeds United, maybe its time for both Celtic and Rangers to run away from the Scottish Premier League and head for greener pastures. Rangers 's club's bankers Lloyds are owed £30million by the end of the campaign. With a TV contract that is nothing to celebrate the only way that they maybe be able to meet the payment is to sell half of the first team. Click to continue reading...

Stuff to read while you get hauled off the pitch on a door................ The beach ball gifs are already out in full force. (Dirty Tackle) You can get your Sunderland 1 Liverpool Beach Ball tee here. (Soccerprint) The best names football has to offer. (Midfield Dynamo) The Bundesliga is ruined with that whole defense thing. Click to continue reading...

A visit to the capital city is in store for Lawrence Smith and VPS who take on Veikkausliiga co-leader HJK on Sunday evening at Finnair Stadium in Helsinki. Click to continue reading...

Veikkausliiga heads north today, with long journeys deep into the countryside for HJK and Tampere United. RoPS, KuPS and VPS all have nice grounds but terrible pitches, and the difficulty of getting results there has been evident in recent seasons, with VPS acting as a bit of a bogey side for TamU and KuPS getting a memorable 3-2 win against HJK late last season to help them to a play-off spot.

Click to continue reading...

The preview of the sxth round should take many forms, the first one being a homage to Pasi Rautiainen. This Monday's match between Honka and TPS in Tapiola turned into something of a media event, with most of the Finnish under-21 squad presented with roses for their achievement in failing to win a single game or point, and scoring a solitary penalty during their three matches in Sweden.

Click to continue reading...

FC Honka (5th) TPS (3rd), Monday 7 PM
Live on Urheilukanava and streams

Ilta-Sanomat's Ville Väänänen already declared that the title race will be run between three teams. There are 13 games to be played, but he is on the right track. Haka and HJK are five points adrift from TPS, who are third with a game in hand.

Click to continue reading...

Watching Tampere United struggle to a single goal victory over JJK at Ratina yesterday, it occurred to me just how astonishing it is that anyone watches Finnish football. The first half was enjoyably predictable, as TamU attacked and JJk attempted to string a few passes together. JJK's South Korean striker Nam was brought off injured, and someone curled a shot against the bar for the Jyväskyläns (it could very possibly have been Koskela), and Rafinha got the winner when Sinisalo's headed past his own keeper, but overall it was a pretty run of the mill Veikkausliiga match.

Click to continue reading...

Last night, a great night from brand new KuPS signing Dickson Nwakaeme helped KuPS to a 3-0 win over RoPS, while TamU did exactly what was needed and overcame JJK with the scoreline 1-0. A more detailed round-up is on the way once the round is completed, but for now we are taking a look at today's games

FC Inter (7th) FC Lahti (9th), Sunday 6:30 PM

As the league table indicates, both sides are underperforming.

Click to continue reading...

Full rounds are for losers, so instead, Veikkausliiga continues with Wednesday's three games, all of which kick off at 6:30 PM.

Tampere United (11th) FC Inter (7th)

Inter are a good team on their day, but they can also be a bad team, like last Sunday at HJK. To aggravate the problem, Patrick Bantamoi is suspended for this game because he has apparently been watching too much hockey.

Click to continue reading...

TPS won MYPA 3-1 and Lahti took a 2-1 win over Tampere United. The latter meant that my prediction accuracy fell from 100% to 50% compared to Wednesday's round of games, and I'm too disillusioned to round the games up in any more depth now. I will round them up later, however, once the whole round is over.

Click to continue reading...

Veikkausliiga is kind of in the middle of a break because of the U21 European Championships. "Kind of" here means that in the public view, the league is on a break, but at the same time some fixtures are being played. A good way to get rid of spectators, I have to say.

Last night, MYPA took a 2-0 away win at KuPS.

Click to continue reading...

We apologise for being unable to write a preview of last night's games, but here's an extended round-up to ease the pain.

MYPA - VPS 0-2

I can't help gloryhunting. VPS took a third consecutive win and I just have to support them. If I didn't, I would be scared by them.

Click to continue reading...

FC Inter - VPS

I am just about to hop on the VPS bandwagon. They scored two goals against RoPS on Sunday, a rare treat for their fans, and rumours are circulating that the central market place in Vaasa has already been booked for VPS' title celebrations in October.

Still, Inter are too strong for the Ostrobothnian side.

Click to continue reading...

The Finnish newspapers have been full of talk about Veikkausliiga's apparent 'crisis' in the last few weeks. Domestic football in Finland has long suffered from poor facilities, low attendances, players leaving for richer foreign leagues, but these problems have become more prominent recently, and the football media has not been slow to point out the difficulties.

Click to continue reading...

JJK have had an encouraging start to their first ever campaign in the Finnish top flight. They have already managed to limit TPS, Haka and HJK to draws, and nothing suggests that they could not cause another upset against Honka, especially as Honka have had a poor start to this year's Veikkausliiga.

Click to continue reading...

OK, maybe I am taking a step too far in comparing this 19-year old to mr. Litmanen. Still, what a performance! Riski, or RR10, as his recently innovated nickname goes, beautifully set up TPS's 2-0 winning goal against VPS and also put the ball past Henri Sillanpää himself. He was composed with the ball, passing precisely and setting up a number of chances for his mates.

Click to continue reading...

JJK v HJK, Sunday 6:30pm

This is a tough one to predict. As ever, it all depends on Muurinen's team selection, and the choice between the quick and mobile strikers or the less mobile Mäkelä. He played Mäkelä in the last game, and they got a disappointing draw against Honka, so maybe he will go with a Popovitch-Parikka combination for the JJK game.

Click to continue reading...

NFN caught up with Wayne Brown a week ago, but lazily failed to write up the interview till now. He'd just scored one and set up Christuan Andreasson for the other in Tepsi's 2-0 win over Tampere United, and was in a buoyant mood. He was noticeably more confident with journalists than most Finns his age, unsurprisingly enough for a player from an EPL club, just as he has seemed very comfortable in all the games he's played so far.

Click to continue reading...

Thursday's Veikkausliiga round should not be lacking in emotion on the pitch, as the derby day will dawn in Turku, Pirkanmaa and Helsinki.

Thursday 14 th, 6:30 PM

HJK put in a dismal performance which earned them a 1-0 loss at MyPa. Nevertheless, they have produced good results in the early stages of the campaign and currently top the table together with Inter.

Click to continue reading...

HJK v IFK Mariehamn, Wednesday 6:30pm

This is, somewhat surprisingly, a top of the table clash. IFK have already beaten last season's champions, drawn with one of the favourites for this season, and had a regulation win over wooden spoon-chasers KuPS. This puts them level on points with HJK, who dropped their two points at home to draw specialists TPS.

Click to continue reading...

FC Haka 1 HJK 2

Highlights

MyPa 4 Tampere United 1

Highlights

Inter Turku 1 FF Jaro 0

Highlights

IFK Mariehman 3 KuPS 0

Highlights

FC Lahti 4 RoPS 1

Highlights

The all new Tehttaan kenttä is quite an experience.

Click to continue reading...

Haka v HJK

This is Finland's classico, the game between the historical heavyweights with more titles between them than they know what to do with. It's also Haka's first home game, Sedu Koskinen's first chance to bring the magic of a summer of music festivals and family-friendly entertainment to Tehtaan Kenttä.

Click to continue reading...

Hietalahti, Vaasa, 7 PM Finnish time
Live on Urheilukanava

Hermanni Vuorinen has been reminiscing about Honka's 2005 promotion season ahead of tonight's trip to Vaasa. Back then Honka won a crucial match at Hietalahti, with big Hermanni scoring two goals, and of course Vuorinen has fond memories of the place.

Click to continue reading...

HJK 2 TPS 2

Highlights

Pasi Rautiainen's haircut garnered a lot of headlines when he unveiled it at the Veikkausliiga media event on the eve of the season. The formerly wild-haired TPS coach claimed that his new, clean-cut image was the result of a marital diktat after his wife finally snapped at her husband's barber-aversion.

Click to continue reading...

HJK 2 TPS 2

Highlights

Pasi Rautiainen's haircut garnered a lot of headlines when he unveiled it at the Veikkausliiga media event on the eve of the season. The formerly wild-haired TPS coach claimed that his new, clean-cut image was the result of a marital diktat after his wife finally snapped at her husband's barber-aversion.

Click to continue reading...

The second round of games, similarly to the first, shrank a bit because newly promoted JJK joined the already too long list of teams who had to cancel their opening fixture. VPS and Haka kicked off the round yesterday, with the latter snapping a 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Pietari Holopainen.

Click to continue reading...

The second round of games, similarly to the first, shrank a bit because newly promoted JJK joined the already too long list of teams who had to cancel their opening fixture. VPS and Haka kicked off the round yesterday, with the latter snapping a 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Pietari Holopainen.

Click to continue reading...

IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

Click to continue reading...

IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

Click to continue reading...

IFK Mariehamn 2 Inter Turku 0

The first round of Veikkausliiga threw up a few surprising results, but arguably the biggest shock was Inter Turku's 2-0 defeat in Mariehamn. The manner of defeat was more surprising than the result, as Iner's manager Job Dragtsma pointed out afterwards.

Click to continue reading...

TPS 1 Haka 2

A surprising result at Kupittaa, where TPS ensured that their game at HJK on Thursday will take on a new significance. A defeat there, and it will be hard for coach Rautiainen to avoid a mini-crisis at least. 'New coach, same old TPS' was the headline in Hufvudstadsbladet, while Turun Sanomat went for a more measured 'TPS punished at corners'.

Click to continue reading...

TPS 1 Haka 2

A surprising result at Kupittaa, where TPS ensured that their game at HJK on Thursday will take on a new significance. A defeat there, and it will be hard for coach Rautiainen to avoid a mini-crisis at least. 'New coach, same old TPS' was the headline in Hufvudstadsbladet, while Turun Sanomat went for a more measured 'TPS punished at corners'.

Click to continue reading...

TPS 1 Haka 2

A surprising result at Kupittaa, where TPS ensured that their game at HJK on Thursday will take on a new significance. A defeat there, and it will be hard for coach Rautiainen to avoid a mini-crisis at least. 'New coach, same old TPS' was the headline in Hufvudstadsbladet, while Turun Sanomat went for a more measured 'TPS punished at corners'.

Click to continue reading...

As this opening round of Veikkausliiga has been decimated by pitch related postponements, this preview is dedicated to the two men who have actually done quite a lot to get playable pitches in Finland. Harkimo was instrumental in the construction of Finnair Stadium in Töölö, before selling his stake in the ground andwinding up Jokerit's football club, while Håkans played a similar role in the construction of Veritas Stadium in Kupittaa.

Click to continue reading...

As this opening round of Veikkausliiga has been decimated by pitch related postponements, this preview is dedicated to the two men who have actually done quite a lot to get playable pitches in Finland. Harkimo was instrumental in the construction of Finnair Stadium in Töölö, before selling his stake in the ground andwinding up Jokerit's football club, while Håkans played a similar role in the construction of Veritas Stadium in Kupittaa.

Click to continue reading...