Our previous seasons have had very simple themes. In 2012 in Kutonen we dropped a few points early on, and from then on we had to win all our remaining matches in order to secure promotion. The recurring theme in this blog was that we always were in the position where we would get promoted if we won all our remaining matches. In Vitonen last year it was even simpler: deep into the second half of the season the question was if we were going to drop any points, and promotion was never in any sort of real doubt.

In both of those seasons more or less all supporters had a clear expectation that the team would get promoted. This year the approach is more cautious. We know that we have a good team that could achieve anything if things click, but at the same time Nelonen is a tough division where multiple teams openly talk about the goal of getting promoted. Even after two matches it is impossible to say where this season might be going.

Right now teams have played 2-4 matches, and all of them have dropped at least some points. This is something new to us. In fact, there have been some very surprising results, such as the 1-1 draw between LeKi-futis and UrPS on Friday. It seems that we’ll have to wait until at least June to get clear picture who the top teams in Nelonen will be.

All this withstanding, I feel pretty confident in saying that our next two matches will set the tone for our season. Today we face Nekalan Pallo (NePa) at home in Pyynikki Stadium, and a week later on Friday we will travel to Valkeakoski to play against VaKP. Both of these teams are likely candidates for promotion, and at least NePa has openly mentioned that as their goal. After 19 consecutive seasons in Nelonen (yes indeed!) I will not blame them for that.

Our lineup might be a little bit interesting this afternoon, because quite a few midfielders and wingers are missing. Anssi Saiha and Joonas Kupiainen are still injured, and so are Andrea Milanti and Juha Kumara. I’ve even heard rumblings about Jan Riikonen starting on the bench due to a more minor problem that was not specified. If this is indeed the case, we will probably see Jacin Dakkaki on the wing and Eero Sointu starting up top as a striker.

The good thing is that everybody can see all this for themselves. The best option is to come to Pyynikki Stadium at 3:30 pm. I expect a new record attendance for a regular season TamU-K match, because after the New York Times story our club has enjoyed an unprecedented amount of coverage in the local and national media. The second best option is to watch the match live at tamu-k.com/live. The local kick-off time translates to a less than optimal 5.30 am PDT for our friends in Seattle though.