Just over a week ago TamU-K was still training outdoors at Pyynikki, but as the pictures taken Sunday afternoon tell you, that’s no longer possible. Winter arrived to Tampere in one fell swoop over the weekend, and it probably means the end of training on a full-sized field for several weeks. Shamefully, Tampere has no heated outdoors pitches that could be used through the winter, and even indoors facilities are very limited in comparison to the number of teams that would like to use them. The forecast has temperatures below -10 C (or below 15 F) for the next few days, and subzero temperatures are likely to continue for quite a bit longer. Pyynikki and many other outdoors fields are being converted for ice skaters and hockey players

On a more positive note, the club has signed two new players and re-signed three from last season. Our goal keeper situation is now sorted with the re-signing of Henry Friman. He will be a very solid backup for Ilkka Innola, who will presumably play all matches for which he’ll be available. Indeed, I hear that the club is looking for solutions for finding playing time for Friman in case minutes are tough to come by with TamU-K.

The other two re-signed players are Nawar Karikuss and Mohammed El-Harrak. Both were solid contributors last season, and occasionally even broke into the starting lineup. Karikuss is very skilled, and became more and more valuable during last season as he learned how to play in TamU-K’s system. El-Harrak has a sublime touch on the ball, and might be best remembered for his excellent one-touch pass for the 4-2 goal in the promotion final, the goal that solidified our promotion. Both typically play on the wing, so these are exactly the kind of offensive players that we needed to sign.

Jacin Dakkaki is a very interesting new player for us. He is a young player that comes to us from Vierasjoukkue, a team that played in Kutonen last season. He was one of their key players, and scored 12 goals on a team that posted six wins, nine losses and one tie. Indeed, that was almost half of all goals scored by Vierasjoukkue. It will be interesting to see what he can do in a better team in a division one step higher.

The other new player signed is the coach’s twin brother Vesa Suonsyrjä, who played last season for FC Melody in Vitonen. As far as I understand, he not only looks like his brother, but is also very similar as a player. He is likely to play in central defense or in a defensive midfield role, so this signing further solidifies the central axis for us.

All in all things are looking good for next season. We now have 15 players under contract, and we have not yet even taken a look at all of the new players who were announced to join TamU-K in winter training, as injuries and various personal issues have kept some players away until we resume training on a full-size indoors field in January. There are also seven more unsigned players from last season training with the team, and I expect that at least a few of them will get a contract for next season as well.