Gone But Not Forgotten: Unrenewed Contracts

Today, the club officially announced 8 people who will not be returning for the 2008 season. Some of those announced (and unannounced) are a bit surprising. Notably, midfielder Biju has not been announced as leaving, so perhaps he'll stay on after making massive contributions in the back line. Most of the players who have played in the last half of the season remain on at this point. Those leaving will likely find work in J2 clubs or J. League hopeful non-league clubs, or perhaps the two former Brazilian club members would return to that country. Obviously some players may have opted to leave for more money elsewhere.

Those announced as not returning:

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MF 2 篠　福太郎　（Fukutaro Shino）
Not very surprising, as he saw no play time all year. He previously played professionally in Brazil and can speak Portuguese, but on defense he was slow and just could not fit. He did score one goal against FC Tokyo in a satellite match.

DF 5 初田　真也　（Shinya Hatta）
He's tall and did fairly well in the matches he played in. In a team that is transitioning from defensive to action style, though, competent players feel the axe.

FW 8 エジナウド　（Edinaldo）
One of the most promising announcements at the start of the season was that a new young Brazilian striker was signed. He never became a starter, though, and proved less than effective.

FW 9　鈴木　孝明　（Takaaki Suzuki）
A talented player who started on occasion, Suzuki just lagged behind the other forwards in comparison. Three players named Suzuki on the field at once made things confusing, too...

DF 18 金　基洙　（Ki-Su Kim）
This was surprising as he has been a hard working player and often played as a starter or on the bench. One possible factor is his lack of Japanese citizenship, which I feel likely is a choice on his part. With his spot opened, it allows a new foreign player in.

GK 21 武田　博行　（Hiroyuki Takeda）
The second string goalkeeper didn't perform well this year and was surpassed by Harada in quality play. The team likely will bring up a youth team keeper to be the new #3.

FW 27 岩舘　侑哉　（Yuya Iwadate）
Somewhat surprising despite the lack of scoring. His only goal came against an already weakened Tokyo Verdy in May. With Nishino and Shiozawa excelling this year and a hot rookie Mitsuru Mansho coming up next year, it is indeed hard to see where he would fit in.

Coach 前田　秀樹　（Hideki Maeda）
This one was known for a while but still unfortunate. It's hard to see who will take his place.