Nishino Appointed as New Manager

The club announced the appointment of Akira Nishino (57) last night as the new manager of Vissel Kobe. The contract, worth 70 million yen in annual salary, runs through to the end of the 2013 season. Nishino, who has spent the last 6 months cleansing himself of the blue scum that had built up over 10 years at the dark side, commented that he hadn't realized how hard being free would be, and he was looking forward to getting back on the pitch where he belongs. I suspect Nishino had his heart set on joining the good guys long before it even became rumor and the fact that he turned down an offer from that other bunch of red scumbags in Saitama supports this notion. When asked about his reasons for choosing Vissel, Nishino said that, "I felt motivated to join a club with international ambitions. I want to reach the top of Asian football once more (with a better club)."

Mikitani (L), Nishino (R)