Berat Sadik heading south?

This blog is a long-standing supporter of Berat Sadik, and so we were over several moons when he made his debut for the national team last week. He looks set to move abroad as well, with interest from Palermo, Bielefeld and Larissa making it difficult for Lahti to hang onto him.

His contract expires at the end of this season, but has an option for 2009 – either party can cancel that in July, though. That means he will not bring in too much revenue for Lahti if and when he does move on, an all too familiar scenario for Finnish clubs.

Sadik played for a strong Under 21 side that beat Poland in Jyväskylä last night. In front of a crowd of around 1,400, he came on for Jarno Parikka late in the game with Finland already leading through Nicholas Otaru’s 58th minute goal. Perparim Hetemaj, Mehmet Hetemaj, Tim Sparv and Tomi Petrescu all played.

If all of them stay fit and firing there is a good chance Finland will get into the play-offs for the 2009 European Championships, which will take place in and around Gothenburg. To be sure of finishing top, they need to win both remaining games against Denmark (in Turku on the 9th of September) and away against Slovenia four days later.

The senior Finland team is in much worse shape right now. The game against Belarus was scrappy and disjointed, and only a last minute equaliser from Tony Kallio saved their blushes. Afterwards Baxter mentioned that he wants to achieve a 4-1-4-1 formation, in an effort to achieve better structure in the team. The ‘dress rehearsal’ for the World Cup qualifying campaign will be against Israel on the 20th of August in Tampere. Baxter should be playing his first choice team then.

Eremenko Jr. caught drunk driving

Alexei Eremenko jr. will not be playing against Belarus on Monday after being caught drunk driving in Pietarsaari a week ago. The Finnish FA made the only right decision and put Eremenko aside for the match against Belarus.

That’s ugly enough already, but according to Iltalehti, Eremenko is whining about the situation.  He says he will not play in the national team for a long time. “There are good players who can do the job”, he says.
He has made an ass out of himself before and I wonder if he’s got limits at all. Anyway, it is too bad the national team has to suffer from what he has done. He did not even bother telling Stuart Baxter before Thursday’s match against Turkey – and he played crappily.

I hope he gets his act together, because he is undoubtedly a talent. However, I’m not too confident, knowing his background.

Other than that, Stuart Baxter has promised a decent show, according to today’s Turun Sanomat. It is a friendly, but the match still has some significance, given the fact that Baxter is still looking for his first win as Finland head coach and tonight will be the team’s first home appearance with him at the helm.

I am not sure if a stream is available, but for those in Finland, the game is on Canal+ at 7 PM (GMT +2).