Doing Goals

Here it is. This Sunday, at 4.30pm the 30^th and last round of Allsvenskan 2010 kicks off with the title poised between Malmö and Helsingborg. Obviously the two games to watch will be Malmö v Mjällby and Helsingborg v Kalmar. The two sides are both on 64 points but Malmö have managed to build up a goal difference of 10 over Helsingborg so its fair to say that if they win on Sunday, they’ll win the title. However working against Malmö is the fact that Helsingborg’s opponents have nothing to play for. Mjällby on the other hand still have a chance of qualifying for Europe in the off chance Elfsborg slip up at home to Gais.

Åtvidaberg’s 2-1 lose Mjällby last Monday night ensures they’ll finish the season in the relegation zone and came as great relief to Halmstad, Gais and AIK. The three can now go into the last game of the season knowing there is no risk of going down. There is little hope for BP, while Gelfe and Åtvidaberg’s only chance of staying in the Allsvenskan is to finish 14^th and hopefully survive a play-off against Sundsvall.

Gelfe will be playing away to IFK Göteborg, who seemingly have nothing to play for yet manager Jonas Olsson may think differently as his job seems to be on the line. Considering they started the season as title favourites, 2010 has been a big disappointment for Blåvit. Putting further pressure on his job is the fact that Lars Lagerbäck is looking for a new job and has made it known he’s keen to work in the Allsvenskan. What better club than one of the best supported in the country, and at least on paper, strongest squads? Today he even made it publicly known that he’s “always liked IFK” which is effectively saying he’d take the job if it were offered. The powers to be at IFK have hardly given Olsson their full backing either – when confronted with questions on Olsson’s future, they’ve only come back by pointing out he has a year left on his contract. Not much of an endorsement. A poor performance against Gelfe might be all they need to make a switch.

In other news, the Royal League might be back as soon as this winter. For those new to Scandinavian football, this was a short-lived knockout competition involving the top four sides from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It was forced to shut down in 2007 due to an inability to find a sponsor, but there is a chance of bringing back if they include teams from other countries who also have a preseason during the winer. Such as Russia, Finland…and eh, Faroe Islands?

This morning Aftonbladet also ran an article claiming the SM-Guld trophy, the same one that Malmö and Helsingborg are playing for this weekend, has a deep secret. Allegedly the text “Bajen Forever” has been engraved on the inside of the trophy ever since Hammarby won it in 2001. No doubt an engraver somwhere in either Malmö or Helsingborg can expect a call on Monday morning.

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Tags: AIK, GAIS, Gelfe, Hammarby, Helsingborg, IF Elfsborg, IFK Göteborg, Jonas Olsson, Lars Lagerbäck, Malmö FF, Mjällby, Royal League, Åtvidaberg

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 9:25 pm and is filed under Weekly Round Up. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.