[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFHP0ocQbLo"]YouTube - AIK - Halmstad 2011 Highlights‏[/ame] Miller played the full game again in central defence today as Halmstad continued their journey towards relegation with a 0-4 loss away against AIK. All four goals were scored by former USL/PDL player Teteh Bangura and the reports indicate that the Halmstad defence were awful once again. The one positive thing for the club was that the two teams above them also lost their games this round.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSFUgbjV_ts"]Halmstad - Elfsborg 2011 Highlights‏ - YouTube[/ame] Another soulcrushing defeat for Halmstad today as Elfsborg managed to score the game winning goal in the sixth minute of added on time. Miller played the full game again and I thought he looked solid, better then the last couple of times I've seen him this season. After watching this game though I really think it would take a small miracle for Halmstad to avoid relegation. The team have only managed to collect 7 points in the 17 games played so far, that translates to 0.41 points/game and to make a comparison even the worst Allsvenskan last place finisher of the latest 20 years had an average of 0.50 points/game.
Today's 1-0 loss was the second straight game Miller was out of the squad, and the third straight that he did not play in. Halmstads are 12 points from safety which is two more points than what they have earned from their first 21 games.
Their starting right back is one of the few good players that Halmstad have and pretty much all their central defenders are weak so they were desperate to try anything. Not only is he left out of the squad, but the player who replaced him is the assistant manager who have been retired from football for over two years Probably not a highpoint in Millers career, but pretty telling of the state of things in Halmstad. They are almost certain to be relegated now, it will be interesting to see if they start selling off players to save the clubs economy in this window already if they lose another couple of games.
Miller made his first appearance in almost a month coming on during the 88th minute in a 1-0 win over Trelleborg
There were rumours last week that Miller was going to return to his previous club, Ljungskile. But like you said he was back in the squad this round for Halmstad which I guess means that he will be staying.
After seeing 20 minutes as a substitute last Monday in a 2-2 draw with Gefle, Miller returned to the starting lineup today in a 1-0 loss to Kalmar.
I watched the game and I thought Miller had an ok performance. The game overall was very typical for Halmstad this season, in the first 20 minutes they had five good scoring opportunities without getting a goal and then Kalmar score on their first chance after the Halmstad defence left the path wide open for a Kalmar player. Here are the highlights: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYnaGnGKQBs"]Kalmar FF - Halmstads BK 2011 Highlights - YouTube[/ame] This result means that it's almost set in stone that Halmstad will be relegated as they are nine points behind the relegation playoff spot with only five more games to play. Also the two teams above them still have an extra game left to play.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gg0LSJcRN4"]Halmstad - Syrianska 0-1 Goal - YouTube[/ame] Halmstads well deserved relegation is now a fact after todays 0-1 loss against fellow bottom club Syrianska. As expected this was not a pretty game, neither team showed much quality but Syrianska had slightly more fighting spirit. Halmstad on the other hand just look so very, very empty. Miller didn't have the greatest of first halfs and also provided the header assist to Syrianskas goal (although I don't think he can be blamed for it since it was pretty random). In the second half he was less noticeable. This results ends Halmstads 19 straight seasons in the swedish top tier. Code: Mjällby AIF 27 9 4 14 28-38 31 IFK Norrköping 26 8 6 12 29-43 30 ------------------------------------------------------- Syrianska FC 27 8 3 16 27-41 27 ------------------------------------------------------- Trelleborgs FF 26 7 3 16 37-57 24 [B]Halmstads BK 27 3 5 19 23-52 14[/B]
The 2011 Swedish Allsvenskan season came to an end today. Halmstads finished the year bottom of the table with 14 points from 30 games. Miller played in 16 games (11 starts) and picked up one yellow card. He also started one and came off the bench in the other of Halmstads's two cup games. I believe he saw most of his time as a center back this year. Halmstads gave up 58 goals which was 2nd worst in the league.
With their loss in todays final game Halmstad became the worst team to have played in Allsvenskan since the 1989 season. This was the climax of the downward slope that the club has been on for the last three years or so. They have declared their intent to cut their costs by one third for next season so we will see what that will mean for the squad (and Miller who still has one more year to go on his contract).
Time for a preaseason update on Ryan Miller and Halmstad. As you may or may not remember the club had a disastrous season last year and was relegated to Superettan (swedens second division). Miller also had a rough time moving in an out of the starting eleven and spending alot of time in central defence instead of right back. He also received some flack from the fans for his performances. The current reports out of Halmstad is very different though as the new season approaches. Things have really changed and Miller is instead being praised by the fans for his great form right now at right back, with some people even saying that he's been one of their best players so far this preseason. The club has four straight wins in their most recent games and a total of zero goals conceded in those games. Miller has started eight out of nine preseason games so far. Of course he has already performed very well at this level before when he was with Ljungskile, so things are looking positive for the 2012 season. Alot of players have left the club during the winter, many of whom where starters, but considering last years result that might not be a negative. The replacements that have been brought in generally seem to be of high second division standards so the team should still be very competitive in Superettan. Here's how the bookmakers currently rank the teams in the league: Code: Trelleborgs FF 1 1 1 1 1 [B]Halmstads BK 2 2 2 2 2 [/B]------------------------------------------- Assyriska 3 3 3 3 5 ------------------------------------------- Hammarby IF 4 4 4 5 3 Jönköpings Södra 5 5 5 4 6 Brommapojkarna 6 6 7 8 4 Landskrona BoIS 7 8 6 6 7 Öster 9 7 9 7 8 Ängelholms FF 8 9 8 9 9 Falkenbergs FF 10 11 10 10 11 Ljungskile SK 11 10 11 11 10 Degerfors IF 12 12 12 12 14 ------------------------------------------- IFK Värnamo 13 13 13 13 12 IK Brage 14 14 14 14 15 ------------------------------------------- Varbergs BoIS 15 15 15 15 13 Umeå FC 16 16 16 16 16 (Bet365, Betsafe, Expekt, Nordicbet and Unibet)
I thought Miller was one of the better Halmstad players today as they lost 0-1 against Hammarby. There were not that many good performances from his teammates to compete with though. He also both got pushed into the advertisment boards which fell over and then got a yellow card for grabbing the opponents crotch in another duel with a Hammarby player.
I have a total of 13 Americans playing in Sweden divisions 1-4. Anyone know of a good follow in English for Swedish soccer news? or omissions from the below list? Baggio Husidic - Hammarby IF Ryan Miller - Halmstads BK Samuel Petrone - Mjanllby AIF Billy Schuler - Hammarby IF Stefan Jerome - Nykopings BIS Matt Pyzdrowski - Angelholms FF Brian Edwards - Degerfors IF Brian Span - Djurgardens IF Jordan Seabrook - Enkopings SK Lester Dewee - Angelholms FF Paul Torres - Nykopings BIS Steffen Vroom - Ljungskile SK Patrick Hopkins - Ljungskile SK Shaquille Phillips - Nykopings BIS
This is my current list, though there are almost certainly others who we haven't found or who are still finalizing deals: Dewee Lester 1992 Ängelholms FF Edwards Brian 1984 Degerfors IF Gracia Ryan 1990 Bodens BK Hopkins Patrick Ljungskile SK Husidic Adis "Baggio" 1987 Hammarby Fotboll Jerome Stefan 1992 Nyköpings BIS Lane Patrick "Pat" 1988 Karlstad BK Miller Ryan 1984 Halmstads BK Noble Seth "T.S." 1981 Friska Viljor FC Petrone Samuel 1989 Mjällby AIF Phillips Shaquille Kyle 1992 Nyköpings BIS Pyzdrowski Matt 1986 Ängelholms FF Schuler Billy 1990 Hammarby Fotboll Seabrook Jordan 1987 Enköpings SK Span Brian "Cobi" 1992 Djurgårdens IF Stadler Andrew 1988 Sandvikens IF Vroom Steffen 1986 Ljungskile SK Ward Mackenzie "Mack" 1988 Friska Viljor FC There are about another dozen or so guys whose whereabouts I'm trying to pin down.
Since Jersey Fillers was compiling a list of levels 1-4, I just wanted to mention that Friska Viljor is in the 5th tier of Swedish football to avoid any confusion.
For you guys I'll go deeper, is there an 8th level swedish league lol. I added Lane, Gracia, and then Helm(free-agent). They should be up on the site by now.
Jersey Fillers, what are you actually doing with these names? It would take me about 2 seconds to sort my list of current YAs by country and publish that here.
Well I created a sortable list at http://jerseyfillers.com/?page_id=195 I couldnt find one so I made it. Its a bit of work but I like having the reference tool, i think it will help. This forum is pretty useful as well.
Greg Rosenthal is not on the list, he has returned for a second season with GUSK (Gamla Upsala Sportklubb) in the fourth tier. Anthony Allison has also just signed for a club in the fourth tier.