Perhaps they'd be better utilised as drought-breakers, as for the third game in a row at "Outsourcing Stadium Nihondaira," Shimizu S-Pulse were forced to run out in the wet - although it didn't prevent them from avenging last season's League Cup final defeat as they beat Oita Trinita 3-1.

Yet again thousands of ticket holders failed to turn out in steady rain lashing the Nihondaira foothills, meaning that the near-16,500 tickets sold before the match counted for little when only 13,141 fans braved the conditions... not that the club loses a great deal of money from those ticket holders who don't show.

At any rate, the result on the pitch was surely a foregone conclusion in this one.

Taikai Uemoto. Yuki Fukaya. Roberto. Edmilson. Ueslei. Daiki Takamatsu. Yasuhito Morishima. Shunsuke Maeda. Those were just the Oita players who MISSED the game through suspension or injury (seven of whom are first team regulars).

So it was that Oita ran out with a team featuring squad numbers 25, 28, 32, 33 and 34, with a new-look formation and two midfielders playing up front. They didn't have much hope.

Shimizu defender Keisuke Iwashita got the scoring under way with a routine header from a corner on the quarter-hour mark, but what Iwashita brings to the team in terms of aerial ability and defensive positioning is surely wasted when the fragile defender goes down at every single opportunity. I've seen wet paper bags with a stronger disposition than the delicate Iwashita - not surprisingly he limped off after the hour mark with another mysterious injury.

Iwashita was just one of several Shimizu players to be targeted by irate S-Pulse fans in this game, but the hosts hit Oita with a classic one-two punch as Frode Johnsen fashioned a half-chance just three minutes after Iwashita's goal, with the big Norwegian volleying a finish between the luckless Shusaku Nishikawa's legs.

Shimizu looked like they could win this game at a canter, but Oita found a way back when the tireless Daisuke Takahashi cushioned an expert header in off the post just before the break, to ensure that the two teams still had plenty to play for in the second half.

With the rain increasing and the hosts content to sit back and try and hit Oita on the break in the second half, it was no surprise that the bounce of the ball played a pivotal role in settling this encounter. Midway through the half Frode Johnsen's speculative twenty-five yard strike took a late deflection to wrong-foot Shusaku Nishikawa in the Oita goal and skid into the corner to end the scoring.

Johnsen was named Man of the Match for his efforts, although the former Nagoya striker received little supporter from fellow front-man Kazuki Hara - who struggled to impose himself on this game. Indeed, the decision to play Japan international Shinji Okazaki as a wide-lying midfielder appeared to backfire, with neither Hara, nor Okazaki influencing the outcome of this relatively one-sided affair. 

A win is a win, as they say, but there was a palpably hostile atmosphere on the terraces. Perhaps Shimizu fans are simply tired of turning out in the rain, although the catcalls aimed at coach Kenta Hasegawa would suggest otherwise. Hasegawa may be living on borrowed time, and he will need to work diligently to win back the trust of Shimizu's frustrated fans - with two-thirds of the season still to contest.

After last weekend's disappointing 3-1 defeat to Nagoya Grampus, it was nice to see Shimizu S-Pulse turn things around with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Kyoto Sanga in the Shizuoka side's League Cup opener.

Unlike Kyoto - who were hammered 3-1 in the snow by Montedio Yamagata in midweek - last season's League Cup finalists Shimizu S-Pulse were afforded a bye in the opening round of fixtures, meaning that Kenta Hasegawa's side were always likely to be fresher than a Kyoto side playing its second away game in the space of four days. 

To rub salt into Kyoto wounds, Japan international Shinji Okazaki returned from his five-minute cameo against Bahrain in a World Cup qualifier the previous evening, to further bolster former striker Hasegawa's attacking options - albeit from the bench.

As it was, the hosts opened the scoring through the unlikeliest of sources, as stand-in full-back Jumpei Takaki found himself one-on-one with Kyoto keeper Yuichi Mizutani, before keeping his cool and producing the most composed of finishes... to the astonishment of the the 11,281 fans who turned out at Nihondaira, and no doubt Takaki himself. 

The hosts always looked likely to double their advantage against an off-colour "Purple" Sanga, but try as the S-Pulse midfield could to set up Frode Johnsen for his first goal in an orange jersey, the big Norwegian simply could not find a way to open his account for his new club.

Johnsen directed one free header straight at Mizutani midway through the second half, and it was left to the reliable Takuma Edamura to sweep home Shimizu's second and send the home fans off with a spring in their step. 

I watched the game with Gora - blogmeister of Kyoto Sanga fansite Oretachi no Kyoto - and he assures me that Kyoto fans won't be heartbroken by their second consecutive League Cup defeat, since avoiding relegation is very much the modus operandi for the Kansai club.

But with S-Pulse fans still sporting a bitter taste from last season's League Cup final defeat at the hands of Oita Trinita, they'll be hoping to go one better this time around and pick up a long-awaited piece of silverware, as Kenta Hasegawa looks to sate the trophy thirst of the Shimizu faithful.

180 minutes, no goals.

It's been a spluttering start to the new season for Shimizu S-Pulse, and the long-ball football on display as the Shizuoka side ground to a second successive scoreless draw at home to Yokohama F. Marinos didn't exactly impress the home fans.

A crowd of 19,172 turned out at the newly renamed "Outsourcing Stadium Nihondaira," but many of them left disgruntled following a display in which S-Pulse spent much of the game on the back foot.

Stand-in keeper Yohei Nishibe pulled off a string of first half saves, the most impressive of which saw him claw a thunderous drive from Marinos playmaker Koji Yamase out of the top corner. 

It wasn't until the second half introduction of Brazilian midfielder Marcos Paulo that S-Pulse started to push forward, but the team's penchant for knocking long balls toward lanky new striker Frode Johnsen failed to pay off, as the Norwegian spent a frustrating afternoon failing to connect with strike partner Shinji Okazaki.

Okazaki and captain Akihiro Hyodo looked the most dangerous players on display for the hosts, but it was talisman Jungo Fujimoto - who made his long-awaited return as a substitute having recovered from a broken leg - who almost snatched a late winner. He saw his dinked effort cleared off the line with less than three minutes remaining.

Marinos, for their part, were far more resolute than the team that conceded four goals in going down 4-2 to newly promoted Sanfrecce Hiroshima at home last weekend. 

Nevertheless the Tricolore looked bereft of a goal-scorer, with youngster Kazuma Watanabe toiling tirelessly without ever really looking likely to hit the back of the net.

All in all a disappointing start for both teams, and with the popular Frode Johnsen no doubt desperate to open his account for the new campaign, he will hope to do so when he takes on the club he left in January as S-Pulse travel to Mizuho Stadium to take on Nagoya Grampus next Sunday afternoon. 

Shimizu S-Pulse have pulled off a real coup, in my opinion, with the announcement that Kenta Hasegawa's side have lured disgruntled ex-Urawa Reds striker Yuichiro Nagai to Nihondaira Stadium.

Nagai has real pedigree - he came up through the youth ranks at Urawa before playing almost 300 games for the Saitama side, and scored four goals during a season-long loan spell at 2.Bundesliga club Karlsruher SC in the late nineties. 

He's also played four times for his country and was named the Player Of The Tournament in the 2007 AFC Champions League, but after being confined to a bit-part role by now departed coach Gert Engels last season, Nagai has departed in a huff to take up a new challenge in Shimizu. 

Nagai will be welcomed with open arms by a club that has released Brazilian attackers Fernandinho and Marcos Aurelio, while the bullocking Takuro Yajima has signed on with Kawasaki Frontale and veteran Akinori Nishizawa has departed for J2 to link up with his former club Cerezo Osaka.

S-Pulse already possess Japanese youngsters Shinji Okazaki - who recently made his full international debut - and Kazuki Hara up front, while Norwegian veteran Frode Johnsen has also inked a deal in Shimizu, as the club look to return to rediscover the form they displayed during Korean striker Cho Jae-Jin's goal-laden spell at the club.

Nagai could be just the kind of player to propel S-Pulse into the AFC Champions League.

He's vastly experienced, deceptively quick, has a good finish and, perhaps most importantly, Nagai has a point to prove.

Like several other Urawa players he grew increasingly disillusioned with the back-room politics threatening to split the Reds star-studded squad apart. Rather than play second fiddle to Edmilson and Naohiro Takahara - who both endured decidedly mediocre campaigns in 2008 - Nagai will instead look to stamp his authority on Shimizu S-Pulse.

At just 29 he's arguably still got his best football in front of him.

He may have arrived from the hated Reds, but Shimizu S-Pulse fans won't care. Yuichiro Nagai is in the prime of his career. Here's hoping that his link-up with S-Pulse proves a match made in heaven.

I like Frode Johnsen. There, I said it! I've been an unashamed fan of the Norwegian striker ever since I first laid eyes on him in the J. League.

Maybe it's because as an Aussie I'm used to watching the kind of all-action, elbows-out, heart-on-your-sleeve (and whatever other cliché you can think of that describes a physical striker) footballer that Johnsen undoubtedly is. 

But if football is a game of opinions - and that too, it most certainly is - then it is my steadfast opinion that Frode Johnsen dived to win his Nagoya Grampus side a penalty that keeps the Aichi-based outfit in the title race.

And it wasn't just any kind of dive. It was one of those desperate, lunging, spectacularly cringe-worthy, I've-already-watched-Keiji-Tamada-tumble-ten-times-and-he's-gettin'-nothing type dives that would only fool an innocent Tibetan monk and your average J. League referee. The thought that Blind Freddy could have spotted this dive springs to mind, but then it appears that Blind Freddy was refereeing at Nishikyogoku Stadium when Johnsen took his theatrical tumble, although closer inspection reveals that the hapless official was actually Hajime Matsuo.

Johnsen's acting skills went as far as being able to haul himself off the ground without cackling hysterically (there wasn't even so much as a wry smile on his face!) and like all great football villains, the normally likeable Norwegian promptly stepped up to bury the resultant spot-kick a mere five minutes into seven minutes (naturally) worth of stoppage time.

If I were a Kyoto Sanga fan - and they were packed in like the proverbial sardines to a crowd of 18,355 at a heaving Nishikyogoku on Sunday - I'd be mightily annoyed with one Frode Johnsen. But then I'm not a Kyoto fan. Sorry kids... them's the breaks.

Closer analysis of my deep-seated affection for said Johnsen reveals that the ex-Norwegian international looks set to be playing his football at Nihondaira Stadium next season. Or should I say, "Outsourcing Stadium?" That's right, Shimizu S-Pulse have sold the naming rights to Nihondaira Stadium for a cool 360 million yen, with some of the proceeds likely to go towards luring Nagoya's out-of-contract Norwegian up the Tōkaidō Road to Shimizu. 

Johnsen is the logical replacement for former South Korean star Cho Jae-Jin, whose goals were outsourced (sorry folks, it can only go downhill from here) to Brazilian midget Marcos Aurélio at the start of this season... with disastrous results. Marcos Aurélio has now troubled the scorers on the grand total of zero occasions, while current Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors front man Jae-Jin is rumoured to be on his way to Gamba Osaka next season, paving the way for the triumphant arrival of Johnsen in Shimizu.

Since I've got no doubt that Johnsen himself is frantically refreshing this page on an hourly basis as he seeks the esteemed approval of your's truly, I'll say this, "Frode, I know you're capable of scoring more than 0 goals a season. Practically anyone is. Heck, even Masashi Nakayama got on the scoresheet again this season." 

But lest old Frode be unaware of just what Shimizu's passionate supporters expect of him, I'll leave him with a subtle reminder. Listed below is the score the last time time Nagoya came up against an S-Pulse side fielding the kind of striker who can put away the service that Daisuke Ichikawa and Arata Kodama are capable of producing.

Shimizu S-Pulse 3 - 0 Nagoya Grampus (October 6, 2007)

Cho Jae-Jin 28'

Cho Jae-Jin 49'

Cho Jae-Jin 77'

Over to you, Frode.