Jos Hooiveld becomes local hero - again !

Jos Hooiveld has returned to "his spiritual home" - so it seems to the Swedish sport media after his surprise return to Stockholm club ..AIK.

Dagens Nyheter carried a full page story on Jos' return to Stockholm-based side AIK, where the club has revived its fortunes after several very bleak seasons.

Despite picking up an injury in his first game, Jos came back with a bang and fitted in like the proverbial missing jigsaw piece in the AIK defence.

Last week's derby game against rivals Djurgården was played in front of almost 40,000 fans, and highlighed by Jos' outstanding defensive role - even after AIK were reduced to 10 men - they still won the game.

The article highlighted his career in 6 countries, and his return to AIK (he said) was made easier by the reunion with some former players (from 2009).

Speaking about his 4 years at Saints - " that it was a good time for him and he enjoyed playing in the Prem."

A hectic period last week was highlighted by an overnight stay in hospital - as a guest - whilst his WAG (?) gave birth to their son Teun, but he still managed to turn out for AIK and put in a good display (against Anders Svensson's Elfsborg side), and has quickly become a fans' favourite with his very positive attitude.

His former time at AIK was amongst his career highlights, when he was a key part of the AIK side that won the double of League and Swedish Cup in 2009, and AIK was never quite the same after his departure to Celtic. Jos had an unhappy stay at Celtic, marred first by injury and then a change of management and suddenly his face didn't fit. However, his transfer to Saints early in the Championship season proved to be a God send, where he and Jose Fonte held the CB spots and helped keep 18 clean sheets(?) when we were promoted.

His contribution in the two league games against West Ham - when he scored twice (1-0) (1-1), ensured we got enough points for automatic promotion, whilst the Hammers were left to fight out the play-offs to get the third spot. Sadly, Jos was not alone in failing to find his best form in the top tier, and although he made some heroic performances, he lacked the consistancy that is so important in the Premier League.

There is a nice clip on You Tube, highlighting his time with Saints, where his tally of 8 goals (all scored without penalties) in our Championship season is some sort of club record for a Saints CB.

At 32, Jos will be well-suited to the slightly lower level of the Swedish League, and Stockholmers' will certainly look forward to seeing more of him playing for AIK in the remaining 10 games of the Swedish season.....and hopefully..... in the next couple of years of his contract.

P:S. during the afternooon watched AIK beat Kalmar 2-1 with Jos commanding at the back, and AIK move to top of the table - (at least temporarily).

Top 6 teams are only separated by 3 points, so we are in for a grandstand finish to the season in Sweden.

Thanks, nice to hear.

love the Jos

hate the AIK