On Friday, soon-to-be-former FC Edmonton midfielder Matt Lam issued a statement to The 11, regarding his suspension which has seen him spend the last month of the season getting paid to stay at home.

The club announced Thursday — while the first team is on a road trip that will see it face Atlanta on Saturday — that Sinkgraven and Schrijver’s contracts will be extended through to the end of the 2013 season.

Shaun Saiko enjoyed one of his finest days as a professional player, as he scored all of the goals as FC Edmonton got its first win of the season, downing the Carolina RailHawks 3-0 at Clarke Stadium.

But, Lam won’t be ready when the NASL team reconvenes Jan. 9 after the Christmas break. He will undergo shoulder surgery. He separated his shoulder playing in Japan, and it’s not the first time he’s had an issue there. Petrone said the club isn’t overly concerned about the injury — but the rehab should delay his reunion with his FCE mates till at least mid-February.

FC Edmonton coach Hans Schrijver sat down and chatted with The 11 about his decision to come back to the club, his dismissal at Japanese side JEF United, and about how much the team has progressed in the year that he was gone.

Hans Schrijver is returning to Edmonton. FC Edmonton’s former Dutch assistant coach is the team’s new Dutch assistant coach. The NASL side announced Schrijver’s hiring Thursday afternoon.

FC Edmonton fans could be dealing with mixed emotions; they want to see midfielder and hometown hero Matt Lam succeed on the international stage, but they’d also love to see him back in Edmonton for the 2012 NASL season. Lam didn’t dress this weekend as JEF United played its second game after coaches Dwight Lodeweges and Hans Schrijver were sacked by the team. The Japanese second-division side lost 1-0 to Tosu, as it continued its slide down the standings.

FC Edmonton will find out on New Year’s Eve whether or not midfielder Matt Lam will be returning to the NASL club or staying in Japan. But, FCE president Tom Leip confirmed that the club has exercised the option on Lam’s contract. If Lam comes back, FCE would have him on the books for the 2012 season.

Edmonton native Matt Lam started and played 62 minutes for JEF United as Japanese football got back on its feet Sunday. Lam, on loan from FC Edmonton to the second-division Japanese side, which is one of the favourites to earn promotion back to the top flight, got the start in a 3-0 win over FC Tokyo. It marked the first competitive game for either team since the devastating earthquake and tsunami killed tens of thousands in Japan.

Matt Lam had just returned home from a training session when the earthquake struck. Even though Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo, was nearly 400 kilometres from the epicentre of the 9.0 temblor that triggered the tsunami that has claimed thousands of lives, the Canadian midfielder — and his mother, who was visiting at the time — they understood the gravity of the situation. “The whole building rocked back and forth,” said Lam, who is back in Edmonton, training on his own, after his club, JEF United, decided to send players home after the quake. “Even though we were 350, 400 kilometres from the epicentre, we could really feel the shake.”