Wrecki’s Monthly Review: July 2009

A pretty heady July with S League schedule came fast and furious before tailing off to a cricus freakshow when English Premier League came to town.

The event organized by the Profitable Group, helmed (not headed) by former Liverpool legend, Steve McMahon with his motley crew from the ESPN EPL show (can’t even remember what’s the name since I had discontinued cable football for ages now) was part of a 2 location South East Asian tour when the Reds will take an opportunity to expand their market here while building fitness for the team before season begin come August.

The whole fiasco began when it looked like the side would be shone of captain Steven Gerrard who was back home for a trial for manhandling a DJ at a nightclub.
Then Rafa Benitez mentioned that he would use his Spainish contingent sparingly after their exertion in the Confederation Cup.
As some mentioned it drew heated reaction the whining nation out of Singapore as they felt robbed for paying so much to see a second string team play.

After Thailand registered a decent 1-1 draw at the Rajamangala National Stadium with Tampines Rovers’ Sutee Suksomkit scoring the equalizer, very few in our island nation felt the Lions would put on a fight of equal standing as of Southeast Asian rivals except for a handful who was been scorned for supporting our home nation.

In the end in front of a live crowd of 50K and TV audiences, our national football held our own against the likes of Babel, Ngog, Agger, Rodriguez, Voronin and Cavelieri, i.e. Liverpool second team until very last minute of the first half when Hassan Sunny let in a deflected goal from Ukraine international Andriy Voronin.

More familiar faces in the Reds rank were added into the fray and Spanish winger Albert Riera made a mess oof our lax marking for the second. Lionel came in for Hassan while Kuyt, Hungarian youngster Nezmeth and of course Fernando Torres in his blonde glory came in and soon it was 5-0 with our defense hitting the self destruct button.

After the dust has settled from the half hearted cup lifting from Jaime Carragher, the footballing fraternity started waging a war of words.
While fervent Lions supporters felt betrayed by the Liverpool fans who claimed themselves as the Singapore Kop or something for not cheering for our national team, I felt they paid the money and they cheer who they wanna cheer.
Additionally, the wretched display from the Lions did not helped their cause as being tagged as the “cannot make it” team by our kindreds.

Anyway all I can say it was a fiasco to play the game which constitute nothing but I do admit our national team had to buck up if not I feel Thailand will punish us dearly come November.
Let’s assess again in August when we meet China for the National Day celebratory cup or something on the 12th.

Back in the S League, SAFFC drew their first game of the season to DPMM (who else), Home United won their first away game against Sengkang Punggol (who else) and then lost their first home fixture while Tampines Rovers’ saw their recent resurgent run brought to a halt by the unfathomable Albirex Niigata (S) who days before lost to Balestier Khalsa.

It was surely rousing to something interesting on the apex of the table standings.
For a while the Warriors looked to pull away at the top after Gombak and DPMM seemed to slow down in their relentless chase until Super Reds, a party popper beat them soundly in a televised match.

With Tampines Rovers on the warpath, they could cut SAFFC’s lead to just 2 points if they had not lost to the White Swan.
However Noh Alam Shah’s surprise suspension for his piqued out at Tampines Stadium against my lovely Dolphins back in March, preparation surely had not been ideal for Vorawan.

It will come down to the mouth-watering top of the table clash at Tampines Stadium on Sunday which surely has to be a must-win for the Stags.

I would say even 5th-placed Super Reds could be in the league title mix if they can maintain such form while Home United would be odd’s on especially they couldn’t fulfill Sivaji’s plea to win all the remaining games.

Balestier Khalsa had been in the news of late too for an overhaul of foreign talents.
They now had 3 South Korean attackers including former Super Reds & DPMM’s Oh Ddog-Yi who evidently will not be on Vjeran Simunic’s Christmas card list as well as Jun Jin and Oh In-Kyun who scored 3 in their first 5 games.
There is also former Australia lower league player Jaime Alan Pitt who also scored on his debut.
However I feel the Tigers might be still able to challenge to the 10th place at most, pushing Sengkang Punggol into familiar terroritory.

For the comprehensive list of mid season transfer, can see here.
Simunic got another compatriot in Drazen Govic might suit his plan rather than Ddog-Yi while Norikazu Murakami’s venture to South Africa was definitely a surprise one.
In the midst of the extensive list, Lloyd Butler who was frozen out by Geylang of late might proved a great deal for Richard Bok if the SAFFC’s gaffer can mold him into the style of another Geylang alumni, Aleksandar Duric.

Let’s see how the league transpired as we head into the final round of games.

S League 2009 Match 22

	Opponent: Woodlands Wellington Date: 30th June, 1945hrs Venue: Woodlands Stadium Final Score: 0-0
A goal less draw ensued at Woodland Stadium which from the report was depicted to be dominated by the Dolphins by Woodlands head coach Nenad Bacina who had no qualms at his team not able to grab all 3 points in their home ground. It did seem our team played to the plan of what Aide had instructed with the home team giving us plenty of spacing to work our passing but ultimately failure to convert any chances resulted in another 2 points loss. Compounded with that game at Balestier Khalsa, we had lost 4 good points of late and that would close the gap to Albirex who is now 5 points safely in 9th position with their recent 3-0 success against high flying Tampines Rovers. Without Indra in the line up, we also had to do without Hiro who came off early in the first half through a shoulder injury which might kept him out for a while. But good thing is that his replacement Shane Neubronner was able to forge a gritty defensive shield before Amos Boon. It’s been a while since we see Mamadou Diallo as well while Anthony only made cameo show of late. We really needed players who can score goals and for Murphy for stop missing chances as depicted if we want to gain more wins. Here’s to the first 20 points but I wonder if we can net another 20 in the remaining 11 matches.

Woodlands Wellington vs Sengkang Punggol : Pre-match

Indra Sahdan and Noh Rahman came off unscathed from the fiasco known as the Liverpool game on Sunday.
I felt compelled to talk about the reaction which did not really surprised me as much when I had the time and feeling better (got a flu the past weekend).

Unscathed was the kind word but virtually our pair of Singapore Lions failed to leave an impression like most of their team on Sunday.
Noh Rahman had a combined effort of one cross which was perhaps one of the best break for attack by the Lions but he hit it too hard beyond the control of his forwards, opposition defenders, the ball boy and even those in Row Z.
Then he contrived to not take notice of Spanish international winger Albert Riera to allow him to score the 2nd goal for the Reds.
It was all down hill for Noh and his fellow defenders to be subjected at the brunt of seemingly humiliation and injustice to what they had managed to do in the first half.

Indra Sahdan came on early in the 2nd period for Noh Alam Shah and despite one speculative shot from 35 yards out, looked out of pace and seemingly overwhelmed by the occasion.

Anyway it mattered little as I would prefer the pair to concentrate more on turning the fortunes of our ailing club back in the S League.

Squaring up against Woodlands Wellington back in their home ground, I anticipate a physical game like when we first met them in Hougang Stadium earlier in the season.
The Rams as I have mentioned umpteen time is a discipline unit and could cause damage which matters but they are fall from unbeatable at home.

We needed to play with the usual high tempo football and keep possession as well as making our chances count in order to get something from the game.

I don’t think we have anyone on suspension list with Nor Azli coming back. I wonder if Jerry would recover in time to face his former team as well.
But Abdoulaye with 6 yellow cards now had to watch himself in pulling those foul if he wanted to face his former employers in Gombak United at home next week.
I do fancy him partnering Hiro and Shane at the back and he surely help amos to deliver a better goal kick.

Rumors had been going on at Indonesian Super League clubs had been sniffing around for Singapore internationals to foray into Indonesian football now that the 2010 would have the “3+2″ foreign scheme in which a club can sign 2 Asian foreign talents.
Noh Rahman and Indra Sahdan are two names high on the trailed list and with the wealth and support of ISL sides, I will not surprise if we lose one or both of our star player eventually.
Once again I hope to be proven wrong

News Flash: Indra clear to play

A piece of pleaasant news for the team was delivered in TODAY papers this morning:

I have never doubted that the club management under the tutelage of new chairman Bill Ng would not move forward to resolve this niggling issue with Indra’s agent at Global Sports Group.

Many bystandars naturally raised the comment of the following:

“Hey Sengkang Punggol is the Manchester City of S League mah, why can’t they just cough out a measly $6,000?”

For information, Sengkang Punggol is definitely not the Manchester City or what so ever. The finance of the club had not been as people thought oozing with cash in the vault. I believe the club is still seeking a sound sponsor but under such financial climate it is still an uphill task.
However I believe the new management will ensure the players get paid regularly as money issue is definitely the last thing the club had to be entrapped in as we need players to fully concentrate on the affairs on the pitch which ultimately matters the most.

Now that this unsavory episode has concluded, let’s hope Aide can spur his charges on to deliver more eye-pleasing football and penultimate the wins to generate the points for us to climb into a more respectable position in the standings.

As for those who scorned at Indra for his poor performance of late, it is true he had not look like the same pacey striker with a predatory instinct unmatched in Singapore in his earlier years, but Indra Sahdan Daud is certainly not an end product and will always ready to prove his doubters wrong I am sure.

He is just hitting a dry patch in terms of goal scoring of late but his running and reading of the game is still left intact and his will to fight for the ball is immaculate as seen in the games against Young Lions and Home United when he lost the ball, he made sure he was the one to retrieve it back.
As the skipper, Indra is a crucial asset to the team and on more than one occasions, he possessed the greatest will to win than anyone else in the team.

Although the season is yet to be over, I appeal to the club management to try hold on to the likes of Indra, Noh Rahman and Yamamoto and to build upon such talents to break us out of the mold as the minnows.

S League 2009 Match 21

	Opponent: Home Utd Date: 22nd Jul 2009, 1945hrs Venue: Hougang Stadium Final Score: 1 – 2 (Hiroyuki Yamamoto 32′ – Peres Oliveira 50′, 87′ (Pen))
One point become zero all down to novice referee W. Ravisanthiran’s decision to give a 50-50 clearance by substitute Darrel Tan off the line as a deliberate hand ball, awarding Home United the penalty kick in the end. Perhaps he had the best view of the incident and his judgment was right but surely he was deemed the villain from the home fans in the end. Amos Boon totally redeemed himself from the howler against Young Lions with a near pristine performance, pulling a string of top class saves to deny the Protectors had to cruelly subject to the penalty taken from the seasoned feet of Peres Oliveira, there was never a doubt that he might miss. Poor support for the home side? It swelled up once the match began It was another curious line-up Aide had put up against one of his former clubs. Abdoulaye would look decent as the sweeper in the DPMM game started beside Yamamoto again and the 2 forged a good defensive line-up with young Shane Neubronner who I felt was more comfortable in the middle. Lau Meng Meng had a game filled with his signature bravery and tenacity, just lack some pace to aid the attack. Noh Rahman totally controlled the midfield the entire evening in the absence of Nor Azli Yusoff who was suspended. It was the front line that raised a lot of eyebrows as none of Indra, Anthony nor Mamadou were included instead Sobrie Mazelan made his first start alone up front with Murphy supporting him. Raymod Kwa was another plucked from his Prime League squad and the zest and zeal the left winger, sporting an easily-recognisable dyed hairstyle was well appreciated by the fans as he played with his heart on the sleeve the entire night. The starting line-up that raised some eyebrows Murphy, Raymond and Sobrie in attack The plot looked like trying to absorb whatever pressure Home United would exert and hit them on the break with the speed of Raymond being used a few times though usually caught off side. It was thoroughly scrappy for the first 45 and we notched a cheap goal when one-time Singapore No. 1 Lionel Lewis dropped a ball for a pleasantly surprised Yamamoto to nick it into an empty net for his second goal of the season. The goal woke the Protectors to play better but finding our defense totally unassilable. Lionel was surely not sound tonight Strange to see Indra meddling around with the reserves It was quite expected that the away team would throw everything they could in the second period and sadly we allowed them to come at us. Soon it was 1-1 when we allowed an easy cross to divert in by an unmarked Peres Oliveira. Indra then came on for Sobrie who was totally overshadowed by Valery Hiek. It was then there was slight drizzle and the gameplay opened up as like the sky did and we nearly could have gone for the winner especially with a chance from Murphy and another hesistation from Indra which proved wasteful. I was in the heart of our home fans by this time as we cheered the efforts of our team but it was ultimately looking to a decent 1-1 draw until we were hit by that piece of injustice. Once again we had the honour to give Home United their first away victory in the S League and now we had only 1 point from the last 15…definitely a relegation form if there was relegation in our dour league. Let’s vent it out against Woodlands at their own turf next week…please

Sengkang Punggol vs Home Utd: Pre-match

There had been an eerie coincidence when the Dolphins have to face the Protectors for the 3rd time this season. The match would be preceded by a goalkeeper’s suicidal display which left the incumbent’s fate to start the game hanging in the balance.

When we travelled to Clementi Stadium in April, we were at the back of a 1-7 mauling by SAFFC at home. Although the goalkeeper then Joey Sim was not entirely at fault for the 7 goals conceded, our former coach Jorg Steinbruner felt it was an opportunity for Amos Boon to come in for his first start of the season.
It ended 0-3 to the men in blue as they maintained their unblemished home records (as of today).

Then came in June for the League Cup qualifying group stage. Joey Sim gift-wrapped 2 goals for Woodlands Wellington substitute, Jamil Ali, costing our team the crucial 3 points which would aid us to progress into the quarterfinals.
This time Jorg kept faith in the 22 year-old and in the end he faltered merely 3 days later against a second string Home United side conceding 3 goals as well.

Fast forward to July with Jorg gone and Joey usurped by Amos in between the sticks, our team was looking pretty confident with a win and 2 draws in the first 4 games under Aide Iskandar.
A win against Young Lions was crucial to our cause of a decent finish of the season but in the end the team crumbled badly. Amos Boon was the culprit of the 3rd goal as documented and I wonder if Aide would keep him on the pitch against the club which both had played in their long S League career.
Our team truly lacked a goalkeeper that can command his area like how Hassan Sunny, Sharil Jantan, Yazid Yasin and even Rezal Hassan can.
They also lacked the gung ho, going all out style that seen by Hyrulnizam Juma’at and Hafez Mawasi or very least the composure of Fadhil Salim, Wardun Yussof or Kang Su-Ho.
When we reflect how the season had gone so awry so far, the goalkeepers might have to foot a substantial amount of blame.

Then came this article on TODAY:

Personally I had not heard much about this so called “ongoing dispute” when I was still liaising with the former chairman.
The timing of this article somehow gave me the impression that it was just fanning some unnecessary controversy in the midst of a period of dying interest in the local league much like the furore on the standard of refereeing in Singapore of late.
I am sure the club, after the tiring quest to sign Indra in the close season, would not be stupid enough to blow it all away by not settling the issue with the agent.
It might be water under the bridge by the time we speak but the article had already done its damage on our ailing club. Wonder why the media like to pick on the minnows i.e. Sengkang Punggol or Balestier for such unsavory reports. Has the fact that we are robbed of footballing fortunes not been miserable enough?

Our talismanic striker and topscorer so far had shown nothing but full professionalism on and off pitch and I doubt he will be one happy to hog the limelight of the controversial sort like this.

Surprisingly, his last goal came in the last minute of the League Cup game against Home United which also marked the last game when Jorg was in charge.
Since Aide had taken over, Indra was appointed the skipper as he receded to a more supporting role behind a front man (either Mamadou or Anthony) and the goals just refuse to come.

It looked like he had fluffed some pretty good chances uncharacteristically in the last 4 games and we are in sore need of his goal, none would come more timely against his former club who famously wanted to force him out.

Fans of the Dolphins like myself surely would have felt jaded now that we can pick up wins over teams below us as we looked condemn to the 10th position or could be worse if the Young Lions keep up their momentum.
Let’s hope the team would make it a more decent performance against a Home Utd side yet to win a game away in the league this season.

S League 2009 – Match 20

	Opponent: Young Lions Date: 16th Jul, 1945hrs Venue: Hougang Stadium Final Score: 2 – 3 (Hyrulnizam Juma’at (O.G.) 34′, Azhar Baksin 86′ – Obadin Aikhena 9′, Safuwan Baharudin 67′, Khairul Nizam 71′)
3 defensive clangers, 3 goals conceded, 3 points lost. We surely had lost a game we shouldn’t have lost… Aide’s honeymoon is definitely over. Amos Boon - His mistake killed the game Azhar Baksin scored a stunner from an impossible angle, n0t enough to bring up the mood During the pre-match interview, AIde spoke of a “must” to pick up the 3 points and hoped the fans would come and support the team. The fans responded, hoping that his team will respond to his calling for a win but left totally perturbed at how we wrap the points up on the platter and present to the Young Lions. I wonder if we could clone 4 Yamamotos to guard a defense which had been absolutely abysmal. Losing to SAFFC away is not a shame, losing to Young Lions at home is. I wonder which team would turn up against Home Utd next week, the valiant, hungry and energetic conquerors of DPMM FC or the despondent unit we seen tonight. The 8th position looked very very far from our grasp indeed, but I would love to be prove so wrong.

Sengkang Punggol vs Young Lions: Pre-match

It is becoming more apparent by now that Terry Pathmanathan (under the instruction of national coach Radojko Avramovic) is simply utilizing the 2009 season of the S League (perhaps even the next 2 seasons) to test out the  small pool of young players (most below the age of 20) to have a taste of football at a competitive level, so that they can filter out those who are suitable to represent Singapore in the quest for the SEA Games gold medal probably in 2013 when we become the host nation.

After utilizing the same number of players as that of the number of Spartans went to fought off the Persians, the whole agenda for the U23 team had not been about winning games anymore.
Despite the team is playing under the masquerade of gaining match experience, I wonder the boys would be bereft of any morale and confidence after in the midst of a woeful run of results.

Sengkang Punggol had not been any much better but we are still 8 points better and is closer to the mid table pack rather than the despondent duo down at the bottom.
However we really had to build on what we had shown in recent weeks that is to win more games and close down the gap between us and the other 4 teams above us.

It pain for me to see that our team had not been considered as a contender for the midtable battle by the conventional fans or media as seen in the preview article on Geylang vs Woodlands as described below:

“ Wong also noted that his team’s clash with Woodlands, who have hit a rich vein of form lately, could have much bearing on the tussle for positions in mid-table.

A win for Geylang would see them jump two spots up to sixth place, while the Rams could go level on points with Home United should they triumph instead.

With the Super Reds and Albirex Niigata (Singapore) also in the mix, Wong was acutely aware of the need for his team to put together a string of decent results and jockey for a better position than their current eighth place.

“We can see that there are about four or five teams clustered together in mid-table, even Home United, who had beaten us on Saturday,” he said.

“If any of these teams have a good run, that team can rise up the table. Woodlands is an example of that; this is one team who is on a good run right now, having won the last three games in a row. “

If we could beat Young Lions at home, then we will gather the same points as Albirex who have an daunting task to play DPMM at Hassanal Bolkiah.
A win will also give the boys a shot of confidence facing Home Utd at Hougang next Wednesday and traveling to Woodlands Stadium on the 30th.

Asking for 6 points from those 2 games might be just being dillusional but certianly it was not out of our reach especially if we can have the team in clean slate of health and free from suspension.

As my partner in crime had mentioned, despite already outdoing the class of 2008, it would be bitterly disappointing if we do not attain 8th position by the end of the season with the talents we had in our ranks.
I can’t say I do not agree with his statement.

S League Season 2009 – Match 19

	Opponent: SAFFC Date: 12th Jul, 1945hrs Venue: Choa Chu Kang Stadium Final Score: 2 – 0 (Aleksandar Duric 43′.50′)
Despite holding the ticket, the thought of heading to Choa Chu Kang Stadium on a Sunday evening with a fresh week of work staring at my face definitely bummed me out.The soothsayers had been putting the writings on the wall with the result and it was always going to be hard to snag a point at the cauldron known as Choa Chu Kang Stadium with the home team, the league leaders and 3 times reigning champions SAFFC hot on the trot with 4 consecutive league victories, I was just praying it would not be another humiliating show of the watershed of goals conceded. A slew of familiar names returned to our starting line-up including Yamamoto and Jerry in the central of defense. We surely need their physical presence against Duric while in the absence of Abdoulaye due to suspension, Noh Rahman and Nur Azli Yusoff reunited to form the shield in midfield. Both teams had played a sequence of games in a hectic league schedule as there was a rush to complete the league before the start of November and it perhaps took its toll on the flow of the game on a breezy evening. You can read the full report from Sleague.com here. The defensive stance had been sound since the departure of Jorg as well as the relegation of Joey Sim to the bench and to hold the Warriors who had not been kept out from scoring for the longest time ever till the very end of the firs half was an achievement. Duric’s brace came at the worse time ever to concede the goals, 5 minutes to the end of the 1st half and the start of the 2nd. It surely will deflate any sort of self confidence. But what was more worrying was the fact that we could not make our chances count for the second match possible especially when i read that we had 2 chances (from Jerry and Mamadou) prior to SAFFC’s opener. How things might changes if we had converted those 2 goals. Indra’s last goal came in the league cup preliminary game against Home Utd which was like ancient history and we certainly needed out top marksman to add on his tally. It seemed like he had fluffed another glit-edged chance in the second half and how a goal would do to his confidence as well as our lads. Nevertheless from what I perceived, our team challenge SAFFC to the very end and losing 2-0 to them on their own turf is surely not something to be ashamed of. The next 3 games would be a platform to make up for some lost points. I truly hope we can get 6 points out of possible 6 at home against Young Lions and Home Utd before we made a trip to Woodlands Wellington who was hitting a purple patch with 3 consecutive wins lifting them to the 7th position, one which I hope will be ours by the end of the season.

SAFFC vs Sengkang Punggol: Pre-match

A game we just want to get it out of the way in our match schedule.

The last time we met the reigning champions at Hougang Stadium, they majestically put 7 past us when we looked to have a chance to come back early in the second half before the cards came crumbling down.

The team’s confidence went in shambles after that and at some level we never really did recuperate.
However it does seem we are en route for better things of late and certainly look to sharpen our competitive edge.

Our failure to score at Toa Payoh on Thursday surely was not attributed to our lack of attacking instinct and we ought to do so with the way we dominated proceedings.

We know SAFFC is of a whole different caliber from the bottom dwelling Balestier Khalsa and at home beside that complacent second period against Woodlands Wellington, their record had been unblemished.

I just look forward to a tight affair and hope we can give the league leaders some challenge.
Aide would have to do without Abdoulaye Diallo who picked up his 4th yellow of the season and I believe Nor Azli would come in to add some defensive shield. I hope to see Hiro and Anthony who had been the lone shining light in that game against SAFFC earlier in the season to be included.

Let’s do away this game with some momentum before we entertain Young Lions and then Home Utd at Hougang Stadium.