Winning The SEA Games Gold? A Long Shot…
On Monday, 14th December 2009, our SEA Game men football team were totally outplayed and outwitted by their Vietnamese counterparts at the Chao Anouvong Stadium at Vientiane, Laos in the first semi finals of the 25th edition of the SEA Game.
The final score was a comprehensive 4-1 hiding and when myself had the luxury to catch our team comprised of boys with an average age of 19.5 for this first time in this tournament, the final score was very much justifiable.
The Viets were straight out favorites for the tie and under the tutelage of the senior team gaffer, Portuguese Henrique Calisto, the junior Ngôi Sao Vàng played an excellent passing game which the Cubs failed to nullify and despite going ahead through a brilliant counter attack led by lone striker Khairul Nizam, their plot was lost from the start.
As the Cubs banked on setpieces especially the dexterous left leg of Saiful Esah, they were woeful in the usual passing game and their inability to hold possession, just revealed they might not be ready for this stage.
Many detractors were quick to pick up the scapegoat in the coach, former Singapore international defender Terry Pathmanathan, I wondered if we were just scratching the surface of the problem by pointing our fingers at him.
The writings were on the wall since the start of the 2009 S League competition when the Young Lions struggled for the bulk of the season, only to pick up form at the tail end.
Even their sparkling form was guided by a foreign player in Nigerian Obadin Aikhena who could not be naturalized (if there was plan to in the first place) fast enough for the regional tournament.
As mentioned umpteen times by the FA, this squad was assembled with the 2013 SEA Games (which we supposed to host but now it would most probably be delayed to 2015 because of the revamp of the National Stadium) in mind but I shudder to contemplate on whether this boys were going to be the Real McCoys to lead us to SEA Games glory.
We had a rather easy draw with Indonesia, Myanmar and host Laos to handle, while missing the big three of Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia to slug it out in the other group.
In our opener against the Indons, we raced to a 2 nil lead before seeing a collapse to allow the Garudas to earn a point.
Next up against the Burmese, similarly a comfortable 2 goals cushion before the break before taking things easy though in the second period and were lucky the plucky Burmese did not have time for a similar fightback.
Finally against Laos in a game where a draw would see both through to the semi finals, the Cubs drew a barrage of criticism at home for playing negative football.
By then it was Terry P. who had the last laugh when he guided his young squad into the semi final.
While expectations were high by the bandwagon-jumping “fans” back home, we just had to be pragmatic about our challenge against the Viets who certainly were more technically sound and displayed eye-pleasing attacking football with the second goal scored by midfielder Mai Tien Thanh was the cherry on the top.
One could easily singled out 4 or 5 Vietnamese players for bigger things to come, how many can we isolate from our line up?
23 year old Saiful Esah and 19 year old Hariss Harun were already stalwarts in Raddy Avramovic’s senior line-up and truly epitomized the future of Singapore football.
They had a forgettable semi final though were still bounds and yards the better players that night.
23 year old Isa Halim like Saiful and Hariss had been a prominent feature for the senior team but despite carrying the skipper’s armband, his game looked to be degenerated since his move to Home United.
As a defensive midfielder, he had time and again failed to protect his back four and culpable for two goals his team had conceded against Indonesia and Myanmar.
For me goalkeeper 23 year old Hyrulnizam Juma’at and striker 18 year old Khairul Nizam were the outstanding players that night.
SAFFC-bound Hyrul displayed composure at the back and constantly communicating with his defenders.
The goals he had conceded were wee unfortunate and by no fault of his; he even stopped a penalty kick to prevent the same scoreline we dished out to the Viets 2 years ago at Korat, Thailand.
Meanwhile Khairul had been psyching himself up for the game as questions had been asked about his scoring ability.
Prior his instinctive rebound strike, he had two golden chances to bring his side ahead, and those with a Saiful’s chance in the second half were all we could mustered sadly.
As for the remainder of the squad, I would say not many caught my eyes despite majority of them could be in line for at least the next SEA Games.
21 year old Sahdan Sulaiman who had good formative years at Tampines Rovers before fulfilling his national service at Home United.
Like Isa, Sahdan must be suffering from the dirge and demise of Sivaji’s despondent coaching, he was in that inept midfield trio with Isa and Hariss.
Nevertheless hopes are stull high on Sahdan especially when he can return to Tampines once his national service is over.
Centerbacks Safuwan Baharudin & Afiq Yunos had the physique but lack the reading of the game.
Saw Safuwan scored a beauty of a goal in their 3-2 win at Hougang Stadium, and seriously looked to be a lynchpin for the future Singapore squad.
The remaining like Fazli Ayob, Gabriel Quak, Faritz Abdul Hameed, Irwan Shah, Fadhil Noh, Madhu Mohana etc were in and out of the Young Lions side and really failed to leave an impression.
The real clout of our youth football is the emergence of a real goal poacher and a tasty playmaker to play off him, i.e. a Fandi Ahmad and V Sundramoorthy of the 2000s.
Khairul Nizam is hardly a target man in the mold of Noh Alam Shah but he would be good to groom as the “fox in the box”.
It would be startling to see the FA picturing their costly recruit Yang Mu in the frame. The Chinese striker had a lukewarm season, had not even shown the panache of a certain Qiu Li.
So let’s keep tab on any rising talent in the next few years despite they came fast and disappeared faster, due to the wretched national service commitment.
With that said, our boys still could retain their bronze medal which the class of 2007 featuring the likes of Agu Casmir, Khairul Amri, Fazrul Nawaz, Baihakki Khaizan, Hassan Sunny and Ismail Yunos had attained.
So all the best to the Cubs against home nation Laos tomorrow!
Wrecki’s Monthly Review: November 2009
Running a bit later this time round, work had been crazy while at home I am pretty preoccupied by other stuff.
Anyway I ought to and had been planning to do a statistical overview of Sengkang Punggol’s 2009 season but I just do not want to thread that path filled with barbwire of misery and vexation.
So for a real concise assessment of the Dolphins’ performance in the league and 2 domestic cups, I generously grade it as “E“.
Tempted to go for a “F” but we were never expect to become world beaters overnight and the fact that we actually steered off the wooden spoon (though due to Balestier’s even more torrid run), perhaps it could been worse.
Players that really left an impression for me would be Mamadou Diallo of course and defenders Yamamoto and Lau Meng Meng who I gave my vote to.
Noh Rahman and Indra Sahdan came with too much baggage and showed that 2 good players do not make the entire team.
Well let’s see if they could reprise their prime with SAFFC and their forthcoming ACL adventure.
As predicted, the likes of Joey Sim, Jerry Bartholomeusz, Zahid Ahmad and even Sazali Salleh and Razali Johari failed to carry the team leading to our demise.
The choice to field the Prime League players showed that Aide had felt the senior guys just do not cut out for it.
Majority would not be staying for the new season as it seems and I would say some of the departures would not be missed.
The clubs are definitely shaping things up for the new season set to start on 1st February 2010 due to the Youth Olympics which Singapore will be holding in September.
While Sengkang Punggol put out the statement to trust youth, something Balestier tried and failed dramatically, several big guns were looking for a drastic change of personnel.
Experienced S League campaigners like Kengne Ludovick, Kenji Arai and Thersak Chaiman left for greener pastures but for once in a long while there had been some hope of some quality foreign signings to keep the local fans entertained.
SAFFC was about to unleash a former Swedish international, a Croatian defender who was capped in the junior age group and a South American striker.
Together with Park Tae Won and former Albirex winger Taisuke Akiyoshi, Richard Bok had a full compliment of foreign talents to support his plethora of Singapore internationals which include new signings goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Juma’at and the Sengkang duo.
The newbies would be replacing some familiar faces. One of them would be S League all time top scorer Aleksandar Duric.
The naturalized Singapore international is now in the ripe old age of 39 yet is looking for a final sprint and his likely destination seems to be Tampines Rovers with the slot vacated by Noh Alam Shah.
The Stags had saw their formidable squad been decimated even before the season came to an end.
Beside Akihrio Nakamura had signed an extension to his contract, things are still very much under wrapped in the east.
While Ridhuan is very much replaceable, same things could not be said about Thai international Sutee Suksomkit.
A piece of good news would be Thai gaffer Vorawan is staying and being as resourceful as he is, he should be able to net a few capable replacement.
Tampines’ neighbor, Geylang United was buoyed by Singapore Cup success as they overcome a dangerous Bangkok Glass side in the final with a late goal from Hafiz Rahim.
Goalkeeper Yazid Yasin was the hero of the match and the same nucleus of players including Yazid, Slovakians Latiak and Belicak, striker Mashrezwan Masturi etc should build a legacy for Ol’ Grey Hair himself, Mike Wong.
It was rumored that former Home United duo Itimi Dickson and Syed Fadhil as well as Slovakian international Robert Vittek ready to join his compatriots in Bedok Stadium.
While the former looked plausible, the latter piece of news certainly looked dubious. But we never know.
Home United still functioned as a rudder-less ship with the axing of Mr “I Choke in the Big Stage” PN Sivaji himself.
Former head coach Vincent Subramaniam was touted to take over but the rumor was soundly thwarted a few days after it was released.
After releasing a slew of team players including South Korean striker Ham Heong Kyu who arrived bearly 4 months ago, made some cameos appearances, nailed a hat trick and now back to his homeland for his daily dosage of kimchi. Poor chap.
While the fate of national team players like Lionel Lewis and Juma’at Jantan, both had contract bond with the police force which led to the whole Indra Sahdan fiasco if they were to join other clubs, hanging on the balance, the Protectors definitely needed a reinvigoration to keep them up compete sufficiently with historical rivals, SAFFC who do not stop looking to grow in strength and stature.
The fact that their unwanted residence at Clementi Stadium had consistently drew the most pathetic crowd was not helping matters as they yearned to return to the renovated Bishan Stadium.
Meanwhile for other local clubs, Gombak United would stay very much the same with the departure of goalkeeper Fadhil Salim (Sengkang?), Shevki Sha’ban (Geylang) and likely Theerawekin Seehawong.
Obadin Aikhena would likely be returning to Jurong West Stadium after a few good years with the Young Lions and once his citizenship is granted, Darren Stewart can dig into the transfer scene to net another good team players.
A new kit sponsorship with China brand Erke, an unwavering passion and commitment from chairman John Yap, a brilliant young coach, an outstanding squad of players, an illustrious home ground (albeit far) and a growing band of supporters; the Bulls definitely have the essence to go for more silverware.
Woodlands Wellington, stifled by decreased sponsorship, had saw the courageous class of 2009 broken up in smithereens including Croatian coach Nenad Bacina.
Whoever taking over (Gombak’s assistant coach Shasikumar is touted to be the man in frame) will need to build from scratch.
No matter what, their partizan band of fans would stick with them weals and woes.
As for perennial strugglers and Sengkang Punggol’s equally wretched cousin in the bottom of the table, Balestier Khalsa, head coach Nasaruddin Jalil continue to rein for like his 4th consecutive season now and the coffers actually willing to cough up some money to allow him to sign some decent players to support his band of battered youngsters.
Encouraging signs came when the Tigers’ Prime League squad managed to proceed to the finals of the FA Cup only to be narrowly beaten 2-3 by NFL Division One champions Singapore Cricket Club.
After releasing all of their foreign players (make it 9 foreign talents left in 2009 alone), Nasa claimed he would look into height in his new recruits. One of those likely to be signed would be former Woodlands and Young Lions bulwark, Daniel Hammond.
The biggest news for me in the build culmination of the new season would be the change of direction for Super Reds, from an all-Korean side to a likely Singapore club in 2010.
I have stated my interest in this development as FAS looked likely to embrace the idea with open arms.
The status of the other foreign team than beside Albirex satellite team (who surprisingly going to sign a Singapore player in es Sengkang and Balestier man Hafez Mawasi) looked palpable to be a slug out between a satellite team for Chinese Super League champions Beijing Guoan, DPMM FC (once they managed to have their international ban rescind) and an all Aussie side headed by former Manchester United fullback Paul Parker.
Like many here, the experience we had with Chinese sides like Sinchi, Liaoning Guangyuan and Dalian Shide left a tad taste in our mouths and we hoped not to see another Chinese side here but Guoan definitely had the edge over the other two who wanted to play their home games in their own grounds abroad.
Let’s see how this episode unwinds.
After going down poorly to Thailand 1-3 at the National Stadium, the Lions kept their hope to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar alive when they beat the same opponents 1-0 at the Rajamangala Stadium.
The 2 games saw the ugly side of the Singapore based support but it had become part and parcel over the years I felt.
With Jordan managed to shock Iran at home, Singapore held a precarious 2 points lead over Thailand and Jordan in the table.
We definitely needed to milk at least a point when Iran came visiting in January, as the Jordanians definitely smell blood for our return trip after the shower room altercation.
The Young Lions also had been busy preparing for the SEA Games to be held in Laos as we speak.
Losing 3-0 to the Kuwait Olympic team is no shame but it was not very encouraging as well.
Of course that side that loss would do with the inclusion of national team players like Hariss Harun and Shaiful Esah.
The squad sent to Vientiane has an average age of 19 and is the youngest side yet which the FA is hoping to groom for glory in coming years.
It also meant we can almost kiss the chance for a gold medal for this edition goodbye, but nevertheless hope the Cubs can put in a good showing and not being humiliated.
But with Terry P. as the man in charge now, humiliation is almost consequential.
Well pre-season is always hopeful but 2009 had been dreary and testing time for Singapore football, there is always a chance for the upheaval.
I will be at the frontline when that happens.
Bear Out of Woods
An article from Tan Yo-Hinn from TODAY piqued my interest:
Since operating as a foreign club based on a full strength of South Korean professionals, the Super Reds had mixed fortunes on the pitch and had been a real professional side who got their work done without much controversies and unwanted attentions.
Despite residing within the 10km circumference of Super Reds’ home turf, Yishun Stadium, I never fancied pulling a support to the all Korean side.
Striking a chord with my partner, we both found the Korean players looking very generic and despite dishing our spectacular football at times, the lack of individuality as well as the absence of association with the players always made watching Super Reds on TV a turn off.
This was perhaps a reason why the team failed to kindle the interest of the people around Yishun and Sembawang like their predecessors, Sembawang Rangers did.
I knew of a mate from college who was a staunch Stallions supporter who held the season ticket together with a bunch of close friends, and I could imagine their disappointment to see their beloved team fell to the credit crunch back in 2003.
The team who wore their signature black and white stripes much like Newcastle or Juventus had a good run in their latter years, especially under the tutelage of current Tampines Rovers head coach Vorawan Chitavanich and boasted the talents of Thai legend Tawan Sripan, no nonsense bulwark Niweat Siriwong, journeyman Akihiro Nakamura and a host of budding Singapore talents, the likes of Yazid Yasin, Noh Alam Shah, Ibrahim Noh, Shukor Zailan etc, many of whom followed Vorawan to Tampines after Sembawang’s demise.
Despite not able to challenge the big boys like Super Reds these days, they were much felt for by the local fans.
Therefore the crux of the matter for Super Reds chairman, Charlie Yoon who passionately devoted his time and effort to the club to make the decision to transform them into a local club aided by some key Korean imports was wise, if he was to draw more support from the people in the yawning town of Yishun.
I am sure with the emergence of Yishun Reds, the old Northern derby rivalry with Woodlands Wellington might be rekindled as well.
It also made sense if Mr Yoon had felt his club deserved to make in roads into the Asian scene if they could have a decent cup run or finish second in the league table.
Previously Super Reds was considered a foreign side, therefore they were being barred to enter any continental competition even if they had legitimately qualified.
So the author would be watching this pipe-dream with alot of interest. With a bulk of S League players being released from the club, they should not have problem netting a few good players in the market.
Current coach Jeong Kyun Joon had done a decent job as the motivator by the sideline despite his booming command can be intimidating for his players, the opposing party and spectators alike; it would be interesting if he could assemble a local side if he was to stay, which I hope it would.
So you never know if the projected Yishun Reds can do a decent job administratively and on the pitch, yours truly might dedicate sometime off for a side project, reprising the title of this post.
Wrecki’s Monthly Review: October 2009
I really had my heart out for DPMM, not because they are one of few sides that are willing to be beaten by my wretched team but they had added so much color since joining our league, stepping on everyone’s tale, took the league by storm, snagged the League Cup, had 3 defenders suspended till forever, close to securing second and then been expunged because FAS did not dare to trifle with the mother ship.
Time and again I had said I was not a big fan of the Bruneians because like many I believed in only Singapore clubs to play in the S League plus making their home games so inaccessible was a absurd.
But personally I felt they should at least like the Bandar Seri Begawan side to finish the season with about 5 games left to play when their records had been rescinded.
SAFFC clinched their 4th S League title on the trot against Sengkang Punggol on live TV (but was quite amazed at how they had to work for it against a side which include Zul Nor Farahin, Ashley Ow, Jasper Seet and with Nor Azli as centernack, Farizal as striker and Sazali as leftback).
Their form sort of slated before the finishing line, sadly it came at the wrong time.
It is true I would like to see a new champion but cannot deny the fact that SAFFC still is the team that could grind the wins while their closest challengers falter when it matters the most.
The race for second place is still very much on as many cannot envision Geylang United lifting the Singapore Cup against a probably Bangkok Glass side who ran rampant over compatriots Samut Sahkon 6-0 in their semi final first leg.
Therefore if any of Tampines Rovers, Goombak United and Home United can clinch the bridesmaid role, they will particpate in the AFC Cup in 2010.
Talent wise I felt Home United should be a strong representative for the cup competition but with Sivaji at helms, they would never win anything and they knew it.
By the way legendary defender S Subramani, shrouded with injury the whole season long, finally declared on hanging up his boots. He would be a tough act to emulate and a big hole to fill for the Protectors for sure.
Tampines Rovers will be in for a major restructure for the new season now that even Sutee Suksomkit had joined A League side Melbourne Victory (albeit a short contract as stipulated).
The club and more specifically head coach Vorawan (so meaning he is staying?) stated that the new team’s nucleus will be on Hassan Sunny, Seiji Kaneko, Zul Zainal, Akihiro Nakamura, Shukor Zailan, Qiu Li and Khairul Amri, so I would not be surprised the likes of Benoit Croissant, Shariff Samat, Fathi Yunos etc be ushered out as part of the renewing process.
Gangly Croissant had got some A League sides interested.
Gombak United might be the weakest among the 3 but I felt if they can lure a good center midfielder, they might do pretty well next season as well as long as the likes of Obatola, Agu, Bah, Shevki and Jeremy stay.
Young Lions roused themselves up nicely and now should claim 9th place in the new 11 team table structure.
A bulk of that squad travel to Vietnam for some Newspaper Cup and were knocked out in the semi final against Vietnam U19 before losing the 3rd placing by the Viet U21 side.
I am still not convinced these youngsters will do any well in the SEA Games in Laos next month, but then as they said football is round.
The senior Lions also traveled to Vietnam to participate in a Ho Chi Minh City Cup which featured the likes of the host nation, former USSR constituent Turkmenistan and a Korean University Selection side.
The Lions scraped through against the Korean undergrads 1-0 before beating Turkmenistan 4-2.
Vietnam failed to make it 2 win out of 2 as the Koreans had beaten them, meaning they needed to beat Singapore by a big margin which they did not as it was 2-2 when the dust settled.
The makeshift Singapore national team had warmed the hearts of the fans back home which saw the likes of Khairul Amri, Fazrul Nawaz and Masrezwan Masturi scoring in the national colors since being recalled after their injury woes.
The build up to the hot-blooded double face off with the Thai, with new manager Bryan “Marvel” Robson coming in, had been boiling to the right temperature.
The final piece of preparation, a friendly with the Indonesian national side, would give Raddy the line up he will pick for the first game on the 14th of November.
It might involved the 4 players who had started their ISL career brightly, maybe not Ridhuan Muhammad.
Noh Alam Shah was slowly building a cult support at Arema as his tenacity and most importantly goals prompted them to the top of the table so far.
Precious would be heading south after the Singapore-Thai games but Aleksandar Duric made a U-Turn in joining the same club, stating the details on the contract differed from the initial agreement. That’s why always read between the lines.
Interest of the remaining national team players started to wane even before someone rang our club chairman for the interest on Jerry Bartholomeusz and Joey Sim…yah right.
However the likes of SAFFC’s Masahiro Fukazawa, Albirex’s Kenji Arai & Takatoshi Uchida and a player from Super Reds might be heading to Indonesia before the year is up.
In truth, the past 8 months had been tumultuous for myself following with Sengkang Punggol in the S League.
The league did stuttered a little before looking to be decent by the first round before the referee problem, waning attendance, SAFFC’s supremacy and players leaving the game.
The 2010 edition looked bleak for now and everyone yearned for an injection of new life, we just have to wait and see in the development.
Give Dez Corkhill the Rein
Came across this nice, concise interview done by Jakarta Casual TV with seasoned sports media man Dez Corkhill:
Amid the doom and gloom shrouding the local game of late, a persona like Dez still continue to pump in optimism as he did with his colorful commentary on Friday night football and never fell short in rendering his support for the S League and in general Singapore football.
The main shortcoming of our game was highlighted vividly through this interview done with the backdrop of that Old Lady in Kallang who refused to be torn down.
The authorities really needed to package the league to appeal to the masses and definitely TV is the best medium possible.
If Channel 5 can devote time for “Just fo Gags” or “World’s Funniest Animals”, they can definitely warrant 20 or 30 minutes twice weekly to give a short highlights of the S League.
In the crescendo of the existing pay tv tug of war over the English Premier League which was even brought up in our Parliament discussion, surely Starhub or Singtel could do a segment on S League as well?
FAS needed to work on their publicity and if you ask me please give it to Dez Corkhill who looked to be able to address the issue better than the incumbent in the ivory towers at Tywhitt Road.
Wrecki’s Monthly Review: September 2009
Checking the stats of the blog, it definitely looked like dying a slow death but the truth its far from that.
It’s just now it had reached a point of stagnancy in terms of the entertainment value of our local game with little signs in placed to reinvigorate the ailing situation.
The month of September had the nation more focused on the Singapore Grand Prix F1 more than anything else.
In the end it became a one-horse race as Briton Lewis Hamilton maintained his pole position from start to finish… eerily resembling SAFFC’s pole position from like in 2006.
As the dust settled and people started whining about the lavishly-organized and intensely-hyped GP, it once again reflected on us being just a nation of whiners who could not enjoy every single thing as it is.
Well once again as said, we are pragmatic people and when we spent good money for something we hoped to be entertained which in many cases it was not the case especially in the world of S League.
I have already stop taking count of the unassailable lead the army men are holding on the summit of the league table while the fight for second placing was actually more exciting, but for what?
Second placing might warrant a local team a berth in the AFC Cup next season if Geylang United does not win the Singapore Cup; ultimately an acclaim of who is the better of the rest really.
Personally I have my heart on Tampines Rovers as they always looked like the team who had the right tools for a league title challenge to begin with.
In the end they were let down by a slew of draws which they should have turned to wins and more in their ongoing row with the men in black, saw their title challenge derailed and with the exodus of key players (with wingers Ridhuan Muhammad and Sutee Suksomkit heading to Indonesia and Australia respectively), it looked like the Stags are set to throw the towel for second placing as well.
DPMM Fc might have a shout for the accolade then and neutrals might felt they had been the one side that might ultimately deserved it for consistently performing even with 3 key defenders suspended till the end of the season.
A second placing might actually made them consider to stay in the S League for another year, perhaps long enough for Rene Komar to return to the playing field at least.
Home United made a resurgence for the past couple of months but for a team of their strength and depth, to trying to bank on other teams’ ill fortunes to climb to where they are now, it proved that the Protectors are just not playing to the potential.
End of the day when you have a half-plus six rolly polly coach like Mr Choker himself, you just have to tolerate at the lack of success.
Finally Gombak United had been operating at a lower cost of the 4 big sides perhaps and had done pretty well, at least in terms of beating those teams below them.
Consistency had been the main problem and the lack of quality coming of the bench can be a problem for a side who had been picking cards as much as DPMM.
The fight for the wooden spoon had yet been resolved with my beloved Dolphins still have a fight for it especially now Young Lions had starting to show some evidence that they can play football and generate results.
It might turned out to be the same story as the final standings of the 2008 S League.
It will be incredibly disappointing especially with the side we had assembled early in the season…as they said it’s a curse of Hougang Stadium, but surely its more than that.
At least Amos Boon can go wake-boarding, commentating or being the face of some men beauty products.
As you might have heard, Geylang United remained as the final flag-bearer of authentic Singapore clubs in the final four of the Singapore Cup.
It was a scenario not many local fans wanted to see after the final four in last season’s competition were strictly Singapore sides.
After ousting both uniformed groups, the Eagles of Bedok Stadium surely have warranted their place but whether if they could overcome an Albirex side which blew hot and cold this season before squaring up with one of the Thai Premier League side in the final, it definitely looked to test their credentials.
Finally the hoo-haa of the exodus of Singapore international which was on the tip of the tongues of even the average Joe on the street suddenly subsided into yesterday’s news.
While it does look like Aleksandar Duric and Noh Rahman might join the burgeoning bunch of Singapore Lions at our southern neighbors, everything looks to be staying as it is for now.
Let’s see how this episode is going to end just before the Indonesian Super Liga began in October (or was it November?).
Wrecki’s Monthly Review: August 2009
The repercussion of the Black Sunday when Home United mauled Brunei DPMM at Hassanal Bolkiah 6-1 after the Wasps had 3 players sent off with alteration with the referee K. Kalimuthu while Tampines Rovers chairman Teo Hock Seng instigated crowd trouble over the unjust dished out by the officials in their 1-2 home lost to bitter title rivals SAFFC, was that FAS clamped down hard on the clubs to pick on the men in black (or green) with alot of cover up for their ineptitude which was persistent for the entire season.
Ultimately the likes of defenders Sallehuddin Damit, Rene Komar and Yusof Salleh got a suspension from all FAS-sanctioned tournaments for a period of 6 to 15 months. The latter got the let off of the lot.
Tampines Chairman Teo got a touchline ban for the remainder of the season. With his stature within the local football fraternity, I thought the punishment was about right.
So what happened to those referees in doubt i.e. Kalimuthu and Muhd Taqi. They got the backing of the head of the refereeing committee Jeffery Beh who petulantly slammed the clubs for behaving like boorish barbarians.
Well the level of refereeing in Singapore football had always been torrid and this year reached the all time low; much due to the lack of interest and quality in the ranks.
But then again we should not push those officials too much..Imagine they went on strike, then who will officiate the matches? I bet Simunic would love to do it himself.
Singapore crossed swords with the fast-improving China for the inaugural National Day Challenge at the National Stadium and never looked like being refurbished anytime soon.
Under the guidance of the new national coach, former Tiong Bahru striker Gao Hong Bo, a second string Chinese side came to Singapore, looking full of purpose despite going down to an early goal from Noh Alam Shah.
After equalizing from a header by midfielder Yang Hao, the Chinese definitely dominated play on the pitch with better passing and definitely higher level of fitness.
We were kept from being humiliated by the agility of Hassan Sunny though there was little the Tampines custodian could do to stop the Chinese to snag the Mickey Mouse cup from the penalty shootout.
It had been growing concern of our national team whom we assume had reached a plateau in terms of performance after Raddy guided them to the 3rd AFF Cup in 2007 and the 3rd Round of World Cup Qualifying.
Without Shi Jiayi and Fahruddin Mustafic, our midfield just lacked the bite with Hariss Harun and John Wilkinson not looking like the right combination.
There was no one else left to step up to challenge the incumbents in the national color with Raddy fear his senior side unable growing complacent.
It does look like the football of our island nation is entering another dark age with the possibility of us being knocked out of Asian Cup qualification come November in the double biller against Thailand as well as the lowest ever finish in the SEA Games since I could remember with what this current batch of Young Lions had been showing.
I am even being optimistic with this prediction.
With ailing support from the local fans as well as the lack of talent coming through, can we say we are going to reign football in the region in the future?
One of the accolade which FAS had been harping up week in week out was of course our S League being the top ten league in Asia.
With the new AFC ruling for any ACL participating league, the minimum average attendance has to be at 5,000.
Perhaps it was the beginning of another season of the English Premier League in combination with foul weather as well as the month of Ramadan, attendance had been appalling for the past 2 weeks with the 564 for the match at Yishin Stadium between Super Reds and Balestier Khalsa perhaps the lowest since Dalian was still around last season.
And if an Eastern derby between Geylang United and Tampines Rovers can command less than a thousand spectators, something definitely is wrong with the appeal of the S League as the season progressed.
I would say one good reason was that SAFFC was running away with the league title for the 4th year running while the likely usurpers all going through a rough patch with the exception of one Home United who themselves had choked far too often earlier in the season.
Secondly beside the usual punters, many casual spectators like myself would engage in a self epiphany on what sort of enjoyment one gets while paying money to watch a live game.
Well if you are a supporters of a wretched club like Sengkang Punggol, it is hard to fathom even for myself.
Maybe save that $5 and do something more productive as I have mentioned. Hey it definitely looked more appealing sadly, especially I now have to bite my tongue with my list of reasons to catch the S League live during pre-season.
Unless the organizing committee stop resting on their laurels and try to improve thousand and one issues one can find fault of the current status of the S League (i.e. quality of players, the stadium, the referees etc), I would not be surprise if the 13 year old league might meet its timely demise eventually.
Men with pen
Something interesting came to my attention last night as I was compiling match statistics from the official S.League site. The match report between Tampines and SAFFC didn’t quite read the same from what I digested in the morning. With my curiosity piqued I tried to find out more. Lo and behold, it was indeed edited, and pretty substantial too, given how the attention is now cast to another party.
Read on and form your own opinion.
Original S.League match report
Furious Tampines Rovers fans vented their anger at the match officials after they witnessed their beloved side crash 2-1 to league leaders Singapore Armed Forces (SAFFC) at home in an intense top-of-the-table clash on Sunday.
They were initially silenced when a brace from Warrior left winger Park Tae Won within seven minutes in the middle of the first half put the visitors ahead before Stags substitute Akihiro Nakamura pulled one back to give them a glimmer of hope that never was.
Referee Muhd Taqi’s inexperience in handling such a fiery encounter frayed nerves among the 2,195-strong crowd when he sent off home favourite Noh Alam Shah with less than 20 minutes to go for a challenge on SAFFC goalkeeper Shahril Jantan.
Further calls from the nervous man in the middle left the entire ground in disapproval and emotions finally spilled over after the match when aggrieved home fans, players and management, upset with his officiating, made their feelings known to the referees.
While Taqi’s decisions had no real bearing in the final outcome, they were too much to bear for the heartbroken fans who felt their heroes were harshly treated by the officials.
Tampines went into the match looking to bounce back from their 3-0 setback against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) on Thursday and close the gap between themselves and their opponents at the league summit.
However, coach Vorawan Chitavanich was forced to reshuffle his lineup with Qiu Li and Ridhuan Muhammad suspended for the big game.
Alam Shah returned to the starting eleven to partner alongside Aliff Shafaein in attack while skipper Fahrudin Mustafic resumed his duties at central midfield.
Japanese midfielder Akihiro Nakamura made the bench together with Khairul Amri, who had recovered from a pre-season foot injury to be part of the matchday squad for the first time this season.
SAFFC tactician Richard Bok kept faith with the same men who played to a goalless home draw against DPMM FC in their previous game and were looking to end their mini two-match run without a win.
The home side wasted no time taking the game to their opponents from the first whistle, with Aliff coming close on two occasions in giving the fans something to shout about.
But disaster struck after the quarter-hour when a solo run from Park on the left evaded defenders Shariff Abdul Samat and Satria Mad before he shot past Stags goalkeeper Hassan Sunny on the edge of the box.
Worse was to come for Tampines seven minutes later when a Zulfadli Zainal Abidin cross on the left was met by Aleksandar Duric whose header crashed against Hassan’s left-hand post.
Park was the most alert to the loose ball as he took advantage of the non-existent marking in the Tampines box to volley home and give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
Sensing that Imran Sahib was overwhelmed on the right flank that had cost his side two goals, Vorawan sent on Nakamura just before the half hour to provide more aggression in attack
In response, Mustaqim Manzur was withdrawn in place of Hafiz Osman as a precaution after he picked up a slight hamstring pull.
Nakamura’s introduction breathed some life into the Tampines attack as his frequent raids on the right caused many problems for the SAFFC defence.
But the suspensions were felt by the home side as they lacked the final penetration to breach the visitors and rarely attacked on the left as much as they did on the other side.
Two goals down at the break, whatever was said inside the confines of the Tampines dressing room seemed to have an effect on the team as they came out early and looked determined to push their way through in the second half.
Five minutes after the restart, Kaneko nearly turned it into reality when he burst his way through on the left and crossed for Alam Shah, whose header flew over.
On the other end, Hafiz came close to sealing the game for SAFFC in quick time as he saw his first attempt hit the side netting and the second deflected by Shariff, with Hassan scrambling to save.
These were the only serious efforts the visitors would muster in the second half as they were content to hold on to their lead and see out the match.
Nakamura had other ideas though when he latched on a Sutee Suksomkit cross on the left to thump the ball at the far post into the underside roof of the net and set up a tense finale in the 67th minute.
The Stags were spurred by his contribution and piled on relentless pressure as they sought another goal to even the scores.
Their task for grabbing an equalizer went further uphill three minutes later when Alam Shah slid in to challenge for the ball against Shahril.
Although Tampines were a man down, they developed a siege mentality and continued their attacks, with Amri coming in late on for his first appearance of the season.
He came closest to sniffing the second goal when he was put through by Sutee in the dying minutes of the game, only to see his attempt hit the side netting.
While several subsequent calls against Tampines by the referee had the partisan crowd mad at them, it was his booking against Shariff for an illegal challenge on Shahril in injury time that broke the camel’s back.
Stags chairman Teo Hock Seng had to be restrained by the club coaching staff at the final whistle as he confronted the match officials and referee assessor while the furious fans voiced their displeasure at the handling of the game.
Upset club coach Vorawan questioned whether a more experienced referee could have put the tense situations under control.
“When the top two are playing, a more experienced FIFA referee is required. The referee is young, relatively inexperienced and does not have a FIFA badge, although I cannot say whether it is wrong or not to have him taking this game,” he said.
The usually mild-mannered Thai highlighted the Alam Shah and Shariff incidents to quiz the poor state of affairs by the referees.
“I am not an expert, but having studied physical education, I understand the rules well enough,” he continued.
“While we lost, the referees must do their part to ensure the game is fair.
“I never believed this was a red card for Alam Shah. He did not touch the goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper delayed the game and wasted time.
“Shariff used his head to challenge for the ball against the goalkeeper. If he had used the hand or knee to do that, the referee would be correct to give the foul and yellow. But he just used his head.
“The chairman spent so much money to build a good team. The referees then made the mistakes that cost us and later went to apologize.
“They can say sorry, but the result cannot be changed and it is too late.”
Vorawan also admitted the defensive mistakes that resulted in a Park brace was a tough task for them to overcome, but insisted they would fight to the end despite the eight-point gap.
“The goals we let in were too soft, too easy, especially the second one. The confidence was hard hit after we allowed Park all the time to score,” he lamented.
“With a full squad, the game would have been a more even, exciting contest. Tonight we missed Benoit (Croissant) at the back and Qiu Li and Ridhuan up front.
“When the suspensions and injuries are over, the team will be very strong. We will try our best to regain the form that put us in second now and push for the title.”
His SAFFC counterpart Bok refused to be drawn into the officiating, but was delighted with a hard-fought win that distanced themselves from the chasing pack at the top.
“Cool and composed heads gave us the win and the players gave a disciplined and professional performance,” he said.
“The team did well defensively and we did not hurry the game. With the numerical advantage we had after the red card, we just kept our cool and the ball as much as we could.”
Despite the victory, he acknowledged the stern test Tampines gave and backed them to push his men all the way in the title race.
“Tampines are still a good team despite the loss and Sutee gave us many problems tonight,” he added.
“He showed that with the one good cross he made to create their only goal and I put in Hafiz Osman in early to try and stifle him more on the left.
“While they, Gombak United and DPMM FC are still title challengers, I hope we can keep up the momentum and take it one game at a time to try and consolidate, possibly push away if we can too.”
Gary Koh
Edited S.League match report
Lapses in defensive concentration in the first half cost ten-man Tampines Rovers as they succumbed 1-2 to league leaders Singapore Armed Forces (SAFFC) at home in a crucial top-of-the-table clash on Sunday evening.
SAFFC winger Park Tae Won seized the advantage from the mistakes to score an early brace within seven minutes to put his side ahead, before Stags substitute Akihiro Nakamura pulled a goal back in the second half.
Any hopes of a home revival were dashed when Tampines forward Noh Alam Shah was sent off with 20 minutes to go for a contentious foul on Warriors goalkeeper Shahril Jantan.
Despite intense late pressure from the home side, the visitors held on for the win and extended their lead at the top to eight points with eleven games to go.
The defeat was too much to bear for the Tampines team, management and supporters, who vented their anger at the match officials after the game.
As the referees and the referee assessor made their way into the dressing room, they were pelted with paper and plastic bottles by irate fans who had stayed behind after the final whistle to make their feelings known.
Unlike previous meetings between the top two this season, the final outcome had absolutely nothing to do with Muhd Taqi’s decision-making in the game.
But that made no difference to the home team and fans, whose siege mentality got the better of them as they overlooked a poor outing by the Stags defence, preferring to blame their loss on external factors instead.
Tampines went into the match looking to bounce back from their 0-3 setback against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) on Thursday and close the gap between themselves and their opponents at the league summit.
Coach Vorawan Chitavanich was forced to reshuffle his lineup, with French defender Benoit Croissant sidelined through injury and suspensions to Qiu Li and Ridhuan Muhammad also leading to their absence.
Alam Shah returned to partner alongside Aliff Shafaein up front, while skipper Fahrudin Mustafic resumed his duties in central midfield alongside Shukor Zailan.
Nakamura once again made the bench together with Khairul Amri, who had recovered from a pre-season foot injury to be part of the matchday squad for the first time this season.
Meanwhile, SAFFC tactician Richard Bok kept faith with the same men who played to a goalless home draw against DPMM FC in their previous game as the team sought to ensure their goalless streak did not go beyond two games.
The match got off to a roaring start as Aliff came close twice to giving Tampines the lead.
But their early efforts came to nought when Park took advantage of some sloppy defending on the right, particularly winger Imran Sahib, to net two goals in quick succession.
The first came on the quarter-hour mark, when his solo run beat defenders Shariff Abdul Samat and Satria Mad before shooting past goalkeeper Hassan Sunny on the edge of the box.
Things went worse for the Stags and 3,195-strong crowd seven minutes later, when a Zulfadli Zainal Abidin cross on the left was met by Aleksandar Duric, whose header crashed against Hassan’s left-hand post.
With the entire Stags defence caught stunned, the South Korean was quickest to the loose ball as he took advantage of the non-existent marking in the Tampines box to volley home and give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
Sensing that Imran was overwhelmed on the right, Vorawan threw Nakamura in to replace him just before the half-hour to provide more aggression in attack.
In an immediate response from the Warriors bench, Mustaqim Manzur was withdrawn in place of Hafiz Osman after the former picked up a slight hamstring pull.
Nakamura’s introduction breathed some life into the Tampines attack as his frequent raids on the right caused many problems for the SAFFC defence.
The second-placed team felt the impact of the suspensions though as they lacked the final penetration to breach the visitors and rarely attacked on the left.
Not having Qiu around proved decisive as Alam Shah had to drop back and do the legwork to trouble the centreback pairing of Kenji Arai and Daniel Bennett, which often meant there was no one to take over his usual vanguard role.
With Sutee often drifting inwards and Aliff not fully fitting into the attacking picture, it was clear some reorganizing had to be done if the Stags were to claw their way back into the game.
Two goals down at the break, whatever was said inside the Tampines dressing room seemed to have an effect on the team as they came out a different team in the second half.
Five minutes after the restart, man-marker Seiji Kaneko burst his way through on the left and crossed for Alam Shah, whose header flew over.
On the other end, Hafiz came close to sealing the game for SAFFC as he saw his first attempt hit the side netting and the second deflected by Shariff, with Hassan scrambling to prevent a catastrophic own goal.
These were the only serious efforts from the Warriors in the second half, as they were content to hold on to their lead and see out the match.
Nakamura had other ideas though, when he latched on a Sutee Suksomkit cross on the left to thump the ball at the far post into the underside roof of the net and set up a tense finale in the 67th minute.
Their hopes for grabbing an equalizer went pear-shaped three minutes later, when Alam Shah slid in to challenge for the ball against Shahril.
Whether contact was made was debatable, but pushed into a split-second decision, Taqi decided there was and promptly sent off the national forward, sparking mass anger from the home bench and stands.
To the 28-year-old’s credit, he quickly picked himself up and made a beeline for the dressing room, rather than get himself and the rest of the team into further trouble by picking an argument.
Although Tampines were a man down, they desperately continued their raids at the other end in search for an equalizer to justify their rallying figure’s sacrifice.
Substitute Amri came closest to sniffing that when he was put through by Sutee in the dying minutes of the game, only for his attempt to hit the side netting.
Frustration was mounting in the Tampines camp, though, as the referee’s every call came under scrutiny, and Shariff’s yellow for an alleged illegal challenge on Shahril in injury time broke the camel’s back for the home team.
Chairman Teo Hock Seng and Vorawan both sprung up from the bench in livid incredulity, and several Tampines players stared Taqi in the eye as they feared for a second consecutive defeat that would have undone their title challenge.
An upset Vorawan had his questions after the match, although he eventually conceded his players had shot themselves in the foot to start with after some below-par defending in the first half.
“When the top two are playing, a more experienced FIFA referee is required,” he said.
“I never believed it was a red card for Alam Shah. He did not touch the goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper delayed the game and wasted time.
“Shariff used his head to challenge for the ball against the goalkeeper. If he had used the hand or knee to do that, the referee would be correct to give the foul and yellow. But he just used his head.
“But the goals we let in were too soft, too easy, especially the second one. The confidence was hard hit after we allowed Park all the time to score,” he then lamented.
“With a full squad, the game would have been a more even, exciting contest. Tonight we missed Benoit at the back and Qiu Li and Ridhuan up front.”
SAFFC coach Richard Bok was meanwhile happy with a hard-fought win that distanced them from the chasing pack at the top.
“Cool and composed heads gave us the win and the players gave a disciplined and professional performance,” he said.
“The team did well defensively and we did not hurry the game. With the numerical advantage we had after the red card, we just kept our cool and the ball as much as we could.”
Despite the victory, he acknowledged the stern test Tampines gave and backed them to push his men all the way in the title race.
“Tampines are still a good team despite the loss, and Sutee gave us many problems tonight,” he added.
“He showed that with the one good cross he made to create their only goal, and I put in Hafiz Osman in early to try and stifle him more on the left.
“While they, Gombak United and DPMM FC are still title challengers, I hope we can keep up the momentum and take it one game at a time to try and consolidate, possibly push away if we can too.”
Gary Koh
Top 10 league in Asia? In terms of sports journalistic integrity, I can only shudder.
Men in Black
A few controversial refereeing decisions off the top of my head.
Tampines Rovers vs Sengkang Punggol (9th Mar 2009)
With the home team one goal up going into the break, referee Zaid Hussein proceeded to send off goalkeeper Joey Sim for a professional foul. Just as 10 men Sengkang Punggol looked to be holding out well and at times threatened to equalise, he brandished another red to substitute keeper Amos Boon, even though Alam Shah was running away from goal and two defenders were tracking back towards the goal line. The two red cards created a goalkeeper crisis for the club for the next two matches, which we never recovered from, losing to both Super Reds and DPMM by the odd goal.
SAFFC vs Tampines Rovers (9th May 2009)
With the score at 3 – 2, SAFFC looked to be on top after a great comeback from the dead. Then came the dramatic equaliser from Noh Alam Shah. Referee Abas Daud gave the goal until he was stopped by his assistant, who signaled for a foul on Daniel Bennett. Goal disallowed. To rub salt into the hotblooded national striker’s wound, he was shown the red card for elbowing his eternal adversary. SAFFC went on to win the match 4 -2.
Tampines Rovers vs SAFFC (13th Jun 2009)
With a spot in the League Cup semifinal up for grabs, the two heavyweights had a go at each other for the second time. Again the assistant referee chose this occasion to play spoiler, first denying a clearly on side Noh Alam Shah winner in stoppage time, and then completely missing Firdaus Kasman’s rebounded penalty landing behind the goal line during the sudden death shootout. Another night of misery for the Stags.
Albirex Niigata (S) vs SAFFC (3rd July 2009)
Totally outplayed by the home team, a Shaiful Esah freekick was harmlessly floated into the box and Matsushita caught it with ease. Shockingly the assistant referee Haja Maidin flagged for a goal, indicating that the keeper had gone behind the goal line with the ball. Television replay proved inconclusive (hey what’s new), but the assistant referee was clearly seen running down the line as the ball was in mid air. Surely he wasn’t in the best possible position (as opposed to standing in line with the goal) to make the call. SAFFC seized initiative with that fluke goal and won the match 3 – 1.
DPMM vs Home United (2nd Aug 2009)
Three red cards to the home team in one minute. Referee K. Kalimuthu must have set himself a new record in S.League history for his feat. Whether his decision would be proven right or wrong is inconsequential, though personally I’m more inclined to believe his officiating must have provoked the DPMM players into complete suicidal mode. As Sivaji said in his post match interview (which for some strange reason, I can no longer find), the referee’s earlier action definitely affected his decision making in the second half. By then the match had already become nothing more than a farce.
Tampines Rovers vs SAFFC (2nd Aug 2009)
Thrown into the burning caldron of Tampines stadium, referee Muhd Taqi came off the worst in this third encounter between the two teams, incurring the wrath of chairman Teo Hock Seng, the home players and their fans with his numerous debatable calls. SAFFC ended the night victorious yet again while Tampines lost the match, Noh Alam Shah, their cool and most likely lots of money from the fines they’ll be hit from the FA.
But more importantly, they might have just lost something far more tangible than any of the above: their faith in the standards of refereeing in the S.League.
S.League a top 10 league in Asia? On the basis of match officiating, I beg to differ.
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.
