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"I always believe such cooperation
between clubs and their locality GROs (Grassroots Organization) will do more good than anything.
Both parties should leverage on the plus sides of each other to benefit themselves in the long run.
And this is something I hope the "joint event" this afternoon is not a "one-off"
event.
"I always believe such cooperation
between clubs and their locality GROs (Grassroots Organization) will do more good than anything.
Both parties should leverage on the plus sides of each other to benefit themselves in the long run.
And this is something I hope the "joint event" this afternoon is not a "one-off"
event.
In a new bid to attract more interest it seems the SLeague have come up with a novel way of
releasing the fixture list for the new season. Taking a leaf from the harry Potter movies they are
announcing them bit by bit. The logic, such as it is, is that if it's good enough for JK Rawlings'
teen magicians it's gotta be good enough for the SLeague.
There he was sitting on a chair inside the venue hall almost unnoticed when I first arrived at the
Singapore Sports School in Woodlands (which I nearly lost my way because of a misguided information
of an apps on my phone).
You see Brunei DPMM coach Vjeran Simunic (pictured above or left depend on your browser setting)
would normally tucked in his trademark attire entirely in black colour and top off with a black
baseball cap embossed with the DPMM logo on match day.
Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the
"Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's
eve.
John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old clubAfter all, not all the teams have
started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite
the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF).
Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the
"Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's
eve.
John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old clubAfter all, not all the teams have
started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite
the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF).
Home United may have won the Singapore Cup but the SLeague title is the one they wanted and they
missed out by one point to Tampines. They have already started strengthening their squad for the
new season, which I believe begins in February or March, with a familiar face returning to Lion
City and a hot talent from last season.
Tomorrow sees the Singapore Cup Final taking place at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Home United will
look to complete the first leg of a domestic double when they take on League Cup winners Albirex
Niigata.
Last year's affair saw Bangkok Glass defeat Tampines Rovers 1-0 (programme cover left) while I got
shitfaced in an infamous bar district with persons unknown and returned home with just a toy bus
for my son.
It's been a fun old season for Hougang United. They changed their name from Sengkang Punggol, and
their colours and their badge and their nickname...makes you wonder why they weren't considered a
new club, reached the League Cup final and gave many of the top teams a run for their money,
defeating the likes of Tampines Rovers and SAFFC.
Let's be totally Frank about this. Given a choice of watching Balestier Khalsa playing Woodlands
Wellington or watching the latest reality TV hit from the US what would you rather do? For me, a
trip to Toa Payoh would win hands down.
Woodlands, among other things, had only managed 17 goals going into their 31st game of the season
and were in 12th position two points behind Tanjong Pagar.
Being reported that Peter Butler, who used to play for West Ham United, will soon be back at the
helm of Kelantan. Malaysia Football says the former coach of SAFFC, Persiba, Kelantan and Yangon
United will return to his old desk next month.
This report suggests Persib Bandung are interested in a couple of Australian midfielders. Robbie
Gaspar has spent several years in Indonesia playing for clubs like Persita, Persiba and Persema but
has been without a club since leaving Persema during last season's short lived LPI.
The other Aussie reportedly interesting Persib is Goran Subara.
Singapore Cup
Etoile v Home United 0-1 (Frederic Mendy)
Mendy's goal against his former team ensured at least one of this year's Singapore Cup Final would
be a local team, Home winning 2-1 on aggregate.
Tonight Hougang United take on Albirex Niigata.
Recent Singapore Cup Finals
2010 Bangkok Glass v Tampines Rovers 1-02009 Geylang United v Bangkok Glass 1-02008 SAFFC v
Woodlands Wellington 2-12007 SAFFC v Tampines Rovers 4-32006 Tampines Rovers v Chonburi 3-22005
Home United v Woodlands Wellington 3-2
To depress Singaporeans even more when was the last time a local team won any thing there?
Singapore Cup
Etoile v Home United 0-1 (Frederic Mendy)
Mendy's goal against his former team ensured at least one of this year's Singapore Cup Final would
be a local team, Home winning 2-1 on aggregate.
Tonight Hougang United take on Albirex Niigata.
Recent Singapore Cup Finals
2010 Bangkok Glass v Tampines Rovers 1-02009 Geylang United v Bangkok Glass 1-02008 SAFFC v
Woodlands Wellington 2-12007 SAFFC v Tampines Rovers 4-32006 Tampines Rovers v Chonburi 3-22005
Home United v Woodlands Wellington 3-2
To depress Singaporeans even more when was the last time a local team won any thing there?
SLeague
Balestier Khalsa v SAFFC 1-3 (Mark McGough; Mislav Karoglan 2, Fazrul Nawaz) 454Young Lions v
Albirex Niigata 1-1 (Shahdan Sulaiman; Tatsuro Inui) 676
Albirex Niigata's flood of goals dried up last night at Jalan Besar when they could only manage a
draw, a result that sees them move second.
Malaysia Cup
Kedah v Sabah 1-2Perak v Johor 2-1Terengganu v PKNS 3-2Negeri Sembilan v Sime Darby 5-0Kelantan v
Johor FC 2-1Felda United v Sarawak 1-0Selangor v PDRM 2-0KL v T Team 2-1
SLeague
Home United v Albirex Niigata 0-4 (Tatsuro Inui, Ryuta Hayashi, Shimpei Sakurada, Kunihiro
Yamashita) 923SAFFC v Woodlands Wellington 7-0 (Fazrul Nawaz, Taisuke Akiyoshi 2, OG, Mislav
Karoglan 2, Indra Sahdan) 569
1 - Tampines 24 17 3 4 46-19 542 - Home United 24 17 2 5 59-26 533 - Albirex Niigata 25 17 1 7
65-25 524 - SAFFC 24 16 2 6 53-24 50
Albirex can't stop scoring and indeed the goals keeping flowing in the SLeague.
Malaysia Cup
Johor v Kedah 0-2Sabah v Perak 0-0Sime Darby v Terengganu 0-3PKNS v Negeri Sembilan 1-2Sarawak v
Kelantan 0-2Johor FC v Felda United 0-2T Team v Selangor 1-0PDRM v KL 0-3
Just one home winner in the opening round of the Malaysia Cup and even that saw one of the
favourites, Selangor, go down 1-0 to a goal by Alias!
Wasn't able to attend any of the Singapore Cup matches over the few days until today due to work
commitments and ultimately saw the lack of update of the blog until this.
As the result of the concluding matches played over the past few days saw the emerging of the
"FINAL FOUR" for one of the holy grails in Singapore football.
SAFFC v Albirex Niigata 0-0Tampines v Home United 3-3 (Duric 4; Mendy 2, Qiu Li)
Second legs later this week
The fate of both Hariss Harun and Safuwan Baharudin (pictured below) to join the national team for
the upcoming World Cup group stages qualifiers is still hung in a balance, despite having their
names on the 24-men squad list released by the Football Association of Singapore this evening.
Would Sufawan having the last laugh?
I have been overlooking the bread and butter over the last week; time now for an SLeague
update!
Young Lions v Hougang United 2-0Balestier Khalsa v Home United 0-4Etoile v SAFFC 1-0Tampines Rovers
v Geylang United 0-2Albirex Niigata v Tanjong Pagar 1-0Home United v Gombak United 2-1Balestier
Khalsa v Tampines Rovers 0-1
1 - Home United 22 16 2 4 56-21 502 - Tampines 22 15 3 4 42-18 483 - Albirex Niigata 22 14 1 7
49-22 43
18 - Mislav Karoglan (SAFFC), Aleksander Duric (Tampines Rovers)16 - Frederic Mendy (Home United)14
- Qiu Li (Home United)
I'm not sure if this is going to work and sustainable, but this should be the best way to get those
pictures I taken to be tabulated in an orderly manner so as to allow users to access them easily
(which I hope so).
Or if anyone has a better solution to put everything in order, please feel free to email me at
kopohui@bolasepako.
14/08 Tampines Rovers v Home United15/08 SAFFC v Albirex Niigata16/08 Hougang United v Okkthar
United17/08 Gombak United v Etoile18/08 Home United v Tampines Rovers19/08 Okkthar United v Hougang
United20/08 Etoile v Gombak United 21/08 Albirex Niigata v SAFFC
Last year of course Bangkok Glass beat Tampines Rovers 1-0 in the final.
The Singapore team bench before the kick-offI did something I seldom do during a football match -
switch side ... in order to get some shots from stocking my archive.
We were told to confine ourselves to a small white perimeter box located at the far corner of the
field that to our dismay with much of action taken place on the opposite flank.
I know the general perception in Singapore is that their football is shite but then most of them
sold their soul to the EPL a decade back and pine for queen and empire once more.
But the SLeague continues to be one of the most exciting leagues in the region.
Not like Thailand where Buriram PEA had won the TPL before the season had kicked off, allegedly, or
Indonesia where much depends on outside factors.
One of the daftest derbies around. I always thought calling Melbourne Croatia v Sydney Croatia or
Melita Eagles v Sunshine GC derbies was nuts; the tenuous link is not geographical but
ancestral.
In Singapore, every bloody game is a derby unless it's something like Tampines Rovers travelling to
Woodlands.
(CONTINUED FROM PART TWO)
"I realized that he (Withaya) understands me the most and he could guide me to be a good
player.
"I'm not just saying this but because he did turn me to a player everyone looked up to when I was
16 during which everyone had given up hope on me but "coach" was the only one who saw something in
me.
Not for the first time in recent years the SLeague is proving to be one of the more exciting
leagues in the region.
We're just about at the half way point and we have the usual three horse race, champions Etoile
have slipped down the ladder having four or five games in hand, and look how tight things are at
the top.
As a football club Phnom Penh Crown are doing much right. There is a professionalism about them
that appears to be lacking in other CLeague clubs. They have a small range ofmerchandising
available and, more important, they are investing in youth with an academy designed to attract the
kingdom's finest talents.
Hougang United v Harimau Muda 1-0Gombak United v Balestier Khalsa 2-1South Melbourne v Albirex
Niigata 0-3Geylang United v Tampines Rovers 1-2Home United v Woodlands Wellington 5-1Etoile v
Tanjung Pagar 2-0SAFFC v Phnom Penh Crown 4-0Pattaya United v Okkthar United 1-2
2 - Jonathon Toto (Etoile), Qiu Li (Home United), Erawan Gunawan (SAFFC)
Head coach at Phnom Penh Crown Bojan Hodak has quit the club and taken up a position with Chinese
Super League team Shandong Luneng.
Bojan leaves the club in a healthy position as Phnom Penh Crown are favourites to lift the CLeague,
are in the next round of the AFC President's Cup and next month take on SAFFC in the Singapore Cup.
SLeague new boys Tanjong Pagar United have only scored six goals in their opening 14 games and one
of them came in their only win so far, away to Woodlands Wellington. Doesn't look too good, does
it?
Until you look at who they scored against;
v SAFFC 1-2v Tampines Rovers 1-4v SAFFC 2-2v Home United 1-3
Their next two games?
Balestier Khalsa v Geylang United 3-1 (Kim Kwang Young 2, OG; Amy Recha) 858Woodlands Wellington v
SAFFC 1-5 (Goh Swee Swee; OG, Mislav Kaoglan, Fazrul Nawaz 3) 681Home United v Tanjong Pagar 3-1
(Frederic Mendy2, Ashraf Rashid; Kim Jong Oh) 1,441
1 - Home United 16 11 2 3 40-15 352 - Tampines Rovers 14 10 3 1 30-11 333 - SAFFC 14 9 2 3 30-16
29
Tonight sees Tampines play Tanjong Pagar with victory against the cellar dwellers taking them back
to the top of the SLeague.
Hosting the AFC Presidents Cup Phnom Penh Crown have assured themselves of a place in the next
round after wins in their opening two games.
After beating Den Bosco from Sri Lanka 3-0 in the opening game, yesterday PPC overcame Abahani 1-0
with an 80th minute goal from Chann Cahaya in front of 8,500 at the Olympic Stadium.
AFC Presidents Cup
Phnom Penh Crown v Den Bosco 3-0
Divisi Utama Play Offs
Mitra Kukar v Persiraja 0-1 (Dillah) 1,025Persidafon v Persiba Bantul 2-5 (Harianto, Ernest
Jeremiah; Gonzales 2, Sugiyanto 2, Busari) 24,126
Liga Primer Indonesia
Bogor Raya v Medan Chiefs 2-4Solo v PSM 1-4Bali Devata v Aceh United 2-0Minangkabu v Manado United
4-1Cendrawasih Papua v Bintang Medan 3-2Batavia Union v Persebaya 1927 0-0Tangerang Wolves v
Jakarta 2-3Bandung v Semarang United 3-2Persema v Persibo 1-1
1 - Persebaya 18 12 4 2 42-13 402 - Persema 18 12 4 2 35-17 403 - PSM Makassar 17 9 4 4 32-17 314 -
Batavia Union 18 8 7 3 32-23 31
Thai Premier League
Sriracha v TOT 0-2Chiang Rai United v Thai Port 1-1Sisaket v Osotspa 1-1BEC Tero v Bangkok Glass
0-2Khon Kean v Pattaya United 1-1Siam Navy v TTM Phichit 1-1Samut Songkram v Buriram PEA 0-4
1 - Buriram PEA 14 11 3 0 25-5 362 - Chonburi 13 9 3 1 32-10 303 - Police United 13 7 5 1 13-7 264
- Bangkok Glass 14 6 4 4 20-14 22
SLeague
Albirex Niigata v Home United 2-1 (Shimono, Ihata; Qiu Li) 1,455
1 - Tampines 14 10 3 1 30-11 332 - Home United 15 10 2 3 37-14 323 - Etoile 12 8 2 2 21-7 264 -
SAFFC 13 8 2 3 25-15 26
12 - Aleksander Duric (Tampines Rovers)10 - Frederic Mendy (Home United), Mislav Karoglan (SAFFC)9
- Qiul Li (Home United)
Malaysia Super League
Johor FC v Perlis 2-1Kedah v KL 0-0Terengganu v Negeri Sembilan 3-0Pahang v Selangor 2-1Harima Muda
A v Kelantan 2-2Sabah v T Team 1-3Felda United v Perak 0-1
1 - Kelantan 21 13 5 3 44-18 442 - Terengganu 21 13 5 3 40-18 443 -Selangor 21 13 3 5 30-20 42
For so long Sengkang Punggol were a laughing stock in the SLeague. If they dropped much further
down the league table, nobody ever once said, they would end up in the Batam Regional League.
Sengkang Punggol players couldn't score in Lorong 8 or Joo Chiat the mockers mocked. The guys
behind the now extinct Fish Out Of Water blog produced more than their heroes ever did.
Young Lions v Woodlands Wellington 509Etoile v Gombak United 502Woodlands Wellington v Tanjong
Pagar 753Balestier Khalsa v Etoile 602Tanjong Pagar v SAFFC 880
Grim reading eh? These are recent attendances at SLeague games and remember Etoile are the bloody
champions!
Much talk of strategic plans, much quotes from the great and good in the world game (sic) saying
how great the strategic plan is/was.
As I said a few days back the SLeague is already shaping into another classic season and I am
really looking forward to my next visit there. Dunno when mind!
These are the results of recent days I have missed. There have been some changes to the schedule
and I don't have the latest one so am kind of in the dark on what's on the horizon!
About 18 months ago it looked like Gombak United would be the team to break the stranglehold SAFFC
had on the SLeague. They boasted the best defence with Bah Mamadou and Obadin at the heart while
also boasting the most potent strikeforce in the country.
Agu Casmir headed to Persija in Indonesia, Kingsley Njokou has ended up with Phnom Penh Crown in
Cambodia while Gabriel Obatola is now with Pattaya United in the Thai Premier League after a spell
in the US with Portland Tomberwolves.
Before the game between SAFFC and Etoile at Jalan Besar Stadium, I met someone I know just outside
the ground, along King George Avenue and had this brief conversation (as below).
Acquaintance: "Do you have free ticket?" as he's aware of my involvement in the scene.
Me: "Nope, I don't have it"
Acquaintance: "Cannot be, last time my who work as a photographer, always have free tickets to
matches"
Me: "Time changes as different people are 'calling the shots' now.
