Newly promoted Persidafon have become the ISL's whipping boys. Back to back thumpings, 5-0 at Sriwijaya, 5-2 at Persiram, have left them 15th in the 18 team league with nine points from their opening 11 games. Of concern to Sergei Dubrovin will be a defence that has leaked 30 goals in that time; an ignominy they share with fellow Papuans Persiram.

I'm not sure if anyone of you out there notice this scenario since the early days of the S.League that there are these two clubs been "close trading partners".
It's not uncommon to see players of this particular club swapping jerseys for another particular side after a season or two that in recent years seems to have intensified.

I've never been a fan of the League Cup. In a season of 33 league games (28 next season) plus the Singapore Cup I have always felt this is a competition too much on the crowded calendar but I don't call the shots and no one listens to me so who cares?!

With the revamp of the SLeague next season it would be nice if we could also have a revamp of this insignificant little competition.

It's been another exciting season in the SLeague with the title race not being decided until the last game of the season. The penultimate game between Home United and Tampines Rovers saw the Stags win 1-0; they went into their last game knowing three points would be enough. They won 5-0 to secure their first title in six years.

(This entry is formulated with the transcript obtained from S.League title sponsor, H-TWO-O, via the Football Association of Singapore)
Isa and H-TWO-O - a perfect combinationBoasting a score of 13.3 in the pre-season beep test, Home United and Singapore national team midfielder Isa Halim is one of the best in the business.

SEA Games
Vietnam v The Philippines 3-1Myanmar v Laos 3-2
SLeague
Tanjong Pagar v Woodlands Wellington 1-1 (Patrick Paran; Moon Soon Ho) 425

International Friendly
Malaysia Under 23 v Nepal 2-0 (Faris Ramlan, Yong Kuong Yong)
Indonesia Premier League (I think that's what they're calling it)
Persib v Semen Padang 1-1 (Milijan Radovic; Mostapha Aji)
Former Persikota and Persitara striker Mostapha Aji had the honour of scoring the first goal in the latest new era in Indonesian football as the new season got under way at Soreang.

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?

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.

• S.League Match- Balestier Khalsa 0-1 Tampines Rovers (6/8/11)
  
  

Ahmad Latiff (pictured above in yellow jersey) delivered the sucker punch at the last kick of the game to help Tampines Rovers beat Balestier Khalsa 1-0 at Toa Payoh Stadium.
While the Tigers had a Mark McGough's goal disallowed which they claimed the Aussie's effort had crossed the goal line before Lions defender Fahrudin Mustafic cleared for safety in the first half.

Now safely ensconsed in the Deltras hot seat, new coach Jorg Steinbrunner, formerly of Woodlands Wellington, Sengkang Punggol, Etoile and Medan Chiefs, is wasting no time bringing in a couple of familiar faces.
Former Woodlands and Medan Chiefs Abdelhadi Laakkad is a Moroccan striker who scores goals, as opposed to Chamakh who is a Moroccan striker who gets pushed off the ball way too easily.

You could throw a rock from JB to Singapore. If you had a strong arm. And were standing in the middle of the causeway. And a large pigeon suddenly swooped down from the Malaysian side, plucked the stone from your hands and carried it over to Singapore before dropping it on the miserable buggers who stamp passports for a living.

Sidoarjo Deltras are reportedly close to securing the services of a foreign coach for next season even though it is not yet clear what level of competition they will be in.
They aren't revealing the identity of the new guy, only hinting that he is German and has his own football academy in Singapore.

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.

You never know what you're gonna get with Albirex Niigata in the SLeague. The other day they thumped Gombak United 5-1. Not long before that they got turned over by Geylang United, 1-0. Their 42 goals from 19 games makes them the second highest goalscorers in the SLeague behind Home United and they sit in 4th place, 4 points behind leaders Home.

Geylang United v Woodlands Wellington 1-0Tanjong Pagar v Etoile 0-2Albirex Niigata v Balestier Khalsa 1-0Hougang United v Gombak United 3-2Tanjong United v Geylang United 0-1Etoile v Woodlands Wellington 3-0
That's five straight wins now for Geylang United with nothing let in. Not bad considering they had won only two of their opening 13 games!

Dan Hammond is reported to have signed for Geylang United. If true then the English defender is almost half way through his one man tour of the SLeague. He started his career with Young Lions before moving to Woodlands Wellington, Balestier Khalsa and this year SAFFC.
However he had struggled to break into the SAFFC team with Daniel Bennett and Bah Mamadou providing consistency at the back for the Warriors.

SLeague
Geylang United v Woodlands Wellington 1-0 (Jung Hee Bong)Tanjong Pagar v Etoile 0-2 (Theo Raymond, Johnathon Toto)
Geylang kept up their winning streak, that's four straight coupled with four clean sheets moves them up to 7th. Etoile have a new chairman and celebrate by climbing to 5th in the league.

The official attendance last night at the SLeague game between Woodlands Wellington and Home United was 711, a number drawn straight from JK Rawling's imagination. But the empty terraces didn't stop the MTV wanna be VJ treating the event like an end of term disco. The music was cranked up high with the kind of chunes spotty, gum chewing adolescences would hang against the wall looking cool to.

SLeague
Tampines Rovers v Woodlands Wellington 5-0 (Shahdan Sulaimen 2, Aleksander Duric 3) 1,106

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)

Jorg Steinbrunner is not put off Indonesian football after his short spell with Medan Chiefs where he was given the heave ho for refusing to accept interference in team affairs. The German who also coached Woodlands Wellington and Sengkang Punggol is reported locally to interesting Divisi Utama side Persikabo who are already looking ahead to the new season.

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?

Friday 10 June: HOUGANG UNITED FC VS YOUNG TIGERS (Malaysia) - Possible 'live' match, to be confirmed.

Match No: 1

Venue: Hougang Stadium

Time: 7.30pm

Saturday 11 June: GOMBAK UNITED FC VS BALESTIER KHALSA FC

Match No: 2

Venue: Jurong West Stadium

Time: 7.

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.

The other day it was Woodlands Wellington who won their first game of the season, defeating Young Lions. Last night the Rams hosted the winless Tanjong Pagar and it was the turn of the visitors to earn their first win of the season, winning 1-0 in front of 753 fans.
Bottom of the table looks like.

SLeague Latest
Young Lions v Woodlands Wellington 1-2 (Fazli Ayob; Goh Swee Swee, Leonardo Alexio) 509Tampines Rovers v Albirex Niigata 3-1 (OG, Shahdan Sulaiman, Aleksander Duric; Yosuke Saito) 1,304Home United v Hougang United 4-2 (Qiu Li, Frederick Mendy, Firdaus Idros 2; Diallo Mamadou, OG) 1,531
I don't want to sound patronising but what's happening at the bottom of the SLeague is almost as exciting as what is happening at the top.

AFC Champions League
Jeonbuk v Arema 6-0
4 - Arema 6 0 1 5 2-22 1
Well I can't see any Indonesian teams being allowed to compete in the ACL in the future. It just isn't a priority for them and long flights overseas aren't exciting when you spend half the season on planes anyway.

With 10 games gone SLeague new boys Tanjong Pagar United have yet to light up the compeition. Indeed, the opposite is true; they have become the whipping boys of the league as a team combined of young players with the odd older head struggle to make any kind of impression beyond a team to boost your goal difference against.

Indonesia Super League
Arema v Sriwijaya 1-1 (TA Mushafry; Budi Sudarsono) 20,052Persib v Persipura 2-2 (Airlangga, Herman Abanda; Zah Rahan, Titus Bonai) 25,965
1 - Persipura 18 12 4 2 48-14 402 - Persija 17 10 2 5 29-17 323 - Semen Padang 18 8 8 2 26-19 324 - Persisam 18 9 2 7 22-23 295 - Arema 18 7 7 4 27-17 286 - Sriwijaya 19 8 4 7 28-24
19 - Boas Solossa (Persipura)11 - Kenji Adichihara (Bontang)10 - Marcio Souza (Deltras), Edward Wilson Junior (Semen Padang)
Divisi Utama
Persikabo v PSLS 2-0 (Zaenal Arief 2) 7,000Persitara v PSSB 1-0 (Brimo) 503Persemalra v Persikota 1-0 (John Pattikawa) 2,000Mitra Kukar v Persik 2-1 (Julien Mbom Mbom, Rully;Adrian Trinidad) 2,711Gresik United v PSIM 2-0 (Luis Alejandro Pena, Basuki) 5,355Barito Putra v PSIM 2-1 (Arnaldo Benitez 2; Nanda Setiawan) 3,507Persiku v Persigo 3-0 (Agus Santiko 2, Dadan Suhenda) 6,736PSIR v Persebaya 1-2 (M Husen; Kornelis Kaimu, Charles Orock) 10,732Persiram v PSCS 3-1 (Didi Parov, Gideon Way, Yos Yoppirrayer) 727Perseman v Persikab 3-0 (Choirul Hoda, Tutug Widodo, Febrian Sofiandi) 5,275PSAP v Persires 10-0 (Sayuti 2, Osas Marvelous 5, Moussa Traore, Irfan, Suryadi) 3,175Persiraja v Persih 2-0 (Abdul Musawir 2) 7,051PS Bengkulu v Persipasi 1-0 (M Iqbal) 5,300
1 - PSAP 20 12 5 3 38-16 412 - Persiraja 20 13 2 5 35-21 41
1 - Mitra Kukar 20 12 2 6 31-16 382 - PSIM 19 10 3 6 20-14
1 - Persidafon 18 13 3 2 39-8 422 - Persiba 19 10 5 4 38-13
25 - Fortune Udo (Persiba)21 - Osas Marvelous (PSAP)16 - Patrick Wanggai (Persidafon)
Liga Primer Indonesia
Solo v Aceh United 0-3 Persebaya 1927 v Manado United 3-1 Persibo v Real Mataram 2-1
1 - Persema 10 8 2 0 24-8 262 - Persebaya 10 7 2 1 28-7 233 - Semarang United 10 7 0 3 13-9 21
SLeague
Home United v Woodlands Wellington 2-0 (Qiu Li, Frederic Mendy) 1,505Gombak United v SAFFC 0-1 (Fazrul Nawaz) 1,747Hougang United v Balestier Khalsa 2-2 (Duncan Elias, Carlos Delgado; Kim Young Kwan 2) 1,239
Thai Premier League
Chonburi v TTM Phichit 2-1Khon Kaen v Siam Navy 0-0Police United v Samut Songkram 0-1Thai Port v Army United 1-0Chiang Rai United v Si Sa Ket 1-0
1 - Buriram PEA 5 4 1 0 9-2 132 - Chonburi 5 3 1 1 12-6 103 - BEC Tero 5 3 1 1 7-4
4 - Leandro (Army United), Yeon Gi Sung (TTM Phichit), Ronnachai Rangsyio (BEC Tero), Frank Ohzanda (Buriram PEA)

(Media Information by the Football Association of Singapore)
The ban will only come into effect if he is found guilty by the DC of any further misconduct committed prior to 31 Dec 2011
SINGAPORE, 11 March 2011: The FAS Disciplinary Committee convened on Thursday 10 March 2011 with regard to the charges against Woodlands Wellington head coach R.

Indonesia Super League
Semen Padang v Sriwijaya 2-1 (Saktiawan Sinaga, Vendry Mofu; Keith Kayamba) 15,700
Divisi Utama
Persiku v PSBI 3-1 (Agus Santiko, Arip Rochim 2; M Arifin)6,934
SLeague
SAFFC v Woodlands Wellington 5-0 (Mislav Karolgan 2, Indra Daud Sahdan 2, Ivan Jerkovic) 1,789
Five goals for SAFFC in 23 second half minutes put the Warriors back on top of the SLeague.

Divisi Utama
Persikabo v Persita 1-0 (Zaenal Arief) 8,769Persitara v Persipasi 2-2 (Nurcahyano, Pepito Brima; Mardiansyah, Serge Emelau) 1,232
SLeague
Tangjong Pagar v Woodlands Wellington 0-0 1,587
Malaysia FA Cup
Harimau Muda A v Johor 1-2 (Played Friday)Negeri Sembilan v KL 0-0 (KL won 4-2 on pens)PKNS v Pahang 1-3Perak v Sime Darby 3-0ATM v Terengganu 2-3Selangor v Harimau Muda B 2-1Johor FC v Kelantoan 0-1Felda United v Kedah 1-0

Young Lions v SAFFC 0-2 (Fazrul Nawaz, Mislav Karoglan) 2,534Hougang United v Woodlands Wellington 1-0 (Mamadou Diallo) 1,547Balestier Khalsa v Home United 1-1 (Lim Young Woo; Sufian Anuar) 1,330Albirex Niigata v Tanjung Pagar 5-0 (Ihata, Matsui, Saito 2, Yokuyama) 1,928Geylang United v Etoile 0-2 (Belouet, Kaabi) 1,240Gombak United v Tampines Rovers 1-1 (Park Kang Jin; Park Yo Sueb) 2,353
Good starts to the season are always important and for the leading contenders for SLeague 2011 it was doubly so as they all faced tricky away games.

Two Indonesian-based Singapore players - Baihakki Khaizan and Shahril Ishak (pictured below) had joined IPL (Indonesia Premier League) club Medan Chiefs following their release from ISL (Indonesia Super League) club Persib Bandung.
The fate of the both Singaporeans were in much speculation with a tweet message posted by Baihakki on 6th February had made it crystal clear for him, at least, that time is up for him in West Java.

In a joint press release statement by scouting agency, Trebol Sports International (TSI) and their working partners, Football Management International (FMI) had announced the following player, Scottish defender Graham Tatters (pictured above, courtesy of Flickr) had signed for Woodlands Wellington.

In a joint press release statement by scouting agency, Trebol Sports International (TSI) and their working partners, Football Management International (FMI) had announced the following player, Scottish defender Graham Tatters (pictured above, courtesy of Flickr) had signed for Woodlands Wellington.

Ok so not everyone has played a game yet but Medan Chiefs are sitting pretty in the nascent Liga Primer Indonesia in second place on goal difference.
German coach Jorg Steinbrunner brings a wealth of experience to the newly formed team including a dozen years in Singapore where he has coached Woodlands Wellington, Sengkang Punggol and assisted at champions Etoile in the latter half of last season as they won the league.

When Singaporeans like to whine about the lack of talent in their football I always mention the name Madhu Mohana. Unfortunately there was little chance of the 19 year old making any impact on the AFF Cup after he received a four month ban for his part in the brawl between Young Lions and Beijing Guoan.