3 horse race

It's incredibly close now, with Etoile, Tampines and Home locked in a really close battle for the S-League title. It's now official that SAFFC has been dethroned, having won the past 3 or 4 S-League titles!

The sale of Duric and release of Therdsak Chaiman probably proved a crucial blow to SAFFC as they underwent a makeover for this season. They had to part with their ageing stars and give new players chances at some point in time, and this is just the price they have to pay. They are, however, in good position to finish 4th. But Richard Bok will have to do better to make a charge for the title next season.

Four games left, who's going to win it? A potential title decider is Tuesday's clash between Tampines and Home. The losers will probably lose the chance for the title. As it stands, Etoile has the best chance, and they control their destiny.

Even on the scoring table, Etoile's Frederic Mendy and Tampines' Duric are close. Duric is just a goal shy of being the first ever to reach 300 goals in all Singapore competitions. But Mendy's wastefulness in front of goal last night may prove disastrous if it continues into his last 4 matches, against stronger opposition and defences.

I am a fan of evergreen Duric, and seeing that Sharil Ishak, also high on the topscorers list this season for Home, is leaving after the crunch match against Rovers for Indonesia, I think it's Tampines' chance to nail the title.

Quietly Climbing

It's been a long time, and a few gameweeks have been played in the S-League.

A lot of attention is on Etoile FC, the newly-arrived French-based club that has taken Singapore football by storm, playing pretty attractive football and winning the League Cup convincingly. They currently have 8 points from 4 league games and are sitting prettily near the top of the table in 2nd place. They next play Tampines Rovers, who have a 5 point lead at the top over Etoile having played an extra game.

SAFFC hasn't been performing very well, and it can possibly be attributed to the shakeup of the team, with Duric moving to Tampines and Therdsak Chaiman leaving the club, and the arrival of 4 new and tall foreigners, as well as some other local players like Indra Sahdan. They currently have 8 points from 5 games and sit 3rd in the table.

This season indeed promises more excitement, as clubs, local and foreign alike, look to break the recent monopoly by Richard Bok's men (who won the last 4 league titles with a largely unchanged team).

Based on the performances so far, a couple of teams are in with a shout. SAFFC cannot be written off (especially since they have a bad record against Gombak and losing against them this season does not say much, though their performances to date are rather unconvincing).

Etoile, with their good start to life in the S-League, quite easily possibly the most exciting foreign side to date, is definitely in with a shout.

Tampines Rovers looked reinvigorated this season, with evergreen striker Duric joining their ranks, and Qiu Li topping the scoring charts with 5 goals in 5 games.

So will it be like the table at the moment, SAF, Etoile and Tampines competing for the title?

What about Home United, traditionally a strong side? For me, I will boldly predict them to be out of the title race running. Not just because they sit 3rd from bottom at the moment (the table says little because so many teams all have 5-8 points now), but they do not look to have any players capable of leading their charge, as evident in their match yesterday against Beijing Guoan.

In fact, Beijing Guoan showed huge potential in that very same match, and this is what I want to talk about at the start. Beijing, especially in the second half, came out stronger than Home United, and displayed some good teamwork and good shooting ability, and their clinical finishes and good positioning, in attack especially, will put them in good stead. I won't be too bold with this one, but I think they will have a good debut season, a significant change from the other forays by Chinese teams in the S-League.

I wanted to wait a couple of matches before coming up with this season's predictions, and here they are:

Tampines Rovers FC
Singapore Armed Forces FC
Etoile FC
Gombak United FC
Beijing Guoan Talent FC
Geylang United FC
Home United FC
Sengkang Punggol FC
Young Lions
Woodlands Wellington FC
Balestier Khalsa FC
Albirex Niigata FC (S)

I haven't decided my choice for the league champions, so the top 3 is essentially a toss-up. I believe SAFFC will be distracted by the AFC Champions League commitments and will have a slower start, while Tampines have an exciting strikeforce of Duric, Qiu Li and Khairul Amri and a reliable goalkeeper in Hassan Sunny. Their problems will come if the strikers sustain long-term injuries. Etoile look to be a good bet for the title, but I think more time has to be given before we make our conclusions. They are exciting to watch in the S-League, but their finishing is far from clinical and they can be too aggressive at times, and their defence cannot afford to be lazy against quick counter attacks.

It promises to be a very open title race and SAFFC will have their work cut out to win this season's league title. Good thing is, even if a foreign team wins the league title, the AFC Champions League qualifying spot will still go to the best-placed local team.

So don't worry about not having a Singaporean team in the AFC Champions League :)

Excitement

The new S-League season will begin next month if I am not wrong, and I sense that things are going to be better.

For one, SAFFC had made a couple of tall signings. This is a huge step forward.

For another, French-based club Etoile FC is given the nod. I have always craved for a European-based club to feature in the S-League, and I hope the team will give a tremendous fight for honours here rather than languish in mid-table.

With thanks to Today newspaper, there has been quite some information about the lineup of S-League clubs with the new signings. Having read articles about Home United and Geylang United, I believe there is hope that the scouting network is expanding into high quality grounds. This can only be beneficial for Singapore football.

Can't wait to catch some of these new players in action.

And where is Duric heading now? Who has any idea?

S-League 2009

Yes! It is here!

Dalian Shide is gone, Brunei DPMM is here. Sengkang is revamped, with additions of Singapore national team RB Noh Rahman, former national team captain Aide Iskandar, foreign signings like Wiredu of Canada and Diallo of Guinea, and possibly Indra Sahdan.

SAFFC is much the same, but it is undeniable Duric is starting to slow down, and may retire soon. The top scorer race may prove to be unpredictable.

Here are my predictions for the S-League season:

1st/2nd: SAFFC, Tampines Rovers
3rd: Super Reds
4th: Home United
5th: Geylang United
6th: Gombak United
7th: Young Lions
8th: Sengkang Punggol
9th: Albirex Niigata
10th: Woodlands Wellington
11th: DPMM
12th: Balestier Khalsa

These are grossly inaccurate as of now, because I need to see the teams playing before I know their standards.

May SAFFC go through to the AFC Champions League group stages at least!

Some names to look out for: Jonathan Xu (Defender, Geylang Utd), Hariss Harun (Midfielder, Young Lions), Park Tae Won (Midfielder, SAFFC), Shaiful Esah (Defender, SAFFC), Benoit Croissant (Defender, Tampines Rovers), Agu Casmir (Striker, Gombak)

Can Agu re-discover his great form in his first stint with S-League? Can Park win his first silverware with the club that denied him twice in the Singapore Cup final? Can former Sheffield United squad player (wonder how prominent he reached) be a defensive rock?

Jonathan Xu and Shaiful Esah and Hariss Harun are all upcoming youngsters whom are very promising. Xu may establish himself now that Aide is moved out of his way at CB position to Sengkang. I still think Shaiful is the best RB, not Noh Rahman. And Hariss Harun needs to be less injury-prone, and fulfil his great potential. His passing is very good.

Thriving in new-found confidence

I am now top of the table!

After 8-8-9-5 finishes in my past 4 seasons since my promotion to G division, I am now making a breakthrough, and is currently topping the table.

I aim for promotion as league champions. At first I set promotion as a target within 3 seasons, but I revised it to 5 seasons, and I am now doing well.

I am hoping to get a new RB to replace my ageing Zulaloglu, who is one of my first buys and is immensely experienced.

I also hope to get a young RF, as both my RFs at the moment are aged 30 and above. As for the other areas, my team has the capability of pushing for promotion and a good chance of surviving F division should I get promoted, as long as I maintain a good teamspirit (above 70) and make about 2 quality signings.

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S-League is going to be fun going down to the final straight! If the Super Reds and SAFFC both win the games in hand, the top 3 (add in Home Utd) will be separated by a mere 1 point! With SAFFC being the one in 3rd place, it is even more exciting as I support them and they have a good record going into the final stretch of matches.

S-League update

Wonderful.

This season is going to be exciting. I believe it will be remembered as the season when we witnessed a change of powers.

Last season showed a clear, distinct difference between Tampines and Gombak, 3rd and 4th respectively. The top 3 fought till the last round of matches, eventually resulting in a 2nd consecutive title for SAFFC Warriors, 1 point ahead of Home Utd and another ahead of Tampines Rovers.

SAFFC 77 pts
Home U 76 pts
Tampines 75 pts

How near, and how far for the others. But this season, we are witnessing a shift in power.

The Dad's Army, Tampines Rovers, is slipping off the radar. They saw 3 of their top strikers leave. Peres Oliviera left for Home Utd, Noh Alam Shah was banned, and S-League's all-time top scorer, Mirko Grabovac, left for strugglers Sengkang Punggol.

No more natural finishers, and this could result in Tampines ending the season in mid-table.

Here we see a new and transformed team called Super Reds. Super Reds? The team with a measly 18 points last season? Yes, Super Reds. They have now won 4 matches out of 4, and are joint top with SAFFC, just inferior in goal difference. They had won all their matches by a 1-goal margin, but that's surely better than getting whacked 4, 5 or 6 goals right?

I tip Super Reds to break the Big Three's threshold. They won't win the title, but they have the ability to better Albirex's 5th place, for the best finishing by a foreign team. Why not 2nd or 3rd?

S-League

It's a long time. And now it coincides with the return of S-League.

I am going to save much elaboration, and keep it really short.

Teams to watch:
Super Reds
--Rejuvenated fresh faces

Dalian Shide
--Will they break the curse of Chinese teams?

Tampines Rovers
--3 targetmen gone...

And here's my prediction of the season. I hope it is more accurate than last season's...

Last Season's (Prediction, Team Name, Actual Position)
1 ) SAFFC 1st
2 ) Home United 2nd
3 ) Woodlands Wellington 7th
4 ) Tampines Rovers 3rd
5 ) Young Lions 5th
6 ) Korean Super Reds 12th
7 ) Albirex Niigata 8th
8 ) Geylang United 6th
9 ) Gombak United 4th
10) Liaoning Guangyuan FC 10th
11) Sengkang Punggol 11th
12) Balestier Khalsa 9th

This season's:
1) SAFFC -- Always the case for me
2) Home United -- Makes it close for SAFFC
3) Geylang United -- Breakthrough
4) Tampines Rovers -- Decent
5) Albirex Niigata -- Breakthrough
6) Super Reds -- Breakthrough
7) Dalian Shide -- Good start
8) Gombak United -- No more surprise element
9) Young Lions -- Amri might leave and affect team
10) Woodlands Wellington -- Big drop
11) Sengkang Punggol -- Always languishing
12) Balestier Khalsa -- I never trusted or liked this team

Title run-in

Impressive. Home United lose to Young Lions. Draw between SAFFC and Tampines Rovers.

Wow. It's anyone's game, but Tampines have the advantage and Home Utd is in the worst position. But all these pressure...let's talk about other stuff.

It's too early to talk about this, but I shall be making guesses for the next S-League season. Here is it:

S-League to expand to 13 teams.
Same 3 teams fighting for title, but Young Lions to make a challenge.
Wooden Spoon to go to Sengkang Punggol, to be changed...likely.
Another walk-out.
AFC tells Singapore that their teams can go to AFC Champions League instead of AFC Cup.
Duric and Grabovac to finally retire at the end of the season.


Wow. Some nice stuff. But for now, I hope SAF win the title.

Back

Wow. It's time to post.

The S-League title fight is turning to be an intriguing one. Currently Tampines have the upper hand, but these 3 teams in the fight will be facing each other in part of their remaing matches. Very exciting. They can be in control of their own destiny. SAFFC meanwhile have the best goal difference. They might even end up with 100 league goals, averaging >3 goals per game. Impressive. Equally impressive is their top scorer Aleksander Duric. Absolutely top-class. With Home United, we present to you the Big Three of Singapore.

I recently watched on Channel 5 a match between Young Lions and Albirex Niigata. Young Lions won it 1-0. However, they deserved more than that. The football they play is absolutely impressive. They have very pacy attacking players. They also have good playmakers in Hariss Harun and engku Mushadad. Remember the latter is only 17, and probably the youngest in the league, since he is playing only on exemption. The rules of the league state that players have to be at least 18 years old. He had already represented the natiobnal team. Wonderful player. In Khairul Amri and Fazrul Nawaz, they boast of some really fast attackers that could pose a threat to any defence. I think this team really has a chance at the SEA Games, and they, not Gombak Utd, can pose the biggest threat to the Big Three.

I hope SAFFC win the league. A bond, maybe. Duric even got called up to the national team at 37. Unlike Mr Avramovic's policy of young players, definitely.

Tampines Rovers seriously isn't a team for the future. SAFFC and Home United can still sustain, but Young Lions' losing of players might hold them back for future seasons. Right now, they are really moving in the right direction. Way to go.

Walcott.

Long time

How long was it? I guess no one notices...

Anyway, just to say hi.

HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI!

Being seriously wrong. But I tip SAFFC to win the S-League title, and reach at least the semi-finals of AFC Cup.

S-League

As S-League progresses, we find that it is already a three-horse race. This season promises to be one of excitement, as SAFFC and Tampines Rovers are battling on all three fronts, while Home United have only the S-league as their concern.

With Singapore having to participate in the World Cup qualifiers in September, these clubs will have to battle more.

Meanwhile, Gombak is slumping, Liaoning is truly turning into a good side, and looks set to come back next season. Geylang's early season promise is fast fading, as they are rooted to second-bottom at the moment. Young Lions are consolidating their position in fourth. Korean Super Reds are truly improving, but it's proving to be too little too late, with them still on single-digits on point tally. At least they won't end up conceding 100 goals in this season. Balestier Khalsa and Albirex Niigata are stuck in mid-table mediocrity, while Sengkang Punggol will try to pull all the stops to prevent sliding down the table. Woodlands are slowly improving, with Laakad's play improving.

And I wish Singapore a happy national day, on a sidenote. I hence conclude posting on all my blogs on 9th August, the magical day.

S-League rankings

In this post, I will not just simply show you the current league tables of the S-League. I shall be structuring out a mini survey on the number of points on each win and so on and so for.

Woodlans are starting their freefall, failing to win since their first league match. However, their position ranks high bcause of their victory in the League Cup. SAFFC are in the top of the league, but due to their disinvolvement in the League Cup, their point total is rather limited.

Just to let you look at the tabulated results first. As of 5th April 2007.

1) Woodlands 43
2) SAFFC 38
3) Tampines 38
4) Sengkang 29
5) Home Utd 27
6) Gombak 23
7) Geylang 15
8) Young Lions 14
9) Balestier 9
10) Albirex 9
11) Super Reds 5
12) Liaoning 0

Let me further explain this. SAFFC and Tampines are so high up, because of their involvement in the AFC Cup. I awarded 11points for a win and 5 points for a draw. A draw in the AFC Cup is equivalent to a win in the S-League. However, a win by three goals or more is awarded 1 bonus point, while a win by 6 goals or more, as demonstrated by SAFFC's mauling of Super Reds, has a bonus of 2.

The reason why Geylang and Young Lions are on the bottom half od the table is due to their disinvolvement in the League Cup and the AFC Cup, hence they only ave the league to depend on for points. Sengkang seem so good, and their league position is not bad either. Their final berth in the League Cup contributed many achievement points, as in the case of Woodlands, who are now in reach of SAF and Tampines.

This table is somehow or rather accurate. I shall update again in a month's time.