Lions XI - If I am National Team Coach...

Ok. The events that have taken place since 2-3 weeks ago have been disappointing and unsavoury. Unexpectedly there have been so much media coverage on the Lions this time around, albeit its some negative ones. But I guessed it did have its effect in raising some awareness in fellow Singaporeans about our national team?

All sorts of opinions have been expressed through a series of media platform and questions have been raised about Coach Raddy and his team selection. Players who have erred can be excluded by a simple reason, they have under performed for the past 2 years to be frank. No other excuses like disciplinary reasons are needed.

Lets take 1 issue at a time. Today, let me focus on team selection. Lets play Championship Manager (Asian version). I am in the mood to share my fantasy 11 for the next Lions X1.

Note: Jersey nos go with the old school English style, but in a 4-4-1-1 or 4-2-3-1 style.

No 1: Lionel Lewis/Hassan Sunny/Shahril Jantan

All came thorugh the famed Geylang United system. Need we explain more? All 3 are excellent goalkeepers. If one fault I can pick out, perhaps Lionel need to work on his kicking and backpasses more. Too bad our best department lies here, if not our team would be stronger.

No 2: Isa Halim ???

Tough tackler, decent technique. Played in all right sided positions with Woodlands in the past. Dun waste him sitting on the bench as a substitute centre midfield. I know he got outclassed in the SEA Games at right back. But I sense he can make the spot his in time to come.

**BUT: Need to show his worth more to Raddy to stake a 1st team spot.

No 3: Shaiful Esah

No much introduction needed. Just need to concentrate better and keep improve his defending.

While he recovers from injury, I will go for Jumaat Jantan for his mobility down the flanks.

No 4: Dan Bennett

One of the few successes of the FTS. Still solid though have been shaky in recent times. But I put that down to his partners in defence. He is still the 2 best centrebacks our small country possess.

No 5: Mustafic Fahrudin

The major surprise!

Quality undoubted as a defensive midfield. But this choice as centreback needs justification.

a) We do not have good enough centrebacks to step up currently. The closest will be Shariff Samat, needs to prove his worth to Coach. Next option will be Shahri Alias.

b) Farra has played in defence for Tampines before.

c) We do have other options for centre midfield.

No 6: Hariss Harun

Definitely a key player. Kudos to Raddy for blooding him early. He has improved leaps and bounds. Continue to work hard and he has a bright future. Did I mention b4 that he lives in my HDB block? Its true.

No 7: Ahmad Latiff

We all know about ghis performances in recent times. My first intention is to play ALK with Hariss in the middle, but considering the lack of capable options on the wing, I would think he has to work harder and run more on the wing for the Lions. Supposed its not too much to ask from him after sitting out intl games for so long?




No 8: John Wilkinson

My choice as a partner for Hariss in the middle. Works hard and good workrate in the middle with decent passsing ability. But if a new winger can come through soon, I will place Latiff in the middle and placed Wilko on the bench.



No 9: Noh Alam Shah

Ah Long has shown too that in recent games that he deserves his spot in the team. The stint in Malang looks to have spur him on.

* Needs to be at his inspiration besst if he is to retain his captaincy.



No 10: Shahril Ishak

The most creative among all the players we possess. Used to play in a free role in the national U-18 under Vincent Subramaniam. Has been tried at left midfield and central but his workrate and fitness levels puts him at a disadvantage in these positions. A supporting role will suit him well. We basically need him to be at his creative best for 60-70 minutes when a replacement can come on.

*Got to beware, Shafiq Ghani will certainly threaten this spot in a few years time. Watch your back Shahril.





No 11: Khairul Amri



One of our best in getting past defenders. Putting him wide on the left allows him the chacne to cut in a have a go as well. But needs to work hard on his defensive skills to suit the role better too.


Important subs: Shariff, Shahril Alias, Jumaat, Mustaqim, Agu, Fazrul, Jiayi, Qiu Li

Under further consideration: Jamil Ali, Aliff, Masrezwan





*I do not know if anyone of them smoke and I dun really care. As long as they show enough semangat and brains when they play, Singaporeans will never fault them. Stand up and prove that you deserved your place in the team.

Repetition Cycles - Self examination

I read that some fans are afraid of the things that Singaporean comment after each Lions defeat.

But thing is I feel, even when we win. These issues are also present and has long needed addressing. Each defeat just further highlight the problems already inherent in Raddy's team.

Our defence simply need an overhaul. Some other guys should really be given a chance to prove themselves. Like Shariff, Shahril Alias in the middle and Jumaat, Isa at fullbacks. But they will need time. More names need to put in better perfomances in the league to throw their names into the fray.

Big question: Are there better defenders out there for Raddy's selection?
My answer: Raddy needs expose the above mentioned and others while stop being loyal to some others.

And i loved the way SSF's blog @ http://singaporesportsfan.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/thank-you-lionel-for-saving-us-from-humiliation-against-jordan/

Simply loved the way he described our twin terror of disaster : )

Raddy has many times stated that the team needed an overhaul but one would know besides the addition of Shaiful and Hariss, the team has not change much over the past years.

If however impressive a player plays but still cant make it into the national team, at that time, something got to give. And perhaps them its time for Raddy's head since his team selection cant be justifiable anymore.

Sometimes it would occur to me that Raddy has taken us the furthest he can, esp with this set of players.

The clock should start ticking with the ASEAN championship coming up. I hope I dun need to address and read about those issues everytime after we cock up and nothing is done. Thing is if we can already guess wat others will talk about post-game each time we cock up, why have the issue not been settled (by the coach?) ?

To end off, kudos to to NAS and Hariss, the 2 best Lions on the pitch last night.


*did in a stage of sleepiness, hope can get my points across.

Feb happenings - Disappointments/Shocks/Hopes

Due to time constraints and unfortunate events, there have been few entries in the past weeks.

Anyway, while browsing through to catch up on the news revealed a shocker. Young player of the year Ojimi Obatola's employment pass not renewed? What the heck man? any kind soul there with an explanation on this?

Anyway, once again it seems like Geylang is going to have another disappointing season ahead. I suppose w/o Masrezwan upfront, the Eagles will find goals hard to come up. Jury is still pending about Tomko and Ghindaru. Much will depend on Miro again. There are tactical issues which I dun agree with.

Suppose there will always be a short supply of goals in their matches once again this season as defence is once again the main focus. One nil scorelines will be common. AFC Cup wise, I am not that optimistic about their chances especially when you struggle in the final third of the field.

On the other hand, my 'hometown' club Sengkang looks like they are doing well. Credit to Aide especially many of us thought they would struggle again this campaign.

Another darkhorse will be Rams from the north. A decently solid and balanced team in my view.

Will try to catch up on the league soon.

Meanwhile, lets get behind the Lions for Wednesday's clash with Jordan (Live, Ch 5, 11pm). Thier form hadnt been good. But they usually perform when odds are stacked again them, so C'mon Lions! I wanna hear your ROar!

Sights @ Hougang Stadium 2 Feb

It was the first 2010 S-League game for me this year and of course it was at Hougang Stadium for Sengkang vs Balestier. Hardly a big game, but as usual there was a decent crowd at the Dolphins nest.

Pre-match feel was for Tigers win considering they are now a much more stable team from last season and with old head Salim Moin helping out Coach Nasar.

Just as I entered the stadium at the 18th min mark, Geylang discard Rivaldo Costa put the Tigers. Not too long later, fellow samba boy Vitor Borges, recommended by Peres, was caught by Fadhil Salim in the box and it was Rivaldo who put the Tigers 2 nil up from the spot, Fadhil narrowly missing his punch.

Just as HT approached, Jordan Webb, impressive with his a-la Robinho stepovers, ghosted into the box to chest a long ball down, beat the keeper, and passed the ball into the empty net.

In between, the Tigers had defender Sofiyan sent off for a second yellow card.

The second half saw Sengkang swinging cross after cross into the box but to no avail. Jalal and vice-cap Lau Meng Meng behind most of the inviting ones. Tigers keeper was in fine form and Sengkang were somewhat poor in front of goal.

2010 for Sengkang is a totally different one from the Jon Angelucci's long ball time, this group relies more on pace and speed up front with decent wide men.

However, my personal opinion is that Diallo Abdoulaye is never a centre back. Oh pls. The foreign policy is somehow screwed here.

Other interesting sights:

- Prof Ho Peng Kee spotted, along Venga, and the 3 men Etoile entourage

- Richard Bok and Mike Wong on scouting missions

- *new* Vitor Borges I believed needed the attention of his physio at least 3 times during the match, if i remembered correctly, the stretcher party was quite tired carrying him off so many times.

- Current Thai Port player Cameroonian Modourou Moise with his African teammates cum friends, possibly on a scouting mission on the Eagles game on Wed with SAF. When asked if he was here on holiday, he said no. And gave me a smile when I asked if he was on scouting trip. Haha. The Thai team is probably in pre-season mode right now, so likelyhood he has been given off by his Coach.

- 2 ladies, who are from the Sengkang management team, giving out Mentos sweets in a nicely decorated basket to the VIP section during the game.

Eagles dealt yet another friendly defeat

Geylang United FC 2-3 Woodlands Wellingtion FC

37” Vasile Ghindaru , 47” Miroslav Latiak

36” 62"Lakkad Abdelhadi, 50” Kazuki Yoshino

Date: 23 January 2010
Location: Bedok Stadium

A double strike by Moroccan Lakkad Abdelhadi consigned Geylang United to a second friendly loss in a week as it enabled Woodlands Wellingtion to come away from Bedok with a 3-2 victory on Saturday.

This result meant that the Eagles have achieved only one win out of their six pre-season friendlies and that came against amateur side Singapore Cricket Club.

The 5pm kickoff time meant that the first half was played under scorching heat conditions and it took both sets of players awhile to settle down.

With regards to the Geylang starting line-up, it had a familiar look to it with only defensive lynchpin Rastislav Belicak (injured) and star forward Masrezwan Masturi (bench) missing. In their places came Jonathan Xu and promising starlet Yasir Hanapi.

In the 12th minute, the Eagles had their first shot at the Rams’ goal after good approach play by Miroslav Latiak resulted in Yasir producing a beautiful curling attempt that was pushed away by the Rams’ keeper Hafez Mawasi for a corner.

Five minutes later, new signing Itimi Dickson whipped in a brilliant effort direct from a free-kick out from the left which needed a goalline intervention by the Woodlands’ defence.

Slowly, the away team was beginning to threaten with former Geylang trainee Sazali Salleh and Lakkad looking to do damage.

In the 36th minute, the Woodlands’ pair dealt the Eagles the first blow. After Sazali broke into the danger area, the ball was laid off for Lakkad whose shot took a wicked bounce which deceived Eagles custodian Yazid Yasin and into goal.

However, the Rams’ joy did not last long as Geylang pulled level almost immediately.
Syed Thaha swung in a free-kick from the far side which was met with a looping heading into the far post from new Romanian signing Vasile Ghindaru. At half time, the score stood at one apiece.

The Eagles went into the lead two minutes after the break. Masrezwan, who had replaced the ineffective Peter Tomko, produce a decent attempt which was deflected out for a corner.

Off the resulting set piece, Latiak put the Eagles ahead 2-1 with a shot from outside the box after the Rams’ defence failed to clear their lines.

This time round, it was the Eagles who could not hold on to their lead for long.

From an initial corner situation for Woodlands in the 50th minute, the Geylang backline could not clear convincingly. This led to Rams’ centrehalf Winston Yap teeing up his partner in defence Kazuki Yoshino. The Japanese kept his composure to steer a stinging shot into Yazid’s goal to pull the scores level once again.

The equaliser seemed to galvanise the Rams as they started to look more dangerous.
In the 62nd minute, former Eagles captain Noor Ali led a raid down into the Eagles box where he was upended by Jonathan.

Lakkad stepped up to net the Rams’ third goal for the evening which turned out to be the winner.

Along the way during the second period, Coach Mike Wong made several positional changes to the players in search for the right formula with Ghindaru, Syed Fadhil and Shah Hirul all inter-switching positions.

But it seems that tactical switches and substitutions were to no avail as the Eagles struggled to find a reply.

There was a fine chance in the 82th minute when Masrezwan combined well with substitute Hafiz Rahim to set up Latiak, whose attempt on his weaker right foot was pushed away by the Rams’ keeper.

On the stroke of full time, it was Latiak again with the shot but this time it was off target and the referee ended the game soon after.

Coach Mike Wong revealed post-match that the team needs to improve on aspects like tactical awareness and team cohesion and that it is crucial to put these issues right on the training ground before the campaign begins.

The Eagles will next face Sengkang Punggol in their last pre-season friendly on Tuesday, 26 Jan, at the Hougang Stadium. Kick-off will be at 5pm.

2010 S-League - The 12th team saga

The debacle about the decision to exclude Yishun Super Reds has left many among the local football community seething.

From what I have gathered over the past week, it seems there is indeed a strong, passionate local base in the Yishun area where the attractive Sembawang Rangers used to be based. They probably have been sick of the sights of Young Lions & the Korean Super Reds being the home team @ Yishun Stadium over the years.

Indeed the northern part of the island seem to have the most vociferous fans, if you take into account the excellent crowd of the Woodlands Rams even though their football have not been the best to watch since 2006 when the star studded team strut their stuff there.

Coming back to the Yishun team story, it seemed that the FAS people had many doubts about their credentials despite the plans that the chairman had. Perhaps it should be made known to the public to try soften the anger that many fans and players have felt.

Actually when I saw the names of players that were initially training for Yishun, I did think it was a decent team with the 3 foreign players then. However it definitely will be a super uphill task to take them to a decent position as results do not come on paper.

Furthermore, it is a risk to incorporate these newly formed teams into the league. Paya Lebar Punggol was a real disaster a few years ago and probably that made the selection committee cautious. Then again, with the Korean influence on the team, maybe it will do ok. But is maybe good enough?

So question is then if the Yishun Reds got into the league and are languishing lowly in the table, will the crowd still be there? I suspect this is another grey area for FAS.


Footballing wise, my personal feel is that Beijing (correction, its not Dalian as previously mentioned) will put up a decent showing with their youth team or whatever. Their reputation is VERY VERY different from the rest of the Chinese teams that have played in the league so far.

Sinchi, Liaoning are newly formed clubs ZERO experience. I meant this both on and off the field.

Beijing however is a different proposition as I know they are one of the biggest team (Dalian too)in China. Its somewhat an Albirex model being replicated.

The question of whether this foreign club attraction that started with Albirex has stagnanted for some time.

But Beijing will probably have difficulty attracting the local crowd to watch them, as many have stated. Much will depend on the brand of football that they can serve up to the hungry Yishun crowd who are already sharpening their knifes for FAS’ throats.

We will not get "TOK" by FIFA

Singaporeans should not be held to ransom by FIFA’s outrageous demands for the World Cup telecast rights.

Read somewhere that the $100m price for Singapore was set based on the GDP per capita whereas the other countries are slightly different?

My thinking is if the end consume has to pay obscene prices for catch the tournament, then I rather both telcos don’t bid for it as they will ultimately pass on the costs to us consumers.

Probably the telcos already know the range which locals is likely to fork out and would like avoid the potential losses.

Anyway, I think I will be probably satisfied with the 4 FOC matches on Mediacorp. Working life probably will not allow me the freedom to catch games anyway.

So, for the rest of Singapore, besides catching the games online/via antenna for Indonesian connections, I would suggest going on wkends getaway trips to JB or Batam to catch the games.