Monday, May 04, 2009
DPMM. Flash in the pan or built to last?
For a few years now the SLeague has been struggling for headlines and publicity in Singapore. When the back pages have been made you can be sure the game has hardly been covered in glory.
Take the match fixing debacle of Liaonang Guoyang a couple of years back. Or Dalian Shide’s poor performances last season. Even the normally staid football fan attracted all the wrong attention with disturbances following Singapore’s defeat to Vietnam in the AFF Cup semi final last December.
But now there are subtle signs of a renaissance and, ironically, the roots are planted overseas.
DPMM, based in Brunei, were only a last minute addition to the SLeague after the Malaysian Super League, where they had been playing the last few years, had kicked them out over an administrative error.
But with nearly a third of the season gone in Lion City DPMM remain unbeaten and through to the quarter final of the Singapore Cup have beaten Pelita Jaya.
Last season in Malaysia’s Super League DPMM managed four wins. They have already exceeded that. They have already matched their points total of last season with 22 points from 10 games. But whereas last season they finished 10th in the 13 team league this season they are targeting a top four finish.
Their success on the pitch has not been without controversy as critics have gone to town attacking the upstarts. One complaint I have seen has been about how narrow their victories have been. Perhaps but when any victory is worth three points a somewhat spurious argument.
Others have griped that the Brunei side have been too aggressive. Well, for Singapore perhaps where football at times is less a contest and more a polite queue at an ATM. After you. No, after you.
For sure DPMM’;s in your face style has upset a few people but then so what? It’s getting results and all the time it works you can’t begrudge them their success. Last season Super Reds passed and moved their way past defenders but it didn’t bring them any success.
Instead of complaining about their rough house tactics why not give it back? After Tampines Rovers held DPMM to a 1-1 draw at Jalan Besar Stadium recently, coach Vjeran Simunic buttonholed Noh Alam Shah and asked him where he was from. The inference being that NAS had given like for like on the pitch, something many Singaporeans shy away from, so he must come from another country.
It’s not just on the pitch where DPMM have been asking questions of the SLeague establishment. Home games at their Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan have seen attendances averaging an impressive 8,000 as fans have flocked to see their heroes take on Singapore’s best.
The Brunei community in Singapore has also been doing their bit to inject some life into the game. When DPMM took on fellow SLeague challengers Gombak United at Jalan Besar recently a vociferous band got behind their team from start to finish.
And none of this ‘Go, go, go Brunei go,’ nonsense that most fan clubs come up with. They mixed up the chants and even, heaven forbid, taunted the visiting Gombak fans with hand signals and mild abuse! added together with the noise from the Bulls it made for quite an atmosphere!
Of course nothing has been won yet. DPMM may fall by the wayside rather like Super Reds did last season and then we may find out what they are really made of. When a couple of results go against them how will they react on the pitch? Will heads drop or will they bounce back with a vengeance? Will their passionate support start staying way?
Their next league game will be interesting as they face the one side they have yet to play this season. Home United find themselves in unfamiliar territory this season as they sit mid table, way off the leading pack.
But at home they are unbeaten. Indeed at Clementi Stadium, their new home while Bishan Stadium undergoes renovation, they have a 100% record winning all three games and scoring 10 without conceding. In fact despite their lowly 7th place in the table, coach Sivaji’s men have the 3rd tightest defence in the league.
After playing Home all SLeague clubs will be familiar with DPMM. They will know what to expect and perhaps be better prepared for their second and third meetings.
That will be Simunic’s challenge. Can he keep that momentum going into the second round of fixtures?
Take the match fixing debacle of Liaonang Guoyang a couple of years back. Or Dalian Shide’s poor performances last season. Even the normally staid football fan attracted all the wrong attention with disturbances following Singapore’s defeat to Vietnam in the AFF Cup semi final last December.
But now there are subtle signs of a renaissance and, ironically, the roots are planted overseas.
DPMM, based in Brunei, were only a last minute addition to the SLeague after the Malaysian Super League, where they had been playing the last few years, had kicked them out over an administrative error.
But with nearly a third of the season gone in Lion City DPMM remain unbeaten and through to the quarter final of the Singapore Cup have beaten Pelita Jaya.
Last season in Malaysia’s Super League DPMM managed four wins. They have already exceeded that. They have already matched their points total of last season with 22 points from 10 games. But whereas last season they finished 10th in the 13 team league this season they are targeting a top four finish.
Their success on the pitch has not been without controversy as critics have gone to town attacking the upstarts. One complaint I have seen has been about how narrow their victories have been. Perhaps but when any victory is worth three points a somewhat spurious argument.
Others have griped that the Brunei side have been too aggressive. Well, for Singapore perhaps where football at times is less a contest and more a polite queue at an ATM. After you. No, after you.
For sure DPMM’;s in your face style has upset a few people but then so what? It’s getting results and all the time it works you can’t begrudge them their success. Last season Super Reds passed and moved their way past defenders but it didn’t bring them any success.
Instead of complaining about their rough house tactics why not give it back? After Tampines Rovers held DPMM to a 1-1 draw at Jalan Besar Stadium recently, coach Vjeran Simunic buttonholed Noh Alam Shah and asked him where he was from. The inference being that NAS had given like for like on the pitch, something many Singaporeans shy away from, so he must come from another country.
It’s not just on the pitch where DPMM have been asking questions of the SLeague establishment. Home games at their Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan have seen attendances averaging an impressive 8,000 as fans have flocked to see their heroes take on Singapore’s best.
The Brunei community in Singapore has also been doing their bit to inject some life into the game. When DPMM took on fellow SLeague challengers Gombak United at Jalan Besar recently a vociferous band got behind their team from start to finish.
And none of this ‘Go, go, go Brunei go,’ nonsense that most fan clubs come up with. They mixed up the chants and even, heaven forbid, taunted the visiting Gombak fans with hand signals and mild abuse! added together with the noise from the Bulls it made for quite an atmosphere!
Of course nothing has been won yet. DPMM may fall by the wayside rather like Super Reds did last season and then we may find out what they are really made of. When a couple of results go against them how will they react on the pitch? Will heads drop or will they bounce back with a vengeance? Will their passionate support start staying way?
Their next league game will be interesting as they face the one side they have yet to play this season. Home United find themselves in unfamiliar territory this season as they sit mid table, way off the leading pack.
But at home they are unbeaten. Indeed at Clementi Stadium, their new home while Bishan Stadium undergoes renovation, they have a 100% record winning all three games and scoring 10 without conceding. In fact despite their lowly 7th place in the table, coach Sivaji’s men have the 3rd tightest defence in the league.
After playing Home all SLeague clubs will be familiar with DPMM. They will know what to expect and perhaps be better prepared for their second and third meetings.
That will be Simunic’s challenge. Can he keep that momentum going into the second round of fixtures?
# posted by Me @ 12:26 PM 
