Monday, September 14, 2009
Look in the mirror
I've mentioned before on here about Singapore's whiney sports culture. They complained that Liverpool didn't bring Steve Gerrard, they complained about the ticket prices against China for a recent friendly. And now they have something else to complain about. And rather like a gaggle of hags settled round their knitting and cauldrons you get the impression they might just be enjoying themselves.
With Noh Alam Shah et all flocking south like swallows escaping a chill Singaporeans have been filling message boards and the letters pages with their opinions. Most of which, as you would expect in Uniform City, are pretty similar.
The general consensus seems to be that Singapore football is in mortal decline and NAS etc have basically just pulled the plug. And they blame the FAS, SLeague. Everyone in fact is to blame. Except perhaps for them themselves.
It's no secret that players like Baihakki and NAS have been attracted by the thought of playing in front of 25-30,000 fans every week. Who wouldn't be? Be honest, would you rather play guitar in some Boat Quay bar or in front of thousands of screaming fans.
By saying they want to experience a real football atmosphere, what these lads are saying is the SLeague doesn't offer one. And who's to blame for that?
How many of these whiners out there in internet land or SPH land actually go to SLeague games on a regular basis? How many of them actually buy tickets to watch the games? And how many of them make an effort to generate some atmosphere?
If the answer to any of the above is No then I'm afraid you are part of the problem and not the solution.
You are not supporting football by going to games and demanding to be let in free. Security guards are not supporting football when they tell off a guy with his family cos they have a couple of bottles of water, the regulations say you can't, while allowing other fans to wave flags and beat drums, the regulations say you can't.
There isn't a whole lot wrong with the SLeague that a bit of positive thinking won't put right. Richard Bok is doing a great job with an aging side. Instead of bemoaning that SAF are gonna win the title again this season, again that default whine, the pertinent question is how come defenders time and time again allow the aging Aleksander Duric the time and space to turn in the box, or to have a free header?
DPMM have come from nowhere and asked a lot of questions of a lot of teams. They also have a manager who tends to shoot from the hip but that upsets the locals. When it's Mourinho it's cool cos English football is cool but when it's in the SLeague it's rude or unacceptable.
Watching Albirex Niigata at times has been a joy. I say that as a neutral they remind me of Hleb era Arsenal, lot's of pretty movement but no end product. If I supported them I would have chewed both my arms and legs off, thrown myself in the Singapore River and called myself Bob.
Gombak United started the season on fire and their strong front three of Agu, Kingsley and Gabriel are a match for anyone. But their problem, like so many teams, is they don't have the resources to build a squad. Get two injuries and you see the ball boys warming up in most teams.
Clubs can't compete domestically because there ain't the money. You can be sure clubs would like to add more depth to their rostas, to have cover in each position. But that would mean an increase in ticket prices and, yep you guessed it, the whining would start again.
But face facts. You want SAF to compete in the ACL, they're gonna have to spend more money on players. You can't have one without the other. Take Sriwijaya in Indonesia. They too had a disasterous ACL campaign last season. Their budget is probably more than double SAF's, still way short of the big teams in the region, and this season they have two quality keepers in Hendro Kartiko and Ferry Rotinsulu. But not Kosin from Thailand as someone humourously mentioned somewhere.
Odd isn't. It's taken a few high profile players leaving before any one in Singapore kicks up a song and dance. If only they'd done that while they were still playing...
With Noh Alam Shah et all flocking south like swallows escaping a chill Singaporeans have been filling message boards and the letters pages with their opinions. Most of which, as you would expect in Uniform City, are pretty similar.
The general consensus seems to be that Singapore football is in mortal decline and NAS etc have basically just pulled the plug. And they blame the FAS, SLeague. Everyone in fact is to blame. Except perhaps for them themselves.
It's no secret that players like Baihakki and NAS have been attracted by the thought of playing in front of 25-30,000 fans every week. Who wouldn't be? Be honest, would you rather play guitar in some Boat Quay bar or in front of thousands of screaming fans.
By saying they want to experience a real football atmosphere, what these lads are saying is the SLeague doesn't offer one. And who's to blame for that?
How many of these whiners out there in internet land or SPH land actually go to SLeague games on a regular basis? How many of them actually buy tickets to watch the games? And how many of them make an effort to generate some atmosphere?
If the answer to any of the above is No then I'm afraid you are part of the problem and not the solution.
You are not supporting football by going to games and demanding to be let in free. Security guards are not supporting football when they tell off a guy with his family cos they have a couple of bottles of water, the regulations say you can't, while allowing other fans to wave flags and beat drums, the regulations say you can't.
There isn't a whole lot wrong with the SLeague that a bit of positive thinking won't put right. Richard Bok is doing a great job with an aging side. Instead of bemoaning that SAF are gonna win the title again this season, again that default whine, the pertinent question is how come defenders time and time again allow the aging Aleksander Duric the time and space to turn in the box, or to have a free header?
DPMM have come from nowhere and asked a lot of questions of a lot of teams. They also have a manager who tends to shoot from the hip but that upsets the locals. When it's Mourinho it's cool cos English football is cool but when it's in the SLeague it's rude or unacceptable.
Watching Albirex Niigata at times has been a joy. I say that as a neutral they remind me of Hleb era Arsenal, lot's of pretty movement but no end product. If I supported them I would have chewed both my arms and legs off, thrown myself in the Singapore River and called myself Bob.
Gombak United started the season on fire and their strong front three of Agu, Kingsley and Gabriel are a match for anyone. But their problem, like so many teams, is they don't have the resources to build a squad. Get two injuries and you see the ball boys warming up in most teams.
Clubs can't compete domestically because there ain't the money. You can be sure clubs would like to add more depth to their rostas, to have cover in each position. But that would mean an increase in ticket prices and, yep you guessed it, the whining would start again.
But face facts. You want SAF to compete in the ACL, they're gonna have to spend more money on players. You can't have one without the other. Take Sriwijaya in Indonesia. They too had a disasterous ACL campaign last season. Their budget is probably more than double SAF's, still way short of the big teams in the region, and this season they have two quality keepers in Hendro Kartiko and Ferry Rotinsulu. But not Kosin from Thailand as someone humourously mentioned somewhere.
Odd isn't. It's taken a few high profile players leaving before any one in Singapore kicks up a song and dance. If only they'd done that while they were still playing...
# posted by Me @ 3:53 PM 
