Thursday, September 03, 2009
Sinking Dolphins
Hopes were unusually high at the start of this season out at Hougang Stadium as the SLeague's perennial under achievers did something unheard of. They started splashing the cash. In came new coach Jorg Steinbrunner from Woodlands Wellington and with him a few star names.
Players like Aide Iskander, Jerry Batholomeusz, Noh Rahman and Indra Sahdan Daud. Alongside these internationals and seasoned pros came young foreigners like Guinean Abdoulaye Diallo and Canadians Murphy Wiredu and Anthony Bahadur.
Finally, the Dolphins fans thought, we can believe in a team.
It couldn't be any worse than 2008 could it? Back then Sengkang Punggol finished 11th in the 12 team league winning three games all season and scoring a rather pathetic 13 goals in their 33 games. Yeah, 2009 had to be an improvement on that.
Not really. One win in their opening nine games set the standard but they were scoring relatively freely with 2008's total reached in 13 games, Indra particularly finding the target.
By all measures they have exceeded last season's dismal showing even with eight games to play. They have won five times, scored 22 goals and at the moment sit 10th with 21 points.
But they are in a bad run of form at the moment without a win in their last eight games which has seen them score four goals and collect three points. And yet their last win came against gritty title challengers DPMM.
Following Sengkang Punggol tests a fans loyalty but there can only ever be one winner in football. It's easy to follow the team that succeeds the most and by the same token it takes a certain stubborness to follow a team that serially underperforms. In England we have teams like Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, their day has long gone but they still pull 25,000 optimistic fans each and every game.
The Dolphins don't quite get those numbers but there are a handful of die hard fans out there, check out this blog, who follow their team purely because it is their team.
Players like Aide Iskander, Jerry Batholomeusz, Noh Rahman and Indra Sahdan Daud. Alongside these internationals and seasoned pros came young foreigners like Guinean Abdoulaye Diallo and Canadians Murphy Wiredu and Anthony Bahadur.
Finally, the Dolphins fans thought, we can believe in a team.
It couldn't be any worse than 2008 could it? Back then Sengkang Punggol finished 11th in the 12 team league winning three games all season and scoring a rather pathetic 13 goals in their 33 games. Yeah, 2009 had to be an improvement on that.
Not really. One win in their opening nine games set the standard but they were scoring relatively freely with 2008's total reached in 13 games, Indra particularly finding the target.
By all measures they have exceeded last season's dismal showing even with eight games to play. They have won five times, scored 22 goals and at the moment sit 10th with 21 points.
But they are in a bad run of form at the moment without a win in their last eight games which has seen them score four goals and collect three points. And yet their last win came against gritty title challengers DPMM.
Following Sengkang Punggol tests a fans loyalty but there can only ever be one winner in football. It's easy to follow the team that succeeds the most and by the same token it takes a certain stubborness to follow a team that serially underperforms. In England we have teams like Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, their day has long gone but they still pull 25,000 optimistic fans each and every game.
The Dolphins don't quite get those numbers but there are a handful of die hard fans out there, check out this blog, who follow their team purely because it is their team.
# posted by Me @ 8:41 AM 
Comments:
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Thanks for the head's up.
It definitely had been a season of pur disappointment for us fans of the Dolphins.
With a better team, we thought we might be finishing comfortably in mid table at least.
But the problem had been present since day one and had not been resolved I felt.
The problem is that we keep losing points when we should have done better and had not been a challenge to the big boys unlike Woodlands Wellington or Albirex Niigata.
The home win against DPMM FC was a pleasant surprise as it became the only high point in an ailing season
Now me and my partner had an eye on the 2010 season which we felt might not be any better if we see another exodus of players
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It definitely had been a season of pur disappointment for us fans of the Dolphins.
With a better team, we thought we might be finishing comfortably in mid table at least.
But the problem had been present since day one and had not been resolved I felt.
The problem is that we keep losing points when we should have done better and had not been a challenge to the big boys unlike Woodlands Wellington or Albirex Niigata.
The home win against DPMM FC was a pleasant surprise as it became the only high point in an ailing season
Now me and my partner had an eye on the 2010 season which we felt might not be any better if we see another exodus of players
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