Settling In
The Sapphire Challenger Cup took pride of place at this end-of-season ceremony, with there being nary any awkwardness despite the Birds having thrashed the Buns 5-0 for it, in the final. As if to emphasize that, it would be carried to the podium by head coaches
Dan Alstani and
Vishnu Tallapaka, the latter of whom did seem to linger by it a little longer than necessary.
"Farmer Bunnies did excellently to reach the final too. On another day, we would have cheered them on with all our might - but it was as it was." Alstani commented.
The Birds' Player of the Season had to be between league Golden Boot winner
Chad Thach and cup Golden Boot winner
Hwang Teck Fu, with Thach getting the nod in the end for a repeat win. "He was simply too consistent." Alstani explained. Sri Lankan midfielder
Ananda Hettiarachchi came in third in the voting, which fairly reflected his substantial contributions.
Young Player of the Season went to Boris Nhan, and the judges admitted there was next to nothing between him and his fellow midfield trainees Yip Ying Han and Kyler Yim. "It's a pity we will have to let some or all of them go next season." assistant coach Abdul bin Jantan said. "Had we been rebuilding, they would have been easy promotees to the senior squad."
Farmer Bunnies honoured Italian set-piece specialist
Arturo Rosano as their Player of the Season, after the long-term injury to
Gabriel Priebe had allowed the 33 year-old Italian to succeed him in the role.
Dušan Václavík and
Amirul Jufri Khairil had performed admirably too, but lacked that additional oomph required.
"We will probably be holding Priebe's testimonial soon." Tallapaka added.
On the youth end, it was Rabbits star Siddhesh Roy who most caught the imagination with his constant invention on the wings. Sawyer Won, Masato Kitano and Gary Johnson would also be commended, although there had reportedly been private feedback on how their development had been somewhat behind what had been expected. There would be no official comment on this by the Rabbits coaching staff, however.
Belgian defender
Stef Vreys was a surprise pick for Grilled International, with his professionalism and high average level being cited as the reason. This stopped
Egidius van der Duin from a three-peat, but the Dutchman looked quite content with the choice too.
Umut Koza and
Leri Bezhanishvili had outside chances, according to
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh.
Young forward
Nabil bin Mohd Zulkhairi was the clear choice for Young Player of the Season after his introduction to senior football. As for the Busy Bees, Kirat Walvi was a standout too, and may well be joining Nabil soon. Defenders Azman bin Mohd, Junaidi bin Hj Nasrul and Jin Zhiyuan were perhaps disadvantaged by their position, but had left little to be desired in the youth league.
"We are considering how best to move forward." International gaffer Sazwan reminded. "Renewal is very much on the cards."
