Riviera And Kolesov
Displeased with Grilled Birds' straight league losses to FC GBR and Neo Toxicants, coach Arkadiy Bakunin listened to his scouts and brought in two 17 year olds on trial. He was thwarted in his S$600000 bid for Englishman Steve Edwards, but brought instead to Singapore a pair of continental players. He prised
Antonio Fernández Riviera, reputed to be gifted in dead ball situations, from Division Five Panini C.F., where he had just been unearthed from Sevilla, Andalucia in the sunny south of Spain. Riviera came for a consideration of just S$46000, after competing bidder FC Totoroots of France refused to offer more than that for him.
Milen Kolesov shared Riviera's story, having signed professional terms with Osmi Basein of Bulgaria's Division Two just days ago. Kolesov's versatility was acknowledged by the club, but he found no way to break into their strong squad. Thus Osmi Basein agreed to deal him to Grilled Birds for S$486000 after considering offers from Silver rays of Czechoslovakia.
Bakunin stressed that they were both long-term investments, and not expected to play well from the outset. "They both show good promise in their distribution of the ball. By next season, they should be fluent in attack." Bakunin also revealed that he had after all decided to release 19 year old winger
Huang Shen-Min. "With Riviera and Kolesov, Huang will find few playing opportunities. I had a talk with him, and both recognised that it would be better for him to build his future at another club. I have been sourcing good teams for him." He also emphasized that the revenue from the upcoming home matches against Ultimate NuTz and Shadow Chasers will fund the purchases easily.
The new arrivals bring the number of active players at Grilled Birds to 33, naturally mounting fears that there will be a clear-out of unused players. Much of the team, from once first-team playmaker
Ricard Machado, to Bertolin,
Xing Hua and Attimarad, have not seen any action since the start of this season. "I fear that my contract will be terminated soon," said a nervous Hua. "The coach has already told us that some of us need to make way."
