Spirig Scoop
Grilled replenished their stable of playmakers with the bargain buy of 17 year-old
Dani Spirig, who with
Lorenz Paullin and
Jon Andrea Rottman will form a formidable Swiss triangle in seasons to come. The golden boy from Swiss Division Seven team Argovia Küttigen attracted early interest from Thai club Bangkok_Devils, but the real threat came from Greek Division Two longtimers Keraunos Riganokampou, who bailed out as the bidding approached four million.
With finances tight and declining attendance, Grilled were on a tight budget and had to do their homework. Their network of scouts turned out teenagers like Bangkok_Devils' own Prasit Phosomboon and Chilean Soriano Fagalde as possibles, and Finnish duo Juhani Turunen and Uno Hannila as probables. Estonian Hardi Heinola was considered too, as well as American lad Bill Pham, who was a tad overpriced. In the end it had to be Spirig, who had ease of integration and value for money on his side.
Industry experts unanimously hailed Spirig's capture a good move by embattled Grilled coach
Frank Öhmo, as most observers had not thought the multi-talented midfielder to move for anything under S$5 million. "The poor transfer atmosphere may have had a part to play, but under any circumstances the acquisition of a possible jewel of Swiss soccer for only S$3.95 million must be regarded as a shrewd deal." retired manager Ian Hall remarked. He was backed up by the academy coaches, who compared Spirig very favourably with
Lorenz Paullin, who cost S$6.5 million when he arrived. "He's Paullin with good lungs and more imagination." was a typical, rather blunt, comment.
All was not well on the home front however, as the 18 year-old Paullin reportedly went into a bit of a sulk. He made little effort to involve Spirig in their first traning session together, a sentiment that Spirig seemed happy to reciprocate. Older coaches and players assured their worried counterparts that it was a normal symptom and would fade soon. "Heck, some players don't grow out of their ego complex at thirty." 56 year-old assistant trainer Koh Ming-Ho laughed.
