Safri Double Take
Grilled raised some eyebrows when they recruited 17 year-old
Safri bin Mohamad from Changi-based Red Chaos, and there was a bit of awkwardness when the lad was taken around the dressing room and met 18 year-old
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim. Thankfully, the new S$146 000 attacker with true pace can operate on the wing as well, which means that the two will not be in direct competition for the same niche.
The Birds were concerned at possibly having to pay through the nose, having gotten wind of interest from fellow Division Three side TEAM SPARTANS, as well as "Miron Spurs" (Bulgarian Div 3), VFL Borussia Mönchengladbach (German Div 6), Sociedade Esportiva Atlético Acreano (Brazil Div 5) and Atyrau United FC (Kazakhstan Div 4) among others, and were pleasantly pleased at the relative bargain they got.
This however presented a problem for the kitman, who had to consider that neither "Safri" nor "Mohd Safri" was likely to adequately distinguish between them, and the shortened "M Safri b M Kassim" was too long and unwieldy for the elder Safri's tastes.
The situation was resolved thanks to a half-serious suggestion by Mohd Firdaus, and like Manchester United's Mexican forward Javier Hernández, the younger Safri will have a nickname on his shirt - enter Safrinho, the new Grilled No. 17.