Dinner, Dance, Designs
Without any qualifying match to worry about, Grilled shifted their end-of-season function ahead once more, booking a small local pub this time to the delight of the younger set of players, and many of the older ones too.
Domenik Bögengang, whom some naysayers doubted deserved last season's Player of the Season award, had few detractors this time as he bagged double hat-tricks against newbies are newbies and heimu XI en route to a twenty-goal haul.
Safri bin Mohamad picked up the Young Player of the Season award as both Mohd Safri and last season's winner
Chow Ying Lee performed below expectations, in spite of their exploits for the national U-20 team.
"Chow knows he can do better, certainly." assistant coach Luis Alcántara quipped. "Three from fifteen is rather a letdown for him, but it's not for want of trying. His basic game is constantly improving, and we can ask for no more."
Alcántara refuted talk that Chow might be on the move, however. "Arrogancae have made an approach, but I can say that Chow is not for sale. We are having enough trouble assembling a quality Singaporean lineup as it is. We have big plans for our young strikers, and believe that loyalty has its rewards, something we feel will be conclusively proven in the near future. Grilled have always been a club that holds on to and grooms its best players."
Club chairman Siew took the opportunity to talk about the recent update of salary guidelines by the Hattrick administration. "This has come at a great time for us, having recently signed several talents on high wages. While we were always going to cope, this change will grant us even more breathing space."
Head coach
Han Lik-Tsun, coming off what must be considered as another successful season, acknowledged that the supporters had reason to expect better, but urged patience. "We have a very good band of players here, and know that the fans rightly will not accept anything less than the S-League, but realistically the squad is a few more seasons from returning to that level."
"Given a bit of time, we should have one of the most exciting all-local frontlines entering its prime. Bolstered with several top-drawer midfielders and our painstakingly-developed training program, I am sure that it will be a team that can take on any other in the country."
"For next season, I would say that at least third would be a realistic target, along with reaching the eighth round of the Cup for the first time in ten seasons."
Han continued by commenting on the league as a whole. "II.2 is widely regarded as the most competitive of Singapore's Division Two leagues, and with merely three points - a single win - separating fourth place from last, it could barely be tighter."
"We are sad to see heimu XI and seluraralc go, but most observers have placed them within the top twenty or so local clubs by performance, with Grilled languishing unacceptably at around fiftieth. While I personally take issue with this ranking, I don't doubt that they will be able to return to the Second Division promptly."
