Buns Dismantling Begins
It was a very sombre day for the Farmer Bunnies, as they bade farewell to five of their best, three of whom have been with them for nearly twenty seasons, and two for ten. The first group would be composed of
Aswad Mohd Jafni,
Sofian Azfar and
Brendan Leung, all of whom went for around S$2 million. Aswad and Sofian will have the consolation of staying together at Curaçao Promé Divishon challengers PITRAKES FC, as dynamic American head coach Rob Yerdon seeks to strengthen a squad that has just won the national Emerald Challenger Cup.
That they retained the prospect of more silverware, despite being on the wrong side of 36 years, consoled the duo. "We'll well aware that there aren't that many years left in our careers." Azfar said, after revealing that they had turned down serious offers from Stopaři po Galaxii (Czech Division Three), Rapid Ostroveni (Romanian Division Five) and GNK (Croatian Division Two) to stick together. "So we will be out to make the most of our time here."
Brendan Leung, recognized as the team's premier pure man-marker in his prime, would land a place with former German Bundesliga club, Funplayer FC. While some distance off their own golden period, Funplayer FC are looking to promote from the fourth division in double quick time, and Leung felt that he still had something to contribute. "My legs aren't what they were, but sic me on a guy, and I'll stick with him to the bitter end."
Former Northern Irish youth international
Jon Benson admitted that he wished that he had more than a single Challenger Cup to show from his time in Singapore, but with 166 appearances - many of them as the team's main playmaker - he will surely be remembered as one of the greats of his era. His destination was Danish Division Six leaders Railou Rangers, who will have him mentoring fresh trainees such as the just-arrived Bartłomiej Jakubczyk, Marcello Nalesso and Adalbert Mayans.
And as for the 38 year-old
Morgan Hu, there was no other choice but a return to Joker 9, where he had started his career, and then shattered the Buns' transfer record with his S$15 million move almost exactly ten years ago. Like Benson, he expressed some regret that he had not achieved more than he had - but not too much.
