New Faces At The Helms
Eren Serpin sprung his not-so-surprise on the fans right before the start of the new season, as he confirmed that he would be taking a break from the game. The wildly-successful head coach would not directly pass his position on to handpicked understudy
Dan Alstani, though, as 53 year-old club lifer
Hilal Bakhtiar took over as caretaker. Present at The Cooking Pot for over thirty years since coming in from Sandai Kitetsu, Bakhtiar was asserted to be able to provide an orderly transition, while Alstani beds in further.
"First of all, I would have to thank the club for having me here for the past seasons, and my own predecessor Hovaness Noubaryan, for leaving me the framework of a superb team - frankly, my achievements were to a large degree thanks to him." Serpin started, modestly.
"It has been draining, however, and since I have achieved just about what I had set out to, it was time to hand the responsibility over. I have personally vetted Alstani, and been well-advised by
Hilal Bakhtiar over the course of my tenure - as he has done for several coaches before myself. Hilal knows the insides-out of the squad to a degree that few others still here can match, and he fully deserves a chance to lead a club he has contributed so much to."
Bakhtiar would thank Serpin effusively for his expression of confidence, but the reaction would be more reserved amongst the supporters, many of whom had been after someone... flashier to be in charge.
As longtime fan Chen Zhonghao said; "Hilal's a great guy, and he's been here since forever, but I'm not certain if he's cut out for the position. All the more as we are currently defending champions of Singapore, and not rebuilding in Division Two, or heaven forbid, Division Three. But if Serpin says so, I suppose the least we can do is to give him a fair shot."
Fellow supporter Mohd Shaifee was more forgiving in his assessment. "We have kept all our players, and the team has known each other for ages - what we need is just somebody to keep it all running as it has been, and Hilal can definitely manage that!"
A change at the top would be registered at Grilled International too, with
Roar Olaisen leaving the club following an initial period of great promise. While International have not exactly been doing terribly, with them having clambered back into the fourth division, the lack of real progress remaining grating on the support.
Olaisen's Swiss helper
Didi Reidenbach would assume his role, as previously announced, and the 38 year-old would thank his mentor before signalling his intention to steady the ship. "There shouldn't be any huge, sweeping changes for now." he suggested. "My main aim is to get the club winning matches with what we have, and then... we'll see how it goes."
