Looking At Tomorrow
These might not exactly have been terrible seasons for the clubs - with the possible exception of Grilled International - but there would be precious little to cheer about at the obligatory end-of-season function, held for this edition in the Buns' clubhouse. The catering was great at least, that much could be agreed on.
A spate of retirements would be announced, beginning with
Llamil Vener,
Christophe Fouche,
Daniel Nguyen,
Chen Chin De and
Hari Rapaka for the hosts, with all being easily above forty.
Billy Camperio,
Mushtag Al-Nameeri and
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany would get single-season extensions, with
Vishnu Tallapaka and
Wong Ting Yew continuing their service at-will.
The Birds would let go of
Jérémy Tarin,
Kohei Okuya,
Leonard Nguyen and
Mohd Jafni Abdul Majid, with 44 year-old
Yuta Nakakita entered into the club Hall of Fame, having racked up 210 starts in his twenty-two seasons here, and won both the youth and senior versions of the Player of the Season award. His last appearance had been three seasons ago, in the last minute of a 1-0 victory over Robbie Football Club in the S-League, and it was clear that this was as far as he could go even then.
Yuta will stay on as an equipment manager with the club for now, and as for Grilled International, they would induct former head coach
Roar Olaisen for his personality-driven management of the club, which had contributed so much to their early growth.
Hesky Atmanegara,
Hj Kamran bin Hj Iswandi,
Subhi bin Kamil,
Sabli bin Huzaimi,
Chen Feng Kok and
Vadym Gorozhankin would also make their final bows, with the Ukrainian Number One's mission to come back from a recurring thigh concern finally come to a close.
The farewells done with, it was time for happier matters, and
Aw Keng Chuan would receive the first accolade of the day as he was named the Birds' Player of the Season, for his solid all-round play.
Chan Ze Han, as always, was not far behind, with
Kalki Parvathaneni and
Lim An Keng declared to be in the running too. Lim - already honoured last season - would however be edged by
Enrique Baena for the youth award, with the fans deciding to reward the passion that the Spanish youngster brought.
For Farmer Bunnies,
Sunil Patel distinguished himself in a transitory campaign for the club, which saw many of his peers and competitors leave before its end. There were only too many to pick from for the youth award, and
Demitri Liu would have been an obvious choice in the last year of his eligibility, had the supporters not been dazzled by a smorgasbord of new offerings. 18 year-old
Guan Ming Kum took it in the end despite making only three official starts, as the pundits couldn't look past his obvious potential.
Grilled International had an easy pick, with this being
Li Xin Chi's breakout season. The 28 year-old attacker tied with
Wang Hanxuan at twelve goals, and also started nineteen matches, on a par with any other player at the club. In contrast, pre-season favourites such as
Chua Jun Long,
Hardi bin Besar and
Tibor Atzenhain had relatively average outputs, not helped by International's overall inconsistency, definitely.
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan would be crowned International's YPOTS in an admittedly thin field, with there being scarce competition in the senior squad. Amongst the academy stars, Raja Solihan Nasiruddin has stood out as likely having what it takes to make it, with Hj Tapa bin Masuri, Sadewa Sawor and Zhou Shizhou having their admirers too.
"We will be placing our hopes on them, Solihan in particular." International fan club vice-chair John Murugan said. "Because what else is there?"
