Despite a loss, Super Reds still stood tall.

Eventhough they were unlucky to lose to the ever lucky Home side (remember last season?) due to a '90 goal (again!) on 30-Mar, which ended their 100% record, Super Reds could still pride themselves as the foreign team with the best start to a season (6 opening wins) so far.

This remarkable achievement would be the 2nd-best all time, tying with SAFFC in 2000 & Woodlands in 2004, behind SAFFC in 2002 (7 opening wins).

It could become the 3rd-best soon though, if SAFFC can managed 2 more wins to surpass their own record (with the next 2 opponents being Balestier & Young Lions, this is quite likely).

Nevertheless, it's another record-breaking feat for the Super Reds, who has a few more records in its sights this season:

1. The most significant improvement as compared to last season, in terms of position:
The current record holder is Young Lions, who jumped from 12th/12 to 3rd/10 in 2004 (9 places).
To break this record, Super Reds need to finish at least 2nd in 2008 (10 places).

2. The most significant improvement as compared to last season, in terms of points per game:
The current record holder is Woodlands, who jumped from 0.727 (24/33) to 1.758 (58/33) in 2002 (1.030).
To break this record, Super Reds need to finish with at least 55 points in 2008 (from 21pts/33games in 2007).

3. The highest points total in a season for foreign teams:
The current record holder is Sinchi (surprise!) in 2003, who had 50 points from 33 games(mainly helped by the extra PK points, otherwise Albirex in 2006 would be best with 45).
To break this record, Super Reds need to finish with at least 51 points, :-p

4. The highest points per game in a season for foreign teams:
The current record holder is Albirex in 2004 & 2005, who both had 44 points from 27 games (1.630).
To break this record, Super Reds need to finish with at least 54 points, :-)

Record #1 may be a tall order, with Home United also competing strongly. But targets #2, 3 & 4 should be highly achievable, base on their current form (18pts/7games = 2.571ppg, which could be projected to 85pts in the end)...

Keep it up, Super Reds!!

Dalian has overtaken Paya Lebar, but how?

At first glance, you may wonder: How did Dalian overtake Paya Lebar, who're not even in S.League 08! Here's how:

On 25-Mar, Dalian earned their 2nd win of the season by beating Sengkang 2-1 at Queenstown.

With this win, Dalian has collected 6 points so far, thus allowing it to move above Paya Lebar (4 pts) in the S.League All-time Table. That's how, :-)

Ironically, the Sengkang Punggol side they beat was the merger of Sengkang Marine & Paya Lebar Punggol back in 2006. What a coincidence!

Super Reds 6-out-of-6!

Another 1-goal win, another 3 points, and another record in the bag for Super Reds, as they extended the best start by foreign teams to 6 wins.

This remarkable achievement is also the 2nd-best all time, level with SAFFC in 2000 & Woodlands in 2004, behind SAFFC in 2002 (7 opening wins).

The win would put some pressures on the only other perfect team, SAFFC (5-out-of-5), to keep pace at the top. SAFFC will play Woodlands on 29-Mar.

Until then, Super Reds will enjoy their lone stay at the top as much as possible, although their next opponent on 30-Mar, Home United, will be a serious test for them (by then, SAFFC could have already regained top-spot if they beat Woodlands).

This season's title race is getting really exciting!

Woodlands Corner: Thrashed by Henan 0-4 at home!

How could Woodlands lose so heavily to the visitors while Super Reds managed to beat them 2-1?

Really hopeless (eventhough it's just a friendly & both teams fielded some reserves)... Did anyone see the match personally?

Official Report at: Singapore tour ends satisfactorily for Henan.

Woodlands Corner: Difficult times ahead after Sengkang draw

Quote:
Originally Posted by henryo
TodayOnline:Muddy stalemate in WoodlandsFriday • March 14,
2008NTUC Income-Yeo's S-League 2008Woodlands 0 Sengkang Punggol 0

Woodlands is now in big trouble after failing to beat Sengkang in the rain, as their next 3 opponents read:
2008-03-29 Singapore AF (A) -
2008-04-01 Tampines (H) -
2008-04-09 Home (H) -

It's possible that they will not get a point in these 3 matches. The next 5 matches are not less daunting:
2008-04-15 Gombak (A) -
2008-04-20 Geylang (H) -
2008-04-24 Albirex (A) -
2008-05-02 Young Lions (A) -
2008-05-23 Super Reds (H) -

Should they failed to get a least a win from these 5 matches, the coach can find himself under fire pretty soon.

After the Sengkang game their record reads: 2W-2D-1L.
Assume they lose the next 3 against the Big-3: 2W-2D-4L.
Assume they manage just 1 win/draw in the next 5: 3W-3D-7L.

Good luck to them... :-(

Super Reds' Dream Start Continues...

After beating Gombak 3-2 at Yishun on 12-Mar-08, Super Reds could potentially end the round alone at the top of the table, if SAFFC fail to beat Tampines later this week.

Although all their victories so far were by a single goal, they could well break into the top-4 anyway. What an achievement for a team finishing dead-last during the last season!

By the way, Super Reds' 5-wins-out-of-5 this year is the best ever start by a foregin team. The previous record was Albirex's 3-wins-out-of-3 in 2004, their first season.

SLVC Preview: Tampines vs SAFFC on 14-Mar-08

SAFFC's next SLVC opponent on 14-Mar-08, Tampines Rovers, has won the SLVC title 8 times & currently ranked joint-4th all-time (with Woodlands, out of 20 teams), behind SAFFC (13), Home (11) & Geylang(10).

Tampines Rovers's all-time record in the SLVC mini-league is 5th best (out of 14 teams), having played 62 macthes, won 27, drew 14 & lost 21, amassing 95 points in the overall standings, behind SAFFC (242), Home (199), Geylang(113) & Woodlands (99).

In this exciting clash, several things will be at stake:
1. SAFFC (currently tie with Home in terms of longest SLVC reign) will hope to beat Tampines and set a new record for themselves.
2. Tampines will be keen to exact revenge on SAFFC who have beat them in the 2007 Singapre Cup final.
3. SAFFC will hope to maintain their 100% start so far & catch-up with Super Reds at the top of 2008 S.League (how irony it is to see that happens, :-).

If Tampines win this contest instead, it will not only take a big step towards the 2008 title, but also increases its SLVC titles won (9 overall) & move closer to Woodlands in the all-time SLVC mini-league (98 vs 99)!

Tampines has met SAFFC 13 times in the SLVC so far; it won 3, drew 2 & lost the other 8; scored 16 & conceded 32 in the process, not exactly a favourable record.Base on their 20 league meetings since 2001, Tampines has won 7, drawn 4 and lost the remaining 10 (though it has not lost to SAFFC in 4 games since late 2006).

If only the 10 games where Tampines played host were counted, Tampines are evenly match with SAFFC with 4 wins, 2 draws & 4 losses.

I would say this could turn out to be another draw (this game will play at JBS, thus not much home advantage for Tampines). What say you?

Super Reds & Young Lions moved up in all-time table

The past 2 matches has seen the winning teams moving-up in the all-time table:

1. 7-Mar-08: Super Reds 1-0 Geylang:
Super Reds (30 pts) has now overtaken Liaoning (29 pts) into 16th-place!

2. 8-Mar-08: Gombak 0-1 Young Lions:
Young Lions (218 pts) has now overtaken Sembawang (216 pts) into 9th-place!
11th-placed Gombak (206 pts) should catch-up with Sembawang pretty soon too.

Meanwhile, let's congrats Dalian for finally chalking-up their first win of the season on 10-Mar-08 by beating Balestier 2-1. They (3 pts) should be able to overtake 19th-placed Paya Lebar (4 pts) anytime as well, :-)

SLVC Report: Dalian 1-6 SAFFC, next-up Tampines!

Dalian's first ever SLVC game on 6-Mar-08 ended in disaster as they were soundly trashed 1-6 by SAFFC, while the latter has now equalled the all-time record of 17-game SLVC defense first set by Home in '99!

The result also meant that SAFFC continue to top the table with 100% win, while Dalian continue to stuck at the bottom with 4 losses out of 4. The contrast of respective fortunes can't be more stark than that!

However, for SAFFC to finally surpass Home's record further, they will have to do it the hard way by getting a result against Tampines @ JBS on 14-Mar, which should be a close contest. More preview on this mouth-watering tie later...

Interesting Trend in S.League 2008: Away Teams Rule!

Following the thrashings of both Albirex & Dalian on 6-Mar-08, it's worth noting that the home teams (for simplicity sake, games at JBS included) have not won a game since SAFFC beat Sengkang on the Leap Day, a run of 8 games!

As at 6-Mar-08, the overall S.League record reads (stats thanks to SoccerDB):

Matches played: 22

Won by home team: 6 (27.3%)
Draws: 5 (22.7%)
Won by away team: 11 (50.0%)

Goals scored: 68 (3.09)
Goals by home team: 27 (1.23)
Goals by away team: 41 (1.86)

While it's still too early to conclude that this season will end-up like 2002, where more games were won by away teams, the on-going trend does suggest that a season like 2005 & 2007 is possible, where the home team won just 3 more games (approx. 2%)!

Can the so-far 100% Super Reds reverse this bizarre trend on 7-Mar? We'll see...

Woodlands Corner: How did Jorg. fared as compared to Karim?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Harvley
Karim was doing better than this and he left half way. As a
Woodlands supporter, I am really dissapointed with the team. Jorg is not up to
standard yet to actually bring a club with alot of wealth forward to challenge
for the title. The defence is abit crappy right now. And he didnt bring in
anyone to actually improve on that.I'll say, replace Jorg. Get a more
experienced coach to bring the club forward and fight for at least the top four
of the league.

Actually, base on results alone, both coaches were strikingly similar & each had their fair shares of ups & downs:

Karim (in charge from 2005-Apr-14 to 2006-June-15):

Ups:
1. Guided the team from 4th-place (when he took over) to 3rd (at one stage 2nd) in 2005 with an impressive 13-match unbeaten run (of 8 wins & 5 draws).
2. Guided the team to 2005 Singapore Cup final.

Downs:
1. His team ran out of steam towards the end of 2005 season, both in league (lost 3 of the last 5 games) & cup (lost the final), to finish trophyless.
2. A slow start to 2006 season, including winless in the first 4 games & losing 4-straight subsequently ended his reign at the club.

Jorg (in charge since 2006-June-16):

Ups:
1. Guided the team from 8th-place (when he took over) to 5th (at one stage 3rd) in 2006 with an equally impressive 13-match unbeaten run (of 9 wins & 4 draws).
2. Guided the team to 3rd-place in 2006 Singapore Cup.
3. Guided the team to victory in the (inaugural) 2007 Singtel League Cup, the first-ever silverware of the club!

Downs:
1. His team also ran out of steam towards the end of 2006 season, both in league (lost the last 3 games straight) & cup (lost to Tampines 2-7 in semi-final 2nd leg), to finish trophyless.
2. A slow start to 2007 season, including a demoralising 0-6 loss to SAFFC at homeground, wasted the good momentum he built-up from Singtel League Cup & opening-day win against Tampines.
3. And of course, who can forget THAT walk-out incident? Though it's more of the chairman's fault than his...

Dalian's First SLVC Match vs SAFFC on 6-Mar-08!!

Come 6-Mar-08, Dalian will host SAFFC at Queenstown Stadium in what is going to be the Chinese side's first ever SLVC game!

As expected, SAFFC have easily dispatched Sengkang in the previous SLVC match on 29-Feb-08 (which is co-incidentally the only S.League match ever played on a leap day) to extend its hold on SLVC to 16 games.

SAFFC's current SLVC run is made up of 13 wins & 3 draws (good for 42 points), already surpassed Home's previous record haul (12 wins + 5 draws = 41 points).

Should SAFFC (expectedly) win or get at least a draw (which would be a huge upset), they will match Home's record of 17-game SLVC defense as well!

Can Super Reds surpass Liaoning on 7-Mar-08?

Having just beaten Young Lions 1-0 away at JBS on 2-Mar-08 to maintain their 100%-start & finally moved above Sporting Afrique in the all-time table, Super Reds will aim to overtake Liaoning as well with another win against Geylang on 7-Mar-08 to keep chasing SAFFC at the top of the league.

Over their 3 meetings in 2007, Super Reds & Geylang are evenly matched, with 1 win, 1 draw & 1 loss apiece, although Geylang did score more goals (5 to 2) over the series.

Can Super Reds continue their fairy tale run? Or will Geylang be the first team to deny them full points in 2008? We'll see...