Finally... Wang Xin nabbed!!

Former Liaoning coaches held in China

Quote:

They include club managers Wang Xin and Ding Zhe, who were linked to a 2007 match-fixing scandal that led to the jailing in Singapore last year of six players on the Liaoning Guangyuan side. Wang was the manager while Ding was the head coach of the Liaoning side that played in the S-League in 2007, but both escaped punishment. Xinhua said Wang was wanted by Interpol.

S.League concluded, Worries emerged.

A good write-up on the current state of the league:

新联赛落幕 隐忧浮现
（2009-11-11）
● 陈汇崑(扭转乾崑)

Quote:

在前晚的第14届新加坡职业足球联赛常年颁奖礼上，军团教练莫国铨表示无法理解为何他们今年完成了夺取 联赛四连冠的壮举，却没有一个球员入围最佳球员奖。 　　笔者不是评审团的一员，只能猜测军团球员被忽视的原因。或许，身为新加坡足坛的传统强旅，人们一般上都 期待军团踢出高水准来拿下锦标。但在这个赛季里，军团虽以11分的优势夺冠，却输掉了七场比赛，是新联赛史 上输球最多的冠军球队。 　　今年的比赛给人的感觉是：其他争冠球队把锦标“送”给了军团，多过于军团靠自己去夺冠。因此，评审在挑 选球员入围最佳球员奖时，才会把重点放在“有突破”的球员上，而不是表现停留在同一层次或退步的军团球员身 上。 　　这里要谈论的其实是军团表现没有历年强，却还能轻易夺得冠军的不健康现象。 　　没有人应该否定军团所取得的成就。可是，没有一个联赛希望看到一支球队长期垄断锦标，其他队伍必须在新 的赛季里重新振作，才能使这个无法引起国人兴趣的联赛重现生机。 　　本赛季，甘柏和文莱异军突起，一度在积分榜上领先。但前者的尼日利亚外援一旦表现下滑，板凳实力不够深 厚，便打击了他们的夺冠希望；文莱则是在三名后卫攻击裁判而遭到长期禁赛后崩溃，之后再因国际足总的禁令而 被迫举起白旗。 　　另外两大劲旅内政部联队和淡滨尼流浪表现不稳定却难辞其咎。前者可以两度踢垮军团，却会输给弱旅；后者 则申述自己在对垒军团时受到裁判不公平对待，但在军团丢分时，自己也不敌新潟和兀兰，不能只以裁判作为借口 。 　　显然的，这些球队必须在新赛季里改善战绩不稳定的弱点，否则我们明年将会看到“军团五连冠”的新闻头条 。 　　另外，军团射脚杜里奇连续三年夺得金靴奖，也是不健康的现象。这里没有看轻杜里奇的意思，认识他的人都 知道他多么重视保健与体能，是懂得照顾自己身体的模范球员。 　　但一名39岁的前锋三年来都在射脚榜上排名第一，不禁让人怀疑其他球队的前锋的素质，以及敌队后卫的防 守实力。新加坡足总会长再努丁表示，接下来会协助球会物色更好的外国球员前来参赛，这极有可能是联赛能否吸 引球迷回到球场的关键。 　　球迷寥寥无几，对联赛不感兴趣，导致之前效劳淡滨尼的前锋诺阿兰莎两个月前炮轰新联赛。诺阿兰莎随后和 另三名国脚离开了新联赛，目前为印尼球会效劳，之后还会有球员到印尼发展。 　　新加坡球员到国外发展并非史无前例，只是，在联赛萎靡不振之时，再受到国脚级球员离去的打击，主办当局 不能不去重视问题的严重性。 　　新联赛并非人们想象中水准低落，但这样的既定印象却不容易从本地球迷的脑海中根除，这也是联赛不容易被 “推销”的一大理由。然而，足总没有坐视不理，表示即将公布一个提升水准的“战略性计划”。这项计划会出现 怎样的内容，极有可能决定新联赛接下来五到10年的前途。

Basically it talks about the unhealthy dominance of SAFFC/Duric in the league/scorers-chart (which is more down to the other teams/players unable to compete with them), and the FAS strategic plan as the key to the future of S.League.

S.League 2009 "Truth Table"

The Final "Truth Table" of 2009 Season:

# Team------- P- W--D-L F--A- Pts GD PPG PPG#
1. SAFFC----- 32 22-2-8 74-33 68 +41 2.13 01 *
2. Tampines- 33 17-10-6 52-29 61 +23 1.85 02
3. Home------ 32 18-5-9 58-33 59 +25 1.84 03 *
4. Gombak--- 32 14-12-6 56-37 54 +19 1.69 05 *
5. SuperReds 33 14-9-10 55-39 51 +16 1.55 06
6. DPMM------ 28 14-8-6 43-35 50 +08 1.79 04 *
7. Geylang-- 33 13-5-15 40-45 44 -05 1.33 07
8. Albirex-- 32 11-6-15 41-51 39 -10 1.22 08 *
9. YoongLions 33 9-8-16 34-51 35 -17 1.06 09
10.Woodlands- 33 9-7-17 26-53 34 -27 1.03 10
11.Sengkang-- 32 6-6-20 28-60 24 -32 0.75 11 *
12.Balestier- 33 4-6-23 23-64 18 -41 0.55 12

* Team season concluded with less than 33 games, due to DPMM ban.

Sengkang tied unwanted record of win-less run

Just realized that Sengkang have already went 17 games without a win & tied the league-wide winless-run record:
Wikipedia: S.League: Trivia: "The longest winless run in a season was 17 matches, also by Paya Lebar in 2005."

Should they lose their final game of the season, a new record will be set!!

NB:
- DPMM results excluded
- Out of these 17 winless games, Aide was in-charge of the last 16,

=================================================

Updates to the Race of (avoiding) the Spoon after Albirex 3-0 Balestier on 3-Nov:

Quote:

With the defeat, Balestier stay rooted to the bottom of the table with all their games already played. Their only hope of moving up is if Sengkang Punggol, who are level on points with them, lose to Woodlands Wellington by at least four goals in their last game on Friday.

Can Sengkang finish the job this Friday, or will they be finished by then?

Congrats Gombak - The Best Ever!!

So there you go, thanks to Kingsley's equalizer in the 87th minute of the 2-2 draw with Gombak on 2-Nov, Gombak United went on to complete a record breaking 2009 season:

- Best position = 3rd (beat 4th in 2007)
- Most points = 53 (beat 52 in 2008)
- Best goal difference = +20 (beat +14 in 2007)
- Best winning ratio = 14/30 games (beat 14/33 in 2008)
- Least losses = 5 (beat 6 in 1999, where only 22 games were played)
- Most Home wins = 9 (beat 8 in 2007)
- Least Home losses = 2 (beat 5 in 2007/08)
- and perhaps a few more records that I may have missed out...

Congratualtions!!

Live S-League Matches on TV, :-(

Re: Live S-League Matches on TV

---

Time to resurrect this thread!!

Many of us have noticed lots of abrupt endings to the 'Live' Broadcast lately (in order to give way to News at 9:30) that were very annoying:

- SG Cup Q-final, Albirex vs Tampines, 2nd leg: ET & PKs not shown!
- S.League, 30-Oct, SAFFC vs Tampines: Trophy Presentation also not shown!!
(What's the point of rescheduling this match for 'Live' then? Wasn't it meant to showcase the trophy to everyone??)
- S.League, 31-Oct, YL vs Sengkang: Match started late due to rain, last 15 mins not shown as well!!!

Any more?

Can't the news be postponed a little bit, or start the match a bit earlier?? (in the case of 2nd-legs where ET/PKs could happen, or for the once-a-season prize presentation) Why the chops???