BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Coach Steinebrunner is cautious Having assembled a stellar cast for the upcoming season, it is not unusual to say Geylang International are embarking their way back to the glory days when they once ruled the land back in the late 1980s till early 1990s, clinched the S.League titles in 1996 and 2001 with Singapore Cup in 2009 as their most recent taste of glory (as Geylang United). "It's still early days," said a cautious Geylang coach Jorg Steinebrunner when such suggestion was made to him. "The whole idea now is to move away from playing long ball like we did last season and keep the ball with more mobility in our game. "And that is one of the reasons we signed players like (Tatsuro) Inui, Bruno (Castanheira) and (Jozef) Kaplan, who are able to give the speed and advantage during one-on-one situation." added the German coach. Bruno Castanheira shields the ball Beside the mentioned trio, the Bedok-based club also recruited local players like...

An end of an era, as Indra retires It was only a brief one-liner in a recent article that confirmed the retirement of another former Singapore captain - Indra Sahdan Daud, from professional football. The 35-year-old former goal poacher is probably one of the few players I witnessed the rise to prominence till the day that pair of boots were hung. Indra first came to my notice when he alongside with some of his peers (i.e.: Ahmad Latiff, Yazid Yasin, etc.) starred in the Lion City Cup at the old Jalan Besar Stadium in 1995 and led the team to victory that year. Two years later, I was there at the old National Stadium to see the then up-and-coming making his international debut against Kuwait (26 April 1997) when he came on a substitute and thrilled the crowds with his pace that rejuvenated life back to a dull game. Indra played for Sengkang in 2009 "UNBUYABLE" AND "UNCOACHABLE" Since then, it was no looking back with him went on to build a legacy...

Artwork by Bitstrips At this stage, it's OK to admit the shortcomings and face the truth. It is not as if anyone would ditch you or leave you in the lurch when you seek for help NOW. Rather, people would be appreciative of the courage shown for that admission and willing to give a helping hand, instead of having a mindset that is blinded by those self-comforting thoughts. However, I give a hat off to those who have fought back every time after scraping the bottom of the barrel to find any explanation to counter the critics by assuring things are still according to the plan despite the facts are laying out there. Probably, like a Hokkien saying 「好料墊底」 ( essence is always at the bottom of the barrel) and that's why, despite not being that convincing, things remained status quo even after all those blueprints and programs were laid on the table. Recent faux pas by S . League CEO Lim Chin (right) is damaging If things went our way weeks ago, it would only inflat...

Mr Gale Gan was formerly the Marketing and Media Executive of Tanjong Pagar United (TPUFC). He started his S.League involvement as a photographer with KallangRoar in 2007 and joined Geylang United in 2011. The following post is a contribution by him on the topic of CRM (Customer Relationship Management), which in his opinion is something has yet to make its presence in the local football industry. Fans are always a crucial part of the game (file picture) If you see happy customers returning to consume your product no matter how much it costs, it will mean your business is successful one way or another. Of course, the best combination will be having a good product and good customer relations management. Sad to say that in terms of football here, we are still very backward in that mindset. Supporters are basically the customers in football as they pay to support their clubs. Here, the people in charge seem to have totally missed that open goal and have been trying to...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come . to/ matchpix ", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) Thank You Aleks 31/10/2014 Aleks watching the video tribute It was an emotional evening when the time has come to call it a day for Aleksandar Duric and thanks for being the perfect model since I took up football photography. A tribute prior to the kick-off and after the 2-1 win over Brunei DPMM FC had the big man in tears as we saw the last of him in action on a football field. Thank You, Aleks. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Singapore Cup Final: Balestier Khalsa 3-1 Home United 7/11/2014 Hoist the Cup, Tigers! As what Balestier Khalsa Football Club's chairman Mr S Thavaneson said this is "significant victory" for the club for being one of the founding members of the league. And more significantly, the ...

We are OUT and LOST the Cup .... Malaysia were clearly the more dominant side with their possession and fast closing up play that barely gave Singapore a breather in the first half. The absence of Shahdan Sulaiman in the engine room was pretty obvious with the Lions lacked the creative flow upfront to deem Khairul Amri a lonely figure facing Malaysian custodian Khairul Fahmi Che Mat in the box, as both Fazrul Nawaz and Faris Ramli on both flanks looked ineffective to prick open the stubborn wall of the visitors. Hariss  (right) shield the ball from "Mat Yo" Much credit to Hariss Harun whom Coach Stange made the right decision to keep him in the usual holding position to keep things checked in the midfield to lighten the load of the otherwise stretched Singapore defence. However, the game of football is all about scoring more goals than your opponents in order to win the game, which the Harimau Malaya did it just right to seal the night. And it proved to be a ...

Hariss's  brac e raised the roof of Kallang Singapore salvaged their AFF Suzuki Cup title-defending hopes with a nail-biting 4-2 win over Myanmar at Kallang last evening. Much of the talks before the game surrounded the White Angels' Serbian coach, Raddy Avramovic, for his familiarity with the team that were largely groomed by him for a near decade before he stepped down after leading the Lions to their fourth Asean title in 2012. It was probably that familiarity that had the Myanmarese came back strongly in the second half to narrow the gap to a goal deficit after trailing three-nil before the interval. As explained by Coach Raddy in the post-match media conference. "The plan was to keep Singapore off our field in the first half and attack them in the second," said the former Notts County custodian. "I thought we conceded three easy goals and with this result, we will have a difficult game against Thailand (this Friday) it's Christmas came ear...

Hassan dived correctly but can't stop the Thais' winner It could not have been a worst possible start for the defending Asean football champions with a defeat in the hands of those they defeated two years ago to clinch that fourth title. But that twisted fate saw the reversal of the role with Singapore National Team, playing their first full international match in the new National Stadium, ended the night with a heart-breaking loss to Thailand on a 2-1 scoreline. A general consensus from several sectors concluded a draw would be a fair result for both, while some opinions suggested the War Elephants looked relatively raw and inexperienced (since a large part of the team are elevated from the recent Incheon Asian Games squad). A pretty even first half saw a keenly contested affair from both sides with some intensify attacking plays that saw the visitors pulled the first trigger in the ninth minute with a Prakit Deeprom's strike that riveted past Hassan Sunny but i...