| Teams
|
| Format
|
History of the 2001 season
Changes were again plenty for the S-league sixth season with many decisions affecting the S-league structure itself.
It was decided the Prime League squad would merge with the first team squad to have a combined squad of 32 players min – 40 players max. As for the four foreigner slots, this season, one must be Under-23.
The S-league league season had also been deemed too short with only a maximum of 22 matches and it was not making any financial sense to the clubs nor their sponsors so the S-league decided to follow the Norway league format in which teams meet three times instead of two times to lengthen the season from 22 matches to 33 matches.
The old system, in which the Cup competition only began after the league season is over, was also ended with the Cup competition to be held alongside the league season. Again, the reason was financial as clubs that are usually knocked out early in the cup competition would have to keep players on their payroll for no purpose. It was a waste of fund and one which S-league clubs cannot afford now with the cash flow problems some are experiencing.
Finally, the Tiger Beer
The Warriors, League champions, three out of the last four years, were celebrating their move to a brand new home stadium, Choa Chu Kang Stadium.
Since their debut in the S-league, Jurong Stadium had been designed as the Warriors home ground but the fact was, the stadium was located in a remote area making it difficult to attract fans to their matches so the Champions were delighted with the move.
To continue their domestic dominance as well as celebrate their new ground, the Warriors went out to get the biggest name in ASEAN football, Thai striker Kiatisuk Senamuang. With their own goal machine Mirko Grabovac, it was a dream strikeforce with both the best top notch strikers in the region money can buy. The fear factor alone would crush any team defence.
The final outcome though was a different matter as circumstances outside the Warriors control will have a big negative effect on the striking partnership.
After a season of adjustment, the
As for upfront, the Dutch coach received the best news as Singapore and Eagles striker Indra Sahdan left the Bedok based club to sign on as a regular with the police force. This meant Indra Sahdan could only play for the Protectors during the course of his contract with the Police Forces.
An Egmar Gonclaves and Indra Sahdan strikeforce could well matched the Warriors Kiatisuk Senamuang and Mirko Grabovac strikeforce and the two uniform teams now have the two best strikeforce in the league and the destiny of the 2001 title looked certain to be landing at one of their home.
How wrong was that a prediction as over the course of the season, it saw the re-emerging of the Eagles as a Kingpin and one of S-league Big team.
The Eagles have failed in the past few seasons to recapture their former glory, despite having high profile coaches in Douglas Moore (1998) and Alan Vest (2000), decided to change track and fall back on their own backroom staff.
Jang Jung, who had been with the Eagles since 1997 and had been assistant to both coaches earlier as well as being Youth and Prime league coach, was picked for the job of being the new Eagles coach for the 2001 campaign and what a impact he will make for the Eagles.
As the Eagles new coach, Jang Jung make the decision not to go through a total revamp of Alan Vest team but make minor changes that could improved the team overall.
Brian Bothwell, a striker, was converted into a midfielder to partner Billy Bone in the Eagle engine room. It was a brilliant move as both will combined to make the Eagles midfield tick as they overpower many of the league teams - even SAFFC and Home United.
Aleksander Duric, who had done brilliantly in his time with Tanjong Pagar United and Home United scoring 23 goals in 37 matches, was recruited to replace Indra Sahdan, who was a major source of goals during his time with the Eagles with Indra having scored 46 goals since his debut for the club, but one major difference was Duric can play the lone striker upfront with Noor Ali playing off him and it will proved an important factor this year for the Eagles title challenge.
Lionel Lewis was picked from the Prime League squad and promoted to be the Number one goalkeeper in the Eagle team.
All this moves paid off handsomely for the Eagles as they hitthe jackpot with the league which will also proved to be their downfall.
Tanjong Pagar United, so impressive last season to finish as runner-up in the league, was weaken as several key players are released and their replacements not proving as effective. The Jaguars still retain key players such as Steven Tan, Lim Tong Hai, Samawira Basri and Dragan Talajic as well as their new developed player like Daniel Bennett to form a team capable of holding onto a position in the top half of the league.
Gombak United, a surprise package for the last two seasons, was feeling the effect of the lawsuit they were engaging with their sponsors and ended up in the bottom three. It was a far cry from the fifth position they had finished in the last two seasons. The Bulls team, that had so much success in the past two years, was broken up with finances tight as sponsors had been unwilling to come forward due to the bad reputation associated with the Bulls after the lawsuit and with money needed for the settlement with their ex-sponsor, the Bulls were pushed to the brink.
Meanwhile, Jurong continue with the same policy as before which meant getting the discard ageing players from other clubs to form a team that was effective enough to hold onto their mid-table position but entertaining nobody but their own (who may even dislike they are watching).
The 2001 season had started like nothing had changed for the Warriors, as they won four out of their first five matches, but it was not the case for the Protectors as they had a shaky start with two demolishing defeats.
The first was astonishing as they fell to regular struggler, Stallions, 2-3 at their own home ground, Bishan. The second was a disaster for they fell 0-2 to their title rival, Warriors, at the Warriors new ground, Choa Chu Kang.
They ended that horrible start with a 3-2 win against Jurong but there was now much catching up to do.
At that moment, the Eagles were having an equally brilliant start as the Warriors with four out of their first five matches.
Therefore, when the Warriors met the rising Eagles in a match at Choa Chu Kang stadium on April 19, much firework was expected from the encounter.
Geylang United, under Jang Jung, had become an organized and disciplined unit that was difficult to play against but few expected the Eagles to overcome the Champions for the Warriors had in the short time in their new home make it a fortress. The Eagles though did not follow the script as they overcome the Champions 2-1; recording a brilliant result.
It was an embarrassment for the Warriors; not just in the sense that it was their first home defeat at Choa Chu Kang but in the way they were totally dominated by the Eagles.
The Warriors were never known to be goal shy but could not break down the wall of defence that the Eagles had constructed. The dream strikeforce of Kiatisuk Senamuang and Mirko Grabovac were nowhere to be found in the game adding to the Warriors embarrassment.
Adding to that, they completely lost their way as the match drag on with their total lack of discipline, compared to the Eagles tight discipline, and it was clear for all to witness.
The Eagles had exposed the Warriors weakness which was the Warriors midfield.
Until now, nobody had put the Warriors midfield under as much pressure as the Eagles did and it show as the Warriors, so clam and confident before the game, had now become a totally rag. It was undisciplined and suspect once faced with the type of pressing pressure implemented by the Eagles midfield.
On the back of that demolishing defeat, more defeats followed for the Champions with them losing five out of their next ten matches and almost ended their title defence hope completely.
Among one of the Warriors defeat was a crushing 0-4 defeat against the Protectors at Bishan which saw a historic record 100 S-league goals scored by a certain Egmar Gonclaves. He was now the first ever S-league player to reach the 100 S-league goals milestone of which 89 came in the league and the remaining 11 from the cup competition
The Warriors main problem had been that their dream strikeforce, while comparable to the Protectors Egmar Goncalves and Indra Sahdah strikeforce, was just not clinking as it was constantly torn apart with Thai Kiatisuk Senamuang often leaving for World Cup duties with his National team. Thai Kiatisuk Senamuang never developed the understanding with his strike partner Mirko Grabovac and with the strike partnership never looking like working, the Warriors attack never took off.
Worse was that he was absent for the period 10 August to 19 October as Thailand qualify for the World Cup Asian Zone final round qualifiers held during that time and this will end Kiatisuk Senamuang relationship with the Warriors as they decided to let him go.
With the Warriors looking down and out of the title challenge at that time, it was a fight between two other title challengers - Geylang United and Home United.
Due to their disaster start, the Protectors were always playing catch up with the Eagles who were setting the pace.
By round 22, the Eagles had the lead with 50 points, three points clear of the Protectors who were on 47 points. The Warriors, at that point, were a further three points behind with 44 points. Had the old system of 22 matches been in place instead of 33 matches, Geylang United would have wrapped up the title but this time, it was not enough for the Eagles to claim the championship.
While the title race was ongoing, the
Into the final eleven match run-in, the Eagles faced a determined Protectors charge as the Protectors won the first eight match run-in while the Eagles dropped points with a 1-1 draw against the Dolphins at Hougang and a much more disappointing 0-1 Eastern derby defeat against the Stags at their own home ground, Bedok. By now, it was the Protectors who had the commanding lead instead.
The points tally have Protectors in the lead with 71 points while the Eagles were in second position with 69 points and finally in third position were the Warriors with 65 points.
The Warriors had crawl themselves back to contention with a run of thirteen wins out of their fifteen matches, after their disaster five defeats in ten matches, and had an equally impressive seven win out for the first final eight match run-in.
Distracting the three main title challengers were the Tiger Beer
The Eagles overcame the Warriors 6-2 over two legs to reach the Final defeating the Warriors 1-0 at Choa Chu Kang before whacking those 5-2 at Bedok. The Protectors was not as marvelous in making it to the Final; only overcoming the Jaguars 2-1 over two legs.
During the final three match run-in, the Protectors have the toughest task as they had to meet their two title rivals Geylang United and SAFFC. However, it was not all bad as both matches are to be held at Bishan stadium giving Protectors the crucial home advantage.
The first chance to wrap up the title race presented itself to Home United on October 13 with top facing second at Bishan Stadium.
A Protectors win would throw out a five-point gap that surely be unbridgeable at this late stage.
A capacity crowd of 5000 filled the Bishan stadium expecting a tough battle and they were not disappointed. Eagles, knowing a defeat will end their title hope, took the lead but the Protectors, not willing to see the Eagles take back the leadership at such a crucial stage, equalized.
At this point, a draw would do neither any good; especially the Eagles, for the Protectors would still maintain their two-point lead. Both went for the killer blow but neither could get it.
With Warriors having won 2-0 against Dolphins a day earlier, it was a bad result for the Protectors and Eagles as neither team gain any ground on the other while at the same time, they allowed another rival back into the title race.
On October 18, third-placed Warriors came to Bishan stadium and first-placed Protectors, having lost one golden chance to kill off the title race, were determined not to let it happen again. The title fate was still in the Protectors hand as long as they keep winning.
Another capacity crowd turned out as whenever the two uniform rivals battle it out, an epic battle can be expected.
Home United took the lead but SAFFC equalized. After that it was difficult to tear them apart and with time clicking away, nobody will have expect what will happen next.
Since Robert Alberts arrival at the Bishan club, Protectors greatest strength had always been their strong backline for it was the first department the Dutch coach had constructed but on this occasion, it was to fail them when a defensive mix-up between defender S Subramani and keeper Adi Saleh saw the Warriors take the lead and maintain it until the final whistle.
It happened as both
Defeat for the Protectors now meant the fate of the title fell into the Eagles hands.
The Eagles were not going to let it slip as they defeated the Tigers 1-0 at Toa Poyah regaining the leadership with only one match left.
On October 23, three teams came into the final day in with a chance to win the title with Eagles having the best chance with their lone point lead over second placed Protectors and two-point lead over third-placed Warriors.
The main matches were Geylang United vs Jurong at Bedok, Gombak United vs Home United at Bukit Gombak and SAFFC vs Woodlands Wellington at Choa Chu Kang.
Eagles, though, never left anybody in doubt as where the trophy was heading when they comfortably thrashed Cobras 3-0 at Bedok to seal the title race and announcing their return back as a force in the S-league.
The more surprising thing on the day was the collapsed of the Protectors as they slip up once again with 0-1 defeat against the fading Bulls at Bukit Gombak thus giving the runner-up spot to the former champions Warriors, who thrashed the Rams 5-0 at Choa Chu Kang.
The Eagles celebrated their second league title in the professional era. It was an unexpected outcome for Geylang United as they were led by a rookie coach Jang Jung and their budget was much smaller than the two uniform title challengers.
On November 3 in the Final of the Singapore Cup, which was held at the National stadium, it gave Home United players a chance to redeem themselves as they disappointingly saw their title hopes vanished in a matter of weeks. They had also dropped from pole position to finish in third position when the title was within their grasp.
If the focus of the Protectors were in doubt, with the players totally dejected after the final whistle at the Bukit Gombak stadium twelve days earlier, it was certainly the case for the newly-crowned league Champions as controversies followed after the Final when Home United thrashed Geylang United 8-0.
An investigation had to be conducted with the findings revealing that several of the Eagles players had rebelled against the management with them unhappy over pay issues and terms of their bonuses after the Eagles title victory.
A title victory was meant to bring joy but clearly, it was not the case for the Eagles.
With the findings out, Geylang United management took action, taking back all the bonuses promised as well releasing several players who led the rebellion but questions now have to be asked about the professionalism of some of the footballers; for no matter what their argument were with the management, they had to give out their best when on the field as the fans were paying them to put up a football show.
It was a sour end to a great season as both the league and Eagles reputation took a battering as a result of the issues from the findings.
2001 was to have been the year the Eagles celebrated their return as a Kingpin alongside the Warriors and Protectors as the S-league Big Three but now, everything have been forgotten with the Singapore Cup debacle and looking back, it could be the only thing remembered from the year 2001 and this should not have been the case as it was one of the tightest title race in recent year.
2001 S-league Table
| Teams | W | D | L | GF | GA | Points |
| Geylang United | 23 | 7 | 3 | 84 | 28 | 76 |
| SAFFC | 24 | 2 | 7 | 101 | 46 | 74 |
| Home United | 23 | 3 | 7 | 69 | 36 | 72 |
| Tanjong Pagar United | 18 | 6 | 9 | 68 | 47 | 60 |
| Jurong | 15 | 6 | 12 | 65 | 57 | 51 |
| Tampines Rovers | 14 | 6 | 13 | 60 | 55 | 48 |
| Balestier Central | 8 | 11 | 14 | 43 | 57 | 35 |
| Sembawang Rangers | 8 | 7 | 18 | 45 | 80 | 31 |
| Clementi Khalsa | 7 | 9 | 17 | 43 | 76 | 30 |
| Gombak United | 8 | 4 | 21 | 36 | 72 | 28 |
| | 7 | 6 | 20 | 35 | 71 | 27 |
| Woodlands | 5 | 9 | 19 | 40 | 64 | 24 |
Top Scorers (S-League & Singapore Cup)
| Goals | Player | Club |
| 42 | Mirko Grabovac | SAFFC |
| 34 | Aleksandar Duric | Geylang United |
| 28 | Egmar Gonclaves | Home United |
| 23 | Brian Bothwell | Geylang United |
| 22 | Indra Sahdan | Home United |
Home United route to Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Group | Home United | 3 | 0 | Jurong |
| Group | | 0 | 6 | Home United |
| Semi-final, first leg | Tanjong Pagar United | 1 | 1 | Home United |
| Semi-final, second leg | Home United | 1 | 0 | Tanjong Pagar United |
Geylang United route to Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Group | Geylang United | 5 | 0 | Tampines Rovers |
| Group | Balestier Central | 3 | 4 | Geylang United |
| Semi-final, first leg | SAFFC | 0 | 1 | Geylang United |
| Semi-final, second leg | Geylang United | 5 | 2 | SAFFC |
2001 Singapore Cup Final
| Home United | 8-0 | Geylang United |
- | ||
No comments:
Post a Comment