Saturday, August 20, 2011

That man is culling clubs for cash

That is my feeling when I saw this plan for next season.

For me, it is just too much of coincidence that at a time he need cash to pay for his Malaysia team that we see such a suggestion about reducing local clubs. (Frankly if you ask me, they came from his men who knew how to please him)

Of course their defence is that the money can be doubled up but people need to understand that a lot of the seed money is under variables so other than the Big 3, most other clubs will struggled to get the full amount so it does not matter if it become bigger.

Example: looked at the mid-tier clubs like Gombak, Hougang, Geylang etc they are not likely to collect the sponsorship section of the money so even if one doubled it up it will go back into FAS coffers.

So if you asked, this is how FAS intend to raise money by twisting and playing around the seed money variables

How long until that man era end

Singapore squad announced for Thailand and China


GK
Lewis Lionel
Izwan Mahbud
Ridhuan Bin Barudin 

DF
Safuwan Baharudin
Afiq Yunos
Sevki Sha'ban
Hamqaamal Shah
Ismail Yunos
Juma'at  Jantan
Bennett Daniel
Shaiful Esah 
Delwinder Singh 

MF
Mustafic Fahrudin
Shukor Zailan
Shahril Ishak
Shi Jiayi
Isa Halim
Shahdan Sulaiman
Zulfahmi Arifin
Hariss Harun

FW
Aleksandar Duric
Qiu Li
Fazrul Nawaz
Hafiz Rahim

China squad announced

The 25-man squad is as follows:

Yang Zhi (Beijing Guo’an), Zhang Lie (Shanxi Renhe), Zeng Cheng (Henan); Du Wei (Zhejiang Lvcheng), Rong Hao (Zhejiang Lvcheng), Feng Xiaoting (Guangzhou Evergrande);Li Xuepeng (Dalian Shide), Liu Jianye (Jiangsu), Li Weifeng (Tianjin Teda), Sun Xiang (Guangzhou Evergrande); Deng Zhuoxiang (Shandong Luneng), Hao Junmin (Shandong Luneng), Chen Tao (Tianjin Teda), Yu Hai (Shanxi Renhe), Zhao Xuri (Shanxi Renhe), Yang Hao (Guangzhou Evergrande), Huang Bowen (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, KOR), Feng Renliang (Shanghai Shenhua), Huang Xiyang (Henan), Yang Hao (Guangzhou Evergrande), Zheng Zhi (Guangzhou Evergrande); Gao Lin (Guangzhou Evergrande), Yang Xu (Liaoning Hongyun), Qu Bo (Shanxi Renhe), Yu Dabao (Tianjin Teda).

Monday, August 15, 2011

Why I will not support that Malaysia project

Right from the start I have never supported the FAS plan in the first place but now after seeing the collapse of PSV in Holland, I know I will never support it.

FAS plan unfortunately still have not detailed to anybody how they intend to do the impossible in world football and that is to turn in a profit big enough and long enough to support an industry even in bad times.

Just how do they intend to fund that project? (where is the money since you guys claimed you are so poor)

For me this is too important to set aside.

Of course some will tell me I am too money-minded but the collapse of PSV remind us all, whether we like it or not, money is an important factor in world football today.  

All projects PSV may have intend to implement or is implementing will be gone in days to come as the City Council will have to show they are not funding the club indiscreetly thus the Dutch club will have a tough time ahead.

Just image that happening in Singapore but this time, it is on a larger scale as FAS reach is over all Singapore football and yet it has to stop funding Singapore football.

It has happen and it was in the 90s as I frequently mention for until now I have not seem a good explanation about the disappearance of so many Singapore projects around that time when FAS was bleeding millions in the Malaysian project.  

Indeed Singapore did not have the money or even efforts to implement a project like NFA until it was 1999 and this was a time when FAS boast it had millions in sponsorship in it coffers.

Where did all the money go!

Like PSV, FAS had chosen to spend the money on more glorious projects and quite frankly this is not unexpected for this is not just happening to Dutch or Singapore football for BPL is a living example as despite having so much cash, it has been noted by many that they are not preparing for a time when they may have to live in a more prudent time as their debts keep building up.

This is ultimately human nature for looked around the world at the number of grand projects country after country keep competing to build and we can see how easy it is to fall into the trap.

Before continuing, I would like to note the difference in events in Singapore since those times and by that I mean the state of the economy and stage of Singapore development then for Singapore had at that point enjoyed a 14 year breath-breaking growth in our economy so we were very prosperous.
 
Indeed Singapore was then growing at near double-digit pace for the late 80s and early 90s and the Jack Neo movie - Money Not Enough - was based on how our spending had gone out of control for even our then-PM Goh later admitted, after the Asian Financial Crisis, the Republic cannot afford to spend like that anymore.

So to expect that sponsorship will reach a new high is a pipe dream as now if our economy grow over 5%, we already considered it high.

Also with the global climate set to worsen, even our Finance cum Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has told us to expect our economy to be hit no matter what so finding that extra cash will be even more impossible and if that man at FAS can do it then he should be our Finance Minister, or even better the EU and US will need him now (Yes, I am being sarcastic)    

In addition, another fact to add in is the makeup of the sponsorship then as it is much like Malaysia League, before 2003, and Indonesia League and that much of the money has come from the 'vice' (Chinese saying considered glutton, drink, flirt and gamble as them so I let you guys guess which of the two 'vice' provided the bulk of that team sponsorship) trade.

So the reality is sport sponsorship is not as forthcoming as many keep telling us for it never was.  

Now continuing on, I would like to note another difference and that is unlike PSV, FAS cannot expect Singapore government or even their 'friend' FAM to come to it rescue.

While even our PM Lee like to jump on the bandwagon to tell us how he believe the sport of football can unite Singapore, I also know if the sport get into financial difficulties like PSV, it can expect nobody to help it regardless of how many of the politicians - opposition or government - keep jumping on the already crowded bandwagon.
 
This is the situation in Singapore and that is why I keep talking about money for Singapore football have nobody to rely on if it ever ran into problems.

And it does not  help when I think of the fact how big that Malaysia project will cost

With eight-time champions SAFFC as an example, that team can easily cost over S$2.5 million as we have to note the cost of traveling is higher for that project and that is nearly 27% of FAS budget of $9 million.

Also I am not counting in the fact FAM will received over RM2million on their part from FAS for their youth team (How generous of a 'poor FAS')

If you ask me, all that money come from hallowing Singapore football out as Liga Singapura has already shown us with that man in charge, he has cut off the supply to women football in under 3 years and if one tell me that it will not spread to other aspect of local football in time to come, I can tell everybody it is wishful thinking as eventually, it will spread.

Now going on to other areas other than money,frankly I believe youth development will die out once this project start as even now youth development is not appreciated by clubs as they are in a loser position.

If a player is good or have potential, FAS will come calling and they have no say in this matter so why will a club put their heart into youth development for no matter what, they cannot use their player anyway.

Worse is when FAS decide that the players they pick up are not those they wish to develop so they are 'return' to clubs midway through the season as though they are 'garbage collectors'.

Do FAS believe they will not have to pay a price for Balestier vice-chairman S. Thavaneson has pointed out early this season that clubs are not happy to see their develop players go for nothing and if one looked at many of the clubs team sheet it is clear many clubs will now rather hired players above 23 to be on the safe side.

That is why Raddy pleas to clubs to play more U23 players in recent years are ignored and who can blamed the clubs for are there anybody who will honestly claim they do anything differently.

Since the situation is like that, why will the Malaysian project not help.

Firstly, the focus of FAS will never be on youth development as they will be running a club and those who claim they can balanced it, I will point to Arsenal or even a better example Crewe Alexandra.

As it Wikipedia writeup showcase it admirable focus on youth development - In recent decades the club has been associated with manager Dario Gradi, whose 24-year tenure between 1983 and 2007 made him at that time the longest-serving manager in English football; he returned to the role in 2009. Gradi is known for focusing on youth development and promoting attractive, technical football. Notable players brought through the Crewe youth system include former internationals Neil Lennon, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson and Dean Ashton - people may like to know the price it pay with them in the last division of English football and facing a situation they may drop out of it.

There will be no patience when one is running a club and that is the truth.

And subletting youth development to clubs by taking over them like TPUFC deal is no solution as there is no perfect plan and the biggest flaw of this plan is the takeover club also have to show results.

So they cannot wait for players to develop especially in crucial area like the centre of defence and midfield as well as a forward line.

We can see these areas in the Jaguars side occupied by the foreigners and in the long term, other than a really-committed Young Lions team, and I am talking about a real U23 team not the club they are promoting now,  where do one find those players.

For let not forget even now Khairul Nizam, who is talked about as a future national forward, is still very raw and is only potential thus not the finished article.

He need games and lot of them yet if he is used for that Malaysian team then our dear FAS is going to see their dream of glory bust as he is not likely to score enough or be threatening enough to bring them that target.

So what will be their choice?

If history is a guide, I can tell it is glory as the current FAS president has only 18 months left and what happen after his tenure, will he really cared as until he has promised much but he has not moved on any of the projects like NTC or even the 20k stadium etc.

Instead one see FAS always backtracking for now FAS is already telling us they can only afford to have one U23 team but I will not accept it especially as that project is already costing us so much money so there is no excuse they cannot fund a second team for whatever reason. (I will never accept no money excuse as long as that man is in charge as he authorized over RM2million to FAM so he has money)

That is why I believed youth development will take a slide downwards now as this project will squeeze time and efforts from FAS (Let not just talk about money) and will they have anything left to spare for other aspect of Singapore football.

If women football and the NFA example (After all why did they need to depart the Malaysia Cup before finally waking up and realizing we need a project like NFA, what have FAS been doing those years) is a guide, then the answer is no as they have not shown they can managed anything (based on how they are running the league at this point) let alone a team.

Clearly this FAS project will ultimately caused as much problems down the road like the 90s as time have changed and to develop a squad of only 25 is not enough anymore but this is what FAS doing now.

How can one expect me to support this team when that man is in charge and so many questions are unanswered.

PM Lee (and even that man in charge of FAS now) can walk away if this team run into problems for Singapore football but I cannot so I will never support this Malaysia project.

Geylang sell out official replica jerseys and launching heritage T-shirt

Geylang United have announced they have sold out all the ready stocks for Geylang United Official Replica Jerseys which was selling for $50

But fans who are still interested to buy one can still place order with them.

At the same time, the club is launching a heritage T-shirt at the end of this month.

Record sponsorship for Home

Cola-Cola has renew it sponsorship of Home United for another 3 years until 2014.

It will set a new record in term of total sponsorship as Home United will be getting S$1.6million in their new deal.

It beat the previous record, also held by Home United, of S$1.5million.

Cola-Cola has been Home United main sponsor for the last 9 years.

Home sides 8 Away sides 0

All the home sides won their matches as SAFFC crushed  TPUFC 4-0, Gombak United defeated Woodlands Wellington 3-0 and Geylang United defeated Courts Young Lions 1-0.

Mislav Karoglan scored a hat-trick with the other goal coming from Fazrul Nawaz.

In the Bulls-Rams matchup, former Geylang flop Jung Hee Bong notched his fourth goals since departing the Bedok club as he hit a brace with Ruhaizad Ismail scoring the other goal.

As for the final game before the break for the Singapore Cup, Kim Jae Hong got the winner for the Eagles.

SAFFC
Shahril Jantan (GK) (C), Shaiful Esah (Noh Rahman), Razaleigh Khalik (Hafiz Osman), Bah Mamadou, Ivan Jerkovic, Rhysh Roshan Rai, Goran Subara, Taisuke Akiyoshi, Mustaqim Manzur, Mislav Karoglan, Fazrul Nawaz (Indra Sahdan) 

TPUFC 
Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Khairul Solyhin, Delwinder Singh, Taufiq Rahmat, Sudhershen Hariram (Ganesan s/o Devadas (Israel Tan)), Kim Jong Oh, Cyril Bagnost, Takaya Kawanabe (C), Nurizam Azman, Gary Loo, Abdul Rahman (Arisman Arman)
----------
Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Hamqaamal Shah, Jeremy Chiang, Ismail Yunos (Jaslee Hatta), Obadin Aikhena (C), Walid Lounis, Tengku Mushadad, Park Kang Jin, Fareez Farhan (Ruhaizad Ismail), Jung Hee Bong, Chang Jo Yoon (Ridhwan Jamaludin) 

Woodlands Wellington 
Ang Bang Heng (GK), Fumiya Kobayashi, Duncan Elias, Sahairi Ramri, Munier Raychouni, Madhu Mohana, Jalal (Darrel Tan), Sazali Salleh (C), Han Yiguang (Guntur Djafril), Hyun Jong Woon (Goh Swee Swee), Moon Soon Ho  
---------- 
Geylang United
Yazid Yasin (GK) (C), Sevki Sha'ban, Adrian Dhanaraj, Jonathan Xu, Daniel Hammond, Syed Fadhil, Jeon Byung Euk, Kim Jae Hong, Syed Thaha, Nakano Yuta, Hafiz Rahim (Khalili D'cruz) 

Courts Young Lions 
Izwan Mahbud (GK), Irwan Shah (C), Shahir Hamzah, Safuwan Baharudin (Afiq Yunos), Al-Qaasimy Abdul Rahman (Ruzaini Zainal), Zulfahmi Arifin, Faris Ramli, Nazrul Ahmad Nazari (Fazli Ayob), Shahdan Sulaiman, Nigel Vanu, Fairoz Hasan

There is no stopping Home as they win yet again

Home United continue their march towards the 2011 S-league by beating Geylang United 3-1 convincingly at Bedok. 

Qiu Li, in hot form recently, got a brace while Sherif El-Masri mark his comeback into S-league contention recently with a goal as well.

Sevki Sha'ban got the consolation goal for the Eagles.

Tampines Rovers kept pace with the leaders after defeating Hougang United 3-1 thanks to goals from Ahmad Latiff, Aleksandar Duric and Jamil Ali.

Jordan Webb got the consolation goal for the Cheetahs.

But this was not the case for the defending champions, Etoile FC, as their title hopes looked hopeless now as the Courts Young Lions held them to a 1-1 draw.
 
Nazrul Ahmad Nazari scored for the Cubs while Hicham Bouchemlal got the goal for the French side.

In one other match, Albirex Niigata (S) crushed Woodlands Wellington 5-1 with goals from Norihiro Kawakami, Shotaro Ihata, Tatsuro Inui, Bruno Castanheira and Shimpei Sakurada.

Moon Soon Ho got the sole consolation goal for the Rams.

Woodlands Wellington
Phang Chin Guan (GK), Fumiya Kobayashi, Duncan Elias, Sahairi Ramri (Goh Swee Swee), Munier Raychouni, Madhu Mohana, Nawfal Shahib (Syed Karim), Jalal, Sazali Salleh (C), Hyun Jong Woon, Moon Soon Ho 
----------
Geylang United
Yazid Yasin (GK) (C), Sevki Sha'ban, Adrian Dhanaraj (Khayrulhayat Jumat), Daniel Hammond, Syed Fadhil, Jeon Byung Euk, Shah Hirul (Sofiyan Abdul Hamid), Syed Thaha, Khalili D'cruz (Stanely Ng), Nakano Yuta, Hafiz Rahim 

Home United
Fajar Sarib (GK), Kenji Arai, Juma'at Jantan, Valery Hiek, Rosman Sulaiman (Masrezwan Masturi), Shi Jiayi (C), Isa Halim, Firdaus Idros (Khairul Anwar), Frederic Mendy, Qiu Li, Sherif El-Masri (Faizal Samad) 
----------
Tampines Rovers
Yohann Lacroix (GK), Benoit Croissant, Seiji Kaneko, Fahrudin Mustafic, Firdaus Kasman (Shukor Zailan), Ahmad Latiff, Akihiro Nakamura, Imran Sahib, Ismadi Mukhtar (Zahid Ahmad), Jamil Ali (Aliff Shafaein), Aleksandar Duric (C) 

Hougang United
Fadhil Salim (GK) (Ridzuan Hasan), Lau Meng Meng, Shahril Alias, Fathi Yunus, Ratna Suffian (C), Jordan Webb, Fazli Jaffar (Basit Hamid), Faizal Amir, Sobrie Mazelan (Noor Ali), Carlos Delgado, Vitor Borges
----------
Courts Young Lions
Jasper Chan (GK), Afiq Yunos, Irwan Shah (C), Shahir Hamzah, Fazli Ayob, Hafiz Abu Sujad, Ruzaini Zainal (Nazrul Ahmad Nazari), Emmeric Ong (Safuwan Baharudin), Nigel Vanu, Fairoz Hasan, Fadhil Noh (Shahdan Sulaiman)

Big 3 marches on

The S-league Big 3 marches on as they won their respective matches.

Home United defeated Gombak United 2-1, Tampines Rovers won against Balestier Khalsa 1-0 and lastly, SAFFC crushed Courts Young Lions 3-0.

Firdaus Idros and Frederic Mendy had scored the goals for the Protectors while Jung Hee Bong got the goal for the Bulls.

Ahmad Latiff got the winner in the Stags-Tigers matchup while Shaiful Esah, Ivan Jerkovic and Mislav Karoglan scored the goals in the Warriors-Cubs matchup.

In one other match, Albirex Niigata (S) defeated TPUFC 1-0 thanks to a winner from Yosuke Saito. 

TPUFC 
Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Khairul Solyhin, Kim Seong Kyu (C), Delwinder Singh, Taufiq Rahmat (Abdul Rahman), Sudhershen Hariram, Kim Jong Oh, Cyril Bagnost, Takaya Kawanabe, Gary Loo, Hafiz Nor (Ganesan s/o Devadas) 
---------
Home United
Fajar Sarib (GK), Kenji Arai, Juma'at Jantan, Valery Hiek, Rosman Sulaiman, Shi Jiayi (C), Isa Halim, Firdaus Idros (Faizal Samad), Frederic Mendy, Qiu Li, Sherif El-Masri (Masrezwan Masturi)

Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Hamqaamal Shah, Jeremy Chiang, Ismail Yunos, Obadin Aikhena (C), Walid Lounis, Tengku Mushadad (Shafuan Sutohmoh), Park Kang Jin, Fareez Farhan (Zulkiffli Hassim), Jung Hee Bong, Chang Jo Yoon (Ruhaizad Ismail) 
---------
Balestier Khalsa
Ahmadulhaq Che Omar (GK), Paul Cunningham (C), K Sathiaraj, Vahid Bogucanin, Ishak Zainol, Armanizam Dolah (Ridhwan Osman), K Vikraman (Hilmi Azman), Poh Yi Feng, Andrew Tan (Shamsurin Abd Rahman), Kim Young Kwang, Mark Kevin McGough 

Tampines Rovers
Yohann Lacroix (GK), Benoit Croissant, Seiji Kaneko, Fahrudin Mustafic, Firdaus Kasman (Jufri Taha), Ahmad Latiff, Akihiro Nakamura, Imran Sahib (Aliff Shafaein), Ismadi Mukhtar, Jamil Ali (Fazil Zailani), Shukor Zailan, Aleksandar Duric (C)
----------
SAFFC 
Shahril Jantan (GK) (C), Shaiful Esah, Razaleigh Khalik, Bah Mamadou, Daniel Bennett, Ivan Jerkovic (Rhysh Roshan Rai), Goran Subara, Taisuke Akiyoshi, Mustaqim Manzur, Mislav Karoglan, Fazrul Nawaz (Indra Sahdan) 

Courts Young Lions
Izwan Mahbud (GK), Safuwan Baharudin, Fazli Ayob, Hafiz Abu Sujad (Afiq Yunos), Ruzaini Zainal (Fairoz Hasan), Zulfahmi Arifin, Hariss Harun (C), Faris Ramli (Irwan Shah), Nazrul Ahmad Nazari, Shahdan Sulaiman, Safirul Sulaiman

Home look to pull away

Home United was the only one of the Big 3 clubs to win and looked to have a golden chance to pull away from the crowd.

Home United defeated Balestier Khalsa 4-0 with goals from Qiu Li, Juma'at Jantan, Sherif El-Masri and Frederic Mendy.

As for Tampines Rovers and SAFFC, they fell to defeats against Geylang United and Etoile FC respectively.

Geylang United defeated Tampines Rovers 2-0 in the Eatsern Derby at Tampines own ground with goals from Jeon Byung Euk and Yuta Nakano.
 
This was only the Eagles third win in the last 27 Derby meetings.

For SAFFC, they went down to  a 1-0 defeat with the winner from Jonathan Toto.

In one other match, Courts Young Lions defeated Hougang United 2-0 with goals from Shahdan Sulaiman and Nazrul Ahmad Nazari. 

Balestier Khalsa
Joey Sim (GK), Paul Cunningham (C), K Sathiaraj, Vahid Bogucanin, Ishak Zainol, Armanizam Dolah, K Vikraman (Ridhwan Osman), Poh Yi Feng, Andrew Tan (Shamsurin Abd Rahman), Kim Young Kwang (Hilmi Azman), Mark Kevin McGough 

Home United 
Fajar Sarib (GK), Kenji Arai, Juma'at Jantan, Valery Hiek, Rosman Sulaiman, Shi Jiayi (C), Isa Halim, Firdaus Idros (Masrezwan Masturi), Frederic Mendy, Qiu Li (Nor Azli Yusoff), Sherif El-Masri (Faizal Samad)
---------- 
Courts Young Lions
Izwan Mahbud (GK), Irwan Shah (Safirul Sulaiman), Safuwan Baharudin, Fazli Ayob (Faris Ramli), Hafiz Abu Sujad, Ruzaini Zainal (Al-Qaasimy Abdul Rahman), Zulfahmi Arifin, Hariss Harun (C), Nazrul Ahmad Nazari, Shahdan Sulaiman, Nigel Vanu

Hougang United
Fadhil Salim (GK), Lau Meng Meng, Shariff Samat (C) (Basit Hamid), Shahril Alias, Fathi Yunus (Raymond Kwa), Ratna Suffian, Azhar Sairudin (Sobrie Mazelan ), Faizal Amir, Noor Ali, Carlos Delgado, Vitor Borges
---------- 
Tampines Rovers
Yohann Lacroix (GK), Jufri Taha, Benoit Croissant, Fahrudin Mustafic, Ahmad Latiff, Akihiro Nakamura, Imran Sahib, Ismadi Mukhtar, Aliff Shafaein (Jamil Ali), Shukor Zailan (Firdaus Kasman), Aleksandar Duric (C) 

Geylang United
Yazid Yasin (GK) (C), Sevki Sha'ban, Adrian Dhanaraj (Hassan Aziz (Mubarak Ahamad)), Daniel Hammond, Syed Fadhil, Jeon Byung Euk, Kim Jae Hong (Sofiyan Abdul Hamid), Shah Hirul, Syed Thaha, Nakano Yuta, Hafiz Rahim
---------- 
SAFFC
Shahril Jantan (GK) (C), Shaiful Esah, Razaleigh Khalik ((Syaiful Iskandar), Hafiz Osman, Bah Mamadou, Daniel Bennett, Noh Rahman (Fazrul Nawaz), Ivan Jerkovic, Goran Subara, Taisuke Akiyoshi, Mislav Karoglan

Monday, August 1, 2011

Hall of Fame Menu


E
I
M
N
P

Aide Iskandar & S.Subramani - The Perfect Pairing

Aide Iskandar
Nationality: Singaporean

D.O.B: 28 Mar 1975 

Club: Home United (1996-2005) Tampines Rovers (2006) Geylang United (2007-2008) Sengkang Punggol (2009)

Position: Defender 

Honours
S-league: 1999, 2003
Singapore Cup 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006
FAM-FAS Cup Champions Cup: 2005
Tiger Cup: 98, 04/05
ASEAN Football Championship: 07

S.Subramani
Nationality: Singaporean

D.O.B: 5 Aug 1972

Club: Tanjong Pagar United (1997-1998) Home United (1999-2005)

Position: Defender

Honours
S-league: 1999, 2003
Singapore Cup: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005
FA Cup: 1998
Player of the Year 1998
FAM-FAS Cup Champions Cup: 2005
Tiger Cup: 98, 04/05
ASEAN Football Championship: 07

Players History 
It would have been much fairer if both these two gentlemen had a writeup of their own football career but it would be impossible to tear them apart just like the careers they forge together.

But who would have believed that for the start of their individual career was much different.

Aide was always earmarked to be a national player as he came out of the national youth setup but Subramani never had that privilege.

But one can never keep a good player down and Subramani started his road toward being the national star by 1996 - the same year the S-league started; which gave him the stage to show off to then-national coach Barry Whitbeard his talent.

At the same time, his football career was also taking off with his club Tanjong Pagar as his no-nonsense defending endeared him to head coach Robert Alberts; who will really mould him into the star defender the Lions will depend on for over a decade.

Indeed by 1998, S.Subramani was one of the factor why the Jaguars nearly won the Treble as build on a bed-rock defence, Tanjong Pagar United pushed SAFFC to the end and only missed out on the S-league title due to goal difference.

But it was still better than one can expect as he won a Cup Double - Singapore Cup and FA Cup - as well as the S-league Player of the Year award at the end of it all.

It was fully justified for the saying go, all championship sides are build from the back and he was the main pillar at the back for the Jaguars and without him, it was doubtful the Queenstown club would have matched SAFFC all the way in the League and won the Cup competitions.

At the same time, Aide career cannot be considered as brilliant for the criticism of him at that point was he lacked concentration for the full 90 minutes thus he was not fulfilling his early promise.

Still, if there are moments that change history, 1998 was it for a recession meant Home United could picked up Robert Alberts in mid-point after the league season (At that time, league and Cup can be considered two separate seasons with Cup competition only starting after league season end) and much like how he mould Subramani, the Dutchman will finally kickstart Aide club career.

Other than that, the other moment was the Tiger Cup in Vietnam as Barry Whitbeard finally solved his defensive puzzle with a three-man partnership - Aide, Subramani and R.Sasi Kumar.

It was perfect as Aide was the passer while Subramani had the focus and Sasi kumar got the muscle.

That foundation saw Singapore bring back their first-ever international trophy - Tiger Cup and it caught the eye of the Dutchman now at the helm of Home United.

He was determined to bring the trio together for the start of the 1999 season and he got his wish thus the start of Home golden age, up to this point, was build.

For it was not difficult to guess what happen at the end of the 99 season.

Yes, Home United won their first S-league crown with the best defensive record and they only missed out on a Double after their bitter uniform rival SAFFC knocked them out in the Singapore Cup semi-final. 

But next season, it was in reversal as Home United will go to win the Singapore Cup after beating SAFFC in the Final while the Protectors lost the S-league crown to the Warriors in return despite having another good defensive record that year.

At the point, Sasi kumar was starting to develop other interests and he will soon fade out of the picture and in such circumstance, clubs will usually go look for a foreigner to bulk up their defence but Aide and S.Subramani will show why they are the perfect pairing as they adapt brilliantly to the new situation.

They will now form a partnership in the centre that was as brilliant as the trio one and they show they did not need the muscle for they had the defensive capabilities to cope without it.

However during that transition period, national coach Vincent Subramaniam and after that his successor Jan Poulsen seek new partnership for them with the likes of Winston Yap and Razif Mahamud etc all try out but they could not replicate the same wavelength as the Home United pair.

Indeed by the end of the 2002 season, the Home United pair defensive capabilities was back to it best and the 2003 season will see the Bishan club sweep all opposition in front of them as the Protectors achieved a League and Cup double.

In 2004, Home United will reach the AFC Cup semi-final - the first time in history a local club had gone so far in Asia continental competition - and a year later, they will win the Singapore Cup for the fourth time.

All this achievement, the pairing had a major part in it for since the end of the partnership, up to the point of writing nearly six years later, Home United had been unable to achieve that high point again.

Even the Lions achievements in that period was build on such a solid foundation as the Lions won their second Tiger Cup in 05 and the duo gave a performance that was as good as 98 especially Subramani who had soldiered on in the second leg of the semi-final after being hit in the head by a bottle thrown by the opposition.

In 07, the Lions won the renamed, from Tiger Cup, ASEAN Football Championship for the third time and after that, the Lions did remarkably to reach the World Cup Qualifiers group stage - which only the top 20 Asian nations participate in. 

Much like Home United, the four years since their retirement from international football one after the other, the Lions have struggled to find another pairing like them to build a solid foundation so to launch an assault on Asia. 

They have shown what a pairing they were at the back as they won a combined 236 caps and nobody could have replaced them in their time.

Aide, who depart Home United in 2005, play for Johore FA in the MPL, Tampines Rovers, Geylang United and then lastly Sengkang Punggol in the next four years.

He will win another Singapore Cup with Tampines Rovers but he was never able to forge another partnership in defence that will match the high of the past decade again.

As for Subramani, he took over the captaincy from Aide at Home and continue to play as good as he give at the club until 2009 when he decided his body could take it no longer after over 350 appearances for them. 

Singapore, Home United and the public must be grateful for their contribution in their time and they were the perfect pairing at the perfect time for Singapore football.

Aide Iskandar stats

Geylang United
Year
League App
Goal
Cup App
Goal
2007
30
1
1
0
2008
27
3
2
0
Total
57
4
3
0
GEYLANG UNITED vs GOMBAK UNITED – 28/5/07

Home United
Year
League App
Goal
Cup App
Goal
1999
21
1
6
1
2000
21
1
6
1
2001
31
0
5
0
2002
30
2
3
0
2003
28 (2)
1
5
0
2004
22 (1)
2
4
0
2005
24
2
4
1
Total
177 (3)
9
33
3

Home United - Asia
Year
Asian App
Goal
Others
Goal
2000
?
?
-
-
2001
?
?
-
-
2002
2
0
-
-
2004
10
0
-
-
2005
8
1
2
0
Total
20
1
2
0

Sengkang Punggol
Year
League App
Goal
Cup App
Goal
2009
11
0
3
0
Total
11
0
3
0

Tampines Rovers
Year
League App
Goal
Cup App
Goal
2006
18 (1)
1
6 (1)
0
Total
18 (1)
1
6 (1)
0
TAMPINES ROVERS vs SAFFC – 25/10/06

Tampines Rovers - Asia
Year
Asian App
Goal
2006
2
0
Total
2
0

----------
S.Subramani stats 

Home United
Year
League App
Goal
Cup App
Goal
1999
22
0
6
0
2000
21
0
6
0
2001
31
0
5
0
2002
30
0
3
0
2003
28
0
5
0
2004
22
1
4
0
2005
26
0
5
0
2006
25
0
1
0
2007
32 (1)
1
6
0
2008
26 (1)
0
3
0
2009
9 (1)
0
2
0
Total
272 (3)
2
46
0

Home United - Asia
Year
Asian App
Goal
Others
Goal
2000
?
?
-
-
2001
?
?
-
-
2002
2
0
-
-
2004
10
0
2
0
2005
8
0
-
-
2006
2
0
-
-
2008
 6 (1)
0
1
0
2009
5
0
-
-
Total
33 (1)
0
3
0