Should Englishman Lloyd Butler strike again tonight and Geylang scoot off with their fourth win on the trot, the murmurs among the local football fraternity might just get a little louder.
Can the Eagles eventually reclaim their place amongst the top clubs in the country?
Can they somehow go the distance and launch a title charge?
Will the ‘three wise men’ of Seak Poh Leong, Lim Tong Hai and Mike Wong finally admit they erred in judgment when deciding to ‘revolutionise’ the league with their three-pronged coaching unit at the start of the season?
Another three points – this time against a toothless Young Lions – would mean Geylang will move to within one point of top four – and six ahead of sixth-placed Home, who have a game in hand.
Even if Geylang do top tonight’s tricky fixture though, they are still a long way from matching their past glories.
Having not finished lower than fifth in the S-League between the league’s inception in 1996 up to 2003, the club have not managed to finish higher than sixth in the last half-decade.
Their only league triumphs were in the inaugural season – almost an obligatory one since Fandi Ahmad was skippering the side – and in 2001.
Their squad eight years ago was based on a solid foundation of Shahril Jantan and Lionel Lewis battling for a place in goal, Noh Rahman and Zulkarnean Zainal at the back, Hasrin Jailani and Billy Bone crushing opponents in midfield, with Aleksandar Duric as the targetman fed by wingers Noor Ali and Azhar Baksin.
Those seven locals were in the National team fold then, and Bone and Duric were two of the more outstanding league imports.
The current Geylang line-up can only boast of centre-half Baihakki Khaizan as a national player.
The likes of Ratislav Belicak and Miroslav Latiak - who can be inspirational on their day and also be invisible on others - fade in comparison to Bone and Duric in their heyday or Mohammad Khakpour and Hamid Reza Estili back in ‘96.
And that’s why 20-year-old Butler’s rise this season is so important to the team. He has scored three in three, but it's not his goals in the long run that will help the club.
If Geylang is ever going to make a push to regain its status as one of the top sides in the league – “to be in the elite group” as Wong puts it – they have to blood talent like him into the side.
So far, the Eagles have only fielded five players below the age of 24 this season – and that number includes Canadian misfit Ricky Harris who is now strutting his stuff with Geylang’s Prime League Squad.
Pacy right-wing back Yasir Hanapi, 19, has been a handy player, and has also had his first crack at first-team football this season.
The Eagles have to make sure their policy is on the right track though.
Last year’s Prime League top-scorer Guntur Djafril was on their books, but the 23-year-old was allowed to join champions SAFFC this season.
National stars Noh Rahman and Fazrul Nawaz also saw their contracts expire at the end of last season.
They will not finish higher than fifth this season. SAFFC, Tampines, Home and Gombak – all in Wong’s “elite group” - have more quality on paper and continuity in their squads to take the top four places.
But if the club can eventually finish fifth and retain its better performers this season, next season looks promising – a prediction many Eagles fans have grown bored of.
But a couple of inspired foreign signings, another couple of national players whose contracts have expired, and who knows?
Maybe they might just reach their goal of reclaiming their ‘rightful’ place among Singapore’s top clubs.
Can the Eagles eventually reclaim their place amongst the top clubs in the country?
Can they somehow go the distance and launch a title charge?
Will the ‘three wise men’ of Seak Poh Leong, Lim Tong Hai and Mike Wong finally admit they erred in judgment when deciding to ‘revolutionise’ the league with their three-pronged coaching unit at the start of the season?
Another three points – this time against a toothless Young Lions – would mean Geylang will move to within one point of top four – and six ahead of sixth-placed Home, who have a game in hand.
Even if Geylang do top tonight’s tricky fixture though, they are still a long way from matching their past glories.
Having not finished lower than fifth in the S-League between the league’s inception in 1996 up to 2003, the club have not managed to finish higher than sixth in the last half-decade.
Their only league triumphs were in the inaugural season – almost an obligatory one since Fandi Ahmad was skippering the side – and in 2001.
Their squad eight years ago was based on a solid foundation of Shahril Jantan and Lionel Lewis battling for a place in goal, Noh Rahman and Zulkarnean Zainal at the back, Hasrin Jailani and Billy Bone crushing opponents in midfield, with Aleksandar Duric as the targetman fed by wingers Noor Ali and Azhar Baksin.
Those seven locals were in the National team fold then, and Bone and Duric were two of the more outstanding league imports.
The current Geylang line-up can only boast of centre-half Baihakki Khaizan as a national player.
The likes of Ratislav Belicak and Miroslav Latiak - who can be inspirational on their day and also be invisible on others - fade in comparison to Bone and Duric in their heyday or Mohammad Khakpour and Hamid Reza Estili back in ‘96.
And that’s why 20-year-old Butler’s rise this season is so important to the team. He has scored three in three, but it's not his goals in the long run that will help the club.
If Geylang is ever going to make a push to regain its status as one of the top sides in the league – “to be in the elite group” as Wong puts it – they have to blood talent like him into the side.
So far, the Eagles have only fielded five players below the age of 24 this season – and that number includes Canadian misfit Ricky Harris who is now strutting his stuff with Geylang’s Prime League Squad.
Pacy right-wing back Yasir Hanapi, 19, has been a handy player, and has also had his first crack at first-team football this season.
The Eagles have to make sure their policy is on the right track though.
Last year’s Prime League top-scorer Guntur Djafril was on their books, but the 23-year-old was allowed to join champions SAFFC this season.
National stars Noh Rahman and Fazrul Nawaz also saw their contracts expire at the end of last season.
They will not finish higher than fifth this season. SAFFC, Tampines, Home and Gombak – all in Wong’s “elite group” - have more quality on paper and continuity in their squads to take the top four places.
But if the club can eventually finish fifth and retain its better performers this season, next season looks promising – a prediction many Eagles fans have grown bored of.
But a couple of inspired foreign signings, another couple of national players whose contracts have expired, and who knows?
Maybe they might just reach their goal of reclaiming their ‘rightful’ place among Singapore’s top clubs.
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