Preview: Sengkang vs SAFFC

Positivism the key as Sengkang brace for SAFFC
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

Going into their match on Saturday against league title holders SAFFC, Sengkang Punggol find themselves in the familiar if unexpected position of bottom place in the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League table.

Familiar because the Hougang-based outfit have rarely finished outside the bottom two. Yet unexpected because, with big names like Aide Iskandar and Indra Sahdan Daud on board, they had been tipped to fare much better.

Even granting for the scale of the Dolphins’ overhaul and the time it would take for the team to settle down, few would have expected them to be sitting last with just five points.

Despite the potentially worrying circumstances, however, Sengkang coach Jorg Steinebrunner does not appear to have run his fingers across the panic button.

“I’m not reading too much into the S.League standings, because I think compared to the years before, we have been much more competitive,” he noted.

“Looking at the seven games we played so far, I would say that in our first game against Gombak United, we were beaten because we didn’t play well. The rest of the time, we played well enough to deserve to get something out of each match.

“But sometimes in football, certain things need to fall in place. What is missing at the moment may be a little bit of luck.

“We are on the right way otherwise, but we still need to put a few things in place and work at getting that element of luck to come back to us. That’s what anyone needs to be successful in football.”

Sengkang’s definition of success – moving into the top six – appears hard to realize at first glance, such is the heavy jostling among all clubs currently in mid-table or lower.

Steinebrunner’s former club Woodlands Wellington, for instance, found themselves in sixth place rather than near the bottom as a result of their shock win over SAFFC, while the Young Lions’ defeat of Home United helped put them ahead of the Dolphins as well.

The German admitted to raising his eyebrows upon seeing such results, but he was keen to take these developments in a positive manner.

“I am surprised by some of the results, where some teams can take points from big teams when you don’t expect that,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, surprising results are good for the league. It’s good when the league is more competitive and the league table is more closed up, and I don’t think the situation is bad for us, but rather a challenge for us.

“Looking at all the games, we are playing well, although we are not so confident we can win games easily. We are playing well enough, though like I said, we need to work hard to get that element of luck back.”

Interestingly, the 37-year-old has support from an unlikely quarter, namely the coach he will be up against on Saturday evening.

SAFFC’s Richard Bok, rarely one who overlooks the qualities of his opponents, was largely in concurrence with Steinebrunner’s assessment, believing it is only a matter of time before the Dolphins haul themselves into mid-table.

“With the players they have there, I’m a bit surprised they’re bottom right now,” he told sleague.com.

“They’ve got good quality players like Indra, Noh Rahman, Abdoulaye (Diallo), players like that. I’ve looked at a few of their games, and they have been a bit unlucky to lose or draw in some of them.

“Maybe it’s because they have lots of new players who need to gel, and they will definitely need some time to be familiar with one another’s strengths and weaknesses. But it’s still a long season ahead.

“With the quality they’ve got, I see them getting away from the bottom two or three eventually. A lot of it is about keeping themselves in a positive frame of mind.”

Doing that may seem a tall order for Sengkang, who have found themselves trailing in all except one of their first seven league matches.

The one time they had scored first, though, they went on to collect all three points as they beat Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 1-0.

Repeating that feat against the reigning champions will probably not be so simple, but doubts over the fitness of Kenji Arai and John Wilkinson could provide a window of opportunity for the Dolphins.

If they make the most of that, Steinebrunner believes fans could yet see a transformed Sengkang.

“A big part of football is about having the confidence,” he remarked.

“We are playing on a good level, but it’s frustrating to be playing well and then getting only a draw or losing. That’s where we have to make sure we get that part to fall in place for us.

“You’ll see a whole different team altogether if the team starts going 1-0 up. If we go 1-0 up or if we win a game, I can say the players’ confidence will go up by 20% or 30%.

“We definitely have to be on top of our game if we want to get something out of the game against SAFFC. But we know that if we can capitalize on their weaknesses, it will do a lot for our confidence.”