Preview: Super Reds vs Home United

Mid-table discomforts as Home visit Yishun Tam Cheong Yan info@sleague.com Two teams initially tipped to be among the title contenders will cross swords at Yishun Stadium on Saturday evening – albeit in rather unexpected circumstances. Home United’s stuttering start to the season has been extensively documented, but the team’s sixth-place standing is still three spots better than the Super Reds, who have managed just nine points in as many games. A strong title challenge last term saw the Koreans finish just behind eventual champions SAFFC, but a much-reduced budget – forced in large part by the global economic downturn – has led to that team being broken up and a new one assembled. Consequently, they have struggled to put together results this term, earning just two wins and three draws – a far cry from last year, when they won eight of their first nine matches. Such indifferent form may suggest to the untrained observer that Jeon Kyeong Joon’s side will not provide as stiff a challenge to the Protectors as they did last year. Home coach PN Sivaji is however refusing to buy that line of thought ahead of his team’s visit to Yishun. “To look at the Super Reds’ position in the league before we play them is foolish,” he told sleague.com. “They have a good team, good individual players who are willing to work very hard, and they are cohesive as a unit. I’d even say they can still be title contenders. “They will believe they do not deserve to be where they are in the table right now. They are a very good quality side, and while they have taken a bit longer to gel as a team, they are now nine games into the season and should be close to finding their feet. “I’ve seen them play against several other teams, and they are still giving every team a run for their money. In fact, in some of those games, they should have won, but they have been unable to score.” The inability to find the back of the net is one that Sivaji would be familiar with, having watched his strikers fire blanks in four of their previous nine league matches. Recent victories over Sengkang Punggol and Maldivian side Club Valencia may have gone some way towards correcting that record, as Kengne Ludovick, Peres de Oliveira et al put a total of eight goals past those two sides. That said, the situation is quite different for the Super Reds, who unlike Home have suffered from a lack of recognized or reliable goalscorers to fill the void left by Oh Ddog Yi, Seo Su Jong and Moon Soon Ho. Taking their place instead is a mish-mash of various players forced to man the frontline, and as Jeon explained, it should be no surprise that they are struggling to fulfill their roles. “Our attacking is very bad this year, we play okay but we cannot score,” he admitted. “It is because I cannot get a good striker; in Korea, good strikers are very valuable and very expensive. So now, everybody who joins this team has to become a striker. “(Choi) Dong Soo, for example, played in midfield and even defence in Korea. When he came here, he had to become a striker, and while he knows how to run, he does not shoot like a striker, because he was not a striker in Korea. “Everybody is training on shooting and moving in attack, but everything in training goes okay and during the match it all goes wrong. Opposing defenders work harder, and we cannot find the right position or shoot at the right time.” Jeon’s job will not be made any easier by the fact that Choi had sustained an ankle injury in training, which may keep him out of the Bears’ starting eleven on Saturday. The match is also likely to come too soon for Yun Bo Young, who had recently returned to Singapore after receiving follow-up treatment back home for his knee condition. Kim Yoon Sik’s suspension only adds to the former Home star’s woes, although he has been comforted by news that club chairman Charlie Yoon, whose appearances at Super Reds games have become less frequent, remains encouraged by his work. That has allowed the 35-year-old to focus on whipping his team into shape to face a side that has had its own issues to contend with on the field. “We are having a hard time, we know,” he noted wryly. “The chairman has been away because his company’s business is not good and he needs to work hard. But I have talked to him, and I still have his support. “But I am also surprised that Home is not doing well. Mr. Sivaji has the same squad as he had last year, but I have watched their games this year and something is not the same. “The players don’t have the same confidence, and they are not working hard the way they worked hard last year. They wanted to win the title last year, and they worked very hard for Mr. Sivaji; why he is finding it hard to make them work again, I don’t know.” Like Jeon, most people have not a clue over just why the Protectors have occasionally carried a dispirited look going into several matches this season. What is clear is that they have often failed to demonstrate focus and sharpness in their play, even against mediocre opponents, and that has led to rumbles of disgruntlement among their regular fans. Should Sivaji’s charges fail to win on the road again, impatient calls for his head could well resonate all around the away fans’ section in Yishun, while Jeon could similarly face pressure from his own fans if he fails to deliver against Home. But the former Singapore coach, who has been used to the fickle-minded nature of football fans after years of involvement in the industry, was philosophical as he reflected on the situation facing him, Jeon and other counterparts in the league. “It’s a common thing all over the world, this penchant for instant heroes,” he remarked. “Everybody wants a winner, and everybody expects that the moment you’ve got a decent team on paper, you should win games. But team-building is a process which takes time. “These are human beings we are dealing with, not mechanical parts. A player is not like a spark plug that is malfunctioning; you cannot just take a new spark plug, put it in and expect the machine to work like it worked the last time. “I would say that all of us coaches have heavy responsibilities and we will try our best to meet them. I speak for myself at least, but we put in an honest day’s work, and we get an honest day’s rewards.”