July 15, 2023

Having passed up a golden opportunity to return to the top of the table, our Sailors go into tonight’s game knowing it’s pretty much do-or-die. Let’s take a quick look at the permutations for us. If Sailors win – we will be 1 point ahead of Albirex, but they will have 1 game in hand. If Sailors draw – we will be 2 points behind Albirex, AND they will have 1 game in hand. If Sailors lose – we will be 5 points behind Albirex, AND they will have 1 game in hand. As you can see, even a win doesn’t leave our title hopes in our own hands, as we will still need other teams to take points off Albirex. But it’s all we can try to do tonight – so let’s get right into the preview. Seia Kunori’s fitness and availability To say Seia Kunori is an important part of the Albirex lineup is a bit of an understatement. He tops Albirex’s goalscoring charts, while also is in the top 2 for assists. While there’s been no news about him being unfit or injured, I do raise this question because of how much he has played in his last 2 games. He did not start against Young Lions, and I assumed it was just rotation, because he came on at half-time to play the second half. It looked like just load management, letting him share minutes with the likes of Riku Fukashiro. However, in the game after that, he did not start against Brunei DPMM either, and despite Albirex desperately needing a goal to win the game, he was only subbed on in the 84th minute. Unless he’s had some falling-out with the coach, I cannot see past the possibility that he might be carrying some sort of injury, which has limited his minutes in the past 2 games. Of course, it’s been a week since Albirex last played, so if it’s a small knock, he may well be in contention to start against us tomorrow. If however he doesn’t start, it will be a massive boon for us, and will make things slightly easier for our defence. Hassan Sunny Returns Hassan Sunny’s red card against Tampines Rovers landed him a 2-match suspension, but as luck would have it, he comes back against us. On a side-note, Syazwan Buhari’s red card for Tampines in last night’s game against Young Lions also means that he lands himself a 2-match suspension. Once again, as luck would have it, he is suspended for the Geylang and Albirex games, but will be back against us. Jared Gallagher also picked up his 4th yellow card, which means he is suspended for the Albirex game. Life. At this stage of the season where every win is important, we are looking for any little advantage that we can get, and make no mistake about it, despite Kai Yamamoto’s excellent performances while Hassan was out, Hassan is still the best keeper in the country, and his experience and know-how will be crucial to how Albirex approach this game. He will, of course, be fired up to perform against us given that he was let go by the club last year, and his side are in pole position to win the title. Some people have asked why the Sailors fans in the two Albirex fixtures this year have been so hostile towards Hassan Sunny. Let’s not sugar-coat the truth – some fans did very audibly shout the word “traitor” at Hassan Sunny, while others resorted to the usual vulgarities on him. I do not think this is acceptable conduct, because I feel that the term “traitor” is a bit too harsh. However, for reasons that I will elaborate on below, there is some reason for Sailors fans to be a little disappointed in the conduct of Hassan Sunny. So let me reluctantly take a walk down memory lane to try to set the record straight. Not a lot of people will read this, but Sailors fans will at least know why there is some ill feeling. In totality, this is why I was OK with some of our fans booing him. There will be those who don’t believe me and say that we are booing just because he joined our rivals. Or they told me that LCS fans booed because Hassan Sunny celebrated Albirex scoring against us. For that, I will just ask them – did you see anyone booing Faris Ramli who joined Tampines, a team where we have had fiery encounters in the last few years and are also a title rival? No. Did we boo Faris when he scored that banger against LCS, denting our title hopes? No. And the reason is simple. Faris left with class, as did Gabriel. When interviewed by the Straits Times, he didn’t moan about LCS not offering a contract, he just accepted it and moved on. Same with Gabriel, who in fact wrote a very nice farewell message. At the Dortmund game, they stayed, and applauded the fans. The fans got to say a proper goodbye. They still talk to us fans, even now. There was no such closure or continuing relationship with Hassan, and so I can understand the way some fans felt. I reiterate that calling him “traitor” is harsh. He’s not Judas, he is just like the colleague who after tendering his resignation, starts giving less effort, starts chaokenging MCs, evading obligations, and just generally leaving in a sour way. But “traitor” is still harsh. We would have preferred if he moved on without fuss and didn’t badmouth the club, but “traitor” is a whole new level. He’d have to be leaking team lineups for example (rumour has it another ex-Sailor did that, but no proof so shhh). On my part, I have urged fans to move on from this, and try to focus our efforts on cheering on the Sailors, and not to shit on people who are no longer part of our