It’s the last game of the season for us, and it’s a dead rubber. I think I speak for all fans when I say I wish we were still in the running to qualify for the knockout stages, but it is what it is. There’s still the record for most points achieved by a Singaporean club in the AFC Champions League up for grabs, and it will be our last top-tier game for a while (we’re in ACL2 next season because our league coefficient is not good enough), so let’s cherish this match and take it in. Right, into the preview we go!
Is it Really a Dead Rubber?
There’s been some confusion over this. Some people still think that our Sailors can get second place if results go our way. I don’t blame them for thinking that way, but let’s clarify this!
It looks like our Sailors are still in it, if you look at the points and the goal difference. Surely a win for us and Bangkok Utd beating Jeonbuk by enough goals would see us leapfrog Jeonbuk?
Unfortunately, no. The rules state that in the event of two teams finishing level on points, the tiebreaker is Head-to-Head performance. In this case, Jeonbuk beat us 3-0, and we beat them 2-0. So even though we each got 1 win over the other, they did score one more goal than us, so in a Head-to-Head comparison, we lose out to them on goal difference. So even if we win 10-0 tonight and Jeonbuk lose 20-0, nothing changes, and we’re stuck in 3rd place.
It is a dead rubber for Kitchee as well – even if they achieve a win, they will be on 4 points, not enough to overtake us.
Hence, the deadest of dead rubbers. But there’s a record to fight for, isn’t there?
The Chance to Make History
Well the players have a chance to surpass the Sailors’ achievements of last year – win and they will be on 9 points, more than the 7 points last year.
Call me skeptical but I am not sure this is the best motivator. The club website had this to say –
Aleksandar Ranković’s team have their eyes set on writing their names into the Singapore football history books – by setting a new record for the maximum number of points a Singaporean team has attained in the ACL group stage.
“We deserved a better result against Bangkok, but we’re totally prepared and motivated for this match. We want to finish strong, especially after the Singapore Cup final, and we want maximum points from tomorrow’s match,” said Ranko, adamant that his charges are not still swooning over the weekend’s Cup Final victory, and instead are determined to bounce back from the loss against Group F leaders Bangkok United on 29 November.
“With the format change in the ACL (the Sailors will be in the ACL2 next season), this will be our last chance in this competition and we want to leave our own legacy.”
I am not sure I am convinced, haha. I think the players and the coach want it – but I think it is human to not be as motivated as when there is a tangible prize at stake, say a cup, or qualification to the next stage.
Leaving a legacy is well and good but I am not sure many people can remember who was in the SAFFC team that previously set a record for the most number of points in the Champions League group stage back in 2010. Can you even name 5 players from the team that beat Henan Jianye? (Fun fact – regular SPL commentator Rhysh Roshan Rai, who sometimes reads SFT articles, is one of them)
Regardless, it is the last match of the season for our players, while Kitchee still has a game at the weekend. Alot of intangible factors might come into play here, all of which we have no insight into.
Will Kitchee players conserve their legs in view of the weekend’s game? Will our Sailors already mentally be on their holidays? Will we give minutes to players who have not played much or players who are already leaving as a farewell? It’s really hard to say. One thing that we can look forward to though, is the return of a “fan favourite”, Kim Shin Wook.
Return of the Wookie
Wookie has not had a good time at Kitchee. I take you back to my preview article where I had this to say about him –
But how has our Wookie fared since he transferred to Kitchee? Not well, apparently. Go take a look at the highlights from my interview with Kitchee fans Edmund and Tim – pretty scathing.
Last season, Wookie finished with the now-overused 007 meme, as he recorded 0 goals and 0 assists in 7 appearances. (I say overused but yet I still use, lol)
This season, he has only seen gametime against much inferior opposition. He took to the pitch and scored a hattrick against semi-pro opposition, and just last weekend, he played in a 6-2 victory in the league, but when he was subbed on, he managed to miss a penalty, and also the rebound (which would not have counted anyway because it came off the crossbar). Apparently he approached the hardcore fans and apologised to them for his performance and looked tearful.
It pains me to say this because I’ve always liked him, but it’s not going well for sure.
– https://sailorfantalk.com/2023/10/03/preview-kitchee-v-sailors-perhaps-no-better-time-to-play-kitchee/
Not much has changed since 2 mths ago. He has scored 2 more goals, and his overall record does seem decent now. 5 goals in 11 matches is a decent ratio. However, I think quite crucially, he still struggles to see gametime because of the availability of the other foreign players, who are deemed to be better than him. 11 appearances in a year is not great.
Why I suspect we will see him tomorrow is because of the comments of his coach during the press conference yesterday –
I brought him here because we need him and he has experience playing in this country and on this pitch. I know he scored 21 league goals here (in 2022), so I’m sure he can score tomorrow.
Also, more crucially, Paulo César, Mikael, Juninho, and Mingazov are unavailable due to a mixture of suspensions and injuries, so that frees up the foreigner quota necessary for Wookie to play.
I have said this before about Wookie when he was facing a lot of criticism, but I really think his goal tally of 24 goals in 35 games is a decent one, and was a significant improvement from the years he had in other leagues (indicative of the level of our league). Had Boris Kopitovic not had such a stellar season (35 goals in the league alone), I think Kim would be a lot more well-loved.
We will forever remember the 9-4 win against Hougang where he scored a hattrick and celebrated it with the fans by doing his trademark celebration – kneeling on the ground and pointing both index fingers towards the sky. He deserves a warm welcome from the Sailors fans but let’s hope we don’t see this celebration tonight!
Seeing the Kitchee Fans Again
I won’t lie – it’s not easy to talk about a dead rubber game. Regardless, I would have devoted some paragraphs to talk about the Kitchee fans, who took the time to bring us to eat local food, and hang out with us in a local bar on the eve of the game.
A huge part of travelling with Sailors fans for away days has been the chance to interact with fans of our opposition in foreign lands. It has really been an invaluable experience not only because we are making new friends across the globe, but also because we get to see how fans overseas do things. And just from talking to the Kitchee fans, you can see how well-organised they are, and how passionate they are in supporting their team.
The Crew is a new supporters group, and so we definitely have some way to go, but I was impressed because this fan club was creating their own merchandise and giving it away to us as a sign of their hospitality. This is a form of footballing diplomacy, and is definitely something that the Crew can and will learn from in the off-season.
I was also pleasantly surprised by how fluid the conversation was, and how much they were willing to share about insider information from their club – there was a healthy level of mutual respect and trust. Football is a common language, a unifier, and the more we leverage on it to make friends, the smaller and happier the world becomes.
Having spoken to the Kitchee fans, I heard that about 20-30 of them will be headed down to Jalan Besar tonight, so I am looking forward to hearing them make some real noise! And then of course, there will be dinner and drinks after. All part of the fun and festivities.
Conclusion
Despite wondering whether our boys will have enough motivation to get the three points, I desperately hope they do. Aside from a few aberrations, I think this team has actually had a very good season, and while getting 9 points will not give us any tangible reward, ending the season on a high seems fitting to give the fans one last season to celebrate with the team.
I haven’t mentioned this yet, but in case you’re wondering if we will benefit from having an astroturf pitch at Jalan Besar just as we did against Jeonbuk and Bangkok, when our opposition took some time to get used to the turf, this will not such a huge advantage this time. That’s because Kitchee not only play on astroturf in their Premier League games, their training centre (the cafe and training centre are well worth a visit if you ever have the time to go) also uses astroturf pitches.
Can we create history? I don’t know but I hope so. In my opinion, I already think this season’s 6 points achieved is better than last season’s 7 points, because 4 of those points came from 2 games against the reserves of Shandong Taishan, whereas this year even though we’ve already lost thrice, I believe the gap between the teams on the pitch is not as obvious. That, to me is already progress.
Regardless, let’s hope for a good final hurrah and say goodbye to season 2023 in style.
COME ON YOU BOYS IN BLUE!
Score Prediction
Joseph and I predict the scores and track our success in a table. Stay tuned to find out who is the prediction king!
3 points for exact scoreline predicted correctly, 2 points for predicting the winner and margin of victory correctly (but not the exact scoreline), and 1 point for predicting the outcome correctly (win, lose or draw).
Eddy’s prediction: Sailors 3 Kitchee 0
Joseph’s prediction: Sailors 2 Kitchee 1
And here’s the leaderboard –
Written by Eddy Hirono
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