April 2024 – SailorFanTalk

[Specials] Ernest: Crossing the Straits of Johor

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In this SailorFanTalk special, we have guest writer Ernest contributing yet another article! Ernest returns to share about his experience travelling with the Crew for yet another away game, this time a familiar city just across the border. He quips about the journey there, the sights and scenes, the hospitality and ultimately, lessons we can learn from our footballing neighbours. Friendly Neighbours Johor Bahru. Singaporeans often cross the border to enjoy the benefits of a superior exchange rate – 3.51 at the time of writing. From affordable (and arguably tastier) food, groceries to heavily subsided petrol, we love to patronise their offerings. With a gradually weakening currency, Malaysians have been the subject of some light-hearted jokes. However, Johor Darul Ta’zim are no laughing matter. In the span of a decade, they have managed to establish themselves as the best Malaysian football club (by some distance) and a regional powerhouse. The slogan Decade of Dominance is well deserved, such is the success of the team. Being an ambitious team ourselves, we can surely take some lessons from their meteoric rise. We took the opportunity of a pre-season friendly to visit their ground. Gathering at Home The club were kind enough to charter a coach for ardent fans. We even received extra jerseys and scarves to look the part for this away day. I have to applaud the club’s constant effort to engage the Crew. The invitation was extended to non-members, which I’m sure will go a long way in expanding our fanbase. It is a good look for the club to start such initiatives, not just for LCS but for local football. We were soon on our way. The coach was comfortable and spacious, leaving enough room for some pre-match chats and snoozes. It rained in the afternoon, the skies had cleared by this time and it set the stage for a great day ahead. A Stadium Fit for Royalty Yeap, that’s half of us marvelling at the behemoth that is the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium. As the name suggests, it was named in honor of Johor’s current ruler, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar. He was also recently sworn in as the seventeenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. All this is to say that this venue is a glorious sight. Everyone was in high spirits, the journey here was pleasant and we had tons of free time before the match. We took some pictures and proceeded to check out the amenities the stadium had to offer. I headed excitedly to the new megastore JDT Direct first. The last time I was here, the merchandise was sold in booths located near the outdoor parking lots. It was refreshing to see a brand new retail space that attracted even opposition fans. There was a feature wall at the entrance showing JDT memories through the decade, before leading to the main store itself. It reminded me of stepping out onto the pitch from the player tunnel, which may have been the inspiration behind this concept. We happened to visit on the day of their 24/25 3rd kit launch. They were going at a lower price than last season’s jerseys and many of us Crew left the store with shopping bags in hand. They also offered name printing services. There were tons of accessories on sale, even a cute angpao set that I was reluctant to leave behind. The staff were ever so helpful, and greeted us at the door when we left the store. This leaves me excited for the upcoming LCS kit launches. The new SPL season will be upon us very shortly and I’m sure fans will be clamouring to get their hands on the kits. The new signings have also garnered much interest and there will be many requests to print their names on their new kits. Currently, most of us get our jersey fix through the Shopee store, matchday merchandise booth and the vending machine at Mattar Road. The only way to print names would be through The Sporting Edge website, but ask a random fan and he/she wouldn’t have a clue. The fans would prefer to print their jerseys on matchday itself, which I’m sure the club will be looking into. HINT HINT. Matchday Grub With retail therapy out of the way, we proceeded to survey the food options. There were plenty, with chains like Starbucks, KFC, Subway and my personal favourite, Woodfire Burgers. It was the second last day of Ramadan for our Muslim friends, understandably the queues were a little long. The prices were lower than you would expect even at local standards. I understood from a JDT fan that the club’s owner, Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Idris (also known as TMJ) subsidised prices so that the local fans would find it affordable and choose to dine in at the stadium. This is a great way to address the needs of the fans whilst boosting matchday revenue and numbers. LCS have taken a step in the right direction, with the home leg of this friendly featuring a few food trucks including the beloved Old Chang Kee. It was a nice sight to see many fans having their meal at the stadium before the match kicked off. Moving forward, it would be wise to continue such initiatives, encouraging fans to reach the stadium early and possibly increase match attendances. Boys of Straits The famous JDT fan group or Ultras if you will, Boys of Straits. I have always been in awe of their drumming and chanting routines, executed with surgical precision and military unison. They are in my eyes a vision of what the Crew can be one day, if we continue growing. Eddy, Joseph and Charmaine had the opportunity to speak with Adam, the admin of the BOS Instagram account. He reached out earlier to meet at their very own merch store, MARKAZ. It’s really surreal to see the BOS have a dedicated space not just to sell their merchandise, but also to celebrate the journey of

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[Post-Match Thoughts] Early Observations (Sailors 1 JDT 2)

It’s a pre-season friendly, and you can’t really read too much into these games, but the quality of the opponent I think should fill us with some optimism. It was a very good performance, especially for this stage of pre-season, and taking into account that we played Malaysia’s No. 1 side with 10 men for a third of the game, thanks to (imo) some over-zealous refereeing. I think it also goes without saying that Maxime is a real gem, and we love him very much. There was no doubt when the ball left his boot that he was gonna score. We’ve really been pampered by his quality in the last couple of years. But what about other observations? I sat down with Crew member Ernest to talk about the game, and these are some of our thoughts! Overall Thoughts Ernest – We can compete, even if JDT were missing some key players. Yes, we know several key players were not in the squad but many of our own were playing together for the first time too. We cannot read too much into the what if’s, only the performance and scoreline. It was a respectable one, Sailors had less possession of the ball but always looked dangerous on the break. Eddy – For a team that played a third of the game with a man down, I cannot remember Zharfan having to make too many saves. There was one good one in the first half, but other than that, the team did very well to limit JDT to half-chances. Considering JDT was more advanced in their pre-season than we were, I think it was a very positive outing. Toni Datkovic said in his interview with us that the players only got together to train for the first time a few days ago, so I am taking the positives! Speaking of Toni Datkovic… Toni Datković – Combative Croat Ernest – Very, very solid. Left-footed option, can be a Pedro Henrique replacement. I can see why his nickname El Sicario stuck. Strong in the tackle and in the air, unfortunate for the goals conceded. Eddy – I thought the defensive unit including Toni did well to limit JDT to so few chances, and Toni was part of that performance. I am sure they will look at the two goals conceded and feel that they should have done way better on the goals considering one goal originated from a hopeful cross, while the other was an uncontested header. With greater chemistry, we should see an improvement on this front. A promising first look at our big Croatian defender. Return of Song Ernest – Suitable for midfield. Solid 60min outing. Song’s return to LCS is a cause of excitement among many fans. He was a staple of good Home United and LCS squads, and every time he touched the ball you could feel the crowd willing him on. Popped up everywhere, could have had a goal but blazed it over the bar. For someone coming back from injury it was a good shift. He also took time to chat with fans after the match too – always a class act. Could he be the best signing of the window? Time will tell. Eddy – It’s always nice to see Singapore’s favourite Korean-Singaporean back in town. He was his usual irrepressible self, snapping into challenges, putting himself about. However, you get the feeling that he’s still shaking off some rust, and regaining his fitness. This is far from the Song we know. His misses in front of goal were also uncharacteristic – on his day he is an ice-cold finisher and would have finished with 2 goals. He’ll be back on form I’m sure. First Look at Bart Ernest – Good player in half-spaces on the turn – and boy did he turn a lot! Many of our midfielders/forwards received the ball with their back facing the goal, but they either laid it off to another teammate on the wings or took minimal touches on the turn to advance up the field. It was a tactic that worked in phases of the game, the quick tempo in the middle third. Bart seems to be well-suited to this, beating his man regularly through combining with others or taking it on himself. He will take time to adjust to his teammates but the early signs are promising. Eddy – I thought Bart had an amazing first game for us. He was brave in possession and was constantly driving at the defence. We’ve seen from his Eredivisie days that he has a good shot on him, but what we saw against JDT was that he’s great at picking up possession and then immediately turning defence into offence with a good pass or a driving run. Hard to dispossess even when pressed hard or double-teamed. He reminds me of Santi Cazorla, and that’s high praise! Zharfan with the Cruyff Turn Ernest – There was one save in the first half where the whole crowd went “OOH”. He sprung instinctively to palm the ball out for a corner when it looked destined for the goal. Generally commanding of his area, and showed his usual good distribution. But we all know everyone is talking about the Cruyff turn in the dying seconds. The audacity. Picture-book moment. Eddy – I thought he was really solid. Held on to a few fizzing low crosses played into the danger area, and did what he needed to do without fuss. Then of course, there was that big save in the first half after the ball had come off Lionel’s shoulder and dropped to one of the JDT strikers. For most goalkeepers, that would be the highlight of the game – but not Zharfan. Late in the game, in a bid to get a late equalizer, Zharfan was given the green light by Coach Rankovic to go into the opposing penalty box for a corner kick. It was half-cleared, and the ball dropped to Zharfan, who