January 9, 2026

SailorFanTalk with the GOAT. And with that, the 2025 season comes to an end. Not quite, though it may feel like it for some fans. For the longest time we’ve been accustomed to SPL seasons ending around December, with the recent football calendar shift only coming into effect last season. After the highs of 24/25, this season has been underwhelming to most observers. Mixed Feelings For starters, we are out of the ACL Two, unable to replicate the high of reaching the final. This was despite drawing an easier group on paper, comprised of ASEAN sides. It was fair to consider the Sailors’ squad as one of the strongest in the group, especially after the acquisitions in the summer. Unfortunately, football rarely plays out the way we expect it to. Persib Bandung managed to improve their fortunes, finishing top after convincingly being the better side in most matches. We managed to earn 4 points against them but it was not enough as their imperious home form ensured their progress to the next round. It was a particularly tough pill to take considering the online banter that follows Persib everywhere they go, but we can take solace in our improved results against the Indonesian side. Our campaign was instead undone by our regional nemesis Bangkok United. 0 points out of 6 against our direct H2H rival was catastrophic, especially in the manner we lost the games. A single point/goal in those games would have seen us qualify ahead of them, which we belatedly managed to do in the Shopee Cup. In a funny turn of events, we have since signed Luka Adžić who scored the decisive goal in our home loss against the Bangkok Angels. Oh and a certain Kyoga Nakamura… Selangor was this group’s whipping boys, managing a solitary point against Bangkok away. This probably foreshadowed the weak showings of both clubs in MD-6. I had this to say in my previous article: Lion City Sailors beats Selangor. Bangkok United beats Persib Bandung. We brushed past the Malaysian side with relative ease, but the same could be said about Persib’s endeavours against Bangkok. It was not to be in the end, as we crashed out of the competition despite being level on points with Bangkok. Could we have done better than an early exit? Most definitely. But finishing on the same amount of points as last season is nothing to be ashamed of, as echoed by Bailey Wright on this Sports Minutes episode. The best we can do now is channel this disappointment towards future success, and that starts with the Singapore Cup final on the horizon. Allez Maxime The future successes will have to be achieved without our magician Maxime Lestienne, who left the Sailors after a fruitful 4 years. This inevitable goodbye was tough to take, especially as Max has been around for the majority of LCS’ history. I am sure many fans came to support the Sailors partly because of his excellence. I recall posting a Maxime Lestienne rap as part of my giveaway entry for our away day against Jeonbuk. That video has since been relegated to the archives of internet history. But it also led to me writing my first SailorFanTalk article back in 2023. Anyway, it is evident that Maxime has left a huge impact on everyone involved with the club. It was heartwarming to see the reception he received in his final game, with a tifo revealed before kickoff, an honour befitting of our legend. Truth be told, the game was rather uneventful in retrospect, with an early goal from Shawal taking the sting out of the two-legged tie. It would have been romantic to see Maxime register a goal involvement, and the Belgian had the best chance of the game with a penalty in the second half. Alas, he fluffed his Panenka attempt. It was indicative of his propensity to entertain, and ultimately the miss proved inconsequential. Maxime signed off with 70 goals and 97 assists, truly the best we’ve ever seen. Fans would have loved to see him continue playing till the end of the season, but given all that he has given to the Sailors over the years, it is hard to begrudge him his wish to spend more time with his family at home. It is time to look ahead and build on his legacy. We love you Maxime, we do! Mid-season Musings We are now at the most critical juncture of the season. Despite being 6 months in, the domestic league is in its relative infancy. Teams have only played 4-5 games, which means there is still 75% of the season to be decided. It is however blatantly obvious that only two teams are in contention to compete for the title, which just so happens to be the Cup final teams as well. Detractors may complain about LCS and Tampines receiving byes into the semis, but it was clear for all to see the increasing gap in quality between them and the rest of the league. Whoever wins the Cup will carry great confidence into the rest of the domestic season. For Tampines, it would embolden them on the great run of form they have been on, which includes impressive results in the ACL Two. For LCS, victory will capture the narrative and provide optimism for the games to come. Another cause for optimism is the Shopee Cup, where we still have a chance of qualification to the next round. Our main obstacle is ​​Nam Định FC, who we are due to face in our next away game. As long as we win both our final two games, we should be able to finish in second. After all, their final fixture is against the inevitable JDT. There are also possible sanctions against JDT that could be in the picture soon… That being said, we did lose 5-0 against our previous Vietnamese opponent CAHN last season. It will not be an easy away day, but with the squad