YSOSRS.net: Interview with the Gaffer

Here at YSOSRS.net, the official online footballing magazine of SUFI FC, we will launch our very first article with an interview with who else but the gaffer of the club in order to get a feel of the on-goings around the club in recent weeks. Let's go...

Reporter: Hi gaffer, so how are you feeling today after what has been a busy weekend of games for you?

Gaffer: I have felt better I must say. The accumulation of fatigue from the games over the weekend definitely did take a toll on my body. Thank god I avoided any injuries to my fragile body but unfortunately I cant say the same about my guys.

Reporter: Oh darn.. Can you give the fans out there any updates on the rumored mounting injury toll that the club is facing at the moment?

Gaffer: Yeah boy, it wasn't a good weekend as we had to count the cost of fallen individuals at the expense of our league and cup exertions. Huijie, our ever dependable lucio fell victim to an 'unfortunate' arm injury that left it as stiff as a ****, however with luck we hope that he will be back before the biggie against Supernova. As u know, long term casualties Jason and Rudee are both out for an unspecified period of time and adding to that, Ronald our super utility man, Weisheng the co-gaffer of the team and Wong the game-breaker are all nursing niggly knocks at the moment. Definitely not the most positive of news fer sure.

Reporter: That is unfortunate boss. Any silver lining despite the negative updates on the personnel front?

Gaffer: I suppose the biggest news would be the return of our left back tough guy, Jars. 9 months out of the game and he finally got himself a cameo appearance and a good run out in the game against PFC. He was a solid player before his injury and we all here at the club hope that he returns to shape as soon as possible. His return is like a breath of fresh air and he will basically be like a new signing for us. Definitely one to get the fans excited again.

Reporter: What do you have to say about the highs and lows of the weekends' games?

Gaffer: U probably got it right. It was a roller coaster ride indeed. The highs of the emphatic victory on saturday and a low in terms of the rising walking wounded count by sunday night. However, we have a good strong squad and we will deal with whatever issues together as a team. Of course, some luck would be great! At the moment, we have been having to do things the hard way. Grafting and fighting with every game. Team spirit has really been strengthened after my calls for more unity. But I would love it if we could stop having negative news in terms of playing personnel every week. Looking for the right fit into the team at this point of the season is virtually impossible.

Reporter: Let's get down to some review of player performances. The media and the public in general have noticed a sharp improvement in the performances of specific players over the past month where the team has garnered 4 out of 4 victories in the league. Would you like to share your thoughts on them?

Gaffer: Well, I tend to dislike pointing out specific players for praise due to football being a team game. However it has come to my knowledge that 2 players in particular have stepped up their game in recent weeks. Our captain has always been the an amazing defender. However, my only concern with him was that he was not being as vocal in terms of organizing the team. That has definitely changed and evidence being when he recorded back to back MOTM performances over the weekend. Our very own Nemanja Vidic indeed.

Another outstanding performer has been the reappearance of WS who has really impressed me. I guess now that he has relinquished his role of being the club reporter, he has found his form and love for the game again. (Boo...) He has definitely had his fair share of injury troubles and then confidence issues throughout his time here with the club but something has changed recently and he seems a rejuvenated player. That can only spell good news in my book. The man has taken on the role of being the driving force in the centre of the park. A real orchestrator. He will definitely become a better player as long as he continues to believe in himself. And his efforts have not gone unnoticed for sure as his stake for a regular starting spot is gaining momentum. Kudos to the player for that.

Other than that, there have certainly been other players who have impressed as well. I guess we will have to continue this interview till the wee hours which it already is at the moment if i were to go on... One final word though: It goes without saying that I have the confidence in my players to deliver the goods in time to come.

Reporter: Smashing...! We all hope that for the sake of the team, these players continue their renaissance in terms of form. And of course boss, we can't leave without talking about what the media have labelled as Royal Rumble Super Saturdays. 3 back to back games with the 3 biggest teams in the division. Supernova, FMFC and TeamCuzz. What are your thoughts about the games?

Gaffer: *Chuckles* You media definitely enjoy sensationalizing these games don't you? It goes without saying that these are the kind of games which footballers live for. The big ones! No disrespect to the other teams, but the table shows that these are the guys who are probably going to be up there challenging come the end of May. My boys have been in a title challenge before but the current one will probably represent the biggest test in our fledging club history. It is without a shadow of a doubt that you can expect the team to be out there giving as good as they have got for these games. And it would be a shame if we dont, especially with so many of our fans rooting for us. Without wanting to put extra pressure on the shoulders of the Sufi boys, these 3 games will determine the direction of our charge. But just like how I often like to stress, we will take it 1 game at a time.

Reporter: Awesome. I'm already eagerly awaiting those games coming along. Well, before leaving, we here at YSOSRS.net would like to talk about the pocket wizard of SUFI. The man has seemingly disappeared from the team squad in recent weeks after wowing the fans with some scintillating performances. Any chance of a return to 1st team action soon?

Gaffer: The official word is that the man you guys call the 'pocket wizard' has been facing some crazy work commitments. Unfortunately we can't put a specific date of return for the man however anything is possible. Dont rule out a surprise in the near future. And also, after some lengthy discussions with the player's agent similar to that of in the Wayne Rooney & United saga, our player has pledged his desire and hunger to play on with the club and that he will be back sooner rather than later. Watch this space...

Reporter: Thank you boss and all of us fans and media alike will certainly be waiting on anxiously as a huge March dawns upon the team. We wish you all the best and hopefully you guy's go out there and play with the new team mantra of 'Let's be Serious!'

Squeaky Bum Time

Match Details: (5th March 2010, Saturday)

Time: Be at the location by 2pm PLEASE (We do not want a repeat of the 1st game we had with them)

Opponents: Supernova FC

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teams.asp?teamno=681&leagueNo=83]

Venue: Chestnut Drive Sec (Grass)

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=108)

Attire: Yellow top, black shorts and black socks (Do not forget your shin pads!)

Hi boys, so we continue with league action having been dumped out from the FA Cup. We have learnt a valuable experience about the tenacity and the need to be clinical whilst playing against more experienced and arguably more technically gifted players. But then again, we have also found out that we are a pretty decent side ourselves and should never underestimate our own abilities. Keep that in mind.

I understand that we are all busy with our own lives especially during the week, but somewhere in the back of your mind when you have the time, do get yourself psyched up for our huge run of 3 consecutive games that would see us play our title contenders in Supernova, FMFC and Cuzz. That run starts this saturday at Serangoon Stadium.

I'm pretty sure most of the squad remembers that game we had with Serangoon United at Woodlands Ring sec in our D2D season where it was an extremely vital clash and we were playing a team in red hot form. We came away emphatic winners with a performance that I would rate as possibly our best to date. 4-0 on the day and I call upon us to remember those times where we had our backs to the wall and needed to come up with big performances in order to seal the deal. Big games like that are what the competitive nature in us crave for. See you boys this saturday. And as Sir Alex would say, this is the start of the seasonal squeaky bum time. Let us prove that we have it in us to do what is necessary to get a result. Cheers!

P.S: Those in the unconfirmed list, do confirm attendance asap alright. Thks!

Personnel:

Allan

Farhan, HG, Syafiq, Hizam, HuiJie, Alaric

Liang, AhCool, Vic, Mok, Ws, Syafiqo, Yas, LQ

Dinie

A priceless experience

Espzen FA Cup (Round of 32)

Old Jurong Stadium, 1500 Hrs

SUFI FC 0 FC Armanis 3

After a mentally and physically exhausting league game yesterday, we knew that we were up against it having to play matches on consecutive days. It certainly didnt help that we had the worse possible draw of the cup when we had to face high-flying Armanis in the Round of 32. Nevertheless, despite the drop outs and absentees, our spirit shone through and the warriors who shouldered on even though they were carrying knocks or had other commitments later on deserved my utmost respect for wearing the team colours and fighting till the end.

And so our hugely experienced opponents won on the numbers game for the day, it is fitting that we surmise the day's events likewise: (And this is for Wong who says that my match reports are 'predictable')

25: The distance (yards) from our goal which the armani's player was when he struck a shot so venomous that it broke our resistance and our hearts. (Boohoo...)

14: Number of Sufi warriors who fought for the team on the day.

13: A rough estimate of the exact time which Syafiqo struck the frame of our opponent's goal. Unlucky!

7: The difference in numbers of the match day squads. We were outnumbered la.

4: The number of players our magician dazzled his way past in an imaginative run that totally deserved a goal. Stunning.

3: The unfortunate number which we conceded today.

2: Number of awesome chances which could have changed the game or made the score more respectable. But hey, at least we tried!

1: One awesome bunch of guys. Thanks SUFI FC.

Rest up well and I can only thank you all for your efforts over the weekend. Our focus shifts back to the league and up next, Supernova at Serangoon Stadium next saturday at 3pm. To the walking wounded, RICE. To the absentees, I hope to see you guys next saturday fighting for the team's cause. Cheers!

Personnel:

Allan, Phileo

Farhan, HG, Alaric, Hizam, Syafiq

Liang, Wong, Mok, Syafiqo, Yas, WS

Dinie

Supporters: Aisyah, Suzie, Daddy Dee

A day of mixed emotions

St Wilfred Complex, 1500 Hrs

SUFI FC 4 Premier Fc 0

(Juf x1, Liang x1, AhCool x1, Mok x1)

As most of you should have heard by now... Rudee our 'assist' king suffered a potentially scary incident during the game where he had a suspected fracture to his ankle whilst assisting goal machine juf for the early goal (within 30 seconds to be exact). Thank god the man is fine now and talking nonsense as per normal. It is expected that he would be out for a period of time but we all wish him a speedy recovery and a return back to the field where he belongs! A win for daddy dee indeed.

So, the game kicked off with surprise appearances by both Juf and Rudee who settled their camp stuff in time to make it. Sweet commitment from both you guys man. Thanks boys! Im pretty damn shag now after the busy afternoon as i was running around looking after the man and the team so i will just summarise the events of the day in terms of the goals.

1-0: 30 seconds was the time we took to score our first as a long ball down the right was pounced on by Rudee who subsequently got caught as he laid off the ball into the path of juf. Taking a couple of touches, he smashed the ball into the roof of the net for an early lead. A perfect way to set us in the right mood, unfortunately at the cost of our star winger.

2-0: I was not there when we scored but i heard that WS unleashed a thunderbolt of a freekick from just inside the opponent's half that smashed against the crossbar (unlucky if so!). The rebound fell nicely to liang who had been suffering from an extended goal drought for some time now. Thank god he finished well from inside the 6 yard box to double the lead. I guess its time for him to go on one of those scoring runs just like he did last season in d2d. Fyi, he was the 2nd highest goal scorer for the team. [Half time: 2-0]

3-0: A couple of neat touches followed by a prod forward by juf set speedster ahcool on his way. Unbalanced by his ear infection but rebalanced by his trusty powerbalance, the man smashed the one on one chance straight down the middle of the goal. In the process, he fooled not only the keeper but also himself. A baffling goal but it all counts nonetheless. The insurance goal we needed achieved on the stroke of the hour mark.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. 15 minutes on the clock remained and 9 months since he last played competitive amateur football, Jassie boy rejoined the team and made a cameo appearance with the sufi boys. Always a delight to have one of your former mainstays in the team return to action and it was definitely a sweet moment for all concerned. Welcome back dudeeee!

4-0: I contemplated writing a long para on this which would have included 90% of my own adrenaline rush of emotions, however i would put u guys out of your misery and also to avoid having u guys diss me so... Yeah, i scored prob the best goal of my little social football career when i lobbed the keeper from 30-35 yards. It was almost the last kick of the game and yes, scoring a goal does feel orgasmic. I nearly jizzed in my pants when it nestled in the back of the net. (Sorry for the not so PG material here ;))

MOTM: Several candidates. Once again Ws did well in a role that he is growing very well into. No more finally's here though :D However the stand out performer today was yet again another defender. Capitain and ever reliable Hizam! Commanding performance which limited our opponents to few chances. Always quietly effective and a player which any manager would love to have. A sweet clean sheet just capped off a good day for the entire team. Yeah dude!

I salute you guys for sticking together under tough conditions. Our opponents were physically imposing and also tough nuts to crack but we got the job done eventually. A perfect combination of patience and perseverance. I liked the fact that we fought hard for each other and I admire our spirit. Lets keep doing that for the remaining games of the season and not have any regrets. A common cliche but we just gotta keep on pressing and hoping for others to slip up whilst we go about our business.

We have one more big one to go tomorrow and for those who are expected to turn up, I will be needing you guys to be there on time and regardless of the result, we will fight to the end. I apologise for this lousy planning of 2 games in 2 days and I assure u guys that i will try my best not to let it happen again aite. Rest well for 24 hours before we return to Jurong stadium to do battle in a David vs Goliath episode. I need u guys there by 215pm latest. Lets go!

Personnel:

Allan

HG, Syafiq, Huijie, Hizam, Farhan, Jars

AhCool, Liang, Rudee, Vic, Mok, Ws, LQ, Syafiqo

Dinie, Juf

P.S: Thanks girls for being there to sit and support. :D

WE ARE SPARTANS!!!!

Match Details: (27th Feb 2010, Sunday)

Time: Be at the field by 2pm SHARP

(For those who do not know, location of the field is rather inconvenient. Please leave for it early boys!)

Opponents: FC Armanis

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teams.asp?leagueNo=91&teamNo=189]

Venue: Old Jurong Stadium (Grass)

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=45)

Attire: Yellow Top, Black Shorts and Black socks (Shin pads too!)

We may go into this game as underdogs but if we go into it with the mentality that we will lose for sure, it would perhaps be best that we do not even play the game. As i continue to preach, have faith in the team and in your own abilities. Even if our opponents have better individual ability, a positive result can still be achieved as long as we play together as a team. We have faced much better opponents esp in the BWB game where we held our own for long periods of the game... Let us channel the experiences we have gained and use it for this sunday. Fight hard boys and even if we go out, at least we will feel proud of our efforts. Cya fellas then.

Expected Personnel:

Phileo, Allan

Farhan, HG, Syafiq, Hizam, Alaric

AhCool, Law, Wong, Mok, Ws, Yas, Syafiqo

Dinie

So, we meet again 0.0

Match Details: (26th Feb 2010, Saturday)

Time: Be at the field by 2pm PLEASE

Opponents: Premier FC

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teams.asp?teamno=512&leagueNo=83]

Venue: St Wilfred (Astro)

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=79)

Attire: All White outfit (Take note!)

Link to opponent's match report (Against PFC):

(http://www.espzen.com/matchreport_frame.asp?matchno=12070)

Top of the heap at least till this saturday. Well done boys after bouncing back from that heart breaking defeat to cuzz. The results we achieved in the last 3 games have been good, but as shown in the last game... Should we let our guard down and lose our concentrations, we will be punished. Take note of the all white attire that we will be wearing for this saturday's game boys. Let us go out there with the same fighting mentality and look to obtain a positive result aite. A good size and quality field awaits us. Time to make full use of the opportunity. Cheers!

Expected Personnel:

Allan

Farhan, HG, Syafiq, Huijie, Hizam, Jars

AhCool, Law, Wong, Mok, Ws, Syafiqo, Vic, LQ

Dinie

We deserve to be kids occasionally ;)

Just for you golden oldies to relieve the good old times spent with WWF, WWE and god knows what!

Lil kids come out to play yo!

Si Ling Secondary School, 1500 Hrs

SUFI FC 2 Premier FC 1

(Jufri x1, Syafiqo x1)

On a day where the 2 other likely contenders for the Div 2 title were in action against each other (Teamcuzz n FMFC if u were wondering), it represented an opportunity for the SUFI boys to register more points on the board and to at least instill greater confidence in themselves. Facing PFC who have had mixed results thus far, the SUFI boys approached the game with the knowledge that they had to win in order to mount a serious title challenge.

Unfortunately, the odds were greatly reduced in the favour of the sufi boys when we found ourselves staring at a dreadful venue where the field was probably more suitable for a 9 a side game and the condition of it tethered in between crappy and shitty. Not much diff there i guess. BOO. The heavy downpour just before the game made conditions far worse. Whatever the case, having learnt our lesson the hard way in the past when facing physically imposing and resolute teams on a bumpy and muddy field, we came out with a game plan to hopefully earn us the points.

True to the plan on mok's imaginary drawing board, we pressed our opponents all over the field and yet was able to remain compact throughout. The rewards duly came when wing wizard Rudee whipped in one of his trademark crosses that found an unmarked Juf at the far post to nod it home. 1-0 after 10 minutes. The guys definitely did roll back the months with that goal, a typical assist from dee and of course another goal for our goal machine. Splendid play!

1 became 2 when a corner pin-balled in the box for what felt like an eternity from a corner before an ever alert syafiq finally knocked it into the back of the net with his head. What an opportunist and I'm pretty sure Juventus would be delighted to have his services =P

The rest of the half played out with the sufi boys denying our opponents much spaced and I guess it tells a story when our opponents did not register a shot on goal. Sensational from the entire defensive unit.

Onwards to the 2nd and we expected an onslaught from PFC who had nothing to lose. Through enough, they came out with a 3-5-2 formation. However the golden chances fell for sufi when Juf, AhCool on at least 2 occasions, Vic and then Dinietov were all denied from adding further goals to our tally by an impressive PFC keeper. I've no idea what the man had during the half time break but he certainly kept his team in the game. True enough, our adversaries did almost play party poopers when a scrambled situation in our box was not cleared properly and was smashed home by their man to make it 2-1 with under 25 minutes to go. Squeaky bump time yo!

Thank god, the boys held firm as PFC were restricted from creating any further chances for the rest of the game. Once again, defensively we were excellent. And so it ended 2-1 in favour of the boys in yellow!

MOTM: Farhan was a man mountain at leftback. Some crunching challenges and winning almost every single 50-50 challenge, he was unpassable throughout the afternoon. Smashing performance dude! A special mention to weisheng who was impressive in his role today as he organised the team well from the engine room and won lots of physical battles with our opponents.

I hope you guys are not sick of hearing this but good job on a good clinical performance. We probably should have had at least 1 more goal to put the game to bed but we did achieve the result we wanted at the end of the day. Just so u guys know, Fake Madrid beat TeamCuzz 2-1 and we are now top! Woohoo. Tough times lie ahead and I urge all to have faith in our abilities. Our double header with Fake Madrid could be the potential title decider and it would be a time for all the warriors in the team to step up and be counted.

So we head into 2 games next weekend with PFC at the St Wilfred pitch on saturday and the biggie with FC Armanis at the old jurong stadium on sunday. 3pm for both ties! As per normal, we shall take it one step at a time in our march up the table or through the rounds in the cup. Have belief boys. As long as we stick together, there is hope. Cheers and make yourselves available for both games next weekend alright!

Personnel:

Allan

Farhan, Syafiq, HG, Alaric, HuiJie, Hizam

Rudee, AhCool, Liang, Mok, WS, Vic, Syafiqo, LQ

Juf, Dinie

Keep it going boys

Match Details: (19th Feb 2010, Saturday)

Time: Be at the field by 2 to 215 pm SHARP

(Location of the field is rather inconvenient. Please leave for it early boys!)

Opponents: Premier FC

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teams.asp?teamno=512&leagueNo=83]

Venue: Si Ling Sec (Grass)

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=114)

Attire: Yellow Top, Black Shorts and Black socks (Shin pads too!)

And so we have garnered decent results in our last 2 games, doing good boys! The next hurdle comes in the form of Premier FC, but do not be fooled by their position in the bottom half of the table. Sources have told me to expect a team similar to that of Naranja. Perhaps not as old but we should not be taking them lightly no matter what. It probably does not help that the venue for the game is likely to be a small bumpy grass pitch. How much grass it has... Ive got no idea either. 0.0

Anyhow, be prepared for a scrap and after countless such experiences of narrow bumpy fields in our D2D season, we will be ready for what is to come this saturday. Do note that Fake madrid will play teamcuzz and it represents an opportunity for us to get the points on the table and to take advantage of any possible slip ups from either team. Whatever the case, let us just focus our attention on the job ahead and also of course hopefully enjoy the game come saturday. Try your best to reach at the stated time alright as you guys have seen the benefits of early preparation being translated into positive results already.

Expected Personnel:

Allan

Farhan, Syafiq, HG, Alaric, Hizam, Huijie

Rudee, AhCool, Liang, Mok, Ws, Vic, Syafiqo (Del), LQ

Dinie, Juf

Sunscreen please!

Meridian JC, 1500 Hrs

SUFI FC 2 Dynamites 0

(Juf x1, Syafiq x1)

And so we return to the field where we successfully overcame a VNNTU side a month or so back in the cup tournament. Stunning field as always however this time round, the heat from the afternoon sun was terrifying. I believe it definitely sapped a considerable amount of energy from the guys before the kick off had even came along.

Well, 3 points was once again the primary objective of the day however we had to contend with having the smallest match day squad in a long while. Whatever the case, we started the game cautiously and slowly to some extent. What we did right was to keep it extremely compact and tight thus allowing us to gradually build up momentum without giving ourselves a deficit to overcome. Defensively, we were excellent on the day.

The 1st half was pretty much hit and miss as both sides laboured under the afternoon sun. There were calls for a red card when rudee was brought down by the opposing keeper after having pushed the ball pass him and with the goal gaping. Amazing that the colour of the card flashed was only a dirty fella. O wells. This was replicated in the 2nd half when law was brought down by the last men having raced past him convincingly. Once again, as per the order of the day... The ref played it sensibly. Sometimes i wish there would be more consistency between match day refs as the one we had in the last game sent off 2 guys for having a friendly nudge at each other. Crap.

Anyways, it finished 0-0 at half time although it must be said that our opponents were beginning to sit deep and to try and hit us on the break.

In the 2nd, we finally obtained the much craved-for breakthrough when a long ball by mok found a rejuvenated law hunting it down at pace. The opposing keeper had a bathez-like moment when he dashed off his line to intercept the ball. Both men ended up reaching it at around the same time but somehow the loose ball was pounced on by a lurking wong who instinctively passed it to our top marksmen and from someway out, he sidefooted into an empty net with the keeper stranded in no man's land. Lucky perhaps, but it all counts. The sequence of events leading up the goal tethered on hilarious though.

After much hustling and cramping from both sets of players, the game was finally sealed with a contender for goal of the season. Some good work by wong down the left saw him cut in field before releasing del syafiqo just outside the D area. Spurred on by shouts of 'shoot ar!'... The lanky man wrapped his foot around the ball and delivered a stunning shot that curled and swerved all the way. It must be said that it did help that the keeper played his part with a despairing dive. Sweet goal by the man. Top corner goals can never be argued against.

MOTM: Wong almost didn't get the nod not because of his performance on the field but rather cause of his self-praise after the game off it. It was a real pain listening to that at times. Damn dude! Haha, thank god his assists and overall contribution on the day overshadowed that.

To the guys who played today, good workman like performance and we got the result we wanted at the end of the day. See you folks tomorrow if not next week at Si Ling Sec. Cheers!

Back to business

Match Details: (12th Feb 2010, Saturday)

Time: Be at the field by 2pm SHARP

Opponents: Dynamites FC

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teams.asp?teamno=443&leagueNo=83]

Venue: Meridian JC (Astro)

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=17)

Attire: Yellow Top, Black Shorts and Black socks (Shin pads too!)

Welcome back sufi boys. Just an update on the on-goings in our division: FMFC beat Real Ale Madrid 5-1 over the weekend and have recorded 2 wins in 2. As expected, there is no doubt that they will be right up there come the end of the season. And also, it may be early days yet, but the table is already starting to take shape and the stronger teams are more or less up there now...

On paper, RAM, Dynamites, Premier n Arizen are perhaps the games that we should work to recording full points against. And just so you know, we are embarking on that run of games. We have already done the business in the 1st one and should similarly aim to do like-wise in our next 3 games starting this weekend. Do not rest on our laurels as with our 11 consecutive match run starting now all the way till the end of april, we will be needing all the concentration and fight you guys can muster.

I know our mini slump is over and just like in our last game, I hope to see the same fight from you guys. You have got the entire week to psyche yourself up, so see you peeps there. Cheers.

P.S: Please do not forget about the CNY visit to Allan's place this sunday at 1pm. Check your facebook events page for the details. At least show face by dropping by for a while since the man has so kindly invited all of us okay. Thanks.