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Reborn Tigers aiming to restore upward trend against Rams
Sham Majid
info@sleague.com
Monday evening’s clash with Woodlands Wellington will provide Balestier Khalsa with another platform to reinforce the notion that their policy of grooming their young charges and moulding them into a competitive unit after years of attaining maturity is starting to bear fruit.
The Tigers, for so long tagged as the league’s wooden spoonists, have already amassed half of their last season’s grand haul of 18 points after triumphs over Sengkang Punggol, Albirex Niigata (Singapore) and Beijing Guoan Talent, which have catapulted the Toa Payoh-based outfit to a somewhat unusual league standing of seventh place.
For Tigers tactician Nasaruddin Jalil, watching his young side realise their undoubted potential is cast-iron proof that his oft-repeated mantras of giving his youngsters time to develop their footballing education would eventually deliver the results at the business end of the pitch.
“I firmly believe this is what happens if you give the young players the time to develop themselves,” he elaborated.
“We’ve kept this squad for three years and the likes of Anantha Rajan, K. Sathiaraj and Poh Yi Feng have all grown well as players and have been with us since this period.
“By giving them chances to play and develop their potential during this three years, I think the results are starting to show now that they have gained more experience and maturity by playing more games.”
The Tigers chief noted that the club has ironed out their previous deficiencies in the transfer market, hinting that they perhaps went for quantity over quality in the past years.
“I think our transfer policy this season has been much better, and we have brought in higher quality players to improve specific areas of the team, rather than just signing some players for the sake of signing,” he explained.
“We have brought players this season to improve the team, and players such as Paul Cunningham, Daniel Hammond, Rivaldo Costa and Vitor Borges have all proven to be good foreign signings for us and have complemented our local players.”
The former national midfielder was quick to give credit to the Balestier management and new staff coach Salim Moin, formerly of Gombak United, for the club’s resurgence this season after years in the doldrums.
“We brought in Salim this season, as we have both played together and we both know the stresses of managing clubs in the S.League,” said Nasaruddin.
“We have also handled young players and we’ve been working well together as a team. The club has also supported me and my plans, and I’m thankful for giving me the chance to move forward with the coaching staff.
“With all the input we have had from everyone at the club, the results on the pitch have been encouraging, but we still can improve and grow more.”
Nasaruddin highlighted that the Rams, now the only side in the league yet to have claimed a win after Albirex broke their duck last week against Sengkang, are still a side full of seasoned campaigners.
“With the type of players Woodlands have such as Noor Ali and Abdelhadi Laakkad, they are actually more experienced than us,” he added.
“Whether they can sustain their players remains to be seen, but I think they are one of the teams to look out for.”
Balestier have been beset by a host of injuries and suspensions heading into this encounter, but Nasaruddin has challenged his players to step up to the plate.
“Ishak Zainol, Poh Yi Feng and K. Vikraman are suspended while Mushthafa Kamal is still recovering and Paul was injured during the Beijing game,” he said.
“What we have to do is adjust the positions of the players, and I think it’s a good time for these players to prove their worth to the team.
“We have to work on our strengths, minimise our weaknesses and approach the game against Woodlands.”
His counterpart, Rams honcho A. Shasi Kumar, will have his work cut out trying to rejuvenate his troops after yet another demoralising 0-4 drubbing at the hands of summit occupants Tampines Rovers.
However, the proceedings on the pitch was anything but one-sided, as the Rams were culpable of missing a plethora of chances, most notably Moroccan forward Laakkad, who fluffed his lines when presented with the goal at his mercy.
Whilst the scoreline did flatter the Stags, the northern outfit have yet to register three points on the board and will be desperate to break the unwanted duck.
The Rams would be hoping that last season’s corresponding fixture would transpire once again, as Woodlands had come away with a hard-fought 0-1 win, courtesy of a Jufri Taha own goal, during the stewardship of former Croatian coach Nenad Bacina. |
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