Kitchee will probably try to win all the opening matches from now until January, so that when they have to play in the Asian club competition, they will have some room to drop points and they will play their young players then in the HKPL. I don't see how the other clubs can match Kitchee. R&F have a good squad but they need time to gel as a team. They could easily lose points as apart from Hoi King and Yuen Long, all the rest have spent good money and are good teams.
What do you guys think of Lam Zhi Gin? Like his teammate Sean Tse, Lam came in to quite some fanfare given his background. But he hasn't lived up to it. I've been disappointed watching him in the past 2 years with Kitchee, he hasn't really been a key cog in their successful runs and I'm surprised an ex-Bundisliga man in his prime cannot make a big impact in the HKPL. Contrast that with an aging star in Diego Forlan, and the impact he had almost immediately...
A decent performance for Lee Man. They lack creativity and chemistry but that should come with time. Talento seems to be a threat every time he touches the ball but he also tries to do too much at times.
HKPL: Southern District vs Hoi King postponed due to heavy rain. Dreams FC 1:4 HK Pegasus Best Union Yuen Long FC 4:4 Wofoo Tai Po Eastern Longlions 3:2 R&F FC
Quite a start to the season. I think Eastern Longlions must be thanking their lucky stars for the win against R&F FC. They scored in the 90th and 94th minutes to overturn the score, after Lo Kwan-Yee clashed heads with his life-long Kitchee teammate Lam Kar-Wai and was sent off for his second bookable offence. Best Union Yuen Long also put in a stellar performance for this young team against one of the title hopefuls Wofoo Tai Po. I think any team that visits Yuen Long must be extra careful.
The accusation was that he led with his elbow. I don't agree with the call either as it's clear that Lo had eyes on the ball and established his position before Lam did. R&F should not use it as excuse however. They switched off after 90 minutes and didn't defend properly.
What a start to the season. I watched the R&F and Eastern game and it was fantastic. We saw exactly why Tan Chun Lok was signed by a CSL side despite being only 22; he ran the offense, defended, and provided some peach passes. I don't think HK has seen a local midfielder as complete as him - at any age - in a while. He's like Lam Ka Wai, but a lot more physical.
http://marksutcliffe.blogspot.com/2018/09/im-leaving-hkfa.html HKFA CEO Mark Sutcliffe confirmed on his blog that he is leaving HK on 1 October.
Looks like the highly speculated Gary White is set to be named as the new Hong Kong head coach by next week. https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kon...-finally-announced-new-hong-kong-team-manager
Indeed Mr. Gary White is set to start work as Hong Kong coach on Monday (10 Sep). But HKFA Board member Canny Leung said on her facebook page that she will leave HKFA and tell everyone what actually happened behind the scenes if he is hired. Apparently one person within HKFA single-handedly decided on hiring Mr. White, ignoring or bypassing the hiring process in part or in whole. OK I have no idea at all what she is talking about... but a lot of people on her facebook echo her sentiments, even though I believe they don't know what is going on as well...
Sounds like she wanted Bond. Given the choice between Bond or White, I'd take White and thank whoever the one person was that wanted White.
Some more details are coming through. Gary White apparently did not apply for the post, but Kevin Bond and Josep Gombau did. So to give the post to White is a procedural problem.
That would be a very odd and unfair proposition made by the HKFA considering if White did not initially apply for the post (even though he is the ideal candidate) and I can sort of understand why Canny is considering resigning. If it were between Gombau or Bond via the application process, I would have went with Gombau but he's no longer a candidate since he's now head coach of an Indian based club.
https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kon...y-confirmed-new-head-coach-hong-kong-football Gary White lands Hong Kong job as Football Association finally confirm new head coach after months of speculation
Wrap up from Matchday 2: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=870230010031953 Southern 2–0 Dreams Second half goals from Ha and Martins were enough for Southern to see off a wasteful Dreams team who should've taken the lead in the first half. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=330832547679149 Tai Po 4–3 Pegasus Pegasus were denied a late penalty Juninho was brought down in the box late in the match but the referee deemed that no foul had occurred. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=272231370284228 Lee Man 0–2 Yuen Long Yuen Long broke Lee Man on the counter twice as they've claimed an improbable four points from their first two matches.
Elsewhere, Mangkhut wrecked havoc on Hong Kong, prompting the HKFA to postpone all matches on Sunday. Significant damage was done to the canopy at the Aberdeen Sports Ground. The Jockey Club Kitchee Centre was devasted by flooding causing them to suspend operations on Monday and Tuesday. Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground looked like an overflowing toilet due to the accumulating rain.
Senior Challenge Shield Dream FC 1:1 (5:3) HK Pegasus Dream FC will progress to the quarter final against Kitchee.
There were rumours two weeks ago that R&F had signed Croatian central defender Saša Novaković. The club has yet to confirm it but the player himself has revealed the news to several Croatian news outlets. https://translate.google.com/transl...isao-pa-otisao-u-hong-kong/289680&prev=search https://translate.google.com/transl...lo-iznenada-veoma-sam-zadovoljan/&prev=search
Senior Challenge Shield Wofoo Tai Po 5:0 Hoi King Harry Sawyer scored a hat-trick on his debut for Tai Po. Actually I don't understand quite why last season's league 1st runner's up is doing in the preliminary round of the competition. Hoi King's Korean players are not yet registered with the HKFA so they could not play. They will play against Lee Man in their next match.
Kitchee 1:1 Eastern Longlions What a difference half a year makes. Remember Eastern Longlions lost 1-8 to Kitchee earlier this year?
Dreams FC 2:2 Wofoo Tai Po Dreams FC youngster Peng Lam-Lam scored his first ever HKPL goal to equalize for Dreams FC and gain the club's first point this season.