TIGER BEER SINGAPORE CUP SOCCER

Jaguars' former coach has tinge of regret after missing their fine Cup run

By SANTOKH SINGH

ROBERT ALBERTS admits it -- there was a sense of personal loss watching his former team Tanjong Pagar United qualify for the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup final.

Do not get the Home United coach wrong. He is not envious of his successor Tohari Paijan nor is he disappointed with his present set of players.

On the contrary, the Dutchman is happy for the players and coach of Tanjong Pagar.

He is also satisfied with the effort of his Protectors who, despite losing 0-1 to the Jaguars at Queenstown Stadium last Saturday for a 2-3 aggregate result, put up a gallant show over the two legs.

Alberts, however, cannot help but feel sadness at leaving Tanjong Pagar.

Sounding nostalgic, the 43-year-old said yesterday:

"I think that any coach would be lying if he said that after three years of hard work with a team, he did not mind not being there when it finally lifted a trophy.

"I would love to be there when Tanjong Pagar lifts the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup, which I think it is going to do.

"Had I stayed on, I would also be entitled to the financial rewards and the success would have looked good on my resume.

"In that sense, I do feel sad."

So why then did he leave Queenstown?

"I have said it before. There was a strong request by the club that it would help alleviate its financial burden if I were to leave.

"The club had been good to me for three years so it was my way of returning the goodwill. I knew then that I could have stayed on and earned more, including big win bonuses but I felt that it was the right decision."

That is why Alberts, whose year-end assessment after three seasons with the Jaguars in the S-League read "so near yet so far", feels a personal loss.

"I knew all along that the Jaguars would win something this year. It should have been the league if not for Balestier Central," he said.

The former Malaysia Cup-winning coach is still sore that Balestier's Marko Kraljevic did not throw the ball in to the Jaguars after it was kicked out deliberately so that a player could receive treatment.

Balestier's equaliser denied the Jaguars the two crucial points that cost them the league title.

"Destiny was not with me then. Now I wish Tohari, the players and the fans, who were great on Saturday, all the best in the final."

Sympathising with his former mentor was Tohari. The man who took over the helm at Tanjong Pagar gave credit to Alberts for the effort he put in the team the past three years.