JAN 14 — The January transfer rumour mill started well before the start of the year, but surprisingly the actual transfers have been few.

I guess everyone is waiting for the last minute like it’s some Christmas or Chinese New Year sale! 

Ironically, the names and club links that I keep reading about in the UK media are that of defenders from teams at the tail end of the English Premier League (EPL).

Gary Cahill to Chelsea and Chris Samba to . . . well, just about every club in the world, including Kelantan, who obviously did not have a clue as to how to deal with Effa Owona of Negri Sembilan in the Charity Shield in Malaysia.

But getting back to England, it is both ironic and kinda funny that some of the best centrebacks in the EPL play for the cellar dwellers.

Samba is captain of Blackburn Rovers — position: bottom! Cahill of Bolton Wanderers — third from bottom. If we throw in Roger Johnson, formerly with Birmingham City, then we have another talent leading Wolverhampton Wanderers from 16th in the table.

And if you recall, Johnson’s partner at Birmingham, Scott Dann . . . well, he is now with Blackburn Rovers.

And reportedly, QPR were missing Anton Ferdinand who was out injured for the most part of December. But had he not been missing anyway, for most of the season?

So, it is just business as usual as these interested clubs and managers trot out that old nugget — “we need him to shore up our defence.” It makes me wonder what these defenders are doing at the moment? Possibly waiting for “that” big move. Really?

Staying on the subject of centrebacks, maybe Alex Ferguson should look at buying a centrehalf in the mould of Nemanja Vidic — tough and uncompromising. He does not have to look far for the exact opposites of such requirement. Hands up Messrs (Phil) Jones and (Jonny) Evans.

The way this deflated duo bounced off Yakubu — in their 3-2 loss at home to Blackburn — and Demba Ba when losing 3-0 at Newcastle United, it tells you the trouble with the Manchester United backline this season.

The two clowns aside, Rio Ferdinand is finding it hard trying to tackle a fly while Chris Smalling actually lives up to his name, thus does not intimidate opponents.

Yes, they are all good ball players but you need a good old-fashioned centrehalf like Grant Hanley of Blackburn alongside to form a solid partnership and hold off the opposition.

Meanwhile, back in Malaysia, the Malaysian Super League (MSL) has kicked off and I watched the delayed telecast of the Singapore Lions XII debut against Kelantan on January 10.

Sadly, what I witnessed was the return of “route one” football from the Singapore team. The old “let’s kick the ball as hard and as far as we can” approach was truly a shock to the system!

It took my mind back to the Singapore versus Malaysia match at the recently concluded SEA Games (held in Jakarta, Indonesia) and my thoughts on that game played on November 7 last year.

That so-called match was one in which both teams seemed to just want to kick the ball as far as possible, quite possibly trying to destroy as many footballs as possible in a single game. It certainly ended up being like a competition to see which team triumphed in taking wilder kicks than the other. 

For 90 minutes in Jakarta then, both Malaysia and Singapore presented an excellent example of what can only be called “anti-football”.

Almost all the players on the pitch were playing as if they were taking out some sort of revenge on this otherwise beautiful game and the ball itself, and eventually, I recall feeling more and more tired watching the whole farce than the players in action. 

Getting back to the match last Tuesday, the second half saw Kelantan play with more possession and the longer the game went on the more the Lions XII team became frayed.

While watching the game unfold, I thought of Shia Jiayi and how Singapore could have done with his calm and composure in midfield. He certainly would have brought some direction to the overall Lions XII performance.

It will be interesting to see how the Lions XII fare tonight all the way in Alor Star in their clash against Kedah.

Coach V. Sundramoorthy was a very talented player in his heyday, so we can only wonder if the team will improve as the season progresses.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.