https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3239521/football-kitchee-star-charlie-scott-admits-hong-kong-champions-lost-focus-after-highs-treble
Football: Kitchee star Charlie Scott admits Hong Kong champions ‘lost focus’ after highs of treble
Midfielder urges teammates to ‘stick together’ and refocus amid ‘tough patch’ with five losses in nine matches
Club have flopped in AFC Champions League,
with source saying that schisms have developed in the squad
Midfielder Charlie Scott said Kitchee have been “punished for losing focus” this season – and
the team’s dressing room is “not as happy” as during last term’s treble-winning campaign.
Scott made an impressive AFC Champions League debut against Bangkok United on Wednesday, but was unable to prevent his team from sliding to a third straight defeat in the competition.
The Hong Kong champions, who host Sham Shui Po in the Premier League on Sunday, have lost five of their nine matches in all competitions this season. They were beaten only six times in 38 games across the 2022-23 campaign.
Summer arrivals Ogenyi Onazi and Aleksandar Damcevski were left out of the midweek Champions League squad, and fans have criticised the club’s close season recruitment. Additionally,
a source told the Post that schisms in the squad developed last season.
Scott acknowledged rotation of selection had been hard for some players. Of the team selected against Bangkok by interim head coach Kim Dong-jin, only eight started when Kitchee completed their treble success in May’s FA Cup final against BC Rangers.
Asked if the Kitchee dressing room felt settled, Scott told the Post: “I would say it is 50-50. Only a limited number of foreigners can play [six]. If there are changes every week, it is tough to establish a settled team that knows its job.
“Some players might feel not playing regularly is affecting their fitness, or they might be angry or upset about not playing. But that is not the reason for our results, everyone is being professional. If you are disheartened with your own situation, you cannot show it. It creates a bad atmosphere, which transfers to the pitch.
“The dressing room is not as happy as last season, but it is still a happy place. We are not used to tough patches. It is important everyone sticks together, and looks out for each other.”
Scott was one of the stand-out contributors to a vastly-improved Kitchee performance against Bangkok. The 2-1 loss, after dominating and going 1-0 in front, “felt like a sucker punch” and led to a “quiet and deflated changing room”, Scott said.
Kim replaced Alex Chu Chi-kwong in September, after a stumbling start to the campaign.
“We won the treble not long ago, everyone was at it and loving training,” Scott said. “This season, it felt a bit flat, I think the staff thought a change was necessary to lift the players.
“At times this season, we have lost focus and been punished for it. Now we have a style of play, tactics, we want to keep the ball – and we should improve.
The new players are receiving stick, but they are quality players, and we have lots of those.
“We cannot afford any more slip ups, and we have a game on Sunday [at home to Sham Shui Po] to reset and move on.”