Charlie Scott said Kitchee’s players could have no grounds for complaint should their bosses make wholesale changes following a desperately disappointing campaign for the deposed champions.
Last season’s treble winners will end this term with only one trophy, the Senior Shield, and Ken Ng Kin, the club’s owner, pledged to fork out “as much as it needs” to recapture Kitchee’s glory days.
Kitchee lost their league title, an FA Cup semi-final and the Sapling Cup final in a dismal seven days that ended with Lee Man beating Sham Shui Po to win the championship on Sunday.
Midfielder Scott, who joined Kitchee three summers ago, said it had been his “most difficult week” with the club, and acknowledged he had “failed” this season.
Scott said “deflated” players were left to guess why Kim Dong-jin, the interim head coach, had been relegated to a subordinate position while assistant manager Edgar Cardoso led the team.
He refused to use the upheaval to excuse Kitchee’s uninspired form, however.
“It starts from the players on the pitch … I think people have maybe not been concentrating enough, or been worrying about next season,” Scott said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised [if there is an overhaul of players and management]. If there were big changes, I don’t think anyone could complain, because this season has not been good enough.
“If [bosses] want to change it, they should. Kitchee should be a top team in Hong Kong, and in Asian football.
“There’s probably only a couple of players who can say they have done enough this season.”
Asked if he included himself in that minority, Scott said: “l am critical of myself, and this season has not been as good as last season. I have played more, but results haven’t been good.
“It is a team sport and my job is to … join the defence to the attack. I feel I’ve done that as best I can, but the goal is for the team to win as many titles as possible, and I failed at that this year.”
Former Manchester United youth player Scott scored his fourth goal of the season as Kitchee belatedly stirred in a 3-0 victory over Southern on Saturday.
He said the result stemmed from “everyone encouraging each other, not arguing”.
The comment was consistent with whispers of a divided dressing room. But Scott said it would be “too strong” to talk about factions in the camp, even when poor form created tensions.
“We demand so much from each other every day in training; not taking that into matches has been disappointing, and morale has been down,” Scott said.
“[Last week] on the training pitch was tough, and everyone’s a bit deflated. Last season was so successful, and the team has not changed much. We thought we could do the same, or go one better and win the quadruple.
“We just need to keep encouraging each other, instead of maybe putting people down. On Saturday, we stuck together and fought for each other, and it showed.”
He believed the unseating of Kim, in favour of Portuguese Cardoso, was motivated by a need to boost that flagging morale. The suspicion was essentially corroborated by Ng, who said the switch was a failed move to breathe life into Kitchee for last week’s cup fixtures.
Scott, who watches full replays of all his matches “to see where I can improve”, said he wanted to “stay next season, and help Kitchee win the league”.
“I feel some people hide when the going gets tough, but I want to prove to myself, and to other people, that I am capable of kicking on,” he said.
All that is left for this season is an opportunity on Sunday to torch Lee Man’s bid for an undefeated league campaign.
“Kitchee are the only team to go unbeaten [in 2017-18], so it is a big motivation to stop Lee Man,” Scott said. “We want to finish well, then come back stronger next season.”
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