jb Bef°re fois football season began, Sheikh Russel KC had announced their intention of sweeping all the season's ——• trophies. However, on the back of failures in the Independence Cup and the Federation Cup, even a solitary trophy is now out of their reach following their fourth defeat in as many matches in the season-ending Bangladesh Premier League.

Under the guidance of successful domestic coach Maruful Haque, Sheikh Russel have so far played 14 matches for only five wins, two draws and seven losses including five in a row dating back to the Federation Cup semifinal.

Maruful's admission of the race being over has highlighted the flaws of the big-spending Sheikh Russel, a rare treble winner in 2012-13 season.

"The players make the same mistakes and it happens because of their lack of confidence. It is not possible to win matches if the players make same mistakes regularly. I will say the players are not serious," a frustrated Maruful said.

Losing to minnows Uttar Baridhara Club in the opening match was thought to be a fluke but they suffered further defeats against minnows Rahmatganj MFS and Feni Soccer Club. Sheikh Russel did create a lot of scoring chances in the last two matches but did not get the deserved goal while their defenders fumbled in the last moments to concede the defeats.

"I did not get the players I wanted before the start of the season, I was forced to take this group of players, who mostly sat idle on the bench in the last season," Maruf said, adding: "The players and I are responsible for this failure."

During the transfer window, Sheikh Russel signed up some vital players, but most of them - like Abdul Baten Komol, Zahid Hasan Emily, Mithun Chowdhury - are still nursing injuries while Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Nasirul Islam and Shakhawat Hossain Rony have started playing after recovering from their injuries.

The recent performances of Fikru Teferra is also under the scanner but the Ethiopian striker had scored five goals in six matches in the Independence Cup before being suspended following his scuffle with Paul Emile.

There have been whispers of over-payment for some players and that a few club officials earned a lot of money as 'commission' to rope in injured players.

"I know one incident that one player was given Tk 15 lakh more than the amount Abahani Ltd offered to him while a few poor quality players were signed up for high price," said a former club official, who was initially involved with recruitment, on condition of anonymity.