Category: Singapuraku

Lions Suzuki Cup Debacle: Replace Bernd Stange With Local Coach?

The Lions’ ignominious group-stage exit from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Malaysia has prompted fans and former national footballers to call for swift changes to local football and its management.

The brickbats came fast and furious after the defending champions’ poor showing, with some calling for national head coach Bernd Stange to resign, while others pointed to issues within the sport that have seen Singapore’s world ranking slide to No 158 this month as well as the S-League’s recent brouhaha with the decision to reduce the number of clubs and implement age restrictions for players.

Former national defender R Sasikumar and veteran footballer Aleksandar Duric have joined in the chorus for Mr Stange to quit. Mr Sasikumar told TODAY: “I don’t think the calls are premature as the coach is there to get a result. It is time for him to go and to let us rebuild with local coaches. Ninety per cent of the public would want V Sundramoorthy or Fandi Ahmad as national coach.”

But Mr Sasikumar — who won the Tiger Cup with the team in 1998 — believes the root of the Lions’ problems lies much deeper. “There are fundamental issues that need to be addressed … The Germans did it after they were kicked out of Euro 2000. It is also time for us to take stock of how we play football and how we approach football and we need to fix it,” said Mr Sasikumar.

“After the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup loss, what was done was aesthetic and we didn’t make changes to the philosophy of football. Right now, we talk about (the Football Association of Singapore) Strategic Plan, but where are the key performance indicators? Is it winning the Suzuki Cup consistently or qualifying for the AFC Cup?

“If you are a private organisation, it’s natural that when you don’t give shareholders (what they want), they will look at the management. Football is no different, and that is accountability.”

Added local football fan Navin Nambiar: “I’m not calling for Bernd Stange to be sacked as coaches need time. But looking at this, will a local coach do any worse? Some local flavour will be good and it would have been nice to see Fandi come up against Malaysian coach Dollah Salleh.”

While players such as Hariss Harun, Shahril Ishak and Shakir Hamzah drew praise for their performances on the field, others came under fire. Former Lions player Rafi Ali attributed the poor performances to the lack of technical ability, saying: “My observation of teams such as Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar is that their technical ability is good. Thailand are very comfortable with the ball, they move the ball nicely and are exciting to watch.

“What is most glaring (about Singapore) is the lack of basic technique, such as passing and movement. We have to look at it and stop giving excuses. The most important thing is to grow the players technically, so the national coach has a lot of players to look at.”

Aside from next year’s 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers, the next big tournament will be the 2015 SEA Games to be held here from June 5 to 16. The gold medal is the target for the national Under-23 side, and former Singapore international Terry Pathmanathan said: “Players will be under tremendous pressure. They have to identify the players quickly and move them into regular training together.

“I don’t know how much help it is for the Young Lions to play in the S-League as playing there and against Under-23 opponents is different.”

Local fan Yusuf Kay, 39, is not hopeful of the team’s chances just yet, saying: “I don’t expect much for the SEA Games as a lot more needs to be done.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 1, 2014
Better Atmosphere Needed at National Stadium

I have not always been a fan of the local football scene, be it the Prime or S.League but I do come down and support for home games that involve the Singapore National Football Team.

Today on the 29th of November, Singapore loss to Malaysia with a score of 3-1 . I won’t rant on how the game was conducted by those awfull referees (Let’s face it, hands down – Malaysia did outplayed us and we did give our best.The ref’s decision making was totally not agreeable and that made the game more bitter than it ever should) but rather I would want to talk about SingaMania.

For some of you who doesn’t know, “Singamania” is a group made up of smaller die hard football fan groups in Singapore. They can be said as the voice of Singapore Fans when it comes to National Games like how the Ultra Malaya are to Malaysia.

What made me dissapointed was on a few factors:

1) Game was played at home. We should have had bigger national flag than what the Ultras brought. It was disgusting to see how these Ultras had a huge Flag over their entire seat stand but SingaMania had two smaller national flags – nothing compared to half of what the Ultras had. Probably the Ultras had support from the Malaysian football federation for they could not have acquired a large flag if they were an independent group so does SingaMania has support from F.A.S?

It’s Kallang Stadium not Bukit Jalil Stadium. We should have a flag as big as them, if not bigger.

2) It is known that the match tickets sold out in a few hours so I presume 50,000+ people were present including me. The Ultras were louder even though they were only a handful. They were more organised in cheers and their rythm was as close to as a marching band.

Singamania on the other hand couldn’t be clearly heard and the rythm was too fast paced and long. For God’s sake, if you want us to sing & shout with you, make it slower and repetitive so we could know what you guys are chanting. Even when we do get what we think you are saying, you guys just change to another cheer that will be faster than the previous.

I have done my research after the match & I have watched almost all the ultras video that I could find on the net and youtube. It seems they have upload their own songs with lyrics in it. Songs that are easy to learn and sing. I could only found one Singamania cheer video but it wasn’t as catchy neither was it short. It wasn’t a cheer anymore, it was a song. An uncatchy song.

What I could suggest for Singamania: Rather than you guys keep and stay together at one spot like a flock of birds, why don’t you guys divide yourself into smaller groups and stand infront of each wing to teach and get us going. How to coordinate it? Simple, use walkies. Walkies that are sold in Giants or Challenger are affordable to say the least. Sure, it might be expensive but in the long run, Singapore Football Players could finally feel that they are playing at home and not away. They would know that every single fan are standing behind them, cheering them on in every home games.

Don’t forget to make videos on the cheers that you want us to sing. Please do include lyrics in it. Make it short and catchy. Listen to some ultras cheers for inspiration but do not copy any of them. Let’s have our own cheer rather than we, Singaporeans be known as football fans who copy ideas from other Ultras. (I say this because I realised one of your cheer is exactly the same as a cheer made by the Ultras in Pahang, Malaysia)

But hey, if this doesn’t come into effect as soon as possible, i wouldn’t be surprised either. Afterall the Football Association of Singapore doesn’t really encourage home fans to support the team since Horn Makers (such like the vuvuzelas and the Air Horn – all this info can be found on their website) are not allowed.

F.A.S, please do change your policy. Please revived the old kampong spirit in every football fan. Please revived the Kallang Stadium into what it was before – a Lion’s Den. A lion’s den that every away fan wouldn’t even dream of coming to cheer for their teams and be louder than us.

Thank you.

– From a Fan.

TRS Contributor

Source: www.therealsingapore.com

November 30, 2014
Lions Crash Out Of Suzuki Cup

Defending champions Singapore are out of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2014 after a 3-1 loss to Malaysia at the National Stadium on Saturday (Nov 29).

Both sides played out to a cagey first half, but Safee Sali put the Tigers ahead in the 61st minute after Hariss Harun fluffed clearance allowed the Malaysian striker slams the ball home from an angle.

The Lions poured forward in search for an equaliser after that, and were rewarded in the 83rd minute.

Safuwan Baharudin’s free kick is spilled by the Malaysian goalkeeper, and Khairul Amri was on hand to tap home.

But the Lions’ joy was shortlived, as the referee pointed to the spot after Amri Yahyah went down in the penalty box in the dying stages.

Safiq put the spot kick away to put the Malaysians 2-1 up.

Indra Putra put the final nail in the coffin, passing the ball into an empty goal after Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny went up to the opposing penalty box in search of a goal for a corner as the Lions threw caution to the wind.

The riot police were called in after the match, initially to deal with the the boisterous Malaysian fans, and later to handle the situation in front of the tunnel, where irate Singapore fans threw bottles at the referee.

They were upset at the match officials for making several dubious calls against the Lions throughout the match.

Source: www.tnp.sg

November 30, 2014
Bernd Stange: Penalty Hearthbreaking But Team Lack Backbone

SINGAPORE: Lions coach Bernd Stange had called Omani referee Ahmed Abu Bakar Said Al Kaf’s decision to award Malaysia a penalty in the 90th minute a “heart-breaker”.

In the post-match conference on Saturday night (Nov 29), Stange said: “From my view, it didn’t look like a penalty. I have to see the replay. It’s not my job to judge, it’s the referee’s.” He added that the players and him were “feeling empty” after the match.

Hafiz Sujad was adjudged to have fouled a Malaysian player in the box at the stroke of full-time, and Safiq Rahman converted the resultant penalty. Striker Indra Putra put the gloss on the victory when he slid home the third goal into an empty net after Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny failed to rush back in time from a free-kick at the other end of the field.

Singapore striker Khairul Amri had earlier equalised, after Safee Sali put the Tigers ahead at the hour mark.

The coach said “injury time stopped our dreams” and “we are all disappointed”. “Tomorrow we will open the newspaper and only see 3-1,” he said.

Angry fans had thrown bottles on the pitch, in protest of the referee’s decision. The referees had to be escorted into the tunnel by riot police.

“We feel very, very sorry for our fantastic fans,” Stange said. “But it’s a young team, and we have a bright future ahead. Six to eight players can still play in next year’s SEA Games and we’re looking forward to it.”

That said, the coach admitted the team “lacked a little backbone” – something Singapore had two to three years ago, and these are areas the team have to improve on.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

November 30, 2014
Singapore Sports Hub Pitch Fiasco: The Untold Story

Michael Y.P. Ang is a Singaporean freelance journalist. He worked at the former Singapore Sports Council before covering local and international sports for Channel NewsAsia for several years. Like his Facebook page Michael Ang Sports for commentaries on sports issues that matter to Singaporeans.

COMMENT

By Michael Y.P. Ang

What’s happened in Singapore football, off the pitch, the past few days was more intriguing than even the most fiercely contested S-League match.

Few would have expected another football flip-flop, just days after last Saturday’s S-League announcement about the reversal of a recently introduced age-discriminatory policy.

But the TODAY newspaper, with its Nov 26 front-page headline “National Stadium to switch to artificial turf”, reported that SportsHub Pte Ltd (SHPL), the company managing the Singapore Sports Hub, was about to re-lay Singapore’s most famous football ground with an artificial turf.

The paper found itself making a U-turn 24 hours later (links to its original story have also been removed), carrying a correction in its Voices section to announce that its artificial-turf report was wrong, or at least premature.

Thanks to the hard work of stadium ground staff, the Kallang turf is less sandy now than during the Brazil-Japan match last month, but SHPL has yet to fully resolve the pitch problem. An artificial turf is among different options being considered and discussions are still ongoing, according to a spokesperson.

But the glaring issue remains, after years of planning and construction and billions thrown into the project, why and how has it come to this?

Three lingering issues

A Nov 27 Straits Times report shows that SHPL will bear the cost of providing an ideal pitch, but who will foot the bill for the $1.5 million spent on new lighting equipment for enhancing the quality of the problematic pitch?

Under the public-private partnership between the government and SHPL, Singaporean taxpayers are on the hook for the Sports Hub’s construction and operational costs. Would taxpayer money be required to fund the cost of rectifying a problem SHPL should have prevented in the first place?

Secondly, why was SHPL CEO Philippe Collin Delavaud’s subordinate, COO Oon Jin Teik, the one facing the media and making apologies last month? Isn’t it unfair to the former Singapore Olympic swimmer, who joined SHPL only a month before the stadium’s June reopening?

It would have been more appropriate for the Frenchman, who’s been at the helm since 2010, to be in the public eye during a crisis.

Thirdly, why was SHPL’s senior director of stadia Greg Gillin, the person overseeing the pitch installation, working on a major overseas project during the crucial final months of construction at the Sports Hub?

Within three months of joining SHPL in April 2013, Gillin was hired as a pitch consultant for the Indian Super League (ISL). The Australian soon became a frequent flyer to India, visiting ten sports centres, eight of which were eventually selected as ISL stadiums.

This year, from May to October alone, Gillin “made around 120 visits to the eight venues”to ensure that they met international standards.

To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with engaging in external work. But puzzlingly, Gillin was spending time away from Singapore when he himself had expected “teething problems” at the rebuilt National Stadium.

The ISL kicked off on Oct 12, and there’s been no pitch fiasco reported in India. Why was Gillin able to do so much and so well for eight stadiums overseas but not for the only stadium he is responsible for in his full-time job?

The Straits Times reported on Oct 14 that “The Sports Hub have flown in overseas consultants such as Alex Garbea, who was responsible for … the best field at the recent World Cup in Brazil”.

Is it logical that the Sports Hub’s own pitch chief was consulting overseas while the Sports Hub was forced to hire foreign consultants to find solutions to its own pitch problem?

Such a fiasco would have been unlikely had Sport Singapore been chosen to manage the National Stadium. After all, it has an outstanding record of running Singapore’s largest sporting arena for 37 consecutive years.

Ultimately, the question should be: “Is a public-private partnership like the one at the Sports Hub the best way to build and operate a cluster of highly important, public sports facilities?”.

We should find an answer quickly, because like it or not, we’re stuck with the arrangement for the next quarter-century.

Source: https://sg.sports.yahoo.com

November 29, 2014