New head coach Aidil won’t make drastic changes at Home

SINGAPORE - Aidil Sharin’s appointment as the new head coach of Home United came as a surprise to many in the local football fraternity.

After all, few would have expected the young and dynamic Philippe Aw to stand down as head coach last week and take on a youth development role with just eight games of the S.League season remaining, bringing a premature end to his one-and-a half year tenure in charge.

During his time as head coach, Aw emphasised on the importance of developing young players while his side always played an attractive style of football.

And the new man in charge of the Protectors promises that philosophy will not change.

“Coach Philippe has done very well with the brand of football that he got the team to play and that is not going to change,” Aidil told TODAY after training at the Bishan Stadium earlier tonight (Aug 3). “We are not going to change a lot, especially with only eight more games left in the league.

“We always want the younger players to come up and they will be given a chance (to prove themselves) as well.”

Aidil, 39, was assistant coach at Home from 2011-2015, before he took up the role of assistant technical director earlier this year. He said he has been watching the team closely in recent months despite not being on the touchine.

“This is nothing new for me because I have worked with the first team in the past,” explained Aidil, who is the younger brother of former Singapore captain Aide Iskandar. "I am always watching and analysing every game and the players know me well too as most of them were here last season.

“To be honest, I am quite surprised to be back (coaching the first team) but, at the same time, I am excited to get started. I have not had the chance to meet Coach Philippe yet, but (assistant) coach Robin (Chitrakar) has helped me a lot through this crucial period of time.”

Home have been on a poor run of form of late, which has resulted in them being knocked out of the Singapore Cup and League Cup, while they sit in fourth place in the S.League, 16 points behind league leaders Albirex Niigata.

The team, however, were in good spirits during this evening's training and forward Khairul Nizam insists they are all eager to bounce back from recent setbacks.

“My team-mates and I are working very hard and everyone is fighting for their spot in the starting 11,” said the 25-year-old forward. “We want to finish the season strongly and coach Aidil has already told us what he expects from us.”

Aidil, who patrolled Home's midfield from 2002 to 2006, said: "The response from the players has been good and I am confident that they can do a good job for the rest of the S.League season. My aim from now until the end of the season is to win as many matches as possible and from there we can analyse further.

“There has been a lot of hard work done by coach Philippe and I would like the players start converting more chances and stop conceding unnecessary goals.”

The former Singapore international will face his first big test tomorrow evening when Warriors FC visit the Bishan stadium in what promises to be a hotly contested uniformed derby.

“Both sides will be looking to win and it promises to be an intense game,” said Aidil. “We are playing at home so I want us to show hunger and determination to get the three points. To get off to a winning start would be really ideal.”