Will new Lions coach follow syllabus?

The identity of the next Singapore football coach will be revealed within the next three weeks. His resume will be dissected by the local football fraternity, and his selection will spark off animated chatter in forums, office corridors and coffee shops.

Opinions will be offered on his task — and ability — to steer the Lions to the next level, and whether the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has made a sound decision in its choice of the man who will be stepping into Radojko Avramovic’s shoes.

What is certain is that the new man is unlikely to have a similar approach to the game as the Serb, who handed the Lions three ASEAN Football Federation championships, the last one in December.

TODAY understands that the new coach was picked from a shortlist of five that consisted of two Britons, a Dutchman, a German and an Irishman, whose respective footballing traditions and styles vary.

They were drawn from an initial pool of over 100 candidates that was trimmed in stages after the search for Avramovic’s replacement began in December.

It is also understood that the new coach had previously handled a national team, and has experience grooming talent in international youth squads.

But will he be the right fit in terms of the future of Singapore football? The FAS is confident he is.

Said a spokesman: “We have a rigorous recruitment process in place to ensure that we select only the best available person and we will make an announcement in due course.”

While the national team is the coach’s immediate responsibility, he will also be charged with overseeing the pipeline that feeds young talents into his squad.

And, eventually, the most significant question that must be asked is this: Will he endorse what has already been thought out and in place, chiefly the National Football Syllabus launched in 2010.

When the FAS first unveiled the national syllabus, it described it as a “world-class coaching manual which adopts the best practices and latest coaching techniques to systematically develop and groom our youth”.

It is part of the association’s Strategic Plan 2010-15 to take Singapore football to the next level, which is to be among the best in Asia.

Written by FAS Technical Director Slobodan Pavkovic, the training concepts in the syllabus are tailored to suit Singapore players and have since then been implemented in their National Football Academies and Junior Centres of Excellence.

But it will take at least five years before the Young Lions squad — the national team’s tap — get to reap its benefits.

With a pressing need to establish his rule over the Lions, and to organise them around the goals of his appointment, the new coach is unlikely to cast a critical eye on the syllabus just yet.

But if he proves to be a success, and plans to be here for the long haul, there will come the time when he will broach his own ideas of football development to Pavkovic, who was recommended to the FAS job by Serbian compatriot Avramovic in 2008.

They are men from different footballing cultures, and whether there will be a meeting of minds between the two, it will have an impact on Singapore football over the longer term.

It could roll back the progress of the syllabus, or propel it forward more effectively. Let us hope they get along, if not personally, then, at least professionally.