A foreign vs local conundrum

SINGAPORE — Questions are being asked whether the right candidates are being looked at, even though the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced it is into the final stretch of its search for a new technical director.

The FAS has made it clear it wants someone with international experience: Someone who has led a team at FIFA or UEFA age-group competitions, or has a good track record as technical director of a top team in Europe.

On Monday, the FAS said it has narrowed the search to five potential candidates, all from Europe, from the 60 who applied. Media reports named former England Under-20 coach Brian Eastick as the frontrunner, with the other four hailing from Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The new technical director, to be announced in March, will take over from Serb Slobodan Pavkovic, whose resignation after a six-year tenure was announced in September. But the move to continue hiring a foreigner for the position has been questioned, with Marko Kraljevic, coach of S-League side Balestier Khalsa, asking if suitable local candidates can be found.

“Forget a foreigner, get a local technical director. If Singapore is in Europe, then someone who has experience in European football is ideal,” said German-born Kraljevic, who played in the S-League from 1995 to 2001, and is now a Singapore permanent resident.

“You bring in a foreigner and he will have to start from scratch. He can have the best-laid plans, but can those plans work under the local conditions and the environment the new man will have to work under?”

Kraljevic noted that the problem facing football development here is that youngsters are not playing enough to help enhance their skills and talent. “You have 100-odd artificial pitches all over Singapore. Surely, they are enough to accommodate them, but the trouble is that (children) are not spending enough time on a football pitch,” he said.

“I don’t know why. Is it due to the lack of time or money to rent the pitches for the (children) to play? And there are so many football academies spread all over Singapore. Maybe the FAS should join hands with the academies and have a league competition among them. It will surely help with the development of young talent in Singapore.”

Former Singapore international R Sasikumar is also against the idea of hiring a big-name foreign technical director.

“What purpose will it serve hiring a big name from Europe?” he asked. “The FAS needs a technical director who has an intimate knowledge of local football. Not someone who comes from Europe or a top footballing European country where the facilities and the culture are so conducive for producing talent.

“We don’t need someone to tell us that Singapore lacks the facilities; Singapore does not have the football culture and the National Service commitment is hampering the development of young talent here.

“What we need is someone who is familiar with the conditions and the shortcomings of Singapore football, and can work his way around it. Or at least someone who has worked under similar conditions elsewhere and has produced the results.”

Sasikumar also thinks the role of a technical director must also be clearly defined.

“He must have the full authority to draw up his coaching and development system. He must decide on the system of play for all age-group national teams. And the FAS must decide if teams will also come under him,” said Sasikumar.

“I notice that the previous technical director not only oversaw the development of Singapore football, but also coached the Singapore U-23 side, which shouldn’t be the case.”