Tuesday, December 12, 2017

The facts behind the youth development myth

It is the festive season and one should be joyful until one keep seeing the direction of Singapore football.

First off, let go off track with the biggest story recently and that is the resignation of Winston Lee and for me it was years too late.

The media can keep hammering in his defence (Also the PAP no doubt as PAP never appoint wrong personal according to media) he is hardworking and always has Singapore football is his interest but it is already bullshit according to news reports back in 2015.

What happened in 2015. FAS was kicked out by FAM once again and to rescue face for the under-pressured worst-ever FAS president Zainudin Nordin the media released quotes from 2011, from those who really care about Singapore football, like former Geylang Patrick Lim telling FAS in a meeting that going back to Malaysia mean playing Cambodian standard within 5 years. (His words came true)

Yet they were ignored because Winston Lim care more about his own interests or should I say his six digits annual salary (which is not wrong if the media were truthful)

Then the use of hardworking as defence, which the media is using a lot now when so many elites are failing in the jobs (not just football), is a joke. If that the case then security guards should be earning up to $400k like FAS general-secretary and there are many more jobs with hours that matches Winston Lee hours so why is he the exception!

His job description mean he is worth it only if Singapore football had moved forward under him which it did not so he will be remembered along with Zainduin and Lim Chin as the 3 scourges of Singapore football.

After that let return to the header on the myth of Young Lions aiding Singapore football youth development.

Their defence center on the fact it is for SEA Games 2019 but excuse me, does it mean without Young Lions there is no team for SEA Games.

We know the answer to that.

Then they claimed the period of 2004-2006 to showcase the Young Lions can be successful but they forgot during that period the Cubs were never a youth development team. It was filled with Foreign Talent Scheme players like Agu Casmir, Itmi Dickson, Shi JiaYi and Precious etc and the youngsters they pointed out as success were not greenhorns as Baihakki and Hassan had played for Geylang for 1 whole year before Cubs came calling because they were that good.

So Cubs success story was build by butchering clubs especially 2003 teams of Geylang and Woodlands.

Therefore delaying the inevitable is wasting more time and efforts which Singapore football cannot afford.

We are possibly the only Association in the world still demanding all youth players come together to play in one team in the league. And the reason is not difficult to note why because FAS want glory and levels below senior and at times Under-23 go unnoticed thus they do not care.

Yet Singapore football cannot develop without developing level below under23 first.

So FAS should no longer care about Under23 level and formed a team for it because it is too late to develop most players by then and the focus should be under-21 and below but we all know without glory the top brass do not care and that is why the future is still as dark as the sky in December.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

PAP must abide by their moral standard

No matter the outcome of FAS new executive council investigation into donategate, one thing is already certain from the information so far; under the reign of former FAS President Zainduin Nordin, the 3 scourge - including Winston Lee and Lim Chin - saw themselves as FAS Feudal Lords and did whatever they wished without any control by the then executive council.

It was wrong and make a mockery of the 'superior system' of forced installation of the FAS President upon Singapore football by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY).

It was their man, former Bishan-Toa Poyah MP, Zainduin Nordin who had engineered this mess by allowing his fellow scourge and subordinate, Winston Lee, to run amok as long as he served the wishes and interest of the FAS President.

The appointment of the puppet, Lim Chin, was for the same reason as he was content to collect his six-figure salary as long as it was not him who was getting sacked or a pay cut. (Remember Tanjong Pagar United incident)

Nothing was done for the interest of Singapore football, only the interest and wishes of the FAS President.

After that come to the headline and  I must said PAP must act now as their man, Zainduin Nordin, is involved in the matter and he is hiding behind the fact he is a former PAP MP, the ruling government, thus he does not answered to anybody.

This is totally ridiculous and a slap on the face of the ruling government constant talks of higher standard of morality from their MPs.

There are many questions to ask other than just the $500k as remember the $200k donation as well which raised other questions.
1) Have he seem those documents from Tiong Bahru and what was his reaction
2) Why was it not debated at executive council as the law stated
3) Was the $200k really for Lions XII or as revealed by TODAY then it was meant as FAM levy (I bet everybody forgotten about this)
4) How much was really given to FAM for LionsXII involvement and where did the money come from
5) How much donation were there really under his reign (Bill Ng money were hide from public view so there may be more)
6) Where did all donation under his reign really go and everything must be stated

Only the PAP executive board can forced the 51-year-old to open his mouth and reveal the whole truth and not hided behind the ridiculous reason he is no longer FAS President as donategate and other matters all happen under his reign and his name was used to hide it from almost the entire FAS Executive Council.

The 3 fedual lords and scourges cannot just walk away now just because they are all, or soon to be, not involved with FAS anymore.

Remember corruption start when the elites ignored failing by their own elites

Lee Kuan Yew will never allowed this as it involved public funds and he always asked the PAP to abide by a higher standard of moral conduct.

Now his son and current Prime Minister can show if PAP is such a party or only one when it does not involved their people.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Overseas trips only benefit elites

This TODAY article is a week long but I still want to respond to it because for me, the issue of importance of overseas trips must be discussed more thoroughly.

Yes it is important, Mr Lim Kia Tong, but does all these trips really benefit Singapore football or just the elites running the game.

As I noted before, still-FAS general-secretary Winston Lee was praised for his overseas works but the domestic game is in a mess.

Now Winston Lee have a job overseas because of what he did but for the local lads, not among these elites, they just have a paycut waiting for them.

The departed worthless and inept Zainduin Nordin was pushing for ASL to get a job after this departure as noted by news article then.

What was the use of all those connections other than to benefit the 3 scourges - including puppet Lim Chin - Singapore football!

These connections will never bring our players overseas as our players do not have a good  reputation and other Asian Associations are not going to push Singapore players to their clubs knowing the backlash.

All we get out of it are a few overseas trial every now and then and we know how it ends.

Also Mr Lim, you have no problems missing local events but have a problem missing even one overseas event and that's a bigger problem for if you're elected, you promised to bring National Football League (NFL) under your direct guidance.

You have no time for local events as it is so are you going to have a nominee but is this not repeating the current FAS model and we have seem how it is working. (All blames to nominee and all credits to Mr Lim etc)

The fact is that there is no shortcuts and only by building the domestic game will it bring Singapore football to greater height and not overseas trips which just benefit the ruling elites.

So in conclusion overseas trips are important but they must not come at the cost of the local game as it is now where the ruling elites spend all their time and efforts overseas while ignoring the local game.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

The problems a datasheet do not show

I would agree with Straits Times headline that pulling the Young Lions would be a mistake but as noted before the direction of the Cubs are wrong and Football Association of Singapore (FAS)  have to face up to it.

As expected of FAS, whenever they want to prove they're right, they pull out a datasheet to prove their point.

What they failed to note is what use are the minutes if the players are learning nothing.

Afterall, if they have gone to watch the games the Cubs are playing in, they'll have noted the Cubs are putting so many players behind the ball that I wonder how can any attacking midfielders or strikers learn from that.

Is it any wonder then those players have to resort to long ball to attack as they have no other way to attack as their players are always in their own half.

That is why in the 2015 SEA Games, even against a Philippines second team make of college players playing together for the first time, the Cubs had to resort to long balls and was more comfortable playing long stretch of the game as a defensive unit.

We're outplayed throughout the entire competition so what use was those minutes on the field.

That is why I want the Young Lions to be a team for fringes players like in 2003 as those players are older thus likely to be more mature and understand that is their last chance to become a footballer.

FAS Technical director Michel Sablon also talked about other points like mindset and he is right about them but he ignored the mindset of his paymaster, FAS.

A big part of the problem youth development sucks in Singapore is FAS demanded all credits must go to them.

Have he seem their interview in the past, it is always (National Football Academy) NFA this or NFA that and they do not want to involved others in their work as they fear credits will be directed elsewhere.

I have said this before; no nation in the world have only one source for their players yet FAS can demand all their players from NFA to Young Lions must go onto become national players.

That is unrealistic and it is holding us back.

Even the world best youth development developed no more than 5-6 players, if they're lucky for most of the time it is only 1-2 players, every generation.

Keeping Young Lions as it is keep that mindset alive as they've to produce players to national side or face criticisms about their 'failures'.

That is why there are some quarters wondering why certain players were promoted even when they were underserved of their places in the Cubs and national team.

Isn't it better to change that mindset as well?

And the excuse of SEA Games preparation is lame.

Why do every SEA Games squad have to be formed several years beforehand as SEA Games winner Thailand do not need to do that and is fine with that.

The fact is if you've a good youth development with many sources, good players will develop with or without a SEA Games gold medal.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Better to admit errors

One knows how bad a job one has done when one claims to have nothing to do with it.

That is the message I got from FAS provisional council president Lim Kia Tong outbursts about his opponents weakness.

I am not going to suggest his claims are wrong but why have it come to a situation where the incumbents are in such a terrible situation where they're not assured of a win.

The fact is incumbents always have the advantage in an election as their opponents lacked a track record to back them up.

After all, the opposition's supporters (I am talking about politics if one do not know) in Singapore always moaned the public never gave them a chance to prove their worth but honestly speaking, PAP have govern well so to suggest the public should change for the sake of change is naivety.

It will only happen when one has done such a terrible job that the public can no longer tahan being govern by the same people anymore.

We can see that from the election in Taiwan last year where despite overwhelming wins in both the presidential and parliament race, the once-opposition and now government, DDP had really gathered less votes than ever as it was the fact large number of neutrals (who hated both sides for the mess Taiwan is in) and KMT supporters chosen to boycott the election for the terrible job KMT had done as their average salary stagnated to the same level as 20 years ago.

So incumbents are only in trouble when they govern that badly and to suggest Lim, Bernard Tan and Edwin Tong are not part of that group that led to the current situation in Singapore football is a joke.

They can't claimed Bernard Tan and Edwin Tong came in 2013 so were not involved in most of the decisions make under the worthless and inept Zainduin Nordin leadership as may I remind the incumbents that they're going to sign a new contract with FAM in 2015 where we pump in more money to the Malaysian sides while cutting our own to the bare bones.

It was fortunate Malaysian states FA rejected the offer as inadequate and wanted more than we can afford or one can already imagine the-even-worse state we be in as more money get pumped into Malaysia, not Singapore, football while screaming we're poor by FAS leadership (which includes the trio)

And yet with a 'poor financial' situation, as they always claimed they're poor, they had no problem paying 6-figure sums to their fellow elites of Winston Lee and Lim Chin despite the duo continuing to be failure in their jobs.

Lim along with Tan and Tong should admit their roles and not try to whitewash it away for if they got their way, we be in worse state than ever as they will never learn. (Some will suggest they will never learn and go back to their old elitism ways once this election is over)

You, trio, have nobody to blame if you lose the election as you're the cause of much of your downfall.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

A new direction for Young Lions needed

After another heavy defeat, 1-6, by Genera Young Lions we once again heard the same reasoning by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) that the players are gaining experience for the real target at year end - which is the SEA Games for those who do not know.

I cannot tahan anymore and will like to tell FAS, since the Cubs inception back in 2003, that plan has never worked.

Instead it have only breed an elitism system in recent years and now most of the clubs have chosen to give up developing any players. (Reason I have said too many times, good players they lose to FAS, bad players they also lose as FAS dump these players on them)

Worse is even the reasoning by FAS of youngsters gaining experience make no sense as remember Geylang United (now Geylang International), who before the inception of the Cubs, have given debut to the likes of Indra Shadan, Ahmad Latiff, Lionel Lewis, Hassan Sunny and Baihakki Khaizan etc

Also, the now defunct, Sembawang Rangers had given Noh Alam Shah his debut after getting him on a $2 transfer while the Warriors had given more playing time to Ashrin Shariff in one season than the Cubs two seasons (At that time, other than debut year, in 2003, FAS stuffed the Cubs with overage and experienced players and only called up youngsters to ask them to sit on the bench)

Therefore it is not clubs are not giving youngsters experience but rather the fact the youngsters have to be good enough first and at this moment in time they are not.

In recent time, FAS have gone glory hunting with their LionsXII project and have cut youth development to the bare bones by cutting funding to the clubs Centre of Excellence (COEs) to the point they rather not bother about it while the National Football Academy (NFA) have failed to deliver.

Instead an elitism mentality have been breed as how can FAS explain the attitude of Sahil Suhaimi to his lacked of fitness and the way Shakir Hamzah continue to get in trouble thus FAS should have clam down on their attitude earlier and not looked the other way by telling us they are still learning.

Now we faced a situation where many of these 'elite players' have failed to make the grade and the National team have to recall the oldies like Daniel Bennett etc.

That is why we need  a new direction for the Cubs for if FAS continue to walk down this path where they want to keep all the promising youngsters for their Cubs and discouraged the clubs from competing with them then we will never develop a bigger pool of players.

I will repeat it again - Nobody will develop players so that another will come to get them for free.

We need to go back to 2003 where the Cubs were giving those on the fringes their chance and it saw Aliff Shafaein took the chance.

It is those on the fringes that need Genera Young Lions to give them the chance for more experience as let be honest,the results are not any different with the youngsters suffering thrashing and if the clubs had gotten their hands on Khariul Amri and Harris Harun etc they would have played them for clubs are not stupid as seem by the examples listed above.

Therefore I can only hope when the new team is chosen for FAS in June election they will make the Cubs change course for it is not working now.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

One scourge left (Edited)

With the departure of the 'worthless one' Zainduin Nordin and 'puppy' Lim Chin, everybody have forgotten there is still one scourge left.

Before commenting on the last scourge, a brief sidetrack to talk about the two scourge who had left.

First is the main villain, the worthless one, Zainduin Nordin, who is doing exactly what I have long derided about the previous system of appointment by Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth (MCCY).

The former Bishan- Toa Poyah MP is suffering no consequences for his string of bad leadership and decisions during his 8 year reign of Singapore football and can joke about being struck in a plane as the worst that can happen to him in a time when many players to staffs have to suffer paycut or the prospect of jobless.

All of these is the result of his pursuit of vain project like the LionsXII etc which even the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) media are now admitting have caused Singapore football much harm as they finally detailed the opposition to his LionsXII project, after Suzuki Cup debacle, but he ignored them.

However he is the only person who is able to walk Scot free and that is why to label him as a scourge is the least he deserves.

After that come the 'puppy' Lim Chin for I wanted to comment him as a puppet or dog but he is worse than that.

A dog will even challenge his owner if it is forced to act continually against it will at times but Lim never did that even once. As for puppet, it has no mind of it own so one cannot blamed it but Lim, as a human, do have a mind but he chose to be a puppet so he deserves no sympathy.

The best defense his 'supporters' can give is he is hardworking but for his salary, six-digits sum, most will be hardworking and it is not enough as he was appointed to be a CEO; not a bull on a field.

His failure was he had chances to voice his opposition to the top and defend the S-league but he never did and he just stood by to protect his rice bowl while not caring others were losing their or suffering as a result.

So why pity him as he is a scourge for his action (or more appropriate non-action)

Now back to the main topic and anybody who follow Singapore football must know who the third scourge is and yes, it is FAS general-secretary Winston Lee.

Of the three scourge, he is as culpable, if not more, for the state of Singapore football as he has been S-league CEO (2006-2011) and is currently FAS general-secretary (2008-) but asked for any of his contribution, most will be at a loss to remark what he  has done.

He should be the highest paid member of FAS but Singapore football is in such state due to him indulging his boss Zainduin Nordin vain projects and projecting into an elitism squad system, from seniors to age-groups, all available cash and benefiting only a small group of chosen ones while ignoring the masses.

Indeed his only merit is his ability to bootlick his boss and be a willing scapegoat for their errors.

Afterall every time FAS faced a crisis he will be the one to face the public and media and tell us it was all his fault and nothing to do with his boss and yet the more 'mistakes' he admit to over the years, the longer his contract is extended.

What kind of logic is that!

Even now, the best his 'supporters' can tell us is he is doing a remarkable job at his side job as one of AFC vice-president and AFC staffs commended his work.

All this time at home, in Singapore, our house is on fire with our youth development is the dump, we cannot organised an election, our players and staffs faced mass pay cut while we cannot arrange a friendly for our lions outside Cambodia (how many times have we played them in the last couple of years) and lot more to list so who is really paying him nearly half a million a year!

As FAS general-secretary he is in charge of day-to-day operation yet everything is falling apart under his charge so he cannot escape the consequences.

He must be the next to go whoever is the next FAS president and must not be handed anymore extension to his contract.

He deserves nothing more and his end will hopefully bring an end to the era of the three scourge of Singapore football for they are the trio to have benefit so financially from it despair.