Coaches question Robbie Servais' commitment, FAS' decision-making after Under-19s deb
SINGAPORE: Several coaches have questioned Singapore Under-19s head coach Robbie Servais' commitment, after it emerged that he had left the team as they were preparing for the ASEAN Football Federation U-19 championship.
The Dutchman had taken up an opportunity to work for Australia's national team during the World Cup under an arrangement that was agreed between the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) technical director Michel Sablon and his Australian counterpart, Eric Adams.
AdvertisementServais only returned to the Cubs a day before they were due to fly off to Indonesia for the tournament. The Singapore U-19s suffered heavy losses to Thailand, Indonesia and Laos, earning just one point in five matches.
The 5-0 thrashing to Laos was what drew attention to the issue, with former Singapore international R Sasikumar telling Channel NewsAsia earlier this week that it was an "embarrassment".
FAS had said in a press release before the tournament that the team were missing some of their better players, but still had "adequate experience". On Friday, Fox Sports Asia reported that the Laos team had been put together just five weeks before the start of the tournament.
Queries sent by Channel NewsAsia to FAS at the start of the week have gone unanswered so far.
AdvertisementAdvertisementSteve Darby, who has had stints with Singapore Premier League club Home United and the Laos national team, said he was surprised that Servais was allowed to leave.
"If you are contracted to have a major role in a team, such as head coach, the professional thing to do is to complete the task or resign and undertake the other task," the 63-year-old told Channel NewsAsia.
"If there was plenty of time before the AFF tournament, then I can see the benefits to the individual coach and possible benefits to FAS if he completed a report and shared it with the local coaches.
"However, the timing appears to be the key issue here ... I am surprised that permission was given as it must have had an effect on the U-19 team.
"You can’t have it both ways - accept praise for success and avoid blame for defeat."
Aide Iskandar, who was previously the head coach of the Young Lions and Singapore U-23 team, said he was appalled by it.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Aide wrote that "a dignified coach will stick with his team whether the team win, lose or draw through any competition and his tenure as a coach".
"When you make a commitment to develop young players, please do it with your fullest commitment and integrity! Don't just do it for your own personal development to get somewhere!" he wrote.
"I may not be the best person to comment but at least I have the integrity to do my best for the youths during my time as a youth coach."
'SERVAIS SHOULDN'T BE BLAMED FOR RESULTS'
But one coach said he was puzzled and disappointed by the negative reaction towards the whole affair.
Alex Weaver, who led Warriors FC to the S.League title in 2015 and is now with Switzerland's FC Lausanne-Sport, said it was imperative to look at the big picture.
"It's about asking the question, 'What is best for Singapore football medium-long term? Is it an under-19 tournament now or what Robbie can give to these players and coaches for the rest of their careers as a result of what he gains from working at a World Cup?" the Englishman said.
"He's still a Singapore coach working for the FAS to improve the development of the young players, he's going to come back and share his experience (with the rest).
"It's the World Cup, where the best players are competing. He is able to bring all that back and share that knowledge and experience which will benefit them for the rest of their career.
"But I think people other than FAS and Sablon are looking as though it will only benefit Robbie Servais, as if it's some vacation he's taking."
Weaver believes that the U-19s' poor results in the tournament should not be blamed solely on Servais.
"It's not because Robbie went to work with Australia in the World Cup. It's because of what happened seven, eight years ago - youth development is a whole process that takes a lot of time," Weaver explained.
"He's not a club coach where he gets to spend every day with the players ... the quality he gets to work with now is the result of what the previous technical director and youth coaches were doing years ago. An U-19 coach can only influence so much within a 12-month period."
The question that should be asked, according to Weaver, is why the FAS did not make it publicly known that it has a coach who was going to work at the World Cup.
"Maybe if they had done that, it might have influenced people's opinions," Weaver said. "The fact that they didn't say anything maybe has played a part ... they should be proud of him."
Darby quipped: "I agree development is long term. But it is measured by results of teams or individual players progressing to higher levels - neither seems to be happening at the moment in Singapore.
"I would be interested to hear the rationale behind releasing the coach with the AFF tournament so close."
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SINGAPORE: Several coaches have questioned Singapore Under-19s head coach Robbie Servais' commitment, after it emerged that he had left the team as they were preparing for the ASEAN Football Federation U-19 championship.
The Dutchman had taken up an opportunity to work for Australia's national team during the World Cup under an arrangement that was agreed between the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) technical director Michel Sablon and his Australian counterpart, Eric Adams.
AdvertisementServais only returned to the Cubs a day before they were due to fly off to Indonesia for the tournament. The Singapore U-19s suffered heavy losses to Thailand, Indonesia and Laos, earning just one point in five matches.
The 5-0 thrashing to Laos was what drew attention to the issue, with former Singapore international R Sasikumar telling Channel NewsAsia earlier this week that it was an "embarrassment".
FAS had said in a press release before the tournament that the team were missing some of their better players, but still had "adequate experience". On Friday, Fox Sports Asia reported that the Laos team had been put together just five weeks before the start of the tournament.
Queries sent by Channel NewsAsia to FAS at the start of the week have gone unanswered so far.
AdvertisementAdvertisementSteve Darby, who has had stints with Singapore Premier League club Home United and the Laos national team, said he was surprised that Servais was allowed to leave.
"If you are contracted to have a major role in a team, such as head coach, the professional thing to do is to complete the task or resign and undertake the other task," the 63-year-old told Channel NewsAsia.
"If there was plenty of time before the AFF tournament, then I can see the benefits to the individual coach and possible benefits to FAS if he completed a report and shared it with the local coaches.
"However, the timing appears to be the key issue here ... I am surprised that permission was given as it must have had an effect on the U-19 team.
"You can’t have it both ways - accept praise for success and avoid blame for defeat."
Aide Iskandar, who was previously the head coach of the Young Lions and Singapore U-23 team, said he was appalled by it.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Aide wrote that "a dignified coach will stick with his team whether the team win, lose or draw through any competition and his tenure as a coach".
"When you make a commitment to develop young players, please do it with your fullest commitment and integrity! Don't just do it for your own personal development to get somewhere!" he wrote.
"I may not be the best person to comment but at least I have the integrity to do my best for the youths during my time as a youth coach."
'SERVAIS SHOULDN'T BE BLAMED FOR RESULTS'
But one coach said he was puzzled and disappointed by the negative reaction towards the whole affair.
Alex Weaver, who led Warriors FC to the S.League title in 2015 and is now with Switzerland's FC Lausanne-Sport, said it was imperative to look at the big picture.
"It's about asking the question, 'What is best for Singapore football medium-long term? Is it an under-19 tournament now or what Robbie can give to these players and coaches for the rest of their careers as a result of what he gains from working at a World Cup?" the Englishman said.
"He's still a Singapore coach working for the FAS to improve the development of the young players, he's going to come back and share his experience (with the rest).
"It's the World Cup, where the best players are competing. He is able to bring all that back and share that knowledge and experience which will benefit them for the rest of their career.
"But I think people other than FAS and Sablon are looking as though it will only benefit Robbie Servais, as if it's some vacation he's taking."
Weaver believes that the U-19s' poor results in the tournament should not be blamed solely on Servais.
"It's not because Robbie went to work with Australia in the World Cup. It's because of what happened seven, eight years ago - youth development is a whole process that takes a lot of time," Weaver explained.
"He's not a club coach where he gets to spend every day with the players ... the quality he gets to work with now is the result of what the previous technical director and youth coaches were doing years ago. An U-19 coach can only influence so much within a 12-month period."
The question that should be asked, according to Weaver, is why the FAS did not make it publicly known that it has a coach who was going to work at the World Cup.
"Maybe if they had done that, it might have influenced people's opinions," Weaver said. "The fact that they didn't say anything maybe has played a part ... they should be proud of him."
Darby quipped: "I agree development is long term. But it is measured by results of teams or individual players progressing to higher levels - neither seems to be happening at the moment in Singapore.
"I would be interested to hear the rationale behind releasing the coach with the AFF tournament so close."
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...