By Jose Raymond
The Singapore football fan should never stop daring to dream.
It is never a crime for to fans clamour for nothing less than seeing the Lions succeed at every level of competition.
Unfortunately, Singapore’s football fans have been starved of success for six long years now, and it is only fair that they are served the right to dream again.
After yet another early exit, and all-round malaise at every level of the game in Singapore, it now becomes incumbent on the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to help fulfil the hopes of Singapore’s football faithful.
As it prepares to hire a full-time national coach and a technical director to help plot the country’s future football fortunes, the top brass should also leave no stone unturned in trying to discover and fix our failings.
Nothing should be sacrosanct, including the need to question the existence of foreign teams in our domestic league, which adds no glamour to the FAS’ coffers.
Apart from the domestic league, there needs to be a lot more investment in the game.
Our domestic clubs need support, and our national teams and coaches need exposure at the highest levels.
Singapore’s exit from the 2018 ASEAN Football Federation’s Suzuki Cup at the group stages for the third consecutive time – should not be shrugged off, especially when we always strive to be the best in everything else which we do.
While national interim coach Fandi Ahmad may have brought back some cheers to the National Stadium, there is still a lot of gaps which need to be plugged.
And if Fandi is hired to the role permanently, he will need support and mentorship, and a lot more international exposure.
From a football perspective, falling into a status quo trap after this debacle is simply not acceptable.
Singapore football deserves better.