Takayuki Nishigaya is out of his league and in front of almost 30,000 fans at the National Stadium on 21 November, he proved what most if not all Singapore fans are certain about.
He is just not equipped and lacks the experience to lead the Singapore Lions.
Period.
At the post-match media conference after the Lions 3-1 defeat to Thailand, he admitted that his tactics backfired.
“We had a plan at 1-1 to keep the scores even and put the pressure on our opponents to break their balance,” the Japanese said.
“Unfortunately that worked against us.”
He was also unsure on how to address a question from a journalist about whether the match against Thailand was the Lions best performance under his charge.
Watch video of the post-match media conference here.
On a night when getting a result was critical against an opponent which Singapore has beaten before albeit not in the last 11 years, and possibly Singapore’s only chance to get some points (or at least one) on the table, Nishigaya gave fans additional reasons to question his ability once again as the Lions went down 3-1 to Thailand.
Shawal Anuar’s strike just before half-time was nothing but scant consolation on a night when Singapore again showed how far behind we are in the regional football order.
Nishigaya is one of those to be blamed, for his lack of know-how.
For one, the sight of Shahdan Sulaiman being withdrawn from action in just the 20th minute of play already proved that he did not prepare his team with the right tactics prior, which ultimately led to the Lions being humbled in their own backyard.
Not that it was unexpected, though.
The question would be did the Lions have a chance to take something away from the 2022 Asean Football Federation Mitsubishi Electric Cup winners?
WHO IS TO BLAME
Some online comments have already started to blame him squarely for the state of the Lions.
This is rather unfair, unfortunately.
Nishigaya is only partly to blame, but the decision makers who have hired him must be held squarely responsible for believing that a coach without any prior experience at leading a national football side, should be given the keys and responsibility of helping lift the Lions.
This especially after a national project was launched to aim for qualification to the World Cup in 2034.
The actions of the FAS do not seem to gel with the ambition of a nation.
Continuing with an inexperienced driver at the wheel is also hurting the opportunties for our Lions, who may not be getting the best mentoring when they are playing for the country.
And as long as their is malaise in the organisation’s thinking, then fans should accept that Singapore football will remain in the dark abyss for at least another decade, making it 20 total years of pain.
The only hope now for Singapore, is to prepare for the 2029 Southeast Asian Games which will be hosted by Singapore and then take it step by step.
That should be the ultimate target for Singapore.
There was a question from a journalist about whether Nishigaya would remain as coach when the next set of qualifiers take place in March 2024.
While Nishigaya’s response was that he did not know, the answer should be obvious, and its a no.
MAIN PHOTO: FAS