V. Sundramoorthy is preparing himself for a years worth of
sleepless nights in 2007 as he warms into his new assignment as
Young Lions coach.
His remarks came shortly before the arrival of the New Year, which
sees him take on his latest and possibly most physically
demanding assignment in his coaching career.
The former national Under-18 coach already has his sleeves rolled
up as he gets involved in training Singapores Olympic squad, who
will face Pakistan in early February for the first phase of the
Beijing 2008 qualifiers.
The match will raise the curtains on a year of non-stop activity
for Sundram, who will then lead his charges through ten months of
Malaysian FA Cup and S.League action, culminating in the biennial
SEA Games, to be held in Thailand this year.
He is greeting the jam-packed year ahead with relish, as he gets
himself acquainted with a new-look Young Lions outfit shorn of
stars like Shahril Ishak and Ridhuan Muhammad.
In their place comes a group of players many of whom are generally
unknown, most of them no older than 21, all of them aspiring to
rise to the heights reached by their seniors.
Were working with a whole new bunch of players, some as young as
17, said Sundram.
Many of these new boys have never played in the S.League before,
or maybe appeared for just four to five games. These boys only have
experience in the Prime League, and looking at their clubs
S.League squads, they might never get a break there.
But players improve by getting games, especially against better
opponents. For me, the point of bringing all these new boys to the
Young Lions squad is to educate them so that they can go out there
and compete with these tougher opponents.
By giving the players more good games in their legs, I hope to
make them better players, maybe even good enough for the national
team. Once they show theyre good enough, were happy to send them
back out to the clubs.
Sundrams squad is far from being finalized at this point, although
it is largely certain that the likes of Baihakki Khaizan, Khairul
Amri and Isa Halim will stay at Jalan Besar.
All three were mainstays in previous Young Lions coach Fandi
Ahmads regime. Not everyone had the same fortune last seasons
30-man squad included several players who rarely got on the field
in front of the S.League-watching public.
Sundram promises the public will see a different policy with him in
charge, as he strives to ensure equal opportunity for all his
youngsters by letting everyone get game time.
Basically, everybody needs a fair chance to play, stressed the
41-year-old.
If a player is performing well, he will start the next game. Maybe
some players will form my first team, but the reserves, when given
a chance, should perform and tell me, I can play, I can score
goals too, or I can defend just as well as these other guys.
I have a squad of 25, but only 11 can play, so 14 people will sit
out every game. But we will still give them playing time by
rotating around or arranging midweek friendlies if our next
competitive match is far enough away.
Some of these matches wont be announced as loudly as the S.League
games, so maybe the public wont be aware of them. But I can assure
every player that hell get a chance.
The upside to the Young Lions performance last year was that, at
least for a time, they appeared odds-on favourites for the title on
the back of some exhilarating football.
There will certainly be comparisons between the teams of this term
and last, especially among the passionate legion of Young Lions
fans, many of whom are eager to see their idols taste
success.
But Sundram has refused to be drawn into title talk, believing it
inappropriate to set exact targets on where he wants to see his
team finish in the league table.
Instead, the former Jurong FC coach showed the same discipline he
is known to demand of his players, sticking firmly to his focus on
cultivating talent without the unnecessary pressure of a title
challenge foisted upon him.
Were talking about developing the players and giving them a
chance to a play, so must people ask me to set a target? he asked,
slightly upset by the thought.
If youre asking me to give all the players a chance to play, you
cant be turning around and setting a target for me. If you think
about it, it is contradictory and not right.
If Im in Jurong and you want me to set a target, thats okay. But
now Im here and Im supposed to give the players a chance to see
if they can kick a ball straight, so its not realistic for me to
say I want the team to finish in this position or that
position.
We will go into the league to compete, and if the boys do well
enough to finish high in the league or even on top, why not? But
for us, the objective is clear; we are here to develop players, not
to finish No.1 at all costs.
What is also clear for Sundram is that the year ahead will be a
busy one, as he devotes himself to his brief of developing
youngsters and inspiring them to realize their potential.
It is by no means an easy assignment, and he will need every extra
second of time he can get as he works hard to bring the best out of
his players.
There are going to be many sleepless nights, with so much work and
so much planning to do, admitted the former national
striker.
Ive to think of the players game, plan when to push them and
when to give them time for rest and recovery. Things like how much
training to give, Ive to think about that.
And then theres a bit of travelling for the Malaysian FA Cup, to
Pakistan for the Olympic qualifiers, and then to places like
Bahrain and Qatar if we make it into the second round. Throw in the
S.League, and its going to be very hectic.
For the players, theyll have plenty of time to play. But for me
and the rest of the coaching staff, itll be work non-stop with all
the analysis of our own team and our opponents, and the training on
skills and tactics.
Itll be a tough year, very tough, but Im here to learn, and for
me, theres no better person to learn from than (national coach)
Raddy (Avramovic), he added.
Seeing what hes done with the national team, I can say hes the
man with the Midas touch. To work under him is an honour, and I
look forward to learning from him and contributing to Singapore
football.