July 14, 2004

1 thing Lions coach Radojko Avramovic like during the friendly international against Malaysia, even if the results continued to go against the Lions, was that he saw little difference between Malaysia & Singapore.

However he felt Malaysia was ahead as Singapore was only doing what the Malaysians began doing 4 years ago — grooming youngsters & giving them exposure.

This year Singapore had already saw the debuts of players like Ridhuan Mohd, Shahril Ishak & Hassan Sunny.

However Singaporean fans does not seem to care as listeners to Newsradio 93.8FM morning Talk Back expressed their dissatisfaction over the lack of victories by the Lions under Raddy.

Under his stewardship, the Lions have only won 2 matches — against Hong Kong in a friendly last September & a 2-0 win over Palestine in an Asian Cup qualifier.

Responding to those criticisms, Avramovic said Singapore has the talents but they need the international exposure & this was what he achieving.

Meanwhile Football Association of Singapore (FAS) general secretary John Koh came out to ask Singapore's fans to be patient & give Avramovic more time as he has only been here for a year.

In the statement, it want fans to know Raddy has proven to be one of the best foreign coaches Singapore have had in a long time & is a great asset so losing him because of the recent run of poor results would be a step back.

Also Raddy test is the Tiger Cup in December & next year's SEA Games.

1 person unlikely to escape punishment though will be midfielder Tan Kim Leng as the National Teams Committee (NTC) is meeting to discuss what punishment will be meted out to him.

The Tampines Rovers midfielder was sent off against Malaysia after he seemed to kick the ball towards Thai referee Waiyabot Anucha, after the latter had awarded a free-kick against the Lions.

Koh wanted fans & players to know while not crucifying anyone, any recalcitrant player who compromises the spirit of the team will have to be dealt with.