Blue Is the Colour

If you’re reading this, you probably already can guess what I am sad about. Developments in recent days involving the Sailors have really left me scratching my head and wondering – what is the direction for our Sailors moving forward, and why has all this change happened?

If you need some context, perhaps read this article in the Straits Times (https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football-stars-key-backroom-staff-depart-lion-city-sailors). Fan favourites Faris Ramli, Gabriel Quak, Hassan Sunny, and Shahdan Sulaiman were among 6 players confirmed to be released, along with Iqram Rifqi and Naqiuddin Eunos. Of course, the Straits Times perhaps chose to focus on the four bigger names because they are some of the “highest-paid local footballers” – implying that the motivation for these decisions was mostly financial. But was it?

Cost-cutting? Or something more?

So the Straits Times subtly implies that it has to do with costs. This is a natural inference, given that SEA and Shopee have been laying off staff, pulling out of markets, and having their financial woes reported all over for large parts of this year. In fact, we tried our best to see for ourselves what the situation was like, when we wrote an article and released a podcast (https://sailorfantalk.com/2022/11/19/should-fans-be-worried-about-forrest-li-sea-losing-money/). We tried to remain optimistic back then – and perhaps that was the responsible thing to do, especially when we didn’t have any evidence to speculate the worst. But the worst has materialised.

Besides the players being released, a significant number of backroom staff have been released as well. This was the saddest part of it all for me, but more on that later.

The statement put out by LCS (https://www.lioncitysailorsfc.sg/sailors-ceo-chun-liang-a-rollercoaster-2022-but-smooth-seas-never-made-a-skilled-sailor/) suggests that this is a “strategic reset”, and no mention is made about cost-cutting. In fact, more mention was made about how the failures this year have led to the club taking drastic action. A few players I can understand, but backroom staff at all levels? Besides those mentioned in the article, I know of several other staff who were let go, or voluntarily left. If you talk about the need for a reset, why is there a need for Logistics staff to go? I can’t really think of a reason for needing to change things around in the Logistics department.

Is there even a need for a reset?

And then we look at whether there is even a need for a reset – or such a drastic one. This is a team of playing staff and backroom staff who not just won the title last season, but also performed pretty well in the AFC Champions League barely months ago. On the pitch, the players did not look out of place alongside Daegu FC’s players. We beat them once 3-0, and then in the second game, lost it in pretty extraordinary circumstances.

When we came back, we also managed to avoid the pitfalls that Tampines Rovers went through last year. The team’s physical workload seemed to have been well-managed, and they did not look fatigued when they returned to league action. This was a major problem for Tampines last year as they really struggled when they returned from their Champions League campaign, so I was glad that it was not repeated in LCS. In fact, we went into the final months of the season with a good lead over Albirex Niigata (S). We will dedicate a whole article and video to our speculation as to why we did not win the title, but suffice to say, it seemed that for a long time this season, the playing and non-playing staff seemed to have functioned at a pretty high standard. To cut almost all of them seems pretty drastic.

And of course, I think I might be ignoring the elephant in the room here. It seems pretty apparent to me (and many fans) that in this “reset”, it seems that one of the key elements of our failure last season, was how quickly things went to shit after Coach Kim was sacked and Coach Luka took over. I am not blaming him entirely for it – I do think the players have to take some responsibility for this as well, but how come it seems there are no consequences for him?

Who was let go?

Many people were let go, but let’s focus on a few of them. Take Firdaus Massar and Mario Jovanovic. These are coaches who have worked with world-class stars – Firdaus with EPL clubs like Liverpool and Wolves, and Jovanovic who was Strength & Conditioning Coach with the Croatian national youth teams. When they came in, Firdaus said –

“The Sailors are currently working to put in place a well-structured sports science department, and have improved their backend and technical capabilities immensely, which is a clear sign that they are serious about becoming one of the best teams in the region.”

Now that you cut both, what gives? What happens to this “well-structured sports science department”? Are we promoting staff from the academy? And if you do that, are they qualified enough to do the job? Even if they are, then what happens to our much-vaunted academy? Are they double-hatting? So many questions, so few answers. The “Staff” section on the Sailors website has also seemingly been removed.

Then our physios. With Kak Fizah gone, will there be a full-time physio taking charge of the players, or are we moving back to the system in the past where we had team doctors who did not work on the premises full-time? If she is replaced, will it be someone of a similar stature? Is there someone in the local scene of a similar stature and with the depth of experience dealing with professional footballers as she does?

And I haven’t even discussed those who voluntarily left. Although some did move on to better opportunities, I wonder if this is all a coincidence, and if it is a symptom of something happening internally that we fans should be worrying about.

What it means to support a club

When Home United became LCS – I faced a decision back then as to whether I would continue supporting the club. It was a whole new badge, new colours, new name, and new staff coming in. However, what persuaded me to stay on as a supporter was the fact that many old faces from Home United stayed on. After all, for a small club, it is the human touch that counts. What LCS did well is not only did the Home Utd staff continue on, the new staff such as Kevin, Ravi, and even the CEO, Chun Liang always made an effort to reach out to us fans, listening to our feedback and trying their best to establish a real connection to us.

What the above shows is that when you support a club, it’s not about the badge. It’s about the people, and about the values of the club. Now that the people are gone, we have to see if the values of the club are retained. But what are the values of the club? Letting go of staff in the masses based on vague reasons (in my opinion)? If it’s performance-based, why are certain departments that are not related to performance being let go too? Why is Coach Lalic not one of those to go? If it’s finances-based, then I would wish that the club can be honest about it. I think we can all agree that football does not exist in a bubble – if Forrest had come out to say that SEA and Shopee are also laying off staff, so LCS has to get in line too or the shareholders will make noise, I think that’s something I can accept.

Having these staff come in one day and been told on the same day that they need not report the next day – even if they were given compensation packages… is that the values that I would like a club I support to have? Could these staff not have been allowed to serve out their notice period in a dignified way, especially those who have been here since Home Utd days? It truly breaks my heart.

Conclusion

I’ve sang loud and proud for Home Utd and the Sailors, sometimes alone, sometimes in a group of three to five, and recently, in much larger groups thanks to the efforts of LCS to improve matchday atmosphere. Just earlier this year, I went up to Buriram and sang loud and proud before our boys took to the pitch against Daegu. 3-0 that day. That 3-0 win against Daegu where I felt this club could achieve anything they set their mind to, that’s so far away now.

I think I will still sing loud for the Sailors next season, but will something inside make me sing a little softer thinking of all the friends I’ve lost? Maybe. Come on you boys in blue, we sing. But right now, this writer is blue.