Why axe just the Lions? All are to blame

Why axe just the Lions? All are to blame.

Report by Gregory Loo

WHY blame just the players if the team does badly?

And if you're going to axe the players, shouldn't the coaching staff be held responsible too? Football fans here jumped when they learnt of the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) decision to purge the nationalteam of all its players.

Yes, there are no exceptions.

Of 100 football fans polled by The New Paper, 62 per cent disagreed with the decision to remove all the players.

The purging follows the dismal performance at the recent AFF Suzuki Cup tournament. The Lions were tipped to do well but were kicked out at the group stage.

FAS president Zainudin Nordin revealed his decision to dump the players to Berita Harian.

But national players The New Paper spoke to said they had no clue they were out of the team.

English-born midfielder John Wilkinson said: "You always hear how people like to say that 'we're all in this together.' If everyone's in it together, then everyone's to blame."

The former Singapore Armed Forces FC man, who left the S-League club to join Thai Premier League side Police United, doesn't agree with Mr Zainudin's decision.

Said the 31-year-old: "I'm shocked. It's a bit of a brave move but I don't think it's the right one. I was surprised when I returned from my holiday and heard that Malaysia had won the Suzuki Cup.

"Our players could have won it, but from what I saw, the players weren't happy - you could see it in their body language."

Of the purge, he said: "This would work if you had a great crop of players that can do it, but I don't think it's feasible with the playerswe have."

The midfielder was a member of the Singapore squad but opted out of the Suzuki Cup campaign for personal reasons.

Former international Malek Awab said the coaching staff should share the blame.

Said the 50-year-old: "It's the same everywhere in the world - whenever there are problems, people look at the coach.

"If you can't get the results, you go - like what has happened to Chris Hughton at Newcastle and Frank Rijkaard when he was at Barcelona.

"While the players have to accept some of the responsibility, the officials also have to do the same, like it or not.

"I feel that FAS should pace itself and slowly stagger the changes."