Football: Stars, key backroom staff depart Lion City Sailors

SINGAPORE - Two years after the Lion City Sailors (LCS) stormed into the local football scene, the bubble appears to have burst for the

Singapore Premier League’s (SPL) first privatised club.

Backed by Singaporean billionaire Forrest Li, the club have since 2020 invested significantly to recruit million-dollar foreigners and experienced backroom staff. They also boast the cream of the local crop, with the provisional 26-man Singapore squad for the upcoming Asean Football Federation Championship including 11 Sailors.

But after a disappointing season, the Sailors have released several of their highest-paid local footballers and parted ways with a host of backroom staff.

On Monday, the club announced the departure of six players, including the experienced quartet of Gabriel Quak, Faris Ramli, Shahdan Sulaiman and Hassan Sunny – who have a combined tally of 289 caps for the national team.

The four are believed to be among the highest local earners at the club.

Quak,

the league’s Player of the Year in 2020

, departs after scoring 29 goals across three seasons for the Sailors.

The 31-year-old winger, who scored 11 goals this season, said that he was informed of the club’s decision not to renew his contract just after their 3-1 win over Tanjong Pagar in October.

He said: “It caught me a little off guard to be honest. I expected changes but to be part of that, I’m disappointed and hurt, especially after the genuine effort I’ve given to the club on and off the field the past three years.

“I started this journey together with the Sailors and I have enjoyed my time at the club. Footballing-wise, I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong. But I believe the club has its own reason.

“I have to move on and accept it.”

Several members of the club’s backroom staff have also been told that their contracts will be terminated.

They include head of physiotherapy Nurhafizah Abu Sujad, sports trainer Danial Feriza, head of performance Mario Jovanovic, video analyst Adi Saleh and football physiologist Firdaus Maasar. 

An affected staff member said that the news – which was delivered by chief executive Chew Chun-Liang and sporting director Badri Ghent at a staff meeting on Friday – came as a huge shock.

“They told us that their hands are tied and there is nothing they can do. None of us expected it. We went into the meeting thinking it was a planning session for the next season. When we joined the club, we were told of their long-term plans. It’s hard to digest this,” said the staff member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Compensation packages were offered and accepted by the affected staff.

In a statement, Chew noted that while there were “positives to be drawn from the 2022 season”, he said that it “has been a poor season for us”.

He added: “Our long-term ambitions remain unchanged, but we believe we need a strategic reset to get us back on track and help our Sailors return with a much-needed renewed spirit as we prepare to attack the 2023 season.

“After this reset we are confident that we will see a different – renewed and reinvigorated – Sailors next season.”

Since privatising the club in 2020, owner Sea Limited – of which Li is the founder, chairman and group chief executive officer – has pumped in millions to improve the club, building training facilities and investing in sports science and a data analytics department.

In 2021, LCS paid an SPL record transfer fee of

$2.9 million for Brazilian playmaker Diego Lopes.

In 2022, they shelled out $2 million

for Brazilian centre-back Pedro Henrique,

and snapped up former South Korea captain Kim Shin-wook and

Belgian winger Maxime Lestienne

on free transfers. Kim and Lestienne are on record salary deals worth more than $1 million annually.

In July, the club also

launched a $10 million training centre

along Mattar Road.

However, Sea Limited, Singapore’s largest consumer Internet company, has in recent months been buffeted by a perfect storm of an economic slowdown, inflation, increasing competition and a broader tech sell-off.

The parent of e-commerce giant Shopee and gaming firm Garena

has suffered a US$150 billion (S$205.8 billion) plunge in its value

since late 2021. There has been at least three rounds of layoffs at Shopee, both here and at its international offices, with

the most recent exercise on Nov 14.

The Sailors have also been affected and ST understands that besides the culling of players and staff, they will also tighten their belts elsewhere next season. It is believed LCS operate on an annual budget of close to $7 million – other SPL clubs run on just over $1 million a year.

The club’s search for a head coach is an indication of the cost cutting at hand.

Sources close to contract negotiations in the hunt for a new head coach revealed that terms being offered to candidates are a far cry from

what was offered previously

.

In 2021, in what was viewed as a coup, the Sailors

snapped up former Asian Champions League winner Kim Do-hoon

of South Korea on a 2½-year contract.

At that time, prominent names such as former Chelsea head coach Andre Villas-Boas and Cosmin Olarou, who is well respected in the Arabian Peninsula having led Al Hilal, Al Sadd, Al Ain and Al Ahli - the most decorated clubs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates - were also in the fray.

The club’s first coach was former Australia captain Aurelio Vidmar, who had also helmed his country’s Under-23 and U-20 teams. Then he had inked a two-year deal.

This time, the Sailors are said to be offering a one-year deal and are looking closer to home, having sounded out Bojan Hodak, coach of Malaysia Super League club Kuala Lumpur City, and former Melaka United tactician Risto Vidakovic. At least one turned down the Sailors after receiving an offer that did not match his expectations.

The Sailors’ culling of key players and staff comes on the back of a roller-coaster season.

The year had started brightly with an impressive maiden campaign in the Asian Champions League group stage where the 2021 SPL champions

beat South Korea’s Daegu FC 3-0

and China’s Shandong Taishan 3-2. It marked the first time an SPL club had beaten a Korean team and registered two wins in Asia’s top club competition.

But things were less rosy at home.

In August, Kim, who led the club to their maiden SPL title last year, left the then-league leaders less than 24 hours after he was

handed a three-match suspension and $2,000 fine

by the Football Association of Singapore for headbutting a rival team’s coach in an SPL game.

Luka Lalic, the club’s academy technical director, was installed as interim coach.

They eventually

lost the league title to Albirex Niigata

and crashed out of the Singapore Cup in the group stages.