Interim S’pore national coach Gavin Lee hopes Lions can make an impact with him at the helm

SINGAPORE – Not even playing against legendary French World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane and Thai stars Kiatisuk Senamuang, Tawan Sripan and Therdsak Chaiman in a 2007 Adidas exhibition match in Chiang Mai could convince a teenage Gavin Lee to extend his playing career.

While he did well enough to become a Singapore Under-15 footballer alongside the likes of Hariss Harun and Izwan Mahbud under former Lion Kadir Yahaya, Lee – now their interim national coach – told The Straits Times: “The best player of my age group in my position was Hariss, and I was not close to his level, so I knew then I was never going to make it at a high level.”

Instead, the former Victoria Junior College captain found his calling in coaching, and his gut instinct has proven right.

Now 34, Lee is one of the most highly rated Singaporean coaches with his brand of purposeful, possession-based football while at the helm of BG Tampines Rovers.

The assistant Lions coach was

named interim successor to Tsutomu Ogura

, after the Japanese stepped down in June as national coach. Lee will take charge for the next four games – starting with a Causeway derby in Malaysia on Sept 4 – marking another milestone in his coaching career.

Expressing gratitude to Football Association of Singapore president Forrest Li and deputy president Desmond Ong, he said: “It’s always exciting to represent the country, and that comes with a lot of responsibilities and expectations.

“My expectation is still to provide the players the best conditions, the best training, the best information, so that they are equipped with the best tools to go out there and succeed. As the interim head coach, now I have the responsibility of making sure the entire staff is performing as well.”

Football runs in the Lee family. Younger sister Genevieve, a 29-year-old doctor, was also a youth international footballer, but the coaching genes are most probably passed down by his father Lawrence, a youth coach.

A young Gavin would follow his father to his coaching sessions, adding: “I always helped him with his sessions, so that might have unconsciously influenced me. As I started taking more sessions, I quite enjoyed it.”

When it came to choosing his university pathway, Gavin was certain about staying in football, with coaching as an avenue.

“I didn’t know I’d be half decent at it, but I just thought, since I really like it, why not go for it, and my parents were supportive all the way,” he added.

While pursuing a sports science degree at Nanyang Technological University, he also started “serious coaching” with the JSSL Singapore academy. This also meant that he stopped playing football as he was taking up to 14 sessions a week in what was essentially a full-time job as he also earned his coaching badges.

Lawrence, 65, told ST how his son was a natural coach as he was player-centric and controlled his emotions well, noting that he was “very mature in handling different situations”, even at a young age.

Gavin met other benefactors along the way, such as former Warriors FC coach Alex Weaver, whom he assisted in 2014 and 2015. The Englishman opened doors for him to observe top coaches from Cardiff City, Crewe Alexandra and Liverpool in Britain.

In 2019, with Kadir as Tampines adviser, Gavin became the SPL’s youngest head coach at age 28, capping his rookie season by leading them to the Singapore Cup. Along the way, he also learnt stakeholder-management from former Stags chairman Ong and later Ogura, who praised him for being “adept at analysing games and training sessions”.

National captain Hariss noted Gavin’s observant and meticulous nature as well as his clear and concise communication.

The Lion City Sailors skipper added: “When the Sailors played Tampines, it was like playing chess as he tried to neutralise us while sticking to his guns and possession-based game. I believe he has the buy-in of the national players as we try to get the results we need in the Asian Cup qualifiers.”

Along the way, Gavin understood better how coaching was “more than the Xs and Os, the tactics and the fancy stuff”.

He said: “The more I coached, the more I realised it was about the players, the interactions we have with them, and the responsibility and ability of the coach to impact and improve them. When those things happen, it gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

He also learnt first-hand how all-consuming coaching can be, candidly revealing that his wife of four years has often seen his grumpy side as he constantly mulled over areas of improvement even after winning games.

For the past eight years, he has been so committed to coaching, it has come at the expense of time spent with his loved ones as he had to leave the house early and deal with club affairs till late, with matches played on weekends. Plans to start a family also took a back seat.

Gavin, who left Tampines at the end of last season, said it is time to “take a pause” so that he can have more clarity on how to better manage things as he eyes an overseas stint in the future.

For now, his task is keeping the Lions atop Group C in their quest to reach the 2027 Asian Cup, with friendlies against Malaysia and Myanmar (Sept 9) before the qualifiers against India (Oct 9 and 14).

Being aligned with Ogura’s philosophy in terms of “finding the best way to maximise the ingredients we have to make the best meal” means there will be no radical changes, but Lee has his own message for the team.

He said: “When you represent your country, you can do something that can potentially have an impact, and that is very exciting...

“We must want to give Singaporeans something to be very proud of. If not, we shouldn’t be here.”

“The national team have a very big potential to bring Singaporeans pride and joy, and be role models to inspire the next generation of footballers, and that can only come through our performance and our results. My role is to make sure our team recognise and try to achieve these through what we do on the pitch,” he added.