Lion City Sailors back in AFC Champions League but part ways with coach Risto Vidakovic
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Lion City Sailors coach Risto Vidakovic (left) chatting with captain Hariss Harun during a training session earlier in 2023.
ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
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SINGAPORE Singapore’s only privatised football club are set to hire their fourth head coach in just their fourth year of existence.
The Lion City Sailors dropped a bombshell on Monday in the form of a 129-word statement on their website, where they announced the departure of Risto Vidakovic by “mutual agreement” as the search is on for a replacement.
In the interim, Sailors’ Under-21 coach Daan van Oudheusden and senior team assistant coach Pablo Muniz will be in charge.
Their next Singapore Premier League (SPL) match will be at home on Sunday against Hougang United.
Sailors technical director Luka Lalic said: “It has been a pleasure working with Risto.
“While it is unfortunate that we are moving in different directions, we are grateful for his commitment to the team from the moment he walked into Mattar Road.”
Van Oudheusden added: “This is an unfortunate reality of football. What we must do now is keep our focus on this weekend’s game and make sure that we give ourselves the best chance to get all three points to keep ourselves in the title hunt.”
After his appointment in December
However, despite boasting two of the best foreign attackers in Maxime Lestienne and Diego Lopes
While they recorded their first win over champions Albirex Niigata in May, they are currently third in the nine-team league.
They have 30 points from 14 games, three points behind Tampines Rovers and Albirex, who have played a game fewer than the Stags and the Sailors.
It is understood that, while the gap in points and style of play contributed to Vidakovic’s departure, it still came as a surprise to the players as the Serb leaves with the best win rate (nine in 14 matches) among the Sailors’ coaches.
Australian Aurelio Vidmar led the team to 13 wins in 22 games in 2020 and 2021, while South Korean Kim Do-hoon masterminded 22 victories in 36 matches in 2021 and 2022.
Sailors captain Hariss Harun said: “Risto tried to introduce a style of play that all of us enjoyed.
“While we didn’t get the results that we wanted in the beginning, we were starting to get to where we wanted to be in the second round of the SPL, so this was definitely not something that we expected.
“Risto always had the players’ best interests at heart – he had our backs – and he’s already shown that several times.
“He gave us everything that we needed so we could... give our best, and we all really appreciate the trust he has in us.”
The Sailors, meanwhile, will be looking forward to a return to the Asian Champions League after confirmation that they have been bumped up to the group stages following North Korea’s withdrawal.
During their 2022 debut in this Asian club competition, the Singapore side surprised with two wins and a draw that included a 3-0 victory over South Korea’s Daegu FC.
Hariss has urged his teammates to build on that, saying: “We are hungry to regain the SPL title, playing in the AFC Champions League was also quite an experience the last time out, and we want to give a better account of ourselves.”
