Ex-Lion Noh Rahman looks to exert quiet influence as he takes the reins at BG Tampines Rovers

SINGAPORE – Be it in defence or midfield, Noh Rahman was used to being deployed wherever the team needed him during his playing days. It is the same for him as a coach, as he steps into the void

to replace Akbar Nawas.

The 45-year-old was appointed BG Tampines Rovers head coach on Sept 12, a day after the Singapore Premier League (SPL) side mutually parted ways with Akbar, 49, in a surprise move just three games into the season.

This will be Noh’s first gig as a full-time head coach. The former Lion will lead the Stags until the end of the campaign.

The national assistant coach told The Straits Times: “This happened quite quickly, so I didn’t really have much time to process my thoughts.

“But obviously, having been a fitness coach and an assistant coach for a few years, there is a desire to become a head coach one day.

“The opportunity has unexpectedly come along now, and after discussions with the club about our expectations, I felt it was the right time to take it up. I can humbly say that I’m ready for this test, and I’m excited to carry on the good work of my predecessors.”

It will not be long before his first test against Tanjong Pagar United in the SPL on Sept 13. Matches will then come thick and fast with an AFC Champions League Two group game against Kaya-Iloilo five days later on Sept 18 and an Asean Club Championship group tie against Selangor on Sept 24.

Aware that some players may be affected with a third head coach taking charge in a matter of months – Gavin Lee left the club after finishing second last season, before Akbar took over – Noh has wasted no time in rallying the troops.

“I met with the boys and told them the most important thing now is to focus on our match against Tanjong Pagar before we move on from there,” he said, as he seeks to build on their 0-0 draw with Geylang International in their SPL opener.

During his playing days, Noh won the domestic league with Geylang in 2001 and Singapore Armed Forces FC the following year. He also won the Singapore Cup in his second stint with the Warriors in 2012 and repeated the feat with Home United in 2013.

After playing for Tampines in 2016, his 20th season, he called time on a career that also saw him rack up 79 international caps.

At that point, he even earned a call-up from then national coach V. Sundramoorthy for the national team, only to turn it down as he wound down his career to focus on pursuing a diploma in sports and exercise science at Republic Polytechnic.

He became a fitness coach with the national team in 2017, before taking up the assistant coach’s role at Home in 2019, when he took charge of the last four games of the season (one win, three losses) after Radojko Avramovic returned to Serbia following his cancer diagnosis.

Following the privatisation of Home to form the Lion City Sailors, he assisted both Aurelio Vidmar and Kim Do-hoon as the Sailors won the SPL in 2021.

Two years later, Noh joined Tampines to become the club’s head of youth development and the first team’s assistant coach.

While he has learnt from the many coaches he has worked with, what stuck with him most was Avramovic’s attention to detail and ability to get the buy-in of his players while he was Lions coach from 2003 to 2012.

Since his playing days, Noh has built a reputation for being a soft-spoken model pro, and he looks set to impart that quality to his team and get them to do their talking on the pitch.

“We have an exciting squad that is complemented by new imports who are young and bring in a different energy,” said Noh, who is set to receive his AFC Pro Diploma – the highest level of coaching accreditation by the Asian Football Confederation – in 2026.

“I want to be sensible, and I believe the team can implement the ideas we feel will suit their abilities.”

On Sept 13, Noh will go up against his former national teammate Noh Alam Shah, who is trying to lift last season’s wooden-spoonists Tanjong Pagar United.

This encounter at the Jurong East Stadium will be the opening match of the season for the Jaguars, who have made multiple new signings, including former Tampines forward Guilherme Rodrigues and veteran local goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam.

Alam Shah said: “On paper, we are expected to lose, and it is a challenge for us to be taking on an established team in our first game.

“We have some injuries, but I like what I saw in pre-season and I believe the pieces will start falling into place and we will put up a fight.”

Meanwhile, a brace by Shingo Nakano either side of the break helped Albirex Niigata defeat Geylang 2-0 at the Jurong East Stadium on Sept 12 for their first win of the season. Both sides had drawn their season openers in August.

Balestier Khalsa v Lion City Sailors (Sept 14, 7.30pm, Our Tampines Hub)

SPL champions Sailors, who were lucky to get a 2-1 win over Hougang United on Aug 25, have seen their season get off to a slow start, having lost 4-1 to Tampines in the Community Shield and 3-1 to Johor Darul Takzim in the Asean Club Championship.

While Balestier remain defensively weak, they can punish poor teams, as shown when they scored first and salvaged a late draw against Albirex on Aug 23.