New Lions coach happy to cope with inadequate training facilities

He talks the talk, and he walks the walk.

A day after he made it clear to his players that he expects them to be 45  minutes early for training, Singapore national football coach Bernd Stange was at the Geylang Lorong 12 field two hours before the scheduled 7pm workout on Wednesday.

The German, who coached Belarus against the likes of Holland, Italy and France, and handled stars like Alexander Hleb and Matthias Sammer, would surely have noticed the streetwalkers, massage parlours, neon lights and various budget hotels in the heart of Singapore’s red-light district.

One week into his new job, he may well have visited the training pitch already, protected by a simple fence, and housing a cramped changing room and a shipping container masquerading as a meeting room.

But, the 65-year-old was not about to disparage the facilities.

After all, Stange has seen much, much worse.

When he was coach of Iraq from 2002 to 2004, his car was shot at and he received death threats.

After Saddam Hussein was overthrown, the national stadium was damaged and the pitch was being used to park tanks.

When asked for his thoughts on the training location at Geylang, Stange told The New Paper: “The pitch is well-prepared, and I’m ready to do my job. I am not nervous.

Adapt

“A new coach can’t just come and complain. When there is no lift, we use the stairs.

“The Football Association of Singapore has a strategic plan and we have to improve step by step. The next step is the Sports Hub, a beautiful facility that will come up next year.

“There must be improvements, and there will be improvements.

“But the changing room is nothing if the players we have cannot kick the ball.”

Stange’s first match with the Lions is a friendly against Myanmar in Yangon on June 4, followed by another match with Laos in Vientiane on June 7.

There will be much interest in who he fields for the two games, with gifted 17-year-old attacker Adam Swandi in his 25-man squad, along with veteran striker Indra Sahdan, 34, who is back in the national set-up after three years out.

New Lions coach happy to cope with inadequate training facilities