Jakarta Casual

With Raddy Avramovic calling it a day as the most successful manager in Singapore's football history talk now turns to who will succeed him as the Lions seek to build on their AFF Cup triumph in the AFC Asian Cup qualifications which begin in February.

In the dug out during the recent tournament was Mike Wong, formerly coach of Geylang United. Whether he was appointed to assist Raddy with a view to replacing the Serb can only be conjecture of course; there is always an assistant after all.

Of course much will focus on whether the next man to take the job will be a local or a foreigner. Much vitriol was aimed at Raddy in the dark days before the AFF Cup and there is no getting away from the fact that much of it was nationalist in its make up. The feeling among many that only a Singaporean can manage the team properly.

Bollocks of course but that was an argument spewed by the English when Sven Goran Ericksson was given charge of the England national team.

If we are talking locals then two other names will probably go into the hat alongside Wong. Aide Iskander was a well regarded player in his time with the Lions while Richard Bok enjoyed phenomenal success with SAFFC during his time there.

And of course there is Sundramurthy who has done a good job with LionsX11 in the Malaysia Super League last season, providing the back bone of the Lions team in Bangkok.

Fandi Ahmad is Singapore's favourite football son. While Manchester United fans revelled in George Best's excesses off the field, Singapore fans still enjoy swapping Fandi stories which, to be fair, make him sound more like an eternally nice fella with a smile for everyone. However the nice guy is settling into a new club, Johor Darul Tizkam, just across the border and is probably drooling politely at the mouth just reading the list of players he has acquired there ahead of the new season.

One more local candidate? PN Srivaji?

The we have possible foreign applicants. Top of that list must be Steve Darby. A familiar face to Singaporeans due to his time with Home United Darby is widely viewed as an excellent man manager. He also does great interviews and is not afraid to speak out on topics; something the Singapore FA will be more than well aware of!

Alfred Riedl is another name who may well be considered. The Austrian has worked in the region before coaching Vietnam, Indonesia and Laos.

Then we have the others out there. The unknowns. Who we don't know. Those coming from left field.

Whoever takes over won't have much time to get to know his players. They start the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers early February.