The days are long but the years are short.

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We find ourselves on the cusp of yet another season. I am once again privileged to share with you our thoughts.

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The saying “a week is a long time in football” was never more evident than after the 2022 Cup Final. It was a disappointing end to an exhilarating season where we saw many of our squad, both players and coaches, come of age.

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Nevertheless, our coaches have spent the pre-season making sure the right lessons have been learnt. We can assure you that the fuel is there to ensure that our comeback will be greater than the setback.

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Speaking of coaches, we are delighted to welcome Noh Rahman back to the fold. One of the finest footballers ever produced by the club, he has already started to garner plaudits for his coaching prowess. He will be a fantastic addition to our brains trust.

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There is a fine line between genius and insanity.

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Over the preceding years, we have made certain decisions that were not always obvious, let alone easy ones to make at the time.

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We hired a young coaching team and a rookie head coach with a view for them to develop alongside the team.

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We entered into a partnership with JSSL to help us build a pipeline of young footballers. Both male and female.

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We gave our players and coaches multi year contracts to build a sense of continuity, loyalty and purpose.

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We scouted, trained and played our youngsters even when it seemed counterintuitive to do so.

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We have regular dialogue (and friendly matches) with our supporters group and have appointed one of them to the MC.

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History will judge whether those decisions were ultimately the correct ones or ill advised but we believe that we have already been vindicated on a number of fronts.

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Again, we are grateful for the indulgence given to us by our fans who are indisputably the most knowledgeable in local football. Without your patience, understanding and encouragement, we would not have had the courage to act as we did.

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When all is said and done…

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This season, we hope to see the teams challenging for honors on all fronts. It won’t be easy but we will do our very best and give our all.

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More importantly, we remain steadfastly committed to maintaining our proud traditions and to building a club that we can all continue to feel a part of.

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We sincerely believe that a football club is the heartbeat of a community. We are privileged to carry the hopes and aspirations of the Tampines Rovers community.

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We look forward to personally welcoming you back to OTH.

 

Desmond Ong

MC, Tampines Rovers Football Club

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