0:01

This is the Silver Fox Hustle podcast

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and

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this is the latest episode . This is episode number

0:36

92 of the original

0:38

Silver Fox Hustle podcast . Obviously , we have the other

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episodes on football

0:43

and that's the football talk episodes . Now , before

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we go on , subscribe to

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all our channels our YouTube channels

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, apple Podcasts , spotify and

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the Works as well . So please go and

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click on that follow and subscribe button . Now

0:56

, today we have a special guest in the show

0:59

. He's a former S-League

1:01

player with a couple of clubs I say

1:03

couple actually , not couple many clubs in Singapore

1:05

Tanjung Pagar , home United Woodlands

1:07

, balestier , khalsa and Sengkang Pongol

1:09

. He played for the Singapore National

1:11

Age Groups as well , played in the SEA Games as well

1:13

, played , I think , I believe

1:15

, a match for the Singapore National Team as well . After

1:18

retirement , he joined College East as a sports and wellness lecturer and is still

1:20

there , by the way College East as a sports and wellness lecturer

1:23

, and still there , by the way . I just met

1:25

him just now over a cup of coffee and

1:27

I see him almost every day Getting

1:29

sick of his face no , I'm kidding . And

1:31

his coaching journey has certainly flourished

1:33

with the women's game here in Singapore

1:36

and

1:41

he has achieved tremendous success in the women's game

1:43

at the varsity level with IT . And again , I can't count the number

1:45

of titles he's won with IT in terms of the polite

1:48

as well as the IVP , and

1:50

currently he is the head coach

1:52

of the Geylang International WPL

1:55

team . Welcome , that

1:58

was really a mouthful . Now welcome

2:00

to the podcast , my friend

2:02

and the newly minted

2:04

coach of the year in the WPL

2:06

. Welcome to the podcast , ratna .

2:07

Thank you so much , Ashish . Good to see you again

2:10

After a few

2:12

hours . Thank you for

2:14

having me here .

2:14

Yeah , it's a pleasure . Now let's

2:17

start talking about the award itself , because

2:19

I think it's fresh in our heads and in your

2:21

head as well . Now Tell me the

2:23

days leading up to the awards , and

2:25

in fact it was exactly one week ago . Friday

2:28

yes , yeah , you know the days leading

2:30

up to it ? Were you confident

2:32

? Was there a feeling that you would

2:35

or could ?

2:36

win this . In all honesty

2:38

, I never really give

2:40

a thought about it . That wasn't

2:42

the priority for me . Give

2:44

a thought about it , that wasn't the priority for me . If I win it , I win it . It's a good acknowledgement

2:48

that my peers , which

2:50

is , the voters of

2:52

all the coaches , are all the voters for the award

2:54

. It's a good acknowledgement

2:57

. I honestly

2:59

didn't feel anything . Yeah , maybe

3:02

on the day itself . Okay , maybe

3:04

I could , maybe I wouldn't . I

3:07

was rooting for Coach Daniel Ong as well . He

3:10

did well for

3:12

LCS Again , retaining the title three

3:14

years in a row , so that

3:17

is just purely a bonus for me .

3:19

It's a good point that you brought out Now to

3:22

the people listening and watching this as well . The

3:25

winners and the voters were

3:27

the head coaches

3:29

and the club captains , I believe .

3:31

Yes , no , I think I'm

3:33

not too sure I forgot about it , but I also

3:35

know that the coaches were the ones

3:37

voting for each other , and also

3:40

, I think , the national team

3:42

coach , right , right , and you know what ?

3:43

I think that is a bigger Right , right . So , and you know what I think that is A bigger

3:46

accomplishment , coming from your Fellow professionals

3:48

Rather than you know people who Don't

3:50

exactly know About the game and all , and I think that

3:52

is A biggest Thing and

3:54

Congratulations again , thank

3:57

you so much I just want to ask you what

3:59

was the feeling Like when you won it , when your name was announced

4:01

?

4:03

That I wanted . When your name was

4:05

announced , that I I , to be honest , I think I

4:07

was a bit shocked . I

4:11

kind of expected it more or less . It

4:13

could have been me , or it could be Daniel , and

4:16

and I

4:18

was more of looking forward to the

4:20

achievement of my players . Actually , farah

4:22

was nominated Young Player of the Year

4:24

. She won it . Farhana also was in the

4:26

run for Women

4:29

Players of the Year , so I'm actually more

4:31

eager for them than myself , right ? So

4:33

that was the emotion

4:36

at that point of time . Very humble

4:38

of you .

4:38

Mr Farhana , I just want to say this right and let me confirm . I just

4:41

want to say this right and let me confirm there were no speeches

4:43

at the awards show . Oh , I know , I know , I know , right

4:45

, so there were no speeches at the awards show . This

4:47

is the opportunity , this is the speech . Just

4:49

imagine that you just won the award . You

4:52

want to thank anyone out there ? Please do so on

4:54

this show . Yeah , of course .

4:56

I think the one

4:58

that is the

5:01

crew behind the backstage crew , the

5:04

one that's not mentioned mostly shout

5:07

out to two of my . I

5:10

call them the wise men Coach

5:13

Shaul , my assistant coach , and Coach Dean

5:15

Chi , my goalkeeper coach . So

5:17

we have a chat group which we

5:19

call ourselves the three wise men . They

5:21

are the so called my

5:23

pillars . I couldn't do this alone

5:26

. This belongs

5:28

equally to them as well . The

5:31

players definitely amazing bunch

5:34

of players that I have . There's

5:36

not one day that

5:38

I have to come into the , you know , to settle

5:40

any feuds or any fights

5:42

within them . They really know

5:44

how to handle the dressing

5:46

room , which also I have to thank

5:49

my senior players Miza

5:51

, mastura , farhana

5:53

, nat and those

5:55

who have been with me for a while . They really

5:57

make sure that the

6:00

team is kept in check and it

6:02

really helps me a lot when it comes

6:04

to the field . I think some of the players

6:06

are even more afraid to face Miza

6:09

or Mastura rather than me , because

6:11

they really hold the dressing room together

6:14

Brilliant . And , of course , the Geylang management

6:16

. It wasn't a

6:19

good start . It wasn't , to be honest , it

6:21

was quite a mess , messed

6:24

up all over the place , but I think

6:26

when we started

6:28

it and they were on

6:30

board , fully on board . They were giving , they

6:33

were trying to support as much

6:35

as they could . As with

6:37

whatever they could , I would say yeah , and

6:39

from , and

6:42

also the Ultra Eagles . It's nice to see

6:44

that finally you know the fans of the Ultra Eagles . It's nice to see that finally

6:46

, the fans of the Ultra Eagles coming down to watch the women's

6:48

game and stuff , and it could only get

6:50

better well said , ratna

6:52

, and I think kudos out , kudos to Shahul

6:55

and Dean , the two coaches , the players

6:57

as well and , as you mentioned , the senior players .

6:59

they were excellent throughout the season . So you

7:01

know , we're going to get back to the women's

7:03

game a little bit slightly later on , because right now

7:05

the show is actually about you , so

7:09

let's take the women's football later on . I

7:12

just want to go back to you , ratna

7:14

, way back when you were a kid and all

7:16

. What was your influences in terms

7:18

of playing football and how did you start playing

7:20

the game and knowing the game ?

7:24

You know , I come from a

7:27

family , a big family . I got youngest

7:29

of six , five boys and one

7:31

girl , so naturally the

7:33

rest of my brothers are into football most

7:35

of them , and in the 80s

7:38

I think Liverpool was one of the

7:40

biggest clubs then . So naturally I

7:42

become a Liverpool fan as well , together with them

7:44

. This is a . I become a Liverpool fan as well , together with them . This

7:46

is a . I mentioned it before

7:48

. Somewhere I live near the

7:51

old National Stadium , okay , which is

7:53

walking distance away , right , and during Malaysia

7:55

Cup day , this is a time where

7:58

we have opportunity to actually make some

8:00

money by becoming the one

8:03

who sell the curry puff , really .

8:04

You did that ?

8:05

yes , I did that I was one of those people

8:07

who will go around the stadium shouting drinks

8:10

curry puff , so that

8:12

is a form of earning

8:14

extra pocket money and the love

8:16

of the game grew from there . My time

8:18

there was Fandi Ahmad , the late Salimu

8:21

Indy , toki Jan and all those Malaysia Cup

8:23

heroes Lim Tong Hai , steven Tan . So

8:27

that actually was my first real

8:30

love for football Going there watching

8:32

all the Malaysian Cup games .

8:35

Would you imagine these

8:37

people listening and watching from drinks

8:39

, curry puff and popiah to

8:42

winning the coach of the year ? That

8:44

is so , so surreal . It's a wonderful

8:46

story actually , and you

8:48

know , were you always a defender back then

8:51

?

8:51

Because you're a defender , obviously , when you played in the league

8:53

Right right , were you always a defender ? I was always

8:55

a defender or a

8:58

defensive midfielder , okay . So I

9:00

think that is where my

9:02

strength are , and I think most of the

9:04

coaches will always deploy me in these two

9:06

positions .

9:07

What schools did you go to and you played for your school obviously

9:09

yeah , I did play for my

9:11

school .

9:14

I come from Upper Serangoon Secondary School

9:16

no more Now defunct , I would

9:19

say so

9:26

my sweetest memory of my secondary school at that time was we did a Leicester . Wow , nobody

9:28

did I imagine that we could go all the way onto the national

9:30

B division final and we won it . That was

9:32

1996 . Okay , so

9:34

we still have a chat group with all my old friends

9:37

and we still talk about it . It is like surreal

9:39

, you know so it's the other way around . Actually , leicester

9:41

followed you guys maybe yeah right , so it's the other way around

9:43

, actually , leicester followed you guys Maybe .

9:45

Yeah , wow , that's a good story man , and

9:48

you know , obviously you played for primary

9:50

school , secondary school and whatever , and obviously growing

9:52

up with your brothers and all right . When did you

9:55

think football become like serious

9:58

for you in terms of , okay , I'm going to play for a club

10:00

you know trying to reach

10:02

the goal of the national team

10:04

, maybe ?

10:05

I have to admit that I was

10:07

a late bloomer . I'm a late starter . I think

10:10

I only started playing competitive football

10:12

other than school is when I got

10:14

selected for the combined school . Okay , okay

10:16

, that was in 1996 as well

10:18

, after we won the division

10:20

title . So I was called up to play in

10:22

the combined school . How old that was ? I

10:25

think 17 years old . Okay , 16

10:27

, 17 years old , right . So right then

10:29

, when I was In the combined team school , I

10:31

was the only one Without a club , so

10:33

the rest were all With Tanjung Pagar , geylang

10:36

Youth . That time was excellent , and

10:38

so many other clubs . So I

10:41

, I , I , I

10:43

, so I carry myself as bad as I could

10:45

, and from there some of that . Why

10:47

don't you play for a club ? Try it out . And

10:50

I actually did . My

10:52

first so-called official club was Tanjung Pagar

10:55

United , and I got selected to

10:57

play in the under-18 . And

10:59

at the same time that year was the

11:02

birth of the Reserve League . That

11:04

was 97 98

11:07

, 97 , I think yeah . So

11:09

which you were playing For ? Sf , I think . So

11:12

that was my my Serious

11:14

Time . I think I could . Let's

11:17

give it a go and see how it goes .

11:19

Yeah , so yeah , you're right . It was 97

11:21

when the Reserve League Was . That was the first year

11:23

Of the Reserve League was . That was the first year of the Reserve League . That was a

11:25

wonderful time . Actually , it's brilliant . It was brilliant , you know . Stadiums

11:28

were full for a Reserve League game and

11:30

the players were top-notch , top-quality players

11:32

You're not talking about

11:34

yourself , right ?

11:36

In general , as well as my team , of course

11:38

, of course .

11:39

No , no , anyway , Tanjung Pagar

11:41

. So you went for a trial , or someone called

11:43

you up From your days Playing in the Combined School

11:45

.

11:45

There was a trial and then One

11:48

of my teammates In Combined School Already there and

11:50

then she said Come along , they're looking for players

11:53

.

11:53

So the head coach Of the team itself

11:55

Was Tewarin Praijan , and the prime

11:57

league coach , or the reserve league coach , was Same

12:00

Tewarin Praijan , same To Hari Paizan . So tell me , as

12:03

a young player and obviously , like you said , late

12:05

bloomer so called late bloomer , and you got into the

12:07

team , what was it like ? Tell me , just rattle off

12:09

the names that were in the Tanjung Pagar side , because

12:11

way back in 1996

12:13

, 97 , 98 and

12:16

from then and forget about this year they

12:19

were a force . Yeah , tell me , rattle

12:22

off some names .

12:22

Okay , if I a force tell me , rattle off some names . My friend , okay , if I can

12:24

. If you guys remember , this is Haris

12:27

Sumri was in my team , right . Then

12:29

there was Lim

12:31

Soon Seng right , and then there was also

12:34

a young boy

12:36

who I forgot his name

12:38

he's Robert Albert's

12:40

favorite .

12:41

And then sometimes the players that

12:43

come down to play , because the athlete player can come World's favourite , and then Sometimes the players that come down To play in the Because

12:45

the Athlete player can come down .

12:46

Samawira came down . Zahid

12:50

Ahmad was there as well .

12:51

So who were in the Top team as

12:53

in the A team ? The A team .

12:55

There was Lim Tonghai Samawira , steven Tan

12:57

, rudy Khairon Subramani

13:00

All the All

13:02

the big stars Down there .

13:04

So did you really like ? When you go into the dressing

13:06

room , sometimes were you like , wow , these guys

13:08

are the ones that actually watched in the Malaysia Cup precisely

13:10

that was my initial thought .

13:12

I was on the stadium going

13:14

round and round selling drinks and I was watching

13:16

them . And I

13:19

tell you , this is every boy's dream

13:21

come true . See , when I got move

13:24

up to the senior team

13:26

, in front of me was

13:28

Steven Tan , my idol , and

13:30

then beside me was Lim

13:33

Tonghai , rudy Kiron , suma

13:35

Wira , and this was it . Was surreal

13:37

. It was really surreal . It really

13:39

. This is a

13:41

dream come true for anybody .

13:44

What was Tohari Paijan like in terms of

13:46

?

13:46

was he really hard because I've heard

13:48

stories .

13:49

I've never been under him so I don't know , and it's not

13:51

fair for me to say what was it like .

13:54

Tohari is . I would say describe

13:56

it as someone who

13:59

whose youth nowadays need

14:01

, because he

14:03

will bring you to the ground . He will bring you to the ground , he will . He will

14:05

have no nonsense . He don't care where you're from

14:07

, he don't care how good you are . Character

14:10

attitude is one thing that he

14:12

really emphasise . You

14:14

must have this good attitude . You

14:17

must be punctual , you must . He really will

14:19

, will shape . If you have big headed , he

14:21

will make sure that you know where you come from

14:24

. It is harsh , but it was good . You

14:26

will really learn Humility under him . You really

14:29

learn that . Okay , football is about Hard work . Because

14:31

he was an Ex-national player , you know how , how

14:35

far he has come To become one and stuff , and I

14:38

think that is sometimes Lacking

14:41

Nowadays . So I really

14:43

learn the hard way . He

14:45

really emphasised a lot on your technical ability

14:47

as well , which sometimes nowadays we

14:49

don't see people practising

14:51

more after training and stuff . We

14:54

will spend hours after training or before training

14:56

to really hone our skills back

14:58

then some would say the same

15:00

about Vincent Subramaniam as well obviously

15:02

at that same time .

15:03

Vincent was the coach of SCFFC and some

15:05

would say , probably these are the kind of coaches

15:08

that you need now for the . Just an

15:10

afterthought , right . Do you think it will

15:12

work now With the kids ? Nowadays , you

15:14

know , is this thing in my head ? I'm thinking

15:17

.

15:18

I seriously think there have to be a mix

15:20

of both soft approach and hard

15:22

approach . Back then I

15:25

don't see anybody who will complain to

15:27

like let's say TMSG , and what

15:29

? Oh , this coach , this is , I think

15:31

, right . Then , parents entrust

15:33

the coaches . Coaches are as good as All teachers

15:36

. Like you know , you have to whip my son

15:38

Whatever it is . You know

15:40

Whatever that you need to do . Times

15:42

are different , but I still think we

15:44

can bring some part of it .

15:46

You know , I'll probably tag this part

15:48

To TMSG , by the way , if you're watching . Yeah , you

15:51

know , I think let's go on to another club

15:54

that I think let's go on to another club that I think . I mean , you've played for many

15:56

clubs , but I think these two clubs you've got to mention

15:58

First was Tanjung Pagar and the other club that you played

16:00

for was Home United . You know , and

16:02

again , the players at that time

16:04

at which years were for For

16:07

Home United it was in 2002

16:11

, 2003 .

16:11

Again , who were the players ? Oh , I

16:14

still remember them . We have that was

16:16

a team full of superstars . We have Paris

16:18

and Aikma , and

16:20

then we have Suti

16:22

. Bert Indra was there

16:25

, we have Surachai

16:27

, we have Subramani , we have Eddie

16:29

Iskandar , aidil Iskandar , fahmy

16:32

Abdullah , ali

16:35

Imran was there and

16:37

, yeah , billy Boney . The initial

16:39

part .

16:40

Was the coach Adab Steve Darby ?

16:41

Yes , the coach was Steve Darby . I

16:43

came in when Jason sorry was

16:45

it Jason ? Jason left

16:48

, steve came in . How was Steve

16:50

like ? This

16:53

is something I think not

16:55

many people will appreciate it if you have not

16:57

been under him . He

16:59

is a father figure to a lot of players . He

17:02

really taught

17:04

me the value of treating people right , so

17:06

that is how I learned

17:09

a lot from him . I don't

17:11

think anybody will actually come

17:13

and speak bad about Steve Darby when

17:16

he's their coach . He really is

17:19

. He has a soft approach

17:21

. He really takes care of players' interests . He treats

17:23

players like human , like people

17:25

first , and then you are first human

17:28

and then you are a player and stuff

17:30

. So , steve , really that

17:32

was very impactful for me

17:34

when I started coaching and

17:37

I realized that it helps the

17:39

players that I deal with . I try to be as

17:42

empathic as I could , I try to put myself

17:44

in their position and it

17:47

is a ripple effect . They acknowledge

17:49

that , they respect you , they realize that

17:51

you are here for them and stuff . And it shows on

17:53

the field Same thing I think he did at Home United Everybody stuff

17:55

. And it shows on the field Same thing I think he did at Home

17:57

United . Everybody will die for him on the

17:59

field .

18:01

I was just about to ask you about . You know the

18:03

things that you picked up as a player

18:05

. Then , moving on to a coach , and I think you already said

18:07

one about Steve Darby , and kudos to you

18:09

. And shout out to Steve Darby as well , if

18:12

you're watching this , if you're watching this , I think that's a great point

18:14

that you make and it's so understated . Now , you

18:16

know you talk about the human first , then the player

18:18

, and you know you

18:20

have to treat them the way that you want to

18:22

be treated as well . I think that's so

18:25

important . What was the most important advice you

18:27

received from a coach as a player ? As a

18:29

player , what was the most important

18:31

? Or you know something very important

18:33

that you got .

18:34

This goes way back to my

18:36

secondary school time . He's my PE

18:38

teacher and he's also my school soccer

18:41

coach . His name is Mr Kamil . I

18:43

actually inspired to become PE teacher because of him

18:45

. He told me this one

18:47

line that I never forget If you

18:49

can juggle a ball , that means you can juggle a book as

18:51

well . And

18:54

I was you . I was right then . You're 15

18:57

, 16 years old , you don't think about this thing . He

18:59

emphasised that you can be a good

19:01

player and you can be a good student if

19:03

you want to , if you put your hearts in it and

19:05

stuff . So that really carried

19:08

me throughout my studies

19:10

, my football life and stuff . And

19:13

this is one amazing , weird

19:17

or amazing experience that I have . When

19:19

I was in IT , I played for one

19:21

final year with Haogang United Yep , and

19:24

coincidentally , one of my student sport

19:27

management student I don't want to mention his name , he's

19:29

doing well now and stuff . He

19:31

was my teammate . We played , okay , we

19:33

played the night before , right . And then I

19:35

know I have an 8 o'clock class the next day , which

19:38

was with him , so I

19:40

was waiting for the class and stuff . He

19:43

wasn't there . So he wasn't there or

19:45

he came late . If I can remember , he came late

19:47

and then I was asking

19:49

him why are you late , why are you

19:52

not here ? Oh , I have a game yesterday , I'm

19:54

tired and stuff . So I tell him Do you

19:56

remember that I was in the game with you , playing with

19:58

you ?

19:58

as well your teammate .

19:59

Yeah , he was my teammate . I was here at 8 o'clock . Why

20:02

can't you be so ? These are things that I

20:04

think I was privileged To be advising

20:06

the younger players At that point of time . Then

20:09

I was like , oh yeah , I forgot you are there

20:11

, sorry all and sorry

20:13

, by the way , is Mr Kamil still around ? Oh

20:15

, yes , yes , mr Kamil . Still , I'm still in pretty

20:17

much in contact with him .

20:20

Mr Kamil , shout out to you as well , and I

20:22

have to say this you are a legend , my friend

20:24

, because this line , I

20:26

haven't heard this before if you

20:28

can juggle a ball , you can

20:31

juggle . I will leave it at

20:33

that , because that is Absolutely

20:35

brilliant . Well done , mr Kamil . Listen

20:38

, let's go back , not go back . Let's

20:40

go into your coaching bit now . Okay

20:42

, the transitioning From being

20:44

a player Right Into coaching . You

20:47

retired and joined IT , obviously , but no

20:49

, not really . You were still playing A little bit , and then

20:51

part time , and then joined IT as well . I

20:55

want to know how you got into women's

20:57

coaching . I think there's a story to this .

20:58

Oh , yes , Right when I came in my

21:01

first CCA that I was assigned to was archery . So

21:04

I thought , okay , I'll become Robin Hoop .

21:06

William Tell yeah .

21:08

I'm sorry , okay . So then

21:10

I was in archery and

21:12

I pretty enjoy it . Actually it's

21:15

a different batch of people

21:17

from footballers . Yes

21:20

, so the the dynamics

21:22

dynamics is different . You have

21:24

a bit more very quiet

21:27

guys who are doing individual sports , individual

21:30

sports , and then , while

21:32

I was doing that , again , coach

21:35

Shaul , that time who was in charge of women

21:38

football . He left for his

21:40

overseas studies and then he

21:42

was taking charge of the women's team . So

21:45

the position , so-called is open .

21:47

Was vacated . Was vacated yeah .

21:49

By Mr Shaul , by Mr Shaul , legendary

21:51

Mr Shaul . Okay , and

21:54

then again , my , my bosses say

21:56

since you are , you know , naturally

21:58

, why don't you take it and say

22:00

why not ? You know , I've been playing and

22:03

this is my chance to maybe impart

22:05

some of the things that

22:07

I have been learning .

22:09

yep , and you've never looked back

22:11

since . Yeah , what year

22:13

was this ?

22:14

this was in 2008 . Yeah , amazing 2008

22:16

, yeah what year was this ?

22:17

this was in 2008 . Yeah , amazing , 2008

22:19

, 10 years , another 17 years

22:21

of women's coaching , which

22:24

is a nice sec to my next question . Right , you

22:26

have by now obviously have the experience of coaching

22:28

the women's game and , of course , the boys as well

22:31

. I'm sure tell me the main differences

22:33

between coaching a girl's side

22:35

and a man's side , and a and a man's side , or

22:37

? A woman's side . What's the difference ?

22:38

See back then when I started coaching , I

22:41

always thought that , okay , there will

22:43

be different here and there . Women

22:45

do different thing . Probably

22:47

when I just started With my Little

22:49

knowledge that I have In coaching and stuff

22:51

, I tend to To so

22:54

called minimize Okay , girls cannot do this , girls

22:56

cannot do that , yeah , right , so and

22:58

then I . But

23:01

eventually when I grow as a coach

23:03

, grow and I've seen more things and stuff , I

23:05

I think there's no difference when you say can't

23:07

do , that means what can't do ? certain drills certain

23:10

drills can't do . Yeah , so that

23:12

was the the ignorant part

23:14

Of me when I just started , right so . But as

23:16

I I grew , I learned

23:18

a lot more things . I really think that it's

23:21

.

23:22

Basically the same ? No , no , but I'm sure there are differences

23:24

In terms of , I don't know , maybe emotions

23:26

, of course I'm

23:28

coming to that part .

23:29

Okay , intensity , maybe you know . Yeah

23:31

, of course , biologically you know . But emotion

23:34

wise , you'll be surprised to learn

23:36

that women's

23:38

players are more open

23:41

to feedbacks , open to idea

23:43

that you know when you impart to them okay , you can

23:45

do this better , you can . Unfortunately

23:48

, for us boys , they sometimes

23:51

are egoistic . Alright , I know

23:53

, I know . So that is surprising

23:55

. Emotion part of

23:57

course the

24:00

women players are very passionate about this part

24:02

. They will , they put their hearts and soul

24:04

into it and they really really give

24:07

everything they have . And sometimes you can

24:09

see after the game they will be

24:12

dejected and stuff , but they will come

24:14

out very quickly , they will recover . Dejected and stuff , but they will come

24:16

out very quickly , they will recover very quickly and they will go again at it .

24:18

Right , so I'm

24:20

sure , with all that experience , you obviously know

24:22

the differences and I think with that great

24:24

experience , you've learnt a lot to deal

24:26

with them as well , in terms of their feelings and stuff . Now

24:29

I want to ask you this question you've won many

24:31

titles with IT , you know and , like I said at

24:33

the beginning , I'm sure do you know how many titles

24:35

.

24:36

In all honesty , I really don't right , so yeah

24:38

the reason being because

24:40

it's too many .

24:42

I just want to ask you , right , because you

24:44

won so many , what keeps you going ? Because you

24:46

might , you might think , somebody might think that

24:49

he's won 10 , for example , and so

24:51

what the next one ? So what

24:53

keeps you going ?

24:55

What keeps me going is different batch

24:57

of players every time . Okay , I will probably

24:59

work with this player two years , at most

25:01

three years , and then there is a different batch

25:03

of players , somebody that I can impart

25:06

certain things , somebody I can hone

25:09

their skills or something I can work

25:11

with to get them better . So

25:13

it's a different batch of players and

25:15

I'm who don't , who don't like winning

25:17

, I like winning , and it's always

25:19

a good round to it . Okay

25:21

, how many titles you have won and everything else , to

25:24

me that is secondary . If I can

25:26

develop players , I can make

25:28

them better , character

25:30

wise , technical wise , tactical

25:33

wise , then I think I've done my part as

25:35

an educator , as a coach . I want them

25:37

to be better . When they leave , right

25:39

, and I'm happy to say

25:41

that Some of the players that I've worked with , they

25:43

move on to be Great club players , great

25:45

national team players , and

25:48

you know that is only the good

25:50

that is . It bodes well For the women's

25:52

football , yeah .

25:54

I want to touch on this as well , because I get this . Sometimes

25:56

People say you've got the best of

25:58

the lot playing for IT for the boys

26:00

, and I get that a lot and

26:03

I'll reserve my opinions . I

26:05

want to ask you this as well Is it as easy as

26:07

people think ? Because people will tell you that

26:10

you've got the best of the lot playing for IT .

26:11

We always get that , so what do you

26:13

have ? To say about that . I don't

26:15

want to say any explicit

26:18

here , but nah , it's not . It is

26:20

not . The police are catching up

26:22

. Players from IT now are getting

26:24

better . They will eventually move

26:26

up to the

26:28

police and even universities

26:31

, which is a good thing . And these

26:33

are the players that have played for me and

26:35

now is playing for the other team so

26:37

you're telling me that it's easy , it gets easier

26:39

. No , it doesn't get easier . Everybody

26:42

is , you know , like LCS . They

26:44

have been winning for 3 years . Everybody is gunning for them right

26:46

now . Same like IT

26:50

, or even when you are there

26:52

, everybody will try to get better , to be

26:54

close to you , and I think most

26:56

of the polis have closed that gap . It

26:58

is always a difficult thing

27:01

to win .

27:02

Yeah and listen , and my opinion is

27:04

always you know it's easy to talk , but

27:06

you know when you have to deal with 25

27:09

different players , it's a different

27:11

ballgame altogether . So again , you

27:13

know , well done . I want to speak about the women's national

27:15

team . I think you had a stint quite a bit

27:18

a few months or I don't know how long it

27:20

was as the national assistant

27:22

coach for the national team . What

27:25

was the experience like and how long was it for ?

27:27

I think I worked with them since 2000

27:30

. Okay , I got invited

27:32

in 2019 , I think

27:34

, to assist Coach Mel , then Melissa

27:36

, in the AFF . So I

27:38

was assisting her . I was also taking the U19

27:40

team . That

27:46

was my first experience

27:48

in the AFF tournament in Bangkok and then , after

27:50

Coach Mel left , stephen came in . Coach Stephen came

27:53

in and I worked with him as well

27:55

as an assistant coach . We we

27:58

played in the AFF and

28:00

the SEA Games . Yeah , I think we had

28:02

a historic First win after 19

28:05

years . Yeah , right , that was against

28:07

, I think , laos or Cambodia . So

28:09

that was a Really

28:11

remarkable experience For me . Going

28:15

from School Club , yes , and all the

28:17

way to the yes , really remarkable experience for me . Going from school club and all

28:19

the way to the highest level , that is eye-opener

28:21

. Intensity is different . Looking

28:23

at all the other neighboring

28:26

countries how amazing

28:29

their players are , like

28:31

Vietnam , thailand or even the Philippines now

28:33

and that was

28:35

a very good learning experience for me .

28:37

I think you're the right person for me to ask as well right

28:39

, how far are we compared to you

28:42

? Talk about the levels . Let's not forget

28:44

about the world level . Right , let's talk about Southeast

28:47

Asian level how far are we ? And then Asian

28:49

level how far ?

28:50

are we right . If you talk about Asian

28:52

level Japan , korea

28:54

, china they are up

28:56

there right . But

28:59

if you're talking about Southeast Asian

29:01

level Vietnam , thailand

29:04

, philippines , myanmar

29:06

these are the top four . That has

29:08

really , really improved , myanmar

29:10

especially and Philippines went

29:12

to the World Cup right . So

29:15

I honestly think that if

29:17

you give the right resources , if you give

29:20

the right amount of

29:23

time spent on players' development

29:25

overseas local and you

29:27

create such a good infrastructure

29:30

for local

29:32

players to develop themselves , make

29:34

everything goes the

29:37

intensity higher , good

29:40

level of playing and stuff , we will

29:42

somehow get there as well . Just

29:44

behind them Right

29:46

now I think we're on par with Malaysia , indonesia

29:49

. I think I don't think we

29:51

fall too far back as well . And

29:54

then Cambodia

29:56

and Laos . I think

29:58

we could do better than them .

30:01

We will talk a little bit about trying

30:04

to get this done in terms of your

30:06

ideas on the structure a little bit later

30:08

. But , yeah , I'm sure

30:10

the levels are , you

30:12

know it's huge in terms of Asia

30:15

, and then obviously the world right . But you know , I just want the levels are . You know it's huge in terms of Asia , and then obviously the world right , of course . But

30:17

you know , I just want to ask you

30:19

, in your experience playing

30:21

and coaching these

30:23

national team sites right , I'm

30:26

talking about players , player-wise what are we lacking

30:28

in terms of national team games ? Is

30:30

it intensity , is it physicality

30:33

, is it size ? What is it ?

30:34

Right . One thing is , I think

30:36

we

30:38

don't have the players all

30:40

throughout the season , all throughout the years . All right , indonesia

30:44

, for example , what I heard from the

30:46

last qualifier or

30:51

the last competition they have , they have one month

30:53

or two months of Training

30:56

together . Okay , it's

30:58

difficult for some of our players . Okay , they are

31:00

Students , they have

31:02

their work , they have so many other things

31:04

and they only train Maybe Two

31:07

, three times A week Together

31:09

as a national team . Okay , we

31:11

have yet to reach A point where , you know

31:13

, like the men's football , one

31:16

week before tournament , everybody come in . And

31:19

then they understood that because most of the

31:21

men's players are professional , we

31:23

haven't had any professional league yet . So

31:26

this is one of the thing that is very

31:28

difficult to really get everybody

31:31

together . The clubs will have to say

31:33

I want my players here and there . So club versus really get everybody together . Yeah , the clubs will have to . They'll say you know , I want my players here and

31:35

there . So club versus national tussle is ongoing

31:37

all the time . But we have to come to

31:39

a common ground for the bigger picture . That

31:42

is one , and I

31:44

think the resources of course , right

31:46

. It is . To

31:48

me it is a wholesome

31:51

thing . You

31:55

can't even concentrate on one . Let's say you want to put money in the

31:57

national team and stuff Right , but the rest of

31:59

the other clubs are struggling , yep , so

32:01

you have to do it concurrently

32:03

or go from the bottom Right

32:05

. I'm happy to say that there

32:07

are more girls playing football nowadays . I

32:09

had a trial from Geylang and I have , like

32:11

last year , I had like 50 to

32:14

60 people and they are young

32:16

girls 14 , 15 , 16 and

32:19

it's a good reflection of how

32:21

much the women's football have impacted

32:23

their life and I'm hoping for more

32:25

and more to come .

32:26

We have to start younger yeah , listen

32:29

, I feel as well and

32:31

you spoke about , you know , just a little bit , and two things I

32:33

picked out was number one was the preparation part

32:36

towards the national team games . That's one , and

32:38

the other thing is , of course , development , with players younger

32:40

and all . And listen , I think I've seen some

32:42

very , very good players , you know , and obviously

32:44

it's the development right , the

32:55

pathway of let's move to your club coaching and the women's game in general , and this is where we can talk about a little bit further on trying to develop

32:58

the game . Now , the club coaching part right last

33:01

, you won the , the

33:04

award for last season , which is 2024

33:07

, and Geylang International finished third

33:09

, and I'm looking at the table right now . Right , and

33:12

the previous year Geylang finished in

33:14

second last second

33:16

last with 6 points , yep

33:18

, and obviously last

33:21

year there was a huge

33:24

improvement 31 points , and

33:26

you finished third , behind the likes of

33:28

Lion City Sailors obviously

33:30

champions and Albrechts , who

33:32

were a close second with

33:34

42 points , which is one point away from LCS

33:36

. Tell me about the season that you had

33:38

, because that is a huge improvement

33:40

from what last

33:42

was it and to where

33:45

you got . So obviously that's why you won

33:47

the . You know and kudos to you . But

33:49

what was it ? What was the experience

33:51

like last season with the gilang girls ?

33:53

uh , last season , uh

33:55

, again , I , I

33:58

think for every other

34:00

team , or every other uh , clubs

34:03

, right , um , players is

34:05

the , the pillars of , of your

34:08

team . Yeah , and I was fortunate

34:10

enough to have very talented

34:13

, decent players that come

34:16

from everywhere and say coach , I

34:18

want to do this , let's , let's Right . Of

34:21

course I put the word around . You know , I'm moving

34:23

to Geylang and I

34:26

have so-called player agents Players

34:28

are agents . Let's

34:31

come together . You want to do this . You want to do that and

34:35

, amazingly , let's come together . You want to do this , you want to do that and amazingly , I have familiar faces that I've

34:37

worked with before and who trust

34:39

that I could , you know , deliver

34:42

and trust

34:44

me enough to play with me

34:46

again . So I have to convince

34:48

the club that

34:51

, look , I have a bunch of very talented

34:53

players coming in and I'm

34:55

sure we will do better than last season , the

34:59

previous season . I don't

35:02

want to write anybody down , write off anybody down

35:04

, but I think it was very last minute

35:06

to prepare for a team and

35:08

that's why they were scampering for

35:10

players and stuff . But I was fortunate enough to

35:13

have a group of players that is ready

35:15

to play . So that alone

35:17

actually helped

35:19

us to go all

35:21

the way up in the table and

35:24

even though we lost our first two games

35:26

it was the first two games against Haogan and Alvirex

35:29

. But then when we start

35:31

to win , you see the , I

35:33

know that they can go all the way to finish

35:35

as high as they could , right ?

35:36

And listen . That is

35:38

the art of coaching as well . You know , you look

35:40

at the season , it's just 16 games long . And

35:43

then you know , obviously you start the season not

35:45

so good , losing the first two games you must

35:47

be thinking , the players must be thinking what have

35:49

I got ? and that kind

35:51

of thing , and that's where you

35:54

need to be a very , very good coach

35:56

. To man I say man , manage , lady

35:58

, manage . And you know , manage the

36:00

team with trainings and all . So

36:02

it's a difficult thing and it's about juggling

36:04

a lot of stuff as well . So , again

36:07

, the work that you've put in , congratulations

36:09

to you Dean as well , I think , and

36:11

Shaul , I

36:13

want to talk about the development part . Now , right , and

36:15

I'm just looking at the table last

36:18

season , last season's table , and

36:20

I had to take a second look and

36:22

also a third look because I couldn't

36:24

believe my eyes what I just saw . Or I saw

36:27

, we've got a team

36:29

who's got a goal difference

36:31

of minus 107

36:33

. And listen , if

36:36

you're listening to this and you're watching this as well , I'm

36:38

not kidding you it's minus 107

36:41

in 16 games . And I'm thinking how do

36:43

you do that ? How do you get to that position ? So

36:45

I'm just looking at a table . Again , it's the extremes

36:48

, right , you know , the first three

36:50

maybe , and even when you got third

36:52

, and yeah , the third and fourth was quite close , and

36:54

then , okay , the fifth was quite close , and then it's a

36:56

gap all the way to the bottom and the

36:59

extremes were ridiculous . And

37:01

when you say a hundred and one , a

37:04

hundred and seven goals , goal

37:06

difference , that's ridiculous . That's like kind of

37:08

like you're losing every game . Seven

37:11

, eight , nine , ten zeros what's the problem

37:13

? 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 10 zeros what's the problem ?

37:16

I can't speak for whoever that's managing

37:18

the team and stuff , but I think I have

37:20

mentioned this before if

37:23

you are participating , just

37:25

for the sake of participating , you pick

37:27

any Tom Dick and Harry oh , we have a team , and you

37:29

give them jersey , you play . I think this

37:32

is what you get right . There

37:34

should be effort . There should be effort . There

37:36

should be a lot of passion for this

37:38

. Women's football

37:41

is no longer come form a team . I give you jersey

37:43

, play for passion . We have

37:45

passed that . We have grown out of that . So

37:47

it is a very good lesson , you know . I

37:50

hope they have transitioned into a better

37:52

preparation . I believe so , because

37:54

that's the word on the ground is Right . That

37:57

should be a lesson to any other

38:00

club that is wanting to have

38:02

, wanting to promote

38:04

women's football . Don't just have women's

38:06

football , because it's one of the obligations for AFC

38:08

that you know . Your club have to have a women's

38:10

football . You need to put in effort

38:12

. You need to put in all the works . You

38:15

need to put in effort . You need to put in All the works . You need to put in Sorry to say this the financial

38:17

. You need to put All

38:20

the infrastructure Support

38:22

given and then you will

38:24

. It will not bear fruit In

38:26

one year , two year , you will see the fruit , you will see

38:28

the result . That

38:30

is something that we should focus on .

38:32

You're so right Because just don't Don't put , don't

38:35

do things for the sake of doing it . I

38:37

think that's so , so key . And you're

38:39

right in terms of we are just already moving forward

38:41

past that stage where let's

38:43

come down and let's play a game of football . You

38:46

have to be better than that and I

38:48

think if we kind of

38:50

be like that , you're going to be stuck

38:53

in a rut as well . It's

38:55

a vicious circle that you're going to be stuck in a rut as well . You know it's

38:57

a vicious circle . So you know , I'm just looking at that

38:59

as well . And we talk about the women's game

39:01

here and we have some

39:04

say we have more of a chance of qualifying for

39:06

the World Cup . I'm talking about the ladies team , yeah , as

39:08

compared to

39:10

the men , because we do know that it's so , so

39:13

tough for the men's side , and I'm not saying

39:15

it's easy for the women's side , but I'm saying is there

39:17

a more realistic ?

39:18

chance . Of course , again , this

39:21

is been spoken

39:23

to by many people alright , we

39:26

have a clearer pathway , clearer chance

39:28

to

39:30

qualify . Let's not say , let's

39:33

not talk about World Cup yet , asian

39:35

Cup yes , the . The

39:37

route that we have Is easier Than

39:40

the men's have Right . Again , no disrespect

39:42

To the men's football , they have it tough . But

39:44

here I believe If we

39:47

Invest In

39:49

women's football Properly , with

39:51

all the supports Given and stuff and and and

39:53

All the the positive Things properly , with all the supports given and stuff and and and

39:56

all the the positive things

39:58

impact on that this had

40:00

been happening . We should ride

40:02

on it . You know we have players playing

40:04

overseas now Putri Danal , the

40:08

IMG girls , the scholarship

40:10

, utr scholarship and stuff . More and more players

40:13

are playing and this will only

40:15

be . You will only see the result

40:17

in a couple of years , or even the next one

40:19

, two years , when they come back , they will be better players and

40:22

it will bode well for the national team . So

40:25

these are the things that we need to

40:27

be doing , and not only players coaches

40:29

. You have to send all these coaches out . We

40:32

have so many uh mous with

40:35

so many different things and and when

40:37

you have this in your , your , your so-called

40:39

the system ecosystem everybody's

40:41

trying to get better , following uh

40:43

uh , the ways of japanese

40:46

, the koreans or all

40:49

the european countries we can only get

40:51

better right , right , and there's

40:54

so many things going on and I wanted

40:56

to ask you what are the challenges facing the women's

40:58

football going forward ?

40:59

and I think you named a few . Right , let's

41:02

just summarize things a little bit , because so

41:04

that's easy for everyone listening as

41:06

well . Right , what do we do ? Let's

41:09

say , for starters what do we do ? Do

41:11

we get our structure right ? Do we do ? Do we get our structure right ? Do

41:13

we need more people who are expert

41:16

in the women's game , for example

41:18

, to be and doing the right things ?

41:20

definitely definitely getting the expert

41:22

people who have been there running

41:25

women's football , knowing

41:27

how women's football at a higher level

41:29

is , like you know , and

41:31

getting them to impart the knowledge to

41:33

whoever that is running the

41:36

system now on the ground . That is

41:38

one . Again , I'm not shy

41:40

to talk about money . Throw the money

41:42

, you know , just don't

41:44

. I won't say splurge , but whatever

41:47

that we are getting now is not

41:49

near enough for anything

41:51

. Players are getting $50 , $100 for

41:55

transport allowance and stuff . Players

41:58

who feel appreciated , who feels that , okay , this

42:00

is part of some

42:02

income that I can get . We'll

42:06

show the

42:08

difference in the field and eventually

42:10

, if you can make it into a semi-pro model , why

42:14

not ? Right ? And the

42:18

resources this is

42:20

not a Singapore problem , unfortunately

42:23

. This is a worldwide problem

42:25

. Resources for women's football is always

42:27

little , but other countries

42:29

have moved on , have tried to close

42:31

the gap and stuff , and

42:34

I think we should jump in

42:36

the bandwagon and join them as well and

42:39

you will see the result . Philippines is

42:41

one very good example . When I was in the

42:43

AFF in 2019 , they

42:47

were just like us the

42:49

level or even below us . They were whipped

42:51

by other nations

42:55

and stuff , but they are in the World Cup 10 years later

42:57

, less than 10 years later .

42:59

So that is an amazing

43:01

example , you know so , yeah , you're

43:04

right and it can be done . And again , the

43:07

way Ratna has spoken , so

43:09

passionate as well about the game

43:11

and trying to improve , it's not . And

43:14

again , if you are watching this

43:17

, the authorities as well it is not a criticism , it's

43:19

just , you know , it

43:21

is what it is . You know , in terms of trying

43:23

to move the game forward , and I think

43:26

there is an avenue for that to happen here , especially

43:28

the women's football . You know , and obviously we can

43:30

go on talking for two hours and you know

43:32

we love the game so much and

43:34

that's why we're passionate and we're talking about it Right

43:36

now before we leave . And you

43:38

know , I think it has been a very good conversation

43:40

. We had a conversation for about 40 minutes or so . Oh

43:42

Right , do you realize it ? Yeah , quick

43:45

fire questions . I've got about 10 questions

43:47

, damn , okay

43:50

, you know , to the best of your abilities , as quickly

43:52

as possible , very easy questions , as some you

43:54

can . It probably was related from the

43:56

questions that I asked you before , right , so the first

43:58

one is a very easy one , right , easy peasy

44:00

. You ready ? Yep , let's go your

44:03

favourite food and drink ah

44:05

okay , I'm a noodle , person .

44:08

Tea or ice lemon . Tea or ice

44:10

lemon , so any any noodles right , any .

44:12

So any noodles right Any noodles . Yeah , now , when you were

44:14

playing in the Singapore League

44:16

as league it was called then who was the biggest

44:19

nightmare in terms of marking ? Who you had to

44:21

mark and you think this is shit

44:23

, right ?

44:25

Well , Alex is one of them .

44:26

Alex .

44:26

Durich , he is a monster . And

44:30

then Kiatisak

44:32

. Kiatisak was an amazing player

44:34

. He was with SCF . These two are

44:37

Yup .

44:38

Right . Biggest

44:40

influence in coaching , your

44:42

biggest influence .

44:44

Coaching style , coaching method , anything , up to you . Someone

44:46

, I think Steve Darby will have to be one of

44:48

them . Brilliant .

44:50

Favourite coach of all time . It could be . Anything

44:52

Can be the men's football .

44:53

Moreno , jose Moreno , favourite coach of all time . It could be anything , it can be the men's football . Mourinho , jose

44:55

Mourinho , I'm a Mourinho fan .

44:57

Favourite Liverpool player of all time

44:59

.

45:00

Okay , this is tough , but I'll

45:03

go with Gerrard .

45:05

Steve Gerrard right your biggest

45:08

disappointment in coaching .

45:12

What is this ? I

45:15

don't , I don't think I have any

45:17

, really , even if I lost , you know , I

45:20

try to be positive about it and get

45:22

something out of it . Yeah , well , said .

45:24

The biggest achievement in coaching .

45:27

Well , other than the Polites and IVPs

45:30

, I think this Third

45:32

position that I got Is one of the biggest

45:34

. The previous time was second

45:37

in WNL with Simei United

45:39

and also won the coach of the year in

45:41

WNL as well yeah , I forgot to

45:43

mention that as well .

45:44

So you are two times a coach winner

45:47

of the year , coach of the year . That is well done

45:49

. Now your pet peeve , or something

45:51

you dislike most when you're coaching the ladies , can

45:53

be anything . Can be anything , right .

45:58

I think when they first start with me they don't

46:00

realize that this is my pet peeve . They like to be chatting

46:02

. When I'm talking , they are poking

46:05

each other and stuff . I'm talking here , come on

46:07

, ladies , when I start to scream and stuff

46:09

, then they understand . I mean business .

46:11

But I don't think that's a woman's thing , it's

46:13

a man's it's everybody's thing . Yeah

46:15

, but okay , that's a pet peeve , well done . If

46:18

there was one thing you can change about the WPL

46:20

, what would it be ? Just one thing , something that you would change .

46:24

Proper playing field . I think we

46:26

should be playing in better

46:28

stadiums . No disrespect , I know

46:30

how difficult it is the facilities-wise

46:32

, but we can do better .

46:33

And not in paddy fields . Yeah yeah

46:35

, you woke up in an island

46:37

all alone . You have a choice of someone to

46:39

be with . Who would it be ? Minus your wife , please

46:41

, I take that away

46:44

from you ?

46:45

Ah damn , this is hard . How

46:47

long am I supposed to be there for ?

46:50

Oh , that's not an option . You just woke up and said

46:52

, oh damn , I'm alone here

46:54

, damn Okay , can be anyone .

46:58

I would say one person , yeah

47:00

, one person . Oh

47:02

, I need to be my daughter , I think .

47:05

What's her name , by the way ? Sophia , yeah , well

47:07

done , right , we're

47:09

almost there , ratna , and I

47:12

just want to ask you , right , where does Ratna

47:14

, you know ? And I just want to ask you , right , where does Ratna Sofian go from

47:16

here , right ? Okay , let's see . You've

47:19

played the game professionally . You're doing

47:21

well , as in you know , in your career

47:23

, in terms of teaching at ITE . You

47:26

are coaching the Geylang International Women's Team

47:28

. You won the Coach of the Year . You're winning

47:30

titles with the IT team . Where do you go from here

47:32

? What's up next ?

47:35

Wow , this is tough for me , but

47:37

you know , when you're

47:39

playing right , your aspiration will be

47:41

like oh , I want to play for the national team one day , Right

47:44

? So when you're coaching , I

47:48

don't think it's wrong for me to say that I wish I want to be the national

47:50

coach of our country one day

47:52

. That is not going to happen

47:55

now , it could happen later and stuff . So

47:57

I'm still trying to develop

47:59

myself as a coach , but that definitely

48:01

is an aspiration .

48:05

It could be sooner than later , my friend and you know , at the time of

48:08

recording , if you guys are watching and listening , there

48:10

could be something on in the next few weeks

48:12

or so and we will not talk

48:14

about it , but even at the point of

48:16

release of this podcast , I don't think it

48:19

will be announced as well . So , yeah , anyway , good

48:21

luck for that . I just want to ask you

48:23

as well any advice for any young girls

48:25

, women , coming up trying to take up the sport

48:27

, because I think this is so , so important

48:29

, right ? Because , let's say , I'm a mother

48:32

, I'm a dad , I want to send my kids

48:34

to my girl , to , you know

48:36

, an academy . What is the advice you would give to the

48:38

girl you know coming up ?

48:40

I think play as much as you can

48:42

Play , that is one . Develop good

48:44

characters , because

48:50

I always believe character beats talent , every single time

48:52

the reflection of your behavior . You

48:54

can go far , you can

48:57

be as talented as possible , but

48:59

you must be a good person as well , and

49:04

then everything else will fall in place . For parents who think

49:06

that you know women's football is , don't

49:10

waste your time . Think again , because

49:12

there are so many successful players who

49:15

have juggled both their studies and

49:17

soccer and are successful in

49:19

their field and are still playing football .

49:22

So it is a good spot to

49:24

be in well , said

49:26

Ratna , and you know I

49:28

think Ratna just stole my tagline the

49:30

hustle beats talent . When talent doesn't hustle , you

49:32

know , it beats . You're right , talent

49:34

it's , it's there , but you , you

49:36

got to work at it , you've got to hustle you

49:38

got to agree you know and and I think that's very

49:41

, very important rather sofian

49:43

, thank you so much for being in our

49:45

my latest episode of the silver fox

49:47

hustle podcast . Uh , congratulations

49:50

again to you thank you so much to

49:52

the club players . I'm going to talk to one

49:54

of your players soon as well , in the next few episodes

49:57

. That's great . Yeah , and wish you

49:59

the best and good luck for the next few

50:01

weeks months thank you thank

50:03

you , sasi , and we'll see you

50:05

again right now and see you in school again . yeah

50:09

, so if you're listening to this , this has been the latest episode

50:12

of the Silver Fox Hustle podcast . Don't forget

50:14

. If you're watching YouTube now , just click on the

50:16

subscribe button just below there . Just click on

50:18

it Follow button . We are out on Spotify

50:20

, apple Podcasts and the Works

50:23

Till the next time . The hustle beats talent

50:25

when talent doesn't hustle . Cheers , bye

50:31

.