Musawir ready to mould young eagles into champions

The success of a club’s academy is often measured by the number of players graduating from it and establishing themselves in the first team.

With that in mind, newly-appointed Geylang International’s Centre of Excellence (COE) head coach Abdul Musawir Abdul Gany has vowed to develop more players that head coach Noor Ali can utilise for the Singapore Premier League (SPL) campaign.

Musawir, who has more than 10 years of coaching experience, joined The Eagles from Tanjong Pagar United FC, where he served for three years from 2020-2022.

His last position was the head of both youth development and the U-21 squad for The Jaguars.

Musawir is relishing the fresh challenge at Our Tampines Hub (OTH) and working closely with Noor to get the best out of players according to the latter’s football philosophy.

Musawir will oversee the development of all three COE squads – U-21, U-17 and U-15.

“My first and immediate objective here at Geylang International is to develop the current batch of COE players for the first team,” said Musawir, who’s currently pursuing his Pro License.

“The U-21 team in particular, since they are also competing (in the COE league), must be ready at all times (for a possible first-team selection).

“So, the style of football we’re instilling in our COE players must be in line with coach Noor’s philosophy. There must be no clash of philosophies from what coach Noor does for the first team.”

Musawir is also determined to fast-track the development of some talented players so that they can climb the ranks quickly.

“It’s also a target of mine that a player may not necessarily play in their age group. There should be no restrictions. If he is good enough, then he should keep progressing from U-15 to U-17, U-21 and ultimately the first team,” said Musawir, who spent one season as UITM FC assistant coach when the team were playing in the second-tier 2018 Malaysia Premier League.

“I have conveyed this message to all the COE coaches.

With Geylang International U-21 and U-17 sides contesting in SPL’s COE Leagues, Musawir said he will have to strike a balance between pursuing excellence and developing talents.

Last year, The Eagles came in fourth in the U-21 League while the U-17 squad finished fifth.

“Result is important, but development is just as crucial,” stressed Musawir.

“For youth players, it’s important that you train them well fundamentally. If you don’t develop them technically and tactically, and they don’t understand the positioning, how are we going to get them to produce result?

“The character is also very important, their desire and discipline. Based on these criteria, we will know whether they are suitable for Geylang International or not.”

Each year, Geylang International will try to promote at least three players to the first team.

Some of the notable players included Ilhan Noor, Noor Ariff, Azri Suhaili, Danish Haziq and Syady Sufwan.

Ends.