Sports Minutes: Hougang United 2.0 taking shape under the tutelage of Akbar Nawas, Panarai 'Otto' Pansiri and Walid Lounis

sports minutes with Ziaol Roshan, money of him 89.3 years time for sports minutes with me Ziaol Roshan. Now, off the eight clubs in the Singapore Premier League, one has often been a point of contention for its perceived silence on social media. If you've tuned into this show enough, you will know that I'm referring to Howgung United, ins and outs aplenty, both in the dugout and dressing room, and perhaps not all of that has been communicated to the public and to the paying fans. So it's only right I aim to uncover what truly is going on under the bonnet of At Howgung. And for that, I'm joined by Panarai Pansari, better known as Otto and Wallet Unis, two important cogs in the Cheetah's machine. But what exactly is their role and what direction is the club heading towards? Well, we are about to find out. Herman, a huge welcome to the show Otto, how are you doing? I'm good now. Good to have you with us Otto, Wallet, you okay? Very good. Fantastic. Good to have both of you because Howgung with Howgung United, there's a lot to uncover and find out in terms of what is going on at the club. Otto, first things, first few months in Singapore now. You enjoying your time here? Yes, of course. What do you like about Singapore? I'm like this city. I'm like about the, you know, the, the prayer, the city look very safe for the people inside and feel comfortable when I live in this city, don't worry about the, you know, about the tape about so many things, but this Singapore like a choir city made me feel I'm really safe. Yeah, I think a lot of people say Singapore is quite secure that way. I want to straight away clarify something with you Otto. At the weekend, Howgung United beat Balestec Alsa 32, but when everybody watched Agban hours was head coach. Yeah, what's the situation there? Officially and on officially, are you head coach? Now I am head coach of Howgung United, but this is a foundation, some rule for a interim head coach. I'm can take in charge only a 60 day, then we need to send the name because now I haven't have a pro license. I have only a license. That's why we need to send the names, put name of Agba to be a head coach. Thank you for clarifying that. Otto, now I bring wallet into the conversation. Otto has told us he's head coach. Where does wallet come into the picture then? I am the assistant coach. And prior to being assistant coach, were you already a part of the Howgung set up? Yes, I started last year, Robert called me and I joined after an interview with the U-13. So I spent the whole last year with the U-13 and then we finished second and then after that, they promoted me to go up to the SPR one and then assistant SPL two. That's good to know now that I can confirm that the head coach and assistant head coach are with me on this conversation. Now let's stop football for that. I need to first address what then is Agba now assess role in everything. Agba is what in the team? The rule of Agba is technical director, but behind as I I see his work or he'll do everything, everything he do, his chain, everything inside the club. So I think he do more than technical director. Yeah, he's a technical director GM. I'm sure he does a whole lot. Actually, when when when Agba came in, the deal was with the chairman to restructure the club from 8 to 10 years, now he's moved to the UTR. So he's doing mostly that in charge for the U-19 coaches, SPL two, SPL one and not only the vision of micro-cycle is a micro-cycle a few years back forward and he want to put everything in the right place. What's so called as a profession club? Not everything everywhere and nobody knows where he's going. So there is a very good direction now and obviously you can see there is big change also in performance and the club and that is what you do. Like Otto said, he really worked very hard. It's a it's a big job to turn a SPL club, especially one that Haugang has so much potential, but maybe lost its way slightly. I'm sure the Haugang Halls want you guys to do well. You give the fans a lot to cheer about, three to victory over Ballastier Kalsa. Otto, how pleased are you to start the year with a win? Yes, I'm very appreciate. We start with the win and I think it's a good begin from this year and we looking must buy Matt and then we try to do the best and try to win every single game. And while I want to ask you this, I'm just going to give the listeners a bit of something I heard back behind the scenes earlier on the phone. You said, oh, I need to settle free kicks and stuff like that. How do you split up the duties between the both of you? Well, well duty is overseen by Akbar. He do the match analysis for the opposite team. I will do the setup for the free kicks and set pieces. So we divide, but in hand in hand. So we will be in the office all of us. I'll give opinions on doing these free kicks. He shared with me. I shared with him with Akbar and then after decision will come back to him. Obviously he's the head coach, but we respect all his decision. So we just split the jobs, but in the end of the day, if you don't split, you'll become too much for him or too much for me. So I'm in charge of mostly the free kicks and defending ball and he's in charge of reading the game plans of the opposite team. Well, I have to ask you this because you talk about being in charge of free kicks and set pieces, both the goals at the weekend set pieces. Not only that. It's been going on. It's been a recurring team for Howgang United. What are you doing to address those pain points? Honestly, we tried first of all to be creative with it. And the same time with Akbar ideas is to make sure the team cannot read you what you're doing. So there is certain. I can't say it all here because we have games coming up. I'm not the special one in set pieces. We are doing our best, but it's working because the player do understand what you ask from them. And we try to make it a little bit simple for them. It's not a to be straight forward. No, there is creativity in between. Thank you for sharing like on that. I'm sure the fans are grateful. Although this is a chance for you to tell the fans who you are really. We know the name. We know you are 29 years of age, but we don't know what went on in Thailand that brought you to Singapore. So perhaps tell us what happened back home and why you're here now. Let's start from the beginning. I have my dream. My dream is I need to be the cause in OC and my biggest dream is I need to become the cause in our English family. That's why I'm looking for an OC opportunity. And then that's why I try to bring myself to the next level. To another country I haven't seen before. I love travel. I love to see new people. I love to have more friends. When you talk about wanting to manage in the Premier League, I'm sure a lot of us in this room share their dream as well, but achieving that dream is not so straight forward. Why did you in the first place decide to become a manager rather than a footballer? First, I start with a footballer like so many people. I play football when I was young. I play in the club academy. But unfortunately, I have a big injury and I think I cannot come back to play at all. I have broken my hip. When I was 18 years old, I stopped to play anything six months. I'm really bad feeling. I don't think I can come back and walk. I'm really bad. That's why I'm turned to be a cause so early. And then you come from Thailand to Singapore. I understand what you mean new friends, right? But there's also new culture. The players you work with are slightly different. Has that been difficult for you to overcome? I'm not saying this is difficult. I think this is my challenge. This is the new challenge. I think it's good for myself. In every country, we will see how people are thinking about many things. I think it's meaningful for my life. We will see a lot of people. And you will see, on this country, they will think like this. And then you will give a lot of opinion for the player, for the people. And I think I can improve myself with this different exposure. Yes, of course. Well, to bring you into this conversation, I think we all know what it means to the player. When did it change in your mind? Not changing your mind? Okay, in your mind rather than. Okay, I want to stick around in the game. Be a coach. Give back to the game that gave you so much. To be honest, nobody would believe I knew from young after football or move to coaching. It was always related to football. So I started coaching at the age of 24 when I'm playing. Wow. Yeah, I was with the late Darren in one of his academy. So on a Saturday, we go to coaching. My sea license, I did it on a was 22. My bill license, when I was 27. And for the benefit of the listeners, how old are you now? 42. Okay, wow. Wow. Yeah, super. You're looking. So you enjoy coaching, you enjoy when you say what I say. To be honest, it's something that I really love to do. And I think I can give back to the experience I had been from Tunisia. And then 20 years old. So if you look at 42, it's like half Tunisia and half Singapore. And going to the sports school, different culture like you're just now talking about. Yes, I think I love it. But it's never been in my hand to come back to what's called the system in SLE. Yes, it's there. I worked in 2017. Attachment with Gellang. And I worked before with Gumbach when I stopped playing with Gumbach. I worked with them as a head of CUE. But Gumbach didn't come back. But I was always technical director academies. And so nobody come and approach me. The opportunity came. And yeah, I'm taking it a full hands. Yeah, sometimes in life, you don't know when the door will knock, you have to open it. Right. I want to I love having former players in the studio with me because I get to ask you this question. You were a player in this league 10 years ago, 15 years ago. 12, exactly. 12, 40. What's the biggest difference when you manage a group of boys in 2026? The mentality is very different. They are very, very different. Which is better. I won't say better or not better. I think we were structures in the old school system. It's like the bosses of us work hard and very disciplined. I would say it like an army way. I grew up in that way. And it really matters a lot to me because football without discipline is very difficult. You can't. They don't come together. You want to be at least not not only football and at least without discipline is difficult. The new generation is they take it a little bit easy. It's their style. It's the way they do. I have kids is also the same. So we try to implement in their mind that whatever you want to achieve is not an easy way out. There is no easy way out. You have to work very hard. I understand like now, SPL 2, they are 22, 23. Some of them university is an all. They have to study, they have to work. It's too much for them. But they also must understand that they have quality. We have some players, they're very good. They must understand that the approach must change a little bit in their mind in a way. It's not easy, but we also try to adapt in their way. We're not forcing something to them. What we must adapt to them also. It takes two hand to collapse. Speaking of two hands to clap, Otto, I'd like to bring you into this conversation. We touched that you are 29 years old. Does that make it difficult for some of the players to take your messages in? Is that where someone like your assistant coach comes in? Because by all accounts, he looks like a very strict guy. Maybe he's the bad cop and then you're the good cop. Is that the partnership? What are some struggles you face being young? I don't even make responsibility like a good cop, but we work like a team. Because in every team I go, I like to be a team worker. I'm not one-man sure. When I work, for example, I work with Valid, I will see what is his strength. He is a former player, good defender. And then I'm not professional player. I try to analyze him what is his strength and what we can joy. What we can joy, what is my strength. My strength may be I'm a good player. He has a player experience. We can find the center and we work like a team. This part, I cannot do the perfect. But I see what I can do. I will give him to do. Or Akbar will control us about this. He will see my strength. He will see what is his strength. We try to work hand in hand not stepping in each other. The important part that Akbar has put when he comes in to make sure that we look at each other's strengths not weaknesses. I can sit here and say, "Oh, Otto English is not perfect because he is not his first language." Everybody can blame everybody. But the most important is what we choose to do is to make sure we look at our strengths and work as an important on the table. Whatever he's good at, we must make use. Whatever I'm good at, must make use. Akbar experience, of course, nobody can talk about coaching in Thailand, coaching in India, coaching national teams and all this. So he always overseen, make sure that we work all together in the strength of everybody to make sure the team work. And I think, honestly speaking, the result and the performances come in very well now because we work as friends more than colleagues. We really get along together, we can spend the whole day together and a lot of love, a lot of fun and a lot of seriousness. It's not like you are my colleague and I'm your colleague, with what you don't. We can see maybe in six months we become a family. That would be lovely, especially for the Haugang fans. But I like what you're saying in terms of complimenting each other. It's really a brain stress together working, right? Otto, if the internet is to be believed, you like stats, you like data, you like moneyball. Haugang has been busy in the transfer market as well. How big a part have you played in signing those players and why are they good players for you? We not look about only the player profile or not look only the world in the transfer market. We find some ability can adapt without him. What we find, like, okay, we need some striker, right? We must know what the profile of like we want. If we know like, okay, how about my style? Maybe I'm not likely to play more long ball, right? Unnecessity to bring the big striker to away hate the bond, but okay, we can adapt. We need to know, okay, we need some striker, have a good technique and then I can make a combination play with the team. And then when I know what the player profile I want, I will find the player by the stat and I think only the stat is not enough. The interview player for look his attitude and how he think about our tactic or the craft philosophy, something like that. We must see so many factors and our transfer market, we took time so long, maybe two or three months before the video event. I think we saw almost around 100 series and then we shot cut to maybe 2030 and then we had the list by the time going to decide who's going to move and who's going to come in. I think we had an edge position with center back, center mid and the striker, we had at least seven for each. And then we had some that we were close and then been rejected, they didn't want, they wanted, not discussion and negotiation, I would go. That is what makes it different. Like you say, it's not only the stats and looking to transfer market and say, okay, close my eyes or his thoughts, his hands and hands and then let's go. I didn't work that way, we had a lot of work. Hopefully they will do well in the league and no pressure to anybody because you need time to adapt also the weather is not easy here. And while you talk about spending so long trying to identify who the players are negotiating a few coming in, the club also let go of a few players. But is it as simple as them not fitting in with the group and the philosophy? No, no, let's be honest. We will sit down after the first round, we decided to talk about an auto, we decided to review our performance. We noticed that there is certain things are lacking, certain players may be able to say no adapting, so we needed to know what we need. Let's pull the A and B and the C and then let's say, okay, we want this. And one thing very important, chairman was very supportive to us on this idea. I understand this like not easy for clubs and all, certain clubs don't allow. So we knew that what we want to propose to chairman and Akbar and Akbar had a good discussion with chairman and they decided, okay, let's move forward with this. And the same time when we decided on this player, it has nothing to do with person. They were very good boys, they did very good professional with the team, they give everything they had, but unfortunately in the new way we want to set up things, they don't fit in. So we told them it's not easy to discuss and tell somebody to go, you know, you have a contra and all, but it's football, you know, football more fast, we cannot stay stagnant, stay stagnant, you will never move forward. And perhaps the head coach auto here can weigh in on this, what is that style that fans can expect from how gang this season? Every fan want to see a entertain football. My also, I'm really love entertain football. I love when we create something in the field, player creativity. Our style is not like, okay, we not play like a robot, we not give them like a pattern, but we give them creativity. He can create whatever they want, but under our structure, we try to play a beautiful football, we have a clear philosophy, clear game model in every game. And then we try to follow our model, try to play the cool football and entertain football. I like what you mean about creative freedom, Blasco obviously had a lot of freedom to pick the ball up and then just blast it into the net. Auto, maybe you can tell me what team in the world football you draw references from, it'll help listeners understand what your ideas are. The team I love, it's now, I love a positional play football. Positioning play is not about the two straight with your position, but positional play have a model from total football. You know, everyone can move, everyone can move and rotation, but under the rule, but the rule is not complicated, just a simple rule. They must know when someone moves and how I can rotation in the next space. And this one I really love and I love the build up football, you know, build up football, we try to keep position because we believe when we have the bond, we can create so many things. So many things we can control the game, we can control our opponent, we can create the shun, so many things we love to play with football. We want to give the bond back because if we have the bond, it's not just a football, it's just, we can give some shun to our teammates or to myself. Football is a shun, that's why we really want to have a bond, to have bond position, yes, because if we have the bond, we can create so many things what we want. I love the points that you're making purely because obviously football, a big part is tactics, but also teamwork and you guys seem to champion that in terms of supporting each other, addressing room level, but also at player level. While I want to ask you this, you spoke earlier about getting your badges when you were quite young, your new coaching was in your blood. Your assistant coach now, is the eventual goal to be a head coach somewhere? Not so soon, there is a long way to learn. Many coaches move forward faster, some succeed, but many fall down. I'm still in the learning process, I share my experience as a player, but I'm still learning a lot from them as an assistant coach. Of course, everybody want to be a head coach, but not so soon, maybe in ten years, five years, it's impossible to be now because I think there is a lot much to learn. And I hope that learning continues whenever you become head coach, please give me a call and now have you. You'll be my assistant. Why not? I don't mind learning as well. Well, let me ask you this, what would constitute success for how gang this season? To be honest, for the time being, the success is to make sure every game the players perform well. Like coach Otto said just now, given beautiful football and attractive football is not only the beautiful and attractive. It's also the tactical discipline and the transition, all these hangar must come in. So it will take time because you collect different nationalities, different players, Singaporeans, Thai, Spanish, Australian, Venezuelans. We have so many in the team, Tunisians, Thai coach. You know, it's like roller coaster, Roja, like we call it here, you know. You must make it all work together, and that is for us, the most important. I'm not saying like, we're going to go to the game and thank you very much, okay, we are learning. No, no, no, of course you want to win every game. Thank you for sharing that. In terms of Roja, I wanted to speak to Otto about something actually. I noticed that the weekend, you had six Singaporean players and five foreigners. We all know the rule is seven-four, right? Why did you play six Singaporeans? Is that because of the playing squad, or is that one of Hong Kong's KPIs as well to develop young Singaporean players? We heard that for me, I'm not looking. They are from Singaporean Thai or Japanese. We pick up players from a performance in the training or from how he can adapt without him. That's why if Singaporean can do well, have a good performance, okay, we will give him a chance first. When I work in Thailand, we see so many from them, like, okay, our foreigner is the first priority, right? First priority, we must speak our foreigner first, something, right? But I'm not like this. That's why when I'm beat, of course, I will not do like this. Honestly, what he means is to keep the healthy changing room and the respect from the player, everybody's equal. Doesn't matter where you come from. Because if you do that in the changing room, they see the respect that we have to them. And if you deserve to play, you can see changes in the next game. And you can see the same thing. It's all up to them. And this is the first priority in the club. I think I am definitely astounded because merit should be the way. And you guys are clearly rewarding merit. And like Otto said, right? There's no such thing as foreigners walking into any team. And while it, as you mentioned, it's to keep a happy dressing room. Know that you have to give your best in training to earn a place in the starting 11. We've talked a lot about football. My final part of this conversation I want to talk to you about. Something that's been a bit of a problem with Howgang United, that's social media, that's marketing, that's silence on that front in terms of speaking to the fans. Well, it perhaps I come to you first purely because you've been at the club slightly longer than Otto, right? Firstly, are you aware that decision makers in that club understand how important all those elements are? Yes, I think they do understand. What then is stopping them? I don't think it's stopping them. I think because now we have from a marketing team, it's from Thailand. Previously we had from Singapore, I think, last year from Lotharon. The only thing is there was so many change from last year to this year. There was Marco, then Robert, then Otto, you know. I think we as a club will lost a little bit our focus on the marketing side and focus on structuring the club. But now in our days, marketing and social media is also come hand in hands on structuring the club because without that it's very difficult to reach your supporters and the ultras and the whores. I don't think they forgot that point, but they are focused on improving that a lot. Like I say, we are structuring the club from A to Z. It's not easy to structure. I think a club came already only three months, right? Yes, so three months. Three months, if you work in an office, I will tell you stay in or you're going to go home already. So, so far we move in the right direction. I think they know everything. And if I'm not wrong, there was numbers the last few days from the marketing department. I also streamed their pace has grown by numbers. There is more people follow. Slowly, but steady will be there. I think I would argue that it's a tie influence that has brought on new followers, but I think it's so important that both of you from the club come and tell the fans that it's being addressed because there's so much to change. This is also being addressed as a change going forward. Yes, there is. There is. There will be the change definitely. I totally agree. Don't get me wrong. There wasn't much going on, but she last year. I mean, if I look at it last year, even the CUE teams, I don't know when they play. Because like I said, there was so many change, the way the focus was, but I'll just promise everybody that it's going to be much different. It started already, but you can't build the house overnight, right? Exactly. You guys are laying the foundation. And I like that you brought up your promise to the fans, and that's what I like the head coach to do for us. What's your promise to the Hougang fans going forward? From my one thing is in every single game we come to be a winner. This is my ambition and club ambition also. Now we have the winning mentality. We never come for the game like, okay, play day by day or just, okay, play well and say, okay, thank you. Today we play well, but never mind. We never do like this. I'm very confident. Now we're very, very hungry, very ambitious, and I will bring all of my players in the game. Only one option is become to be a winner. Yes, this is one thing I can provide with the fan. Wow, Otto, I'm ready to run through walls for you. That was a powerful speech. Otto Wallet, thank you so much for joining Sports Minutes. Thank you so much for telling us all that is going on at Hougang United. Thank you. I wish you all the best for the rest of the year. 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