'Out of his depth': Nishigaya failed to convince as Singapore football head coach, say observers

Like his predecessor and compatriot Tatsuma Yoshida, Nishigaya took over the Lions hotseat in 2022 despite having no prior experience in coaching at the international level.

But while Yoshida led Singapore to the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals in 2021 - the first time in nine years that the team had reached the last four of the regional tournament - Nishigaya struggled to win over fans and critics.

Local football blogger Ko Po Hui said that there were no positives to take away from Nishigaya's time as head coach.

"His tenure is probable one of the most unfortunate in recent local football history," he said. "I can't think of anyone who had been scrutinised so closely from day one ... because of his lack of credible credentials."

NOT JUST HIS FAULT

A former J-League player who made 100 J-League appearances, Nishigaya started his coaching journey in 2004 as a youth coach in Tokyo Verdy. He became youth head coach before leaving in 2009.

He went on to become assistant coach at Albirex Niigata (2012) and Mito Hollyhock (2013-2015) before being promoted to head coach at the latter. Nishigaya was also head coach of SC Sagamihara before moving on to Matsumoto Yamaga, where he was under-18 head coach, and then becoming first-team assistant in 2020.

His stint got off to an ignominious start just three games in as Singapore fell 1-0 to Tajikistan in June 2022, ending the team's hopes of qualifying for the 2023 edition of the Asian Cup.

The Lions also failed to get out of the group stage at the 2022 edition of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup.

But Nishigaya cannot be solely blamed for Singapore's struggles, said Sasikumar. For one, the recruitment process which saw the 50-year-old hired was not "stringent" enough, he said.

When Nishigaya was unveiled in April 2022, then FAS president Lim Kia Tong said that the selection panel for head coach was guided by a "set of principles" before even analysing candidates. The aim was to find someone who could inject belief into the players like Yoshida did.

Nearly 50 candidates applied for the post, and the number was cut down to 20 at the first stage of evaluation, said FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari.

Lim then said that Nishigaya's strengths lie in his ability to identify players' strengths and utilise them to suit his tactics and style of play. 

However, CNA understands that the language barrier - Nishigaya could not speak fluent English and relied heavily on assistant coach Koichiro Iizuka as a translator - was a big impediment.

While he had not lost the dressing room, Nishigaya often struggled to get his points across to players and build meaningful relationships with them.

"Blaming it all on him is not a fair thing," said Sasikumar. 

"As a professional, you can't blame him for taking up the job, right? Somebody comes along and gives you a job to be a coach of the national team. I think there's only 200 over jobs like that in the world as a national team coach, and I suppose he wanted to advance his career in that sense."

Sasikumar added that Nishigaya also did not always have the best players available at his disposal. 

Forward Ikhsan Fandi only returned to the international fold last November after being out for the better part of 10 months due to a knee injury, as did defender Safuwan Baharudin, who received medical clearance to play following a concussion injury in 2022.

"But then that's where he earns his money as a coach," he said. "I suppose where he comes from his background, he doesn't really have the tactical nous for international football."

Khairul said that Nishigaya had "tried hard", but it had been the wrong appointment on "every level" as he could not speak English well and did not have international experience.

"He tried hard, he went to games, he made the effort. For in general, his squad selection wasn't too bad. But I think what it translates on the pitch, sometimes the substitutions, sometimes the game plan, he didn't really understand or has a clear grasp of football and football in the region and also the players," he explained.