FROM GAME TO MATCH DAY Firdaus goes from coaching virtual clubs to managing SPL team Hougang The Straits Times22 Jan 2023Deepanraj Ganesan gdeepan@sph.com.sg ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI Hougang United’s new head coach Firdaus Kassim, 35, had stints in Thailand as an assistant coach at Muangthong United and Chainat Hornbill, before joining the Cheetahs as an assistant coach in 2020. He was also an analyst with the Singapore national team. As an 11-year-old, Firdaus Kassim would spend hours every weekend playing the latest edition of Championship Manager (CM) on his computer. What started as recreation with the football simulation game has progressed to real-life management for the 35-year-old, who has been appointed Hougang United’s head coach this season. He was handed the reins after leading the Singapore Premier League (SPL) club to their first piece of silverware – the 2022 Singapore Cup – as an interim coach. As a boy, Firdaus was allowed to use the computer only on weekends and would look forward all week to sitting in front of his desktop to manage English Premier League side Newcastle United. During the week, he would shortlist players and jot their names down in a notebook during lessons and plan how he would deliver success to the Magpies in the virtual world. He said: “I enjoyed the thrill of picking the kind of players I wanted in my team and I would spend hours organising my team and the tactics that I wanted to use. “I was obsessed with the game and it was what I enjoyed doing most in my younger days. “I did like to play football with my friends but I also loved CM. The game made me want to learn more about tactics and increased my knowledge of football.” Firdaus is not alone in going from computer game to the dugout. Reims coach William Still, 30, the youngest manager in France’s Ligue 1, has said that his interest in coaching came from Football Manager, the successor to CM. As his fascination with managing a team grew, Firdaus frequented the National Library to borrow books on football tactics and training. He would then put that knowledge into practice with his friends. The Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School student would recruit players for a social team called Eastwich, conduct training sessions and arrange tournaments at Pasir Ris Park. But he also wanted to be a professional footballer. At 18, he was in Paya Lebar Punggol’s youth team but an ankle ligament injury, coupled with an acceptance that he was not good enough, saw him abandon his aspirations. At 19, while pursuing a diploma in business process and systems engineering at Temasek Polytechnic, he enrolled for an introductory coaching course and then achieved his first certification – the “C” licence – while doing national service. Today, he is close to completing the Asian Football Confederation professional diploma, the highest level of coaching accreditation issued by the region’s go