SINGAPORE — They may have recently snared a lucrative S$4 million sponsorship deal – the biggest for a club in S.League’s history – but, with just days to go before the new season kicks off, the Garena Young Lions are still without a head coach.

TODAY understands that the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has identified Frenchman Patrick Hesse as the man in charge, but the former assistant coach of French side FC Metz cannot be officially appointed as his employment pass is yet to be approved.

Already here in Singapore, the 58-year-old was rendered to spending the last two weeks observing his potential new charges during their training sessions and friendly matches, while assistant coach V Selvaraj and National Youth Teams head coach Richard Tardy have taken the reins on a caretaker basis.

The Young Lions, who sold their naming rights to local e-gaming and e-commerce company Garena, take on Balestier Khalsa at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday (Feb 14) for their season opener.

Former Singapore international Aleksandar Duric, who currently helms the newly-formed Active SG Football Academy, admits the current situation for the Young Lions is not ideal. But he believes it will not affect the team too adversely.

“It’s not the best solution at the moment, but I think they have two coaches (Selvaraj and Tardy) who have been with them for the past few months,” said Duric, 45. “They were the ones who, together with (FAS Technical Director) Michel Sablon, chose these boys for this team, so they know them very well and know the potential they have.

“I also think that, with the current set-up, the new coach will not have a tough time adjusting when he finally comes in. So while having no proper head coach might not look good on paper, I don’t think it’ll pose too much of a problem.

“It’s possible that they’ll lose a few games at the start because they’re still young boys. But we should give them a chance. They’re young and energetic, and I think they can surprise the bigger teams.”

The Young Lions, who finished ninth out of 10 teams in the S.League last season, will field their youngest-ever squad this year. Lowering the age-limit from an Under-23 format to an Under-21 set-up, the only overaged players in the team are striker Khairul Amri and midfielder Firdaus Kasman.

Despite the relative inexperience of the team, striker Hami Syahin – who previously enjoyed trials at German side Eintracht Frankfurt and Metz – is eager to showcase their talents against the older players.

“We’re all looking forward to this season and our first game against Balestier,” said the 17-year-old. “We’ve been training hard and all of us want to prove that even though we’re young, we are able to compete in the S.League.

“Though it’s a huge step up in level for myself and some of my team-mates, we’ll still fight to the final whistle for every match and make sure to play as a team.”