Focus on the S.League and forget about Malaysian competitions. That's the message from Jang Jung, a former star import to Singapore in the 1990s.
The South Korean was part of the 1994 Singapore side who won the Malaysian league and cup double before continuing in the S.League in the late 1990s with Geylang United.
Now 51 years old, and a youth coach at a high school in Daejon, Jang urged Singapore football to be positive about last month's abrupt change that saw LionsXII booted out of Malaysian competitions for 2016.
"It's good for the S-League... to make your own league stronger," he told The Straits Times. "Don't waste time [trying to rejoin the Malaysian league] because if supporters and players concentrate on the M-League but not on the S-League, how [will it] survive?
"Now it's another chance to set up [the S-League] nicely."
Most LionsXII players will return to S.League clubs, rather than staying in the Malaysia Super League (MSL). As recently at 2012, Jang coached Perak in the MSL, where he played in the 1990 and 1991 seasons before joining Singapore.
But he urged Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to look at ways of re-establishing fan support for the S.League while working on football at grassroots' level.
"I've been involved in Singapore football for a long time. If you don't help your own clubs and youth development, how do you improve your football standards? It's like building (a house) on sand," he said.
"Realistically, which team can do it [youth development] properly? [We should have] proper salaries for youth coaches and proper marketing. Only financially strong teams -- three or four of them -- can [do it]."
Between 2003 and 2005, Jang coached S.League club Balestier Khalsa and he was the Sri Lanka national and U23 coach for more than six years. He admitted that he is open to the idea of returning to coach in the S.League.
He said: "If there's any offer, of course. Singapore is my second home." Jang and his wife Kim Hea Youn are Singapore permanent residents. Both his children --- daughter Se Eun and son Jang Wook -- went to local schools.
19-year-old Jang Wook is at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and will be enlisting in National Service soon.