Champs Tampines already looking ahead to improve in Cup competitions

His side had just completed a hat-trick of S-League titles but Tampines Rovers chairman Teo Hock Seng was hardly overjoyed at their domestic dominance.

"We wanted more this year," the 67-year-old said matter-of-factly on Sunday night, after his side were crowned champions when title rivals Albirex Niigata stumbled to a 1-2 loss against Balestier Khalsa.

Indeed, winning the S-League was just one of three objectives he had set for the team at the start of the season.

The Stags were also tasked to mount a serious assault on the RHB Singapore Cup, and make it past the Asian Football Confederation Cup group stage.

Neither of those two targets was met.

So it was back to the drawing board for the chairman and his technical team, as they convened Monday morning to plan for the next season - even with four matches to go this year, the first of which ended in an inconsequential 2-0 defeat by Home United last night.

One of the items on their agenda would undoubtedly be the search for a new coach, with interim boss Tay Peng Kee keen on returning to his role as general manager after this season.

Teo is on the lookout for a coach who can galvanise the dressing room.

"It's only when the players are happy that they will deliver," said the man affectionately known in the local football scene as "The Godfather".

It is believed that he would prefer a local coach though Briton Simon McMenemy - who led the Philippines to the semi-finals of the ASEAN Football Federation Cup for the first time in 2010 - on Monday expressed an interest.

He will not be the only foreigner Tampines will scrutinise closely, with the club set to adopt a different approach after two hit-and-miss years with players sourced from abroad.

"We used to depend on agents but that is no longer workable," said Teo. He signed Argentinian midfielder Martin Wagner via the league's star player scheme this year but released the 28-year-old midway through the season.

"We have to bring players here to see what they can do."

Whether potential marquee signings would be willing to travel halfway across the world for trials with Tampines remain to be seen but as Teo noted: "One player won't make much of a difference".

He has identified the areas which require strengthening, saying: "We need a good attacking midfielder and a good striker, whose ages should not add up to more than (evergreen Stags front man) Aleksandar Duric's."

Duric, 43, knows just what sort of challenges await the newcomers - after all, he needed some time to settle in when he arrived as a foreign player in 1999.

"Many foreigners underestimate the league and the issues they will face with the weather and food," said the former Singapore international.

"And when they cannot adapt, they end up leaving after a few months."

He is set to stay on with the Stags as part of their championship-winning core.

The same cannot be said about the team's current Singapore internationals Khairul Amri, Shahdan Sulaiman and Shaiful Esah as the trio look set to return next season to the LionsXII.

"I haven't made a decision but talks are in the final stages," said forward Amri, who has contributed eight league goals this term.

Teo stressed that he will not stand in their way should they elect to rejoin the Malaysian Super League champions.

"They are key players," he acknowledged. "But our loss will be Singapore football's gain."

fabiusc@sph.com.sg

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