For more than a decade, Robert Eziakor has been with Hougang United as a player, general coordinator, youth coach, assistant coach and head of youth development.
On Dec 24, the 38-year-old Nigerian landed the biggest assignment of his professional coaching career when he was named interim coach for the Cheetahs, replacing Marko Kraljevic, who has been redesignated as the Singapore Premier League (SPL) side’s head of youth development.
Eziakor told Singapore’s The Straits Times: “I’m excited, having been involved in different roles at the club, and in terms of my personal development, it’s like climbing a ladder all the way to the top.
“I’m thankful I have had the opportunity to learn from the different roles rather than staying put in one position.
This makes things very interesting for me and it made sense for me to continue with Hougang.
“It’s easier for me to step up as coach knowing the players and how things are run but at the same time it is a big challenge and there are big shoes to fill.”
In his new role, Eziakor has hit the ground running, signing 1.92m Montenegrin centre-back Jovan Mugosa to shore up the defence of seventh-placed Hougang, who have conceded 49 goals in 20 matches, the fourth worst in the nine-team league.
He has also released underperforming imports – forward Petar Banovic, and defenders Faris Hasic and Ensar Bruncevic.
In addition, club hero Kristijan Krajcek, who will be remembered for his 2022 Singapore Cup final hat-trick, has returned to Croatia for ankle surgery as his professional playing days could be over.
Eziakor said: “Defence is primarily where we have a problem. We need to improve in this area so we have made the necessary changes to concede less as we try to create more positive results when the league restarts on Jan 19 for us (against Balestier Khalsa).
“We are able to score goals (Hougang’s 37 goals have come in all but one league games this season), but we are not able to defend properly. We want to tighten our defence and scoring will come naturally for us.”
Bigger things were expected of perennial underdogs Hougang after winning the 2022 Singapore Cup for their first major silverware, but their displays since have been underwhelming.
In 2023, another run to the Singapore Cup final masked a disappointing sixth-placed finish in the SPL. In 2024, they failed to register a single win in the first round of eight league matches before they rebounded with three wins and three draws in the second round.
In the first three games of the third round, two narrow losses to top-half sides Albirex Niigata and Geylang International sandwiched a 6-0 win over bottom club Tanjong Pagar United before the Cheetahs decided on the coaching switch with 12 games remaining.
Eziakor arrived in Singapore in 2006 to join African side Sporting Afrique, but never got to play in the then S.League before the team were dissolved.
The forward then went on to play in the National Football League (NFL) with Katong FC, Singapore Recreation Club and Tiong Bahru before he signed for Hougang in 2013.
