24/11/13 Kim Swee to replace Raja? BY ERIC SAMUEL PETALING JAYA: After all the hype about engaging a top foreign coach, it now appears that the toss for the hot seat is between two locals – national Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee and Dollah Salleh, who led Pahang to the Malaysia Cup title this year. Speculation is rife that Datuk K. Rajagopal’s fate as national head coach will end following the expiry of his contract next month. Several names have cropped up over the last couple of months, including Frenchman Philippe Troussier, Englishman Bob Houghton, German Rudi Voeller and former Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic. Troussier, who coached the national teams of Nigeria, South Africa and Japan, had been the leading candidate but sources say that FAM will not be able to meet his asking price. The Frenchman would only consider an offer of US$1.52mil a year (RM5mil) or US$126,805 (RM407,000) a month. Hopefully, common sense will prevail because even a man of Troussier’s stature will not be able to help Malaysian football in its current state. In fact, National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Zolkples Embong said that even Sir Alex Ferguson (former Manchester United manager) will not be able to weave his magic in Malaysia. The question is whether the appointment of a new national coach will show results in Asia. The rot is in our system. Unless the people within FAM change their mindset, attitude and priorities ... we will head nowhere. We have yet to check the rot in the Malaysian Super League (MSL) – it is of poor quality and been labelled a Grade D League. In primary school, this means FAIL! As such, we don’t qualify to play in the top class AFC Champions League. This was clearly seen when the national team struggled against Middle East giants Bahrain and Qatar in the 2015 Asian Cup qualifying campaign. It was obvious that with the quality Rajagopal had in the national team, there was no real chance for Malaysia to qualify for the Asian Cup Finals. We are No. 160 in FIFA’s rankings and No. 33 in Asia. Troussier had the material with him when he coached Japan’s national team from 1998 to 2002, winning the 2000 Asian Cup, placing second at the 2001 Confederations Cup and making the round of 16 at the 2002 World Cup. He also coached Japan team to fifth placing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and runners-up at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. There is a strong possiblity that Harimua Muda A coach Kim Swee may be promoted to the senior team. He is the logical choice because Kim Swee will be preparing the Under-23 squad for the Asian Games in Incheon next year. He has been working at the grassroots level and will know the players being promoted to the senior team. Apart from the decision on the coach, the other issue which will be deliberated at Sunday’s council meeting is the possibility of increasing the foreign player quota next season from three to four, including one Asian. This will be a boost especially for Kelantan and Selangor, who will be playing in the 2014 AFC Cup competition which permits four foreign players. The M-League turned professional almost 20 years ago but a majority of the affiliates are not ambitious and are contented to play in domestic competitions alone. No Malaysian team have gone beyond the quarter-finals in the AFC Cup since 2004. If FAM decide to maintain the three foreign player quota and play with a handicap, the Malaysian teams will remain “Jaguh Kampung”! thestar.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 03:46:19 +0000
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