Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Another year for Sathia

More than a decade of covering Malaysian football, I realise any team official worth his salt would be defending his coach and players without hesitation. Although by right his judgement alone is not adequate since he is emotionally involved, he has the inside knowledge and understanding of the whole process.

Our former No 3, Datuk Soh Chin Aun, is no exception. Although rightfully a manager or assistant manager with a technical background like him should submit a comprehensive report on the team's failure at the recent AFF Suzuki Cup, Chin Aun's verbal endorsement was enough to convince FA of Malaysia's bigwigs that B. Sathianathan would have another shot at leading the national team.

I'm surprised that FAM deputy president Datuk Redzuan Sheikh Ahmad failed to remind the national management committee of the things he did as technical chairman in September 2005.

For the committee relied on the technical report prepared by technical adviser Mohamed Bakar before sacking Bertalan Bicskei, only two months before the Manila SEA Games.

FAM's top three salaried staff - general secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad and his two assistants, Rosli Hussein and Noor Kefli Sulong - had to rely on various reports from the technical adviser, Bicskei himself and the three-man panel formed to probe the 7-0 thrashing by Thailand in Bangkok before forming an opinion. But FAM stood accused of pre-meditating the whole affair because the beleaguered body went against the recommendations submitted by the three-man independent panel to probe the 7-0 defeat toThailand in the pre-SEA Games in Bangkok.

The panel comprising the then National Sports Council director of management Datuk Zolkples Embong, sports scientist Prof Ismail Mohd Noor and former coach Khaidir Buyong, wanted Bicskei to spearhead Malaysia's Under-23 challenge in the Manila SEA Games. The panel discovered the only grouse voiced by the 20 players brought to Bangkok was Bicskei was too serious in conducting training and briefing sessions, but other than that they thought highly of the former Lucerne tactician.

Curiously, technical adviser Mohamad Bakar had the gall to hint to Bicskei at the Bangkok Airport the Hungarian's fate was sealed, even before the panel had sat down to interview the relevant parties.

While Mohamad was given the opportunity to influence the technical committee chaired by Redzuan, Bicskei was not called to defend himself. FAM basically had no grounds to reassign Bicskei. FAM's boo-boo then made me wonder whether there was an agenda to create a wall of excuses should, and when, the team failed to land the gold in Manila.

Redzuan's committee failed to consider several factors, by choice or by a sudden attack of amnesia.

First of all Bicskei, who was appointed to the hotseat by the previous FAM secretariat headed by Datuk Dell Akbar Khan and technical director Karl Weigang, never had the chance to parade his best 11 after he succeeded Allan Harris in July 2004. In the Tiger Cup, Bicskei recalled Khalid Jamlus and V. Saravanan besides introducing Mohd Nor Ismail and Mohd Ivan Yussof as Malaysia finished third in the absence of the likes of Hairuddin Omar and IndraPutra Mahayuddin, who were deemed unfit for competition.

His team's preparation for the Islamic Solidarity Games in April was marred by Bicskei's spat with the Pahang and Perak bigwigs, thus denying him key players such as Indra, Hairuddin, K. Nanthakumar, Fadzli Saari, Irwan Fadzli Idrus and Rosdi Talib.

By contrast Sathianathan did not have to fight the local coaches. He has the support of the players. Some would retire from the national set-up if he had been sacked. He has had the time to prepare his team.

I've nothing against Sathianathan, in fact we've forged a relationship ever since he set foot in Wisma FAM as an assistant coach to Richard Bate, if I'm not mistaken.

Granted replacing him now with any world-class coach would not transform our fortunes overnight. But I don't understand on what basis was Sathianathan judged. What was the key performance indicator?

When YB Khairy Jamaluddin was appointed the team manager in February, he said: "I would like to thank Tuanku President Sultan Ahmad Shah for consenting to my appointment as national team manager.

"It's an enormous responsibility and I look forward to working with coach B. Sathianathan. Our target this year is to prepare and succeed at the year-end AFF Championship.

"That will be the key performance indicator for Sathianathan and myself," said Khairy.

Does success mean failing to guide the Under-23 team beyond the group stage in the SEA Games in Korat and later the national team to the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup? I thought the writing was on the wall because the last time we failed to enter the last four in the SEA Games was in 1999, and the only time we failed to qualify for the semis in the AFF Cup was in 1998.

When I quoted Khairy as saying the team's defeat in Korat as "Failure is subjective" in the Malay Mail in December 2007, my boss Mustapha Kamaruddin and my colleagues laughed.

"How can failure is subjective, when you fail, you fail lah!"

I almost fell off my sofa when I heard FAM would form yet another committee to monitor Sathianathan's performance.

FAM could have considered giving Sathianathan two more months (well, I know it is not the norm) and see how the team performs in the pre-Asian Cup.

After all I don't see the team beating Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Group C qualifiers. In the end, let's just lower our expectations!

Read here and here

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

bro

cakap tak serupa bikin la fam tak akan kemana-mana dah buat keputusan boleh tarik balik apa cerita. Ini sama macam PDRM boleh masuk balik dalam league.

Pengambilan satia untuk kedua kali ini hanya cuma untuk memenuhi jadual bagi perlawanan kelayakkan AFC pada bulan January tak ada yang lain, Kenapa kita nak berselindung dengan kontrak yang tak ada jangkamasa baik kitanyatakan kepada semua bahawa ianya hanya untuk sampai January sahaja.
Mengapa FAM tak berdiri tegas dengan prinsip sendiri.
Kalau masa AFC Norizan terus di hentak untuk di tamatkan kontrak dengan persembahan yang amat buruk.
Persoalan kenapa di hentak Satia tapi di berikan umpan yang lain pulak.
Yang penting di FAM sendiri perlu ada perubahan jangan kita bekerja mengikut apa yang kita buat selama ini, buat lah satu perubahan demi negara dan diri sendiri.

GUA DIN BERAMBOI

Anonymous said...

Salam Sdra Riz and a belated birthday wish to your Sis H.

I suppose ini lah kultur kita. Bukan sekadar di kantor tetapi juga di padang bola. Penghasil "mediocre" tidak perlu gusar. Imbuhan akan terus disalurkan. Mungkin tidak selumayan tetapi masih berbaloi.

Terima kasih Sdra Riz kerana membesorkan font kepada kenyataan yg dibuat oleh YB KJ "Kuang 'Jar". Jika pencapaian di AFF adalah sebagian dari KPI YB dan Sathia, YB dah fail dah Sathia dah fail. Melainkan ke-fail-an ini juga dianggap sebagai sebagai subjektif. Hmm...

YB KJ dan Sathia jgnlah terus menerus hanyut dalam mimpi jadi juara Piala Merdeka 2007. Edisi 2008 pun seluruh rakyat tahu kita tumpas pada skuad Myanmar yg bukan senior.

Antara persoalannya, di dalam senarai yg panjang, apakah Helmi masih bernafsu untuk berkhidmat di bwah tunjuk ajar Sathia?

Sayang sekali kita berada di Bolehland. Biasanya individu2 seperi YB dan Sathia sudah pun mencari majikan baru. Tanpa perlu "dinasihatkan".

Di sini, apa2 pun...BOLEH.....

Anonymous said...

Sdra Rizal,

Sudah terang lagi bersuluh.Sathia sungguh bernasib baik.
FAM tak akan berani buang Sathia. Kalau Sathia kena buang, KJ juga mesti kena buang.

Ini helah tersembunyi FAM. Jalan keluar beri peluang kepada Sathia satu tahun lagi. KJ macam jadi hero pula tapi barangkali sampai Mac tahun depan.

Yang menderita bola sepak tanah air jua. FAM tak pernah mahu belajar daripada sejarah.

Selamatkanlah FAM!

HANG CHE

Anonymous said...

sAYA PUN HERAN LA DENGAN SENARIO INI, KALAU KITA INGIN MEMBANGUNKAN SUKAN BOLA SEPAK KEMABLI KE STATUS SEBAGAIMANA ERA 70AN DAN 80AN, KITA KENA BERANI MENGAKUI BAHWA KITA TELAH GAGAL DAN PERLU ERUBAHAN DRASTIK BUKAN BERMAIN WAYANG DAN BERPOLITIK. KALAU SEBEGINI TAK GUNA TOK MAIN CURAHKAN DUIT KEPADA BOLA SEPAK DAN FAM SEBAB HASILNYA TELAH DIJANGKA KAN

Anonymous said...

kita tukar segalanya maksud saya pengurusan dan kejurulatihan.

Ada yang tak kena dengan system pengurusan fam dan juga sistem kejurulatihan kita. Kenapa kita tak kaji benda ini semua.

Pemain di akar umbi tak ada satu development dan kebanyakkan pemain akan habis bila berumur 17 sebab kena survive untuk cari tapk untuk hidup, kita tak benar-benar profesional dan juga pemain dan juga pengurusan juga sama tak pro.

Local league tak ada macam mana nak dapatkan sumber pemain yang bagus

cadangan saya kita tukarkan pengurusan dan juga pemimpin fam dan buat satu garis panduan baru

saya din beramboi

Anonymous said...

bro;

what lar malaysian football? no balls...no 'maruah'...failure is failure la kan. ada pulak bagi2 chance...dan bagi alasan tak cukup masa nak cr jurulatih baru...

memang fed-up...KJ has no midas touch in anything...pegang politik pun ke parit...pegang bola pun ke parit...pegang nori ajer yang menjadi...

bosan lar. jangan berlagak hensem jer YB...performance...hancur!!!

Anonymous said...

FAM pls look forward rather than discussing the Phuket Debacle!! Enough la, dah kalahpun!! What are your plans for Olympic 2012 or World Youth Cup or even Laos Sea Games etc etc?? Ada 100 sub committee pun tak guna kalau tak de plan nak ubah struktur bola sepak dari akar umbi & 15 hingga 17thn. Centralised Training 365 haripun macam dilakukan oleh team Rajagopal pun tak guna jugak kalau at the end of the day during match day players exhausted & jadded. It is time to give M-League a deep thought on restructe ring so the league can be competetive enough for our players BUT bersyarat tak de lagi main sentimen scratching each other back (macam PDRM - Kelantan - FAM recently). All states / clubs coaches must be behind Nat. Coach whatsoever so the Nat. Coach can concentrate building up a very strong squad. (Wondering also how the Nat. Coaches Association can play their part here) Anyway let Sathia finishes his job on Asia Cup qualifying round and gauge him from there. Surely no time to appoint new Nat. Coach at the moment.

Anonymous said...

bro~
have a look at harimaumalaya.com

Anonymous said...

BRO....DATUK REDZUAN TU YANG MEMANG BODOH TAK TAU APA.BANGANG NAK MAMPUIH.BANYAK KALI SOURCE BAGI TAU...DI YANG KELAM KABUT DALAM FAM

Unknown said...

Sdra Rizal,

Rendah mana lagi hendak diturunkan harapan kita kepada pasukan kebangsaan?

Kalau tidak kerana anak bongsu (9 tahun) yang baru mula hidup bola makan bola, tiada sebab kenapa perlu saya bersusah payah ke Stadium MBPJ dan Bukit Jalil semasa Pesta Bola Merdeka lalu.

Namun yang boleh dijangkakan bila mula kenal dan fahami "keindahan" bolasepak khususnya tarikan EPL, jadilah dia seperti abang-abangnya.

Tawarkan sogokan apa sekalipun langsung tak berminat untuk sama-sama ke stadium.

Amir

Anonymous said...

Anyone know what happened to the "Road Map" apekebendanya yang sepatutnya under Robert Alberts tu? Has he not been with FAM since 2005? 3 tahun apa results dia? Granted the youth teams are so so la...but apa plan untuk the future?

rizal hashim said...

Borakbola,

Alberts sudahpun meninggalkan Wisma FAM. Tak taulah apa jadi dengan Road Mapnya. Bila ditanya kandungannya, Alberts cukup berahsia, takut agaknya orang curi ideanya!

Anonymous said...

Slm,
Selagi pemain mesia dok tgk EPL dan dok main long ball (konon2nya macam Beckham & Gerrard punya hantaran..), selagi tu la bola mesia dok terperuk kat ranking terkutuk!!
Tlg la habaq kat Sathianathan, bawak2 la belajaq bola rendah, short pass, possession..semua basic woi..bawak2 la tengok Spanish league tgk mcm mana player pendek mcm Messi & Xavi boleh naik..tak pun, try main Playstation2 FIFA09 or FIFA08, boleh belajaq buat thru pass!!
Kalau setakat dok main longball yang tak pernah tepat tu, tahun depan Pestabola Merdeka boleh panggil Fiji, Vanuatu, Afghanistan, Mongolia (opss, sentisif..), so Malaysia boleh jadi juara lagi!!!

Salam dari Doha Qatar
Peminat Bola Msia No 1 di Doha Qatar
(frust hari tu balik cari jersey Malaysia takdak kedai jual..)

Anonymous said...

to me extending sathia's contract as national coach is a positive move. whether we accept it or not, he has been building a good team and the last result in the AFF Suzuki Cup was just a measuring stick for him to further lead the team to a better future. The second life given is a boost to him to prove his performance. What can he do within seven months.

I have this philosophy that if a local coach is doing well with the state teams, don't accept the national assignment. Coaches like Hj Ahmad Shafie, Norizan Bakar, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim loose their pride when they take the national team coaching. So I was afraid that Azraii Khor will be offered the national coaching assignment because if he goes it will be the end of the road for him as a successful coach. He better stay with the canaries and sing the nice tunes.

Anonymous said...

entah mana arah tuju bola sepak malaysia..ramai yg menunding jari ke arah pemain or coach bila kita kalah..dan ramai yg menanjung bila kita menang..sy dulu salah seorang bekas pemain remaja bola sepak negara..zaman kitaorang cukup seronok..pemain di pilih oleh coach tanpa org lain boleh masuk campur...now sy pergi tgk bola semata mata memberi support pada kekawan yg masih aktif bermain seperti akmal,irwan,juzaili,eddy helmi,redzuan radzy..kenangan bersama skuad bawah 14 thn yg menjuarai piala nike asean masih terngiang ngiang dalam ingatan...