Jakarta Casual
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Only One Team In Terengganu
At the start of the current Malaysia Super League season it was decided T Team would be rebranded Terengganu II FC. The thinking, I wouldn't go so far as to call it logic, was that T Team were being seen in a negative light, as the state's second team. Like I said, I wouldn't call it logic. Apparently Terengganu are receiving a budget of RM 20 million for this year while T TEam, or however the state want them to be seen, receive RM 10 million for the season.
But eight rounds in to the current MSL campaign and it is the team starved of the funds that is leading the way in the state, no doubt to the embarrassment of the establishment. And in the battle of the coaches with a shared heritage* it is T Team's Rahmad Darmawan, a Indonesian who boasts Pelita Jaya and Arema on his resume, who has the upper hand over Aussie Mike Mulvey who once led Brisbane Roar to the ALeague.
Last night saw T Team beat Kedah 4-1 to move up to fourth place. Admittedly they are a long way off the leaders Felda United, Nine points to be precise. But in the battle for local pride RD's men are three points clear of Terengganu who sit eighth after losing 3-2 at home to Perak on Tuesday. That was the third straight loss for Mulvey's men and given the trigger happy figures that rule the roost in the north eastern state he must be sitting uneasily in the coach's hot seat. After all he replaced Ahmad Yusof after losing to second tier PKNS in the FA Cup in what was the team's third game of the season!
Mulvey remains optimistic and says he believes the club management see the importance of having a long term plan and stability. After the Perak loss he said the squad was short on numbers and was looking forward to June when the transfer window opens. June however is a long time off and there are more immediate struggles ahead, not least this weekend when he takes his team to Kota Bahru for the big north east derby against Kelantan, another team underperforming this season. Lose that and Mulvey could be looking at gardening leave in June, not the transfer window.
Rahmad Darmawan's T Team however seem to be on a different trajectory altogether. After a slow start when they lost two of their three opening games, against champions JDT and leaders Felda United the team have gone from strength to strength drawing two and winning their last three.
At the heart of their revival has been silky Mali midfielder Makan Konate. So impressive for Persib during their Indonesia Super League title success in 2014, Konate has scored five goals this season in eight games. Indeed it was his equaliser against PDRM that sparked T Team's return to form. They were on their way to their third straight defeat when he saved the day and since then have seen 11 points from 15 added to their scorecard.
RD has won the title in Indonesia with Sriwijaya and Persipura and has also worked with the national team. He brings a wealth of experience to the table but I think there was some surprise, especially from me, when he opted to join unfancied T Team at the start of the season. And here we are, a third of the way into the season and it appears to be an inspired choice. However much can change and quickly. It wasn't that long ago that across the city Mike Mulvey was feeling top of the pile after victories over Pahang and Selangor.
The two teams meet in the first Terengganu derby of the season on 18th May but how will the respective sides be by then?
Terengganu's poor form is the one that causes headscratching and as I was doing research for this a post went up on their Facebook page saying if their poor form continues they could consider having just a single team in the competition next season! My headline had been planned before the story and referred to T Team's ascendancy. It may be more prophetic than the whim of a headline writer!
*Both coaches have worked for Bakrie owned clubs in the past. Their coffee shop chats must be fascinating!
But eight rounds in to the current MSL campaign and it is the team starved of the funds that is leading the way in the state, no doubt to the embarrassment of the establishment. And in the battle of the coaches with a shared heritage* it is T Team's Rahmad Darmawan, a Indonesian who boasts Pelita Jaya and Arema on his resume, who has the upper hand over Aussie Mike Mulvey who once led Brisbane Roar to the ALeague.
Last night saw T Team beat Kedah 4-1 to move up to fourth place. Admittedly they are a long way off the leaders Felda United, Nine points to be precise. But in the battle for local pride RD's men are three points clear of Terengganu who sit eighth after losing 3-2 at home to Perak on Tuesday. That was the third straight loss for Mulvey's men and given the trigger happy figures that rule the roost in the north eastern state he must be sitting uneasily in the coach's hot seat. After all he replaced Ahmad Yusof after losing to second tier PKNS in the FA Cup in what was the team's third game of the season!
Mulvey remains optimistic and says he believes the club management see the importance of having a long term plan and stability. After the Perak loss he said the squad was short on numbers and was looking forward to June when the transfer window opens. June however is a long time off and there are more immediate struggles ahead, not least this weekend when he takes his team to Kota Bahru for the big north east derby against Kelantan, another team underperforming this season. Lose that and Mulvey could be looking at gardening leave in June, not the transfer window.
Rahmad Darmawan's T Team however seem to be on a different trajectory altogether. After a slow start when they lost two of their three opening games, against champions JDT and leaders Felda United the team have gone from strength to strength drawing two and winning their last three.
At the heart of their revival has been silky Mali midfielder Makan Konate. So impressive for Persib during their Indonesia Super League title success in 2014, Konate has scored five goals this season in eight games. Indeed it was his equaliser against PDRM that sparked T Team's return to form. They were on their way to their third straight defeat when he saved the day and since then have seen 11 points from 15 added to their scorecard.
RD has won the title in Indonesia with Sriwijaya and Persipura and has also worked with the national team. He brings a wealth of experience to the table but I think there was some surprise, especially from me, when he opted to join unfancied T Team at the start of the season. And here we are, a third of the way into the season and it appears to be an inspired choice. However much can change and quickly. It wasn't that long ago that across the city Mike Mulvey was feeling top of the pile after victories over Pahang and Selangor.
The two teams meet in the first Terengganu derby of the season on 18th May but how will the respective sides be by then?
Terengganu's poor form is the one that causes headscratching and as I was doing research for this a post went up on their Facebook page saying if their poor form continues they could consider having just a single team in the competition next season! My headline had been planned before the story and referred to T Team's ascendancy. It may be more prophetic than the whim of a headline writer!
*Both coaches have worked for Bakrie owned clubs in the past. Their coffee shop chats must be fascinating!
Labels: Makan Konate, Malaysia, Malaysia Super League, Mike Mulvey, Persib, Rahmad Darmawan, T Team, Terengganu
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
T Team's Wasted Trip
With a bit of a lull between Super League games in Malaysia and Indonesia caused by the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers this week, T Team flew over to Jakarta, apparently to play a couple of friendlies against Persija and Persib.
The only problem with that is security permission. No one it seemed had bothered to get clearance to hold the games, certainly in Jakarta.
T Team ended up playing on a field in the capital city against a bunch of guys without clubs...
No news yet as to whether the game in Bandung will go ahead.
The only problem with that is security permission. No one it seemed had bothered to get clearance to hold the games, certainly in Jakarta.
T Team ended up playing on a field in the capital city against a bunch of guys without clubs...
No news yet as to whether the game in Bandung will go ahead.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Malaysia FA Cup
Kedah v Johor Darul Takzim 0-2 (Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Safee Sali) JDT win 5-1 on aggregate
JDT kept up their recent fine form, brushing past a tough Kedah side with an impressive 5-1 aggregate. Interestingly the Malaysian strikers Norshahrul and safee got the goals...perhaps they rested the foreign players for the Cup?!
Pahang v PDRM 2-1 (Fauzi Roslan, Sunandren; ) Pahang win 3-2 on aggregate
PKNS v Kelantan 3-3 (Patrick Ronaldhino Wleh, Karlo Primorac, Hamka Hamzah; Ahmad Fakri, Shakir Ali, Mohamad Ghadar) Kelantan win 6-5 on aggregate
Liberian striker Wleh's fourth FA Cup goal on two minutes set the tome for a ding dong affair with Gadar's leveller, two minuets after Hamzah had netted for PKNS, squeezing holders Kelantan through to the semi finals
Sarawak v Felda United 2-2 (Joseph Kalang Tie, Akmal Rizal; Zah Rahan 2) Felda United win on away goals
Former Persipura midfielder netted six minutes from the end to put Felda United in to the semi finals at the expense of Robert Alberts team
Semi Final Draw 13 & 20 May
Kelantan v Felda United
Pahang v Johor Darul Takzim
Labels: FA Cup, Felda United, Johor Darul Takzim, Kedah, kelantan, Malaysia, Pahang, PDRM, PKNS, Sarawak
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Queensland Football Reject Harimau Muda Match Fixing Worries
One of the world's foremost authorities on football match fixing has warned the inclusion of a Malaysian side in the upcoming National Premier Leagues Queensland could expose the competition to the influence of Asian betting syndicates.
But Football Queensland has dismissed the possibility, saying it was a "long bow" to draw.
Harimau Muda A, the Malaysian under-22 side, will play for competition points in the 14-team NPL Queensland competition from next month.
However, the side will be ineligible to make the finals and will instead use the competition as preparation for Asian international competitions.
International match fixing expert Declan Hill, the author of The Fix and The Insider's Guide to Match Fixing, told Fairfax Media that situation left the NPL Queensland more open to corruption.
While not suggesting Harimau Muda A was involved in match fixing, Mr Hill said playing for points but being ineligible for finals football could further expose the NPL Queensland to the influence of Asian betting syndicates.
"You have these guys saying 'what does it matter?'. It should be a case of if they win it, then great, let them win it - everyone else can lift their games next season."If you have a team in your league, they should be able to win it, otherwise you've got to wonder what it is they're playing for," he said.
"I can't understand why a league administrator would have a team play on these terms."
The concerns were not without precedent.
When Harimau Muda A played in Singapore's S-League in 2012, then-Geylang United goalkeeper Yazid Yasin said he was approached to throw a game against them.
There is no suggestion the Football Association of Malaysia or the Harimau Muda A players have been involved in any such activity.
Football Queensland chief operations officer Ben Mannion, the head of NPL Queensland, said the suggestion the competition could be compromised was in "poor taste" and not fair on the Malaysians or the NPL.
"We've gone through the right channels with the (Football Federation of Australia), the (Asian Football Confederation) and also FIFA, who are across it, and we've got Sportradar that we work with at the FFA level, which is an internationally renowned agency to monitor sports betting and stop match fixing," he said.
"We write to those departments within 48 hours of every match, with all the official things that happened within the game, so that they can register any abnormal betting trends and report back to the FFA and back to us."
Queensland is no stranger to football match fixing. Last year, Brisbane Premier League club Albany Creek Excelsior was caught up in a match fixing scandal that saw 10 people arrested in Victoria.
"Obviously, with what happened in Melbourne previously, they're well and truly across what needs to happen to make sure that sort of thing doesn't happen again," Mr Mannion said.
Mr Hill said Australian football betting markets were more popular in Asia than the English Premier League, due to a similar time zone.
"I think these are absolutely bona fide concerns. If you had a blindfold on somebody and put a pin into a map, Malaysia and Singapore and number one and number two when it comes to match fixing," he said.
"By the time a player reaches 20 years of age, they've been exposed to this stuff."
Harimau Muda A's inclusion is expected to attract unprecedented interest from Malaysia.
Former Far North Queensland Heat NPL coach Joe Fenech, now director of coaching in central Queensland and involved in a bid for a Gladstone-based NPL side, said he could not discount the possibility of betting syndicates trying to influence NPL Queensland matches.
"The involvement of a Malaysian team is clearly going to generate interest in Malaysia, who would be following the NPL a lot closer because of that involvement and it goes without saying that people will have a flutter," he said.
Mr Fenech, who stressed he was speaking in his capacity as a supporter and not as a Football Queensland employee, said a "win-win" situation would have been to have a 13-team NPL Queensland with teams playing Harimau Muda A on bye weeks.
But Mr Mannion said the NPL clubs would play for points to ensure they fielded their strongest sides.
"If it was for no points, the clubs would rest their senior players and they would play under-18s and under-20s against the Malaysians, which is not what we're looking for," he said.
The NPL is a national second tier competition aimed to be a pathway to the A-League and features several ex-National Soccer League clubs, including former champions Brisbane Strikers, Sydney United and South Melbourne.
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/soccer/matchfixing-fears-as-malaysian-team-joins-queensland-football-league-20140215-32sdz.html#ixzz2tT4FTkKF
Labels: Harimau Muda, Malaysia, Match Fixing, Queensland
Friday, February 07, 2014
Tickets Selling Fast For Pahang Clash With JDT
KUANTAN: The Pahang FA (PFA) have introduced a special lane for female supporters who want to purchase tickets at the Darul Makmur Stadium here.
This decision was made by the PFA at their last meeting on Tuesday. It is to allow female fans easy access to match tickets.
On Thursday, all 18,000 tickets for Friday’s Super League match between Pahang and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) were snapped up in less than five hours after the ticket counters opened at 9am.
It is not even a Cup final but a bumper crowd of 35,000 is expected at the stadium tonight. PFA also sold 6,000 tickets at the Municipal Council Stadium in Temerloh and the balance have been reserved for fans from other districts as well as sponsors.
The last time Pahang met JDT was in the second leg of the FA Cup semi-final on May 28 last year, when the match had to be abandoned after fans invaded the pitch.
The replay, held at the neutral venue of the Shah Alam Stadium, saw JDT advance to the final on the away goal rule after the match ended 2-2 on aggregate
Labels: Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia, Pahang, Super League
Thursday, February 06, 2014
JDT, T Team Saga
Kuala Terengganu. Fabio Flor De Azavedo, a professional footballer
for T-Team, today lodged a police report against the Johor FA president
Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim for allegedly threatening to kill him during
the half-time break in the match between Johor JDT and T-Team last
weekend at the Larkin Stadium, in Johor.
In the police report lodged at the Kuala Terengganu police station this morning, the 33-year-old defender from Brazil said Tunku Ismail approached him during the interval of the match and threatened to kill the defender.
“As I was walking with my teammates during the break to the changing room, the Johor FA president came and said f*** you Brazil, I’ll kill you, this is my country,” he said in the police report.
Azadevo claimed that he replied by saying: “Why do you want to kill me, I come to play football”.
At this juncture T-Team CEO Abdul Rasid Jusoh intervened and pulled Fabio away into the dressing room, he stated in the police report.
According to earlier news reports, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) head coach Cesar Jimenez had a spat with one of T-Team coaching staff. The argument continued and players and staff from both teams stepped in and the argument continued inside the tunnel leading to the changing rooms.
T-Team refused to take the pitch, after the interval, in fear of safety and the match was eventually abandoned.
Terengganu police are mum on the police report.
The second round FA Cup match between the two teams at the Tan Sri Hassan Yunos Stadium in Larkin tonight has been postponed to a later date.
Match commissioner Zainal Mukri said the decision was taken after T-Team refused to continue playing the second half for safety reasons.
JDT was leading 2-1 in the first half, thanks to the goals scored by their Argentine striker, Luciano Figueroa in the 15th and 20th minute.
T-Team also known as the Titans managed to reduce the goal deficit through a free-kick scored by the team captain, Marzuki Yusoff.
Meanwhile, FMT also managed to obtain a report by the T-Team management on the incident
A state government source said that the report was supposed to be included with an official police report but was later withdrawn for unknown reasons.
It the report, T-Team management officials said that T-Team forward Evaldo Rodrigues Goncalves Cardoso was punched in the face by the Johor FA President while T-Team’s fitness coach Stefano Impagliazzo was kicked in the groin by one of the president’s bodyguards.
“At about 9.40pm during the break, at the tunnel Evaldo was punched in the face by Johor FA President while our fitness coach was kicked in the groin by one of his bodyguards.
“The incident left Evaldo with a bleeding nose and a bruised eye. Stefano sustained severe pain at his groin.
“Due to the unwanted incident we decided not to go on with the second half match,” said the officials in the report.
COMMENT - this is getting messy but how will it end? And why should the head of the FA be in the tunnel with his body guards? I know it is common in this part of the world but so is poverty and slums...doesn't mean we have to like it. Have the FAM the guts to take action or will it be Duluxed?
In the police report lodged at the Kuala Terengganu police station this morning, the 33-year-old defender from Brazil said Tunku Ismail approached him during the interval of the match and threatened to kill the defender.
“As I was walking with my teammates during the break to the changing room, the Johor FA president came and said f*** you Brazil, I’ll kill you, this is my country,” he said in the police report.
Azadevo claimed that he replied by saying: “Why do you want to kill me, I come to play football”.
At this juncture T-Team CEO Abdul Rasid Jusoh intervened and pulled Fabio away into the dressing room, he stated in the police report.
According to earlier news reports, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) head coach Cesar Jimenez had a spat with one of T-Team coaching staff. The argument continued and players and staff from both teams stepped in and the argument continued inside the tunnel leading to the changing rooms.
T-Team refused to take the pitch, after the interval, in fear of safety and the match was eventually abandoned.
Terengganu police are mum on the police report.
The second round FA Cup match between the two teams at the Tan Sri Hassan Yunos Stadium in Larkin tonight has been postponed to a later date.
Match commissioner Zainal Mukri said the decision was taken after T-Team refused to continue playing the second half for safety reasons.
JDT was leading 2-1 in the first half, thanks to the goals scored by their Argentine striker, Luciano Figueroa in the 15th and 20th minute.
T-Team also known as the Titans managed to reduce the goal deficit through a free-kick scored by the team captain, Marzuki Yusoff.
Meanwhile, FMT also managed to obtain a report by the T-Team management on the incident
A state government source said that the report was supposed to be included with an official police report but was later withdrawn for unknown reasons.
It the report, T-Team management officials said that T-Team forward Evaldo Rodrigues Goncalves Cardoso was punched in the face by the Johor FA President while T-Team’s fitness coach Stefano Impagliazzo was kicked in the groin by one of the president’s bodyguards.
“At about 9.40pm during the break, at the tunnel Evaldo was punched in the face by Johor FA President while our fitness coach was kicked in the groin by one of his bodyguards.
“The incident left Evaldo with a bleeding nose and a bruised eye. Stefano sustained severe pain at his groin.
“Due to the unwanted incident we decided not to go on with the second half match,” said the officials in the report.
COMMENT - this is getting messy but how will it end? And why should the head of the FA be in the tunnel with his body guards? I know it is common in this part of the world but so is poverty and slums...doesn't mean we have to like it. Have the FAM the guts to take action or will it be Duluxed?
Labels: FA Cup, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia, T Team
Monday, January 27, 2014
Malaysia And Troussier
IT’S no secret that world-renowned coach Philippe Troussier has been linked with a stint in Malaysia. It would be a pleasure to have the Frenchman as our national football coach, but is the man aware of the atrocious working environment that’s in store for him here?
Here are some factors Monsieur Troussier should take into consideration before signing on the dotted line with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
No. 1 - Beware the draconian law of the FAM (Article 88)!
Did the officials who conducted the preliminary interviews with Troussier warned him of the do’s and dont’s in Malaysian football? Was he told to just to keep his mouth shut, no matter what the situation? And that if he does want to open his mouth, then he MUST paint a rosy picture of Malaysian football?
If he were to say anything negative, then he’ll definitely be hauled up.
Can someone please tell Troussier that should he open his mouth – and the powers-that-be in the FAM do not like what he is saying – he’d better be prepared to face the consequences?
And do connect him with the many former national coaches and officials who had fallen victim to the dreaded “Article 88” statute.
Three of the big names who were hauled up included former national coaches B. Sathianathan and Datuk K. Rajagopal and former FAM deputy president Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
Sathianathan was sacked after criticising Malaysia’s 5-0 mauling by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at home in their Asian Cup qualifying match in 2009. His comment that “the M-League is not football” moments after that defeat earned him the wrath of the national body.
Yes, the truth hurts.
Last year, Rajagopal was hauled up by the disciplinary committee for stating at a post-match press conference that Malaysia “lacked quality strikers” in the M-League. For that, he was deemed to have upset the powers in FAM. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and no action was taken against him.
But wait, there’s more. Annuar was slapped with a 30-month ban for speaking his mind in April 2012, when he was the deputy chairman of the national team committee.
Annuar was found guilty of violating “Article 88”, which states that only the FAM president and secretary general are permitted to make statements regarding the national team.
No. 2 - Things are done STRICTLY the FAM (Technical Committee) Way!
There is no doubt that Troussier will be at the mercy of the technical committee – the sole decision-makers. This is because the coaching staff in FAM are subjected to the so-called “think tanks” (mostly unqualified officials) to endorse whatever plans or requests they have.
Everything is solely at the discretion of this committee. They can choose to sit on the proposals and working papers for months and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just ask some of the former coaches or technical directors.
No. 3 – FAM Tak Boleh! (FAM can’t progress)
If Troussier is still game for the challenge, then good luck! – he’ll need it.
Three top coaches – Frenchman Claude Le Roy, who guided Cameroon to the World Cup Finals; Brazilian Jorven Viera, who led war-torn Iraq to the Asian Cup title; and Englishman Allan Harris, a former assistant to Terry Venables of Spanish giants Barcelona – tried to change Malaysian football’s fortunes, and all three left without much success.
Youth and Sport Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was spot-on when he said that Malaysia would only need a world class coach once the team have reached the Olympics or the World Cup – not now.
He also pointed out that spending money on developing local football would be better than splurging on a world-class coach for the national team.
But do you think anyone (in the FAM) will listen?
The 2014 M-League kicked off this week and a total of 12 goals were scored in the six Super League matches.
Guess who scored the bulk of it? The foreign legion, of course. They contributed 10 of the goals.
Khairy is right. We just don’t have the material, yet. How is Troussier going to work with mediocre talent?
It’s pathetic that Malaysian football turned professional two decades ago and we still have not made much headway.
The ROT is in the system and until the national body put their house in order – Troussier is just going to waste his time coming here.
The rot is quite severe. There are deadwoods in most of the state FAs. A majority of them do not have any junior development programmes ... some not even a state league.
The bottom line is that we don’t have a big pool of players. FAM spent millions on the Harimau Muda A squad’s stints in Europe. And what happened at the end of the day – we failed to return home with a medal at the Myanmar SEA Games.
And that’s just a regional Games, mind you.
Enough said, if Troussier still wants to come, be my guest.
After all, 2014 is Visit Malaysia Year ... so, come and have a great holiday! (a paid holiday at that since he is asking RM2.7mil a year in salary).The Star
Labels: Malaysia, Phillipe Troussier
