Wednesday, February 18, 2026
The Kim Pan Gon Effect
Don’t get your hopes up, and whisper it quietly, but there might – just might – be a challenge emerging to Johor Darul Ta’zim for supremacy in Malaysian domestic football.
The January appointment of Kim Pan-Gon as coach of Selangor FC has had such an impact on the team that they have secured an unbeaten run of 8 matches, and reached the semi-finals of the Malaysia Cup where they will take on Kuching City.
(Johor – the 4-time defending Champions of the Malaysia Cup, and the 11-in a row Champions boasting a 100 (yes one hundred) game unbeaten League run and a perfect 100% record this campaign – are in the other semi against Kuala Lumpur City).
A club of Selangor’s stature really should be challenging JDT a lot closer than they do. It’s 10-seasons since their last major trophy and this season had been another of underachievement played against a backdrop of supporter protest due to dissatisfaction with the Management, and performance of the team.
There have been high points such as qualification for the semi-final of the ASEAN Club Championship (Shopee Cup) where their results included a gritty point in Thailand against Buriram, but 3 defeats in their first 5 League matches, followed by a penalty-shoot-out semi-final loss to Sabah in the Malaysia FA Cup, and a bizarre home loss to Persib Bandung that saw them eliminated from the AFC II in the Group stages resulted in Selangor changing Coach for a third time.
The affable Katsuhito Kanushi was dismissed after a League defeat in Kuching, whilst interim Coach Christophe Gamel steadied things but was in charge for the Bandung debacle, and the controversial Sabah FA Cup loss.
As an observer, watching Selangor under Gamel was intensely frustrating as there was always the impression that they were being too conservative. Enter Pan-Gon – a Coach who is anything but conservative.
When he was Coach of Malaysia, he introduced a high-energy, pressing style of game and got his wingers involved at every opportunity. Such was his success that when Harimau Malaya qualified for the Asian Cup in 2023, many of us thought there was a genuine chance of progression to the knock-out stages.
A 0-4 thumping by Jordan and a heart-breaking last-gasp defeat to Bahrain saw the dream end prematurely, and though there was the consolation of a thrilling 3-3 draw with Korea Republic, Pan-Gon’s days as National coach had reached their zenith.
He disappeared off to Ulsan where he won the title in his first season, but had a shocking start to his second campaign and was dismissed. Meanwhile, Selangor were continuing to under-achieve despite hiring respected coaches. Tan Cheng Hoe was replaced by Nidzam Jamil who resigned after a 1-6 FA Cup Final humbling by JDT. Mediocre results meant that the consolation of winning the Malaysia Challenge Cup (for those teams eliminated at the Round of 16 of the Malaysia Cup) was of little consolation to a group of supporters unused to going a decade without major success.
Enter Pan-Gon. What the former Hong Kong National team Coach has done has been invigorating. Take the 5-1 mauling of Negeri Sembilan in the 2nd leg of the Malaysia Cup Quarter Final. 5-1 could easily have been 10 as the woodwork was hit twice, two goals were disallowed (one very contentiously), and chances galore were created. The Pan-Gone effect?
- First, he picks his best defender. I don’t know what Singaporean Safuwan Baharuddin did to get himself ostracised and loaned to Lion City Sailors, but he is undoubtedly Selangor’s best defender. Now he’s back in the team, they look steady with a good partnership emerging alongside Mamadou Diarra
- In midfield, a replacement for the promising but largely defensive-minded Syahir Bashah by the attack-minded loan signing no 10 Hugo Boumous allows Noah Laine and Noor Al Rawabdeh to rotate No 6 duties and get forward more often.
- Out wide, Faisal Halim looks like the player of 2023 and seems fully recovered from his horrific acid-attack, whilst Cape Verdean Alvin Fortes is also revelling in being involved more. Both scored against The Deer and looked in great form.
- And the Pan-Gon trademark of changing his front 3 around the hour mark with two new signings (Kim Ji-ho and Jose Pernambuco) keeping up the pressure on the now well-beaten Negeri Sembilan.
- High intensity, high pressure and positive football.
It’s early days in the Pan-Gon era, but the early signs are encouraging. The team looked so much more positive with the 56-year-olds personnel and tactical changes, and the tempo was too much for their opponents.
And off the field, the Ultras will soon be back after their 3-match stadium ban for setting off dangerous flares in Kuala Terengganu ahead of a recent match, and that will pump up the atmosphere for the Kuching ties.
It’s too late to affect the outcome in the League where Selangor trail JDT and are in a 3-way battle for 2nd place with Kuching and Kuala Lumpur. But the Pan-Gon appointment has set up the possibility for a Selangor vs JDT showdown in two major trophies.
Maybe, just maybe, Selangor have made an appointment that might make Malaysian domestic football a tad more competitive.
GUEST COLUMN - Dez Corkhill
# posted by Me @ 4:53 PM 
