Huge relief for Tan
FAM haven’t set any target for national coach in 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Cheng Hoe can breathe easy when he begins his duties as the new national football coach. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have not set any target for the ex-Kedah coach in 2018.
FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said he felt that Cheng Hoe is the most suitable guy for the job – based on the current situation.
“I hope he’ll do well and I don’t have any high targets for him yet. We will give him full support and he has been given a free hand to pick his coaching staff.
“His first priority is to change the mindset of the players – by developing a winning mentality in them,” said Tunku Ismail after chairing the executive meeting at Wisma FAM yesterday.
“We don’t want the players to feel like it’s a burden to play for the national team. They must change their mindset and feel honoured to play for the country.
“I believe we will see improvement in the future. We will achieve our target. But right now, we don’t have any target to win anything.
“We just want to win matches. Improve what we can on a small basis first. And see what else we can improve from there,” added Tunku Ismail.
“We now have a lot of problems in the national team and I don’t want to go into details yet.
“When we analyse all the problems, it comes down to education, upbringing, foundation and development. What problems we are facing today comes down to that. So that is what we need to focus on. We need to do as much as we can to improve these areas.”
When asked what direction the national team are heading, Tunku Ismail said: “The problem with the national team in every single age group is more than just losing a game – it goes deeper than that.
“Everybody is just seeing the surface. Everybody’s seeing what is happening outside.
“This team is not winning and the coach
is not performing. The coach is always to be blamed. The FAM president is always to be blamed.
“But nobody actually knows the real problem that’s going on inside the dressing room or look deeper than that.
“But I’m not here to blame anybody. I’m not here to look for excuses.
“I’m here to take responsibility and it’s my responsibility to make sure the national team do well.”
He added that the FAM would introduce a Division Four and Division Five to encourage more players to play in junior competitions.
“At the moment the players only get to play in the FAM Cup. We are following the model of Spain’s La Liga and also Thailand.
“Every state should have their own development programme and they should compete in the Division Four and Five competitions.
“Only states that have their development programmes will get the funds from FAM,” said Tunku Ismail.
“We also need to scout for more talented players and we will work together with the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) to have a bigger pool of players.
“At the moment there are only 40 players in the NFDP,” said Tunku Ismail.
Yesterday, the FAM received a financial boost in the form of a RM3.9mil sponsorship from Yakult Malaysia. The sponsorship is from January 2018 to December 2020.