Sacking Vingada will not change national squad performance — FAM

JOHOR BAHRU: The performance of the national football squad in international matches will not change drastically even if its coach Nelo Vingada was sacked following his failure to bring victory to the national team after taking charge of the squad.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (TMJ) said the biggest problem with the national squad now was the lack of winning mentality among players which is the most tedious element in transforming the strength of the team.

“If Vingada is sacked, you will still have the same problem.

“The reality is when setting up the club (JDT), we needed two to three years to instill the winning mentality.

“So what do you expect from us in two to three months?” he said when answering questions from a panel at a dialogue session at JDT Cafe here last night.

He was replying to calls by certain parties who wanted Vingada sacked as manager and chief coach following a series of losses in important matches especially in the 2019 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

On Wednesday, Harimau Malaysia lost 0-2 to Hong Kong in a return qualifying match.

The national team also lost to Lebanon and Hong Kong in earlier matches.

The dialogue session featured several panel members including sports commentator Abu Bakar Atan, Tabah Syazwan of Media Prima Berhad and Vijhay Vick of FourFourTwo as well as Ooi Kin Fai of Goal.com representing local football fans. - Bernama

Football supporters must be brave to face FAM to discuss issues

MELAKA: Malaysian football supporters and fans must be brave to sit down with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and other stakeholders in an effort to improve the sport, and not hide behind keyboards and the social media.

FAM deputy president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi said they regard the supporters as part of a big family and are willing to meet and discuss issues as encouraged by FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

“Football needs the supporters to keep the mood during matches and their presence can boost the team’s morale and performance. It is important for our supporters to be with us,” he told Bernama.

Mohd Yusoff said the FAM wants the supporters to understand and assist them in efforts to improve the quality of Malaysian football and thus should change in tandem with the change taking place.

“Some supporters are dictated by results. They praise the team when they win but react otherwise when they lose a match. Such mentality needs to be changed as we need supporters who are always with the team regardless of the result,” he added.

Meanwhile, ASEAN Football Federation technical analyst Datuk Richard Scully said football supporters should take advantage of the FAM’s open policy by expressing their views.

“The exchange of views between the FAM and the supporters lead to constructive criticisms which have brought Malaysian football to a higher level.”

However, supporters need to understand that there was limitation in meeting their requests and they should not make unreasonable demands.