Saturday, July 30, 2011

Dire Straits Malaysian football!?


We were talking football yesterday morning, Malaysian Football. Just when there was some sign of restoration of country’s football pride, we are given a rude shock.. we drew 1-1 Thursday night but lost to our neighbour on 6-4 aggregate…


There were talks about players being pampered too much, spoiled yesteryear Malaysian badminton heroes were quoted as obvious examples and sterling heroes such as Wong Peng Soon, Tan Aik Huang, Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Arumugam, SuperMokh, Ghani Minhat were equally mentioned.. Then I recounted several examples of Malaysian heroes that were not pampered that did not make good ;(


IMHO, player’s success in his life as player and “life after the limelight’ is up to the player himself/herself, his/her physical and emotional upbringings/make-ups . Those around him/her would also play a part to his/her success/failure.


Talk then moved to yesteryears when Japanese and South Korean footballs were in the same league as Malaysia. They have enough money and good vision to bring in good players to their leagues to improve their lots. Malaysian league also saw football imports albeit cheaper imports for few years only to lose them for some reasons best not to be discussed here.


Then discussion moved to management.. politicians, VIP etcetera and quickly diverted to serious topic on “Rise up for Rummenigge’s revolution” written by Bob Holmes in “the Sun”dated June 29, the article concludes


“Something has been radically wrong with the way football has been run for decades and it is surely good news that something may at long last be done about it. As a fan of the underdog, this column is uneasy about the big boys running the show but the Blatters and Platinis have quite frankly left no alternative to revolution. As they used to say beside the guillotine: “Off with their heads!”.


Malaysian football may need such a revolution as far as FAM is concerned but I am not very keen to delve too deep in football politics.. I quickly switched topic and made the following suggestion to improve Malaysian football:-


“Now that we have few football clubs in England (Today’s (30 June 2011) Star reported TS Tony Fernandes, AirAsia CEO, has been linked with a 100 million Sterling Pound move to buy EPL new boys Queens Park Rangers ) that is partly own by Malaysian maybe The Malaysian part-owner can be kind and generous enough to recruit our good football players to be trained there”.


“Now listen, you have to have some level of football standard to be playing with them ” came a very curt and sharp reply.


It was then yours truly make this observation (relating our Oil and Gas(O&G) experience with our current football predicament)


“When Petronas was formed in 1974, nobody in O&G fraternity gave 2 hoots about Petronas staff’s technical ability.. Our forefathers were smart enough to put in the Petroleum Sharing Contract agreement clauses that allow PETRONAS technical staff to be trained in PS Contractors office and operation worksites. It may take a few years but now we can see out technical staff being pinched/sought out by most O&G companies. Our technical personnel are so highly sought that there are few Middle Eastern O&G companies that conduct open interviews twice a year for a few days at a time”".



The direction for Malaysian football can take a similar route.. the Malaysian part owner of those EPL clubs can lend a helping hand to steer Malaysian football in a better direction.



P.s.
Should post this yesterday.. I was hauled up to join the shopping chaos in Sogo yesterday evening, tonight have to go again to put finishing touch to Sogo shopping.. another one of my not so many Ramadhan preparation.. to complete all the baju Raya shopping before the Ramadhan. ;))) Lo and behold Sunday morning and early afternoon saw me at Sogo changing shirts that were a bit too tight and fulfilling new shopping requirement from my daughter and our helper...Arghhhhhhhh!



Have a good day and productive month of Ramadhan










20 comments:

yohteh said...

...ah hah Ayoh Wang... Malaysian Football? Soccer? ...I used to relate that with my first pair of RM28 PUMA 'stopo' bought from 'Kedai Bian' in Kg. China... it was in 1976... hehehe...

...have a blessing Ramadhan...

Wan Sharif said...

Puma 'stopo' in 76! wow.. I only have my first football boot in 1980 after I has secured my job.. I remembered using borrowed boot at Sekolah Menengah Ugama in Tok Jiring in 1975 (as temporary teacher) to bend a corner kick like Abdullah Ali.. guess what that was the only time I scored from a corner kick.. nostalgic habis..
May Ramadhan bring you and your loved one HIS Pleasure and Maghfirah..

Mulan said...

miss football zaman 70s & 80s..

Wan Sharif said...

Mulan Dearest,
Thank you for the support.. I am not going to ask whether you are too young to enjoy Malaysian football of the 70'.. somehow Malaysian football has been on the decline since then ;(((.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Ayoh Wang,
Brad is the soccer fanatic in this house. Angan-angan nak jadi Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill. Here's wishing you Ramadan Mubarak, semoga ibadah pada tahun ini lebih sempurna dari tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Kucing tak puasa! Yeeha!!!! purrrr *giggles*

School Of Tots said...

Singapore team looks superior than us. Those neutralized players bring stability and power to the team. Hmmm... just thinking aloud, should we emulate that option as well to bring instant success? :)

Lee said...

Hi Wan Sharif, I love football, but pity disini people crazy of baseball, Ice hockey and basket ball. So only watch when World cup is on.

Here's wishing you and family, telah berlabur tirai Syaaban menjelma pula Ramadhan.
Saya ucapkan moga berjaya menunaikan puasa dengan Jayanya.
My best regards.
Lee.

Trying To Be Muslim.. said...

Foot ball 70s...mmmm I just born on 79....:)err....what to comment hah???

Anyway...have a blessing and contented Ramadhan, Ayah Wang sekeluarga....Amen..

May the rahmat and maghfirgah..be yours...

Coffee Girl said...

Brilliant! Comparing the football scene to O&G. The way I see it, the minute our footballers hit a goal, we cheered and made that one last a life time instead of making it a stepping stone. Then comes the complacency. And some are being pampered, im not sure how true that is, but people normally tag sportsperson a celebrity. In their own right maybe, but not when our sports is not even at par with the rest of the bigger players. We're still nowhere near EPL, thats for sure. Cant even beat our own neighbour. I guess at this rate, we'll just keep cheering for some other countries' football clubs than our own. sigh...

DrSam said...

Salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak Ayong Wang. During this holy months, lets hope that some of our fellow believers do not sleep, eat and play football too much. Pesanang penaja he...he..

Ida BorneoLove said...

they should be nick named Harimau Malaysia, instead of Harimau Malaya :/

Aishah said...

Assalamualaikum Wan Sharif, Ramadhan Mubarak, as Cat says, dah nak Eid Mubarak:) I still remember your Raya shopping story from last year. How time flies, and that also means we are closer to our ends too.

I like your PSC agreement for our football team.

Wan Sharif said...

Dearest CfS,
Sorry for late reply..
They say you have to have dream to succeed in life (pst.. I like the dreamer in our friend PakMat). Thank you for your kind wishes..
May Allah grant all your wishes and May this ramadhan bring you Allah’s pleasure, HIS magfirah and kelepasan dari api neraka..

Wan Sharif said...

Dearest Schools Of Tots,
Maybe you are right.. deep down I want to believe that the Singaporean were better prepared and our players are on their “off day” ;)
May this Ramadhan bring you and your loved one Allah’s pleasure, HIS Magfirah and kelepasan dari api neraka..

Wan Sharif said...

Dearest Brother Lee,
My so-so apology for a very late reply ;)
I do love your very fast paced ice hockey and their extremely rough play  and I used to play basketball when a bit younger (oh some 10+ years ago..he he..)
Thank you for you ever so kind wishes and I pray that you and your loved one will be blessed with good health always.

Wan Sharif said...

Dearest Ayu Safieza@Humaira,
Thank you for your kindest wish and do’a
May this Ramadhan bring you and your loved one Allah’s pleasure, HIS Magfirah and kelepasan dari api neraka.. Amen

Wan Sharif said...

Dearest Cofee Girl,
Thank you for your energetic support on my comparison..
Agree with you on the fact that we cheered and made that one shot last a life time instead of making it a stepping stone. On the subject of Malaysian just keep cheering for some other countries' football clubs than our own.. it is rather sad .. may be we do need some revolution after all ;))
Have a nice weekend.

Wan Sharif said...

DR Sam dearest,
Thank you for your kind greeting and wishes and saya juga mengucapkan Salam Ramadhan Al-Mubarak dan kullu am bikhair to you and yours.
I was all smile reading you Pesanang penaja..
May this Ramadhan bring you and your loved one Allah’s pleasure, HIS Magfirah and kelepasan dari api neraka.

Wan Sharif said...

Dearest Ida Amk,
That's it… the authority for half a second.. do not even think about the sensitivity of this Malaya thingy.. I am all with you Ida after all we have been Malaysian for forty +years.
May Ramadhan teaches us all that need to be thought and may it bring you and your loved one Allah’s pleasure and HIS Magfirah

Wan Sharif said...

Wow you sure have strong memory, Aishah dearest.
Psst on that memory thing there is an ayat 6 of al A’la.. to be recited 9 times after solat subuh and solat Maghrib.. that's what I heard.. may be you can verify
Glad to know that you like the PSC agreement for our football team.. now to relay that to Vincent Tan and Tony Fernandes :}))
May this Ramadhan bring you and your loved one Allah’s pleasure, HIS Magfirah and kelepasan dari api neraka..