Sarawak Football: Rome Not Built In A Day

BY JEREMY VENO, easterntimes.

KUCHING: The five-year football development plan which is being spearheaded by the Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS), has the long term objective of producing top-notched local players to revive the glory days of Sarawak football.

The initiative is going to start full swing this year, up till 2015 where a meticulous development plan being drawn to cover the whole of Sarawak.

According to a spokesperson from MSNS, the development initiative is still in its infancy stage, where the proposal for the programme made on June 12, 2009 had just been given the green light from the State government.

The good news of the approval also came with a financial boost of RM1.5 million per year allocation by the State government to MSNS for executing the five-year programme, which will see the council will working very closely with the State Education Department.

“These schools are important assets to us. They are the ones supplying us the huge pool of players and coaches and we can also save money on the facilities as the schools can make use of their own football fields for training and competitions,” he said.

Self-Belief The Key To S’wak Success: Zaki

By Martin Yee, easterntimes

KUCHING: Self belief. That’s the key word that coach Zaki Sheikh Ahmad will be drumming into the Sarawak players when they meet ATM in a home match where they desperately need a morale boosting win to salvage their morale.

Zaki used the last match against Harimau Muda where Sarawak lost 0-1 as the benchmark for their behaviour and performance.

In the match, Sarawak started well attacking in the opening minutes and even hit the post and dominated the game but when Harimau scored the only goal through a counter attack, the team just crumbled.

“They must have self-belief and they need to get the goals early which will relief the pressure on them.
“When the team conceded a goal, they just lost their composure and their game go to pieces.

“They should also change their attitude and one thing I want them to do is to start talking and stop shouting to one another.

“Yesterday (Wednesday) in the training, I told the strikers to buck up and don’t blame the others if they failed to score.

“They must score to release the pressure on them,” said Zaki.

The Sarawak players in fact can win matches as they got the chances to score against a top side like Harimau Muda in the last match.

Against ATM tonight, Zaki is confident they can pull off their first win to get the pressure off the backs of the players as he said they had to win it for the fans.

He said ATM are big spenders - having started training early in October - the same as other teams like FELDA FC and had won once, drew twice and lost once and lying in sixth position with four points.

“We have to win this one. There is no two ways about it and we have to win it for the fans,” said Zaki on tonight’s match against the Army boys whom Sarawak had beaten once, drew once with and lost one to last season.

Sarawak beat them 6-1 at home in the FA Cup but drew with them away while in a league match towards the end of the season, a dispirited Sarawak side suffered a shock defeat to.

The Sarawak side opened the season with a goaless draw at home against PDRM, lost 4-1 to FELDA FC away, then drew 1-1 against PKNS in a match they were supposed to win.

In their last match against Harimau Muda, they came away with a narrow 1-0 defeat.

Zaki said he will emphasise on the mental aspect of the players which had been in a main letdown.

He added that against FELDA, the players were strangely off-coloured as they played a jittery first-half, perhaps overawed by the number of national and former national players in their opponents.

Even in the last match against Harimau Muda, Zaki noted that most of the players did not have the right match temperament and need to be instilled the discipline of the game.

With Fadley Kassim the only casualty as he will miss the match due to red card suspension he received in the last three minutes of the match against Harimau Muda, Zaki will have other options in Hairol Moktar, Aris Ismail or Morris Jagan as the replacement to team up with Wong Sai Kong.

Upfront he will go for Zamri Morshidi-Effendi Malek combination which is more effective with striker Azralan Azmi on the bench while Shahrol Saperi and brother Azizan who have recovered from injury will be on both flanks while in central midfield, Abang Zafari Othman will likely partner Rafiz Ismail.

In defence, Firdaus Morshidi may have to give way to Dzulazlan Ibrahim on the left back role while Mazwandi Zekeria will man the right flank.

Commentary On The Sorry State Of Sarawak’s SUKMA Football

KUCHING: The recent announcement of the launching of the Football Development project after a year’s delay and thousands of ringgit in grant must be music to the ears of success-starved Sarawak football fans.

If the report by a local newspaper that former Sarawak legendary coach Alan Vest will be the director of coaching is correct, Sarawak football shall have a strong SUKMA squad this time. 

It may be able to enter at least the semifinals or capture the SUKMA trophy after the millions of ringgits spent.

But why Vest who is semi-retired and who has already stated that he will never hold a full-time job unless he is invited to do short courses or give a few day’s coaching clinics.

He might be a legend and well versed in development, but he will not be able to give his all. 

FAS, ISN Has To Work On Players’ Attributes Together

BY JEREMY VENO,Easterntimes

KUCHING: A bond has to be made between the Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) and the National Sports Institute (ISN) to ensure that the young state players’ physical and mental attributes are at the top of their game.

Zaki Sheikh Ahmad after putting pen to paper as the head coach to the young team got a surprise when he found out that the association is not working hand in hand with ISN. 

He noted that several of the players are clueless when it comes to their diet before matches and during half time breaks.

“What I had seen is, these players are eating four to five bananas before matches, and they even drank the isotonic drinks like plain water. All these do more bad than good on their performance on the field,” said Zaki who had observed the players attitude in the past four matches. 

Being a former assistant coach to the national team, Zaki is left with no choice but to take the leash and educate several of the players on the proper food intake, nurturing them like a father to a child.

Big boost for state football devt - RM1.5 mln annually for five years programme

by Ting Tieng Hee, Theborneopost

KUCHING: The Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS) got a big shot in the arm on Thursday when its application for funds to run a five-year football development programme was given the nod by the State Cabinet.MSNS director Francis Nyurang Ding said with the funds, the Council could proceed with implementation immediately.

“I have just been notified by the state government today that the application we submitted last year has been approved, and we will be given RM1.5 million annually for five years to run the programme,” he disclosed on Thursday.

Francis said the groundwork was, in fact, laid last year when the Council organised a course in June for 33 coaches in Miri.

Former Sarawak coach Alan Vest conducted the course with the assistance of state football development coordinator Lucas Kalang.

According to Francis, the programme was on hold for a while as the council was awaiting the government’s approval for the application.

Five-Year Plan To Produce Calibre Players

BY JEREMY VENO, Easterntimes

KUCHING: The five-year football development plan run by the Sarawak State Sports Council is seen to be the “saviour” to get Sarawak football to produce top quality players in five years.

Right from the start of the project which is first mooted by an individual ( a former FAS official) the project had seen glitches and delays.

The Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS) which is under the Ministry and tasked with implementing the project is the operating arm and the agency to implement the five-year development programme.

According to an observer of Sarawak football of several decades, the project has many loopholes and non-cost effective which will drain dry the annual RM 1.5 million allocation in a jiffy.

“It is a known fact that the Education Department have their own football programmes, which is based on formality rather than for development.