PETALING JAYA, Dec 7 -- Petaling Jaya City FC (PJ City FC) owner Datuk Seri Vijay Eswaran has set his team a lofty target of a top-five finish in the 2021 Super League despite announcing that they will field an all-local line-up.
"It is not easy, but it is not impossible (either) to compete with teams who have a good foreign players,” Vijay, who is also the Qi Group executive chairman, told a press conference here today.
He is, however, confident former Selangor legend P. Maniam, who replaces Negeri Sembilan-bound K. Devan as head coach, can turn the Phoenix into major Super League contenders.
He said this was based on Maniam's good track record of having groomed lots of youngsters from the Youth Cup (Under-19) and President’s Cup (U-21) squads to play at the top level.
"I truly believe that we have to give them (local players) an opportunity, besides moulding more talented players rather than investing (huge sums of) money on hiring foreign players.
"Even if we hired players with very high salaries, it would not guarantee success. We believe that hard work, proper training and good discipline will help us develop a solid outfit,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vijay also announced that former Manchester City academy coach Steven Jackson had signed a two-year contract to groom more youngsters from the President’s Cup and Youth Cup teams.
PJ City finished eighth in their Super League debut in 2019 before coming in seventh this season.
-- BERNAMA
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