Nidzam not ready to coach Selangor FC - Khalid Ali

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- National football legend and former Selangor player, Khalid Ali believes that Mohd Nidzam Jamil is not ready to shoulder the responsibility of reviving the fortunes of the Red Giants.

Khalid thinks that Nidzam, who is currently Selangor's interim coach, needs more time to be ready for the challenge of putting the 33-time Malaysia Cup champions back on the right track.

"Nidzam is a good coach and has a good record but he still needs to gain experience. I propose that Selangor look for an experienced coach and let Nidzam assist him.

"I feel that Selangor need to consider appointing quality local coaches, not necessarily foreign ones, who will be able to guide Selangor to success," he said when contacted by Bernama recently.

Khalid, who won various titles with Selangor in the 70s and 80s, said the likes of Datuk Ong Kim Swee, Tan Cheng Hoe, Datuk K. Rajagobal, Datuk Dollah Salleh and Datuk Zainal Abidin Hassan are among the local coaches who are qualified to guide Selangor.

Nidzam, who was appointed as Selangor's assistant head coach for the 2022 season, took on the role of interim coach after the resignation of Michael Feichtenbeiner earlier this month following the team's poor run of results.

However, the Red Giants lost their first two matches under Nidzam's guidance, going down 2-0 to Terengganu FC (TFC) and 1-0 to Petaling Jaya (PJ) City FC at home this month.

Nidzam has a good coaching track record, becoming one of the youngest coaches to win a national championship when, at the age of 32, he led the Putrajaya Public Service Commission (SPA Putrajaya) club to emerge as FAM League champions in 2012.

After that, he coached AirAsia FC in the FAM League and the Universiti Malaysia team at the World University Games Summer Universiade in Taiwan in 2017.

Nidzam was also appointed assistant head coach of Felda United FC, before being promoted to head coach in November 2018.

Selangor, who won the Malaysia Cup in 2015, currently sit in ninth place in the Super League standings with 16 points from 15 matches and have also been eliminated by TFC in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

-- BERNAMA