By Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The announcement made by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) regarding the appointment of a new national team head coach while an interim coach is handling the Harimau Malaya squad in the ongoing ASEAN Championship is nothing new.
For the uninitiated, FAM recently announced the appointment of Australian Peter Cklamovski as the national team head coach while Spaniard Pau Marti Vicente, the interim head coach, is still very much involved in guiding the Harimau Malaya in the ongoing ASEAN Championship (with Malaysia taking on Singapore in a must-win match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tonight to qualify for the semi-finals).
Rest assured, however, that this is not something abnormal but one we often see done by other international teams and clubs.
For example, English Premier League giants Manchester United recently announced the appointment of Ruben Amorim as their new head coach when former Red Devil striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was still holding the reins as interim coach.
The announcement had no effect on Van Nistelrooy, a Red Devil legend after notching 150 goals in just 219 games he played for the club, as he guided United to three wins and a draw during his short time as interim coach before the arrival of Amorim.
Van Nistelrooy, 48, made a winning start to his life as United’s interim coach with a 5-2 victory over Leicester City to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and the former Dutch striker then guided them to a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the Premier League, before triumphing 2-0 win over PAOK in the Europa League and 3-0 over Leicester (again) in the Premier League.
His unbeaten record saw his stock skyrocket and Van Nistelrooy was then appointed as manager of Leicester, replacing the sacked Steve Cooper.
Meanwhile, England also announced the appointment of Thomas Tuchel as their new manager just when the Three Lions were busy negotiating their Nations League campaign under interim manager Lee Carsley.
Following the announcement, Carsley, who actually oversees the England Under-21 squad as head coach, continued to steer the senior squad to defeat Greece 3-0 and Ireland 5-0.
So, Vicente is not alone in this respect as Van Nistelrooy and Carsley also had to continue guiding their teams following the appointments of new head coaches while they were still on interim duty.
The journey taken by Van Nistelrooy and Carsley should be a guide and example for everyone, especially the new coaches, about being patient, remaining professional and respecting the contracts they signed as there is a lesson to be learnt from everything that happens.
As for the Harimau Malaya, it would have been wise to delay announcing the appointment of Cklamovski until after the conclusion of the ASEAN Championship to avoid any distraction to the team under the guidance of Vicente.
Yesterday, Vicente admitted to being puzzled by FAM’s “strange” decision in announcing Cklamovski’s appointment ahead of their final Group A match against Singapore in the biennial tournament tonight.
Vicente’s statement led to many fans taking FAM to task and labelling the announcement as a sign of disrespect towards the team and coaching lineup, although there were also fans who came to FAM’s defence.
Cklamovski, who will officially take over from Vicente when the Spaniard leaves the team after the ASEAN Championship ends, will officially begin duty on Jan 1, 2025 and his dual mission will be to guide the team to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup Finals and reach the top 100 in the world ranking.
As for tonight’s crucial ASEAN Championship match, 2010 champions Malaysia must beat Singapore - and by a big margin for good measure - to boost their chances of accompanying defending champions Thailand into the semi-finals from Group A.
Malaysia are currently fourth in the five-team Group A standings with four points, with Cambodia third, also with four points. Thailand top the group with nine points and have assured themselves of a place in the last four while Singapore are second with six points. Timor-Leste prop up the standings with no points.
Malaysia need to beat Singapore - and by a big margin if possible - in case of the unexpected happening when Thailand meet Cambodia in Bangkok tonight.
Tonight’s Malaysia-Singapore showdown is a repeat of their final Group B clash in the 2022 edition, which saw the Harimau Malaya taming the Lions 4-1 at the same venue to advance to the semi-finals.
Let’s hope history repeats itself.
-- BERNAMA
