2010 Kicks Off....

Its been sometime since I updated my blog...yeah..a little bit too busy with football. During these past few months. After the Grassroot course that I have attended, I was chosen again to attend the FAM/FIFA Grassroot course which is a great course to attend. It was instructed by 2 FIFA instructors and both of them are absolutely great guys. Also I did learn a great deal down there.





By the way, I would like to congratulates Malaysia U23 team for winning the Sea Games gold. Its been 20 years and great to know that there are 2 buddies of mine in there..Obviously Coach Rajagopal knows what he is doing and I have said it before these boys have potential. But then suddenly a few people minus their football brains jumps in and try to do stuff that would do more harm than good to the national team. 1st off is pulling out the Harimau Muda squad from the league. The continuity is already there in order to have a strong national team in years to come, but by removing them from the league just throws everything back to square one. Its leaves Coach Azraai and Coach Azman scrambling for friendlies in order to get the boys match exposure. Ideally the boys need 1 competitive match a week, but now there are restricted to training. Organizing friendlies is no easy task, added with the competitiveness that are require to get the boys in top condition, both the coaches are loaded with problems which is not from their wrong doing.

Thats 1 problem, then next problem is sending the U23 boys to overseas. May I know what for..?? I thoroughly agree on what Coach Azraai and Akmal Rizal said on the press, training with no matches, its a waste of time. Plus we are sending players not wanted by the clubs...and if I'm the coach down there, do you guys think I would care if the boys improve or not ? What exactly these people are thinking ??

If they say that our current league team coaches is not good enough, why not COACH THE COACHES, from grassroot to professional. By having good coaches around the country, it will enable our young boys to be coach the right way, having the good habits and by all that, it will improve our league, and when the league is good, our national team will be good as well. Simple as that and it is not rocket science. Err..maybe rocket science to someone born without a football brain !!

Also if they do want to send our boys, send them to teams where they can play week in week out and not just training. Also why it has to be England ??? We all know their academies is not doing well..they are not producing the Messis, Kakas, Agueros..how many young England stars move on to become world beaters recently..?? None..?? Which shows why the national team itself is not doing well. If these guys really want to send our players out, make sure send them out for trials so that we can have teams look at them and hopefully offer them a contract..and by the way..not those 23 years old yeah...I'm talking about 14 - 18 years old players. send them out for trials, get them contracts to play..not in England, loads of other places to choose from. Make sure they don't neglect their education while continuing their football dream.

I can rant and rant about it, but i think its enough...I met up with Coach Azraai and Coach Azman today at FAM to discuss on organizing a playing trip to Shanghai for Harimau Muda. COach Azman is the one that ring me up.....we had a great chat about football...and I have a lot of respect for them. Hopefully they will continue to work hard with the squad although their plans are all gone with the pulling out of the team from the league and I will try my best to lessen their burden in organizing friendlies by contacting my contacts.





Till then....TANAH TUMPAH DARAHKU....AKAN TERUS BERJUANG UNTUK MEMBANGUNKAN BOLASEPAK MALAYSIA !!

Free Flow of Football

I got a taste of what it likes to be on football every single day for a week...I'm loving it..although the wifey is not that happy..

My footy week started on 31st Oct with me making my debut for Asterix Reds. Did okay..but will not reveal my debut result here.

On 1st Nov, I was involve in a Charity Tournament for our former Malaysian International goalkeeper, Khairul Azman. It was a good tourney, we ended up losing in penalties in the quarters and guess what...the legends comprising Zainal Abidin, Dollah Salleh and others schooled the young boys of the tournament and became Champions...Brilliant stuff



On 2nd November, I started my coaching education. It was conducted by FAM Technical Director, Coach Lim Kim Chon ( His bro, Lim Teong Kim, another Malaysian Legend, is now coaching the Bayern U19 team ), Coach Kok, and Coach Haji Zaki with COach Richard Scully making an appearance in the Goalkeeping subject. For the next 6 days, I did learn alot. Although I have 6 years experience of coaching youth in Shanghai, the knowledge pass on by Coach Lim is is very very useful. I'm looking forward to complete my Level 1 and 2 in order for me to obtain the AFC C and hope to get another chance to learn under Coach Lim. You never stop learning as a coach !!



My weekend of football ended on the 6th Nov...with some spare time to chill with the family.
But then my football never ends..coaching sessions as usual...and I'm planning some tournaments for the boys at Mont Kiara FC. Looking for much much more footy..Its never enough for me..

Owh..by the way, just got a mate from Dublin..Malaysian coach, called me up and chat about our local football...And I think i mention GRASSROOT loads fo time !!

Mont Kiara FC Trials

Hi all

Mont Kiara FC will kickoff next week with its trials to select players. Details is as below

Current coach set up is me Shazwan, V Saravanan ( ex Malaysia /current Myteam FC ) dan Jake ( FA Level 2 )

In future, Bojan Hodak and Paul Masefield might make an appearance as a guest coach.

For more info, please log on to http://montkiarafc.wordpress.com


Mont Kiara FC Trials

Under 17 years ( Players born between 1992 – 1995 )

Under 17 years – 13th October 2009 ( Tuesday ) – 6.00pm – 7.30pm

Over 17 years ( Players born before 1992 )

Over 17 years – 15th October 2009 ( Thursday ) – 6.00pm – 7.30pm

Location – Garden International School, Mont Kiara – MAP

For more information, please contact

Shazwan : H/P – 012-6091912 Email – shazwan77@yahoo.com

Jake : H/P – 012-6883460 Email – jake.littlejohn@gmail.com

General Enquiries : montkiarafc@gmail.com

The Social League Kuala Lumpur

When I was in Shanghai, I was playing in the expats league featuring many ex pros and it was a good experience for me...and coming back to Malaysia I'm sure I'll be turning up for an expat team as well, playing for Asterix Reds...if Andy keeps his word of signing me up..The League that these teams will be playing is The Social Soccer League Kuala Lumpur. I wonder why it is not call Football League instead of Soccer League. Yanks influence I guess..

I checked on their website, www.sslkl.com and to my surprise it boast loads of ex pros and celebrities as well. Some of them are legends to me !!..Got a couple of mates in there too..
Here are a few that I can list out from past seasons and hopefully they will be playing in the coming season as well..

Ghani Malik - ex Malaysia international
Sheldon - Me fellow Reds
Alex Yoong - Former F1 driver
Hans Isaac - Actor
Wan Ahmad Kamal - Legend for me..Scorer of Perak 2nd goal in the inaugural FA Cup win over Selangor. 2-0 down...and we won 4-2. He used to come to my school as his wifey was my teacher

What a cracker from Wan Ahmad Kamal

K.Gunalan - Ex Malaysia international
Aiman Wong
Tan Cheng Hoe - current Malaysia U23 asst coach

Well, if a league have these quality players, even if its called Social League, I'm sure it will be competitive. I am looking forward to it...and it should be awesome playing against these players

Also, I got a call from Wayne ( Wednesday FC ) today and had a good chat with him. Well, when two kaki bola is on the phone, all we talked is about footy..In fact he knew some of my mates and also my dad's mate...Small small world..

Back in the football scene locally

When I was scheduled to be back, one thing that always stuck in my mind is how am I gonna get into the local football scene.

Luckily when I was with QiLin FC, we did went to Malaysia for tourneys and this does help a lot. I get to know the wonderful guys at Little League Malaysia especially Andy and Pete. Even before I head back Andy has contacted me for a meeting and chat about a new project. I think this project will be great..not just for the expats community in KL but also our very own local boys. Once it kick off, I will reveal more.

Although nothing is confirm yet, its kinda unbelievable that Andy approach me to head up this project. Certainly my experience back in Shanghai helps. We have already talk to Bojan Hodak, ex Little League, My Team FC head coach, and he will be on board as well. There are a lot of useful pointers from him as he is a well known figure in the football scene here. We also talked to V. Saravanan, ex national, Perak and currently MyTeam FC top striker. He will also form part of the crew for this exciting project. Even Chan Wing Hoong, ex national, Perak and currently Perlis defender contacted me wanting to be involve. We'll talk more about the project once it beginning to take pace.



Today I was feature in The Star video section done by Chow. Well hopefully this video can be use to promote the new project. It can be a big plus as I have mention before, I am not certified in any FAM coaching badges. Reason No 1 is I was away in Shanghai for the past 7 years thus limiting my chances on getting in any of the courses.

Back Home..

Its been sometime since I updated my blog...Its been hectic..plus not much football to write about..

The moving into hotel, moving out of hotel, moving into an apartment, sorting out the house, renovations....plus getting lost in KL...phew..it was hectic..

Nothing much happening in the football side...but I might get involve very soon..which I will reveal later.

During my drive around while getting lost in KL, I noticed there are many football fields around town, but lacking the players. Probably the timing is not right...with the H1N1 flu...maybe people are staying indoors...

Can't wait to get involve in football again...but definitely things will be slowing down due to Ramadan which falls this Saturday...but surely I will be in the football circles again..

Till then

The Boys Really Wants It....for me

Yesterday was my last game in charge with my U12 boys. Although we ended up as runners up, I am still very proud of my boys. They really really wanted to win the QiLin Cup for me especially knowing that was my last game with them. I have to tell you that I never felt this kind of sadness having to leave these boys.

When the match when into penalties, Nick kept asking me what if we lose...I told him, don't worry about it. What ever happens, I am still proud of you boys. What most important is all of you fight hard. I can see that all of them wants to win it. Not for themselves, but for me. Then I walked to Toby, our goalkeeper..and tell him " This is it Toby..Lets do this "...then i paused. There was this surge of emotion I have never felt before...I was choked and I can't continue my encouragement for Toby. It will be very weird for Toby to see his fiery coach suddenly in tears. I think reality hits me hard at that time, knowing that was my last match with the boys. Although I only have a brief stint with the U12 boys, but the attachment is so strong that it seems I have been with them forever.

I had my great times with the club..when we 1st started I coached the U12 boys back in 2006. We won the U12 division of Shanghai International Youth Football League unbeaten. Then I continue on with them in the U14..and again won the Shanghai International Youth Football League unbeaten as well. I wish I had more time with my current U12 boys as I am sure I will bring them championships. There are a lot of talents there..top boys in their age group.

I am pretty sure I am gonna miss the boys...miss the routine. And I do hope the boys will miss my " Come On boys..lets go!! " or " Where is the width and depth " or " Where is the shape "...

I wish all my boys good luck..and I won't be saying goodbye....I will say SEE YOU AGAIN

Over rated & Over looked

ITs only 2 weeks left before the season ends. And also it may be an end of my stint here in Shanghai. Deep down I hope its not an end, maybe a brief break. During the past few years I'm here, I have encounter loads of over rated player and me myself as a coach have overlooked some players as well during trials.

Example, my U12 squad have about 50+ players. I have 1 top team consist of the best of the best, 2 teams in the 2nd tier and another 2 teams in the 3rd tier group.
I did pass on some players during trials and placed them in the 2nd tier or 3rd tier teams in that particular age group. But during the course of the season, I started to notice that some players in the 3rd tier group are good enough to play for the top team or the 2nd tier teams. These are overlooked players that I pass on during the trials. And to be honest 1 day trials or even 2 days trials is not the best thing we should do in order to select players.

During my time, I have attended numerous trials for the state team and its only lasted for a day or 2. Now I'm thinking, with a 2 days trials, will any State teams get the best players to play for them. Certainly not. Thats for sure. Definitely there is a flaw in our selection process. My Team FC did prove something by scouring the nation for players that have never played for the state and train them to play against our national team. It shows we did overlooked many many players. I wonder why My Team FC deviate from its original plan and starting to poach other state players to play for them ? Why not keep scouting for young talents ? A question I may not be able to answer

As for over rated players, I have seen a lot of it as well. For instance in my senior team, some players can perform really really well when we are up against weak opponents. You can see that player flying past 2 or 3 defenders, scoring spectacular goals, making all the correct movement. But then when we are up against strong opponents, that player disappear under the radar. Doing nothing for the whole match. If it happen once, then yeah these players might have an off day, but what if that happens every time when things get tough.

So I can conclude that trials is not the way to go. A proper club needs to have a big pool of players where players can move up and down the ranks. It may be hard for pro clubs to have a huge amount of players but my point is, why not start it at the youth level. If a club have a good youth set up, keeping the youth together and train them then they have a good pool of players to choose from in the youth department, I'm sure these players will move up the ranks and play for the senior team. This will give over looked players a chance to prove himself and also a chance for us the coaches to push the over rated player in order to get the best out of him

[img]http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs088.snc1/4623_111788310861_745050861_3235667_128551_n.jpg[/img]
QiLin FC Senior Team - End of the Season 2009

Should I do it ?

My coaching stint in Shanghai will end soon. It might be the complete end of my stint here or it will just be a brief one as I may return. Its all depending on how things work. My wife's contract is up after our 7 years adventure in Shanghai and frankly speaking its tough to leave after all these years of my involvement in the football scene here.

Everything is so connected. The club, the friends, the players, the routine...it will be a big adjustment for me once I'm back to Malaysia. As I have mention previously in my blog post, I have always wanted to promote our Malaysian young local players to be notice in an international level tournament. It will always be my goal, and this might be a chance for me to do it, but then should I take the risk ? Its no one man task. I know as I was involve on the day 1 of starting QiLin FC.

I do always ask myself...should I do it ? I have options to stay in Shanghai and continue what I do here. Or I can always coach for another club back home in Malaysia. Or even I can find a 9-5 job to support the family ( I seriously do not want to do this ). Why should I take a risk to promote local football where it may fail. I might be thinking negatively here but its a fact that starting my own football club is a huge huge task.

First, I need to find a group of people that I can trust, people that can complete their task when they are ask to. And that is difficult. So lets say I have found them. Then I will need a venue. If I don't own a venue, yeah I can always rent them. But by committing half of your budget to rental fees, this officially will make the club screaming for registration fees. And by that, quality of players maybe sacrifice in order to achieve the monetary target. OK..lets say now I have found a person that is willing to invest in a facility. And that I think should kickstart the club but then how am I gonna change the mentality of our Malaysian parents ? If I found a gem of a player, will the family willing to part ways with him in order for the player to achieve his experience overseas ? There are just too much unanswered questions but still to be honest I WANT TO GIVE IT A SHOT if given a chance.

As at now, I don't have the financial capacity to take the risk unless someone come forward. Ministry of Sports maybe..?? Hopefully...

So my options are

1) Come back to Shanghai once I have everything sorted out back home

2) Coach for a Malaysian club ( expat base ). This is because I have not seen any local clubs that are doing the right thing a football club should do

3) Take the risk...start my own youth football academy

3)