My best and bad year

S. SUBRAMANIAM yesterday bade farewell to Kuala Lumpur FA on a mixed note.
Mixed because he was sad to be ending a 12-year association but
satisfied because he managed to steer them to the only Cup which had
eluded them until this season - the FA Cup.
"KL might not have done well in the League but I am leaving with the
knowledge that I did my best for the team," said the 56-year-old
Subramaniam, who is now technical director of the Asian Football
Confederation (AFC).
Before this season, Subramaniam had also coached KL (formerly Federal
Territory) from 1982 to 1984 and thereafter became Director of Coaching.
He was recalled as coach this year, replacing Chow Kwai Lam.
In his report to KLFA on the Semi-Pro League team this season, he
mentioned that it had been a difficult and challenging period for him.
"Several players left for greener pastures while there were no adequate
replacements for those dropped," he wrote in his report.
"We had only three first choice players left from the 1992 season -
goalkeeper V. Murugan, defender Razip Ismail and midfielder Zoran
Nikolic."
The other players from the 1992 squad were Shahrin Abdul Majid, Subadron
Aziz, Raja Azlan Shah Raja Soib, S. Balachandran, Yap Wai Loon and K.
Vijatheran, but they were not regulars in 1992.
"We were forced to introduce the back-up squad players earlier than we
had anticipated."
Among the back-up players introduced this season were goalkeeper Azrin
Azram, defenders Fairuz Ahmad Mohamad Yunus, Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Aziz, R.
Ramachandran, L. Suresh, midfielders P.P. Loarance David and strikers
Amzanie Che Ani, T. Gopinath Naidu and Mohamad Sham Mohamad Nor.
"As we were short of experienced players in certain departments, we had
to recall two players - goalkeeper Yap Kam Choon and Chow Siew Yai - while
a third, Serbegeth Singh, volunteered to play for us."
Subramaniam said it was unfortunate that KL lost Bulgarian striker
Atanas Pashev after he was injured in a FA Cup second round match against
Armed Forces.
"His absence left a vacuum in attack and we had to depend a great deal
on raw strikers like Gopinath and Shahrin.
Subramaniam has some recommendations to KLFA for next season. Among them
are:
* APPOINT the manager immediately;
* COACH and manager should be given a free hand to select players needed
for vital positions;
* BONUS must be reviewed and the manager be given the prerogative to
decide additional bonus depending on the importance of certain matches;
and
* SEVERAL younger players can be considered for the new season. Among
them are goalkeepers Azrin, Hanim Ali, utility players S. Mathen and
Zairul Akramin Mohamad Darus, midfielders G. Chandrasegeran and Azrul Amri
Burhan and striker Mior Nor Samsul Kamal.
Even though KL failed to qualify for the Malaysia Cup, Subramaniam said
he had done his job to the best of his ability this year.
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