Local v foreign (The Malay Mail)

LOCAL coaches fared relatively poorly in the M-League which ended on
Tuesday.
 The five teams that failed to make the Malaysia Cup competition were all
handled by local coaches.
 Nine of the 15 teams are handled by Malaysians.
 The teams that failed to make the Malaysia Cup competition are
Terengganu (coached by Abdullah Mohamad), Malacca (Tajuddin Nor), Kelantan
(Kelly Tham), Johor (K. Sukumaran) and Penang (Moey Yoke Ham).
 The four local coaches who will carry the challenge in the Malaysia Cup
competition are Mosthakeen Omar (Kedah), Abdul Rahman Ibrahim (Perlis), M.
Karathu (Negri Sembilan) and Chow Kwai Lam (Kuala Lumpur).
 Terengganu's Abdullah Mohamad has decided to step aside for the new
season while there Malacca are likely to hire a foreign coach.
 Speculations are rife of Penang being interested in Dutchman Robert
Alberts who handled Kedah previously and coached Tiong Baru in Singapore
this season.
 Kelly Tham's future with Kelantan is in doubt after his second
unfruitful season.
 Sukumaran took over from Singaporean Jita Singh for the second half of
the season.
 His job is safe but he could play second fiddle to national coach Wan
Jamak Wan Hassan who is expected to return to Johor after his Sea Games
assignment.
 This season, the FA Cup and M-League titles were won by teams coached by
foreigners - Steve Wicks and Alan Vest - respectively.
 The four local coaches could save some pride by winning the big one -
the Malaysia Cup.
 They will be up against Vest (Sarawak), Smith or his successor who is
tipped to be Ken Shellito (Sabah), Wicks (Selangor), Karl Weigang (Perak)
and Jorgen Larsen (Pahang).
 Chow Kwai Lam took KL to the Malaysia Cup title for the third
consecutive time in 1989. Since then, it has been won by teams handled by
foreign coaches.
 KL are back after missing out the last four seasons and are still under
Kwai Lam's guidance.
 Another local coach who could stop a clean sweep by the foreign legion
is Kedah's Mosthakeen whose team finished second in the M-League behind
Sarawak.
 Mosthakeen took Kedah to the FA Cup title last year when the League Cup
was won by Smith's Sabah and the Malaysia Cup by Ken Worden's Selangor.
 The odds are against a local coach winning the Malaysia Cup title but it
should serve as a challenge to them.

SUCCESSFUL COACHES

MALAYSIA CUP
1989    CHOW KWAI LAM      (Kuala Lumpur)
1990    MILOUS KVACEK      (Kedah)
1991    MICHAEL URUKALO    (Johor)
1992    MIKE BROWN         (Pahang)
1993    ROBERT ALBERTS     (Kedah)
1994    DOUGLAS MOORE      (Singapore)
1995    KEN WORDEN         (Selangor)
1996    KEN WORDEN         (Selangor)
1997    Local or foreign coach?
 * NOTE: The Semi-pro League was introduced in 1989 and it evolved into
the M-League in 1996.
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