Irfan quits

 

 

Assistant coach Maniam will take charge

Thursday, August 29, 2013 - The Malay Mail

by Tony Mariadass

by T. Vignesh

Location: 

PETALING JAYA

SELANGOR coach Irfan Bakti Abu Salim has tendered his resignation in the wake of the team’s two consecutive defeats and lying at the bottom of their Group A table of the Malaysia Cup competition.
The resignation letter was submitted to FA of Selangor deputy president Datuk Mokhtar Ahmad yesterday evening, when the latter had asked for a meeting to discuss Selangor’s predicament in the Malaysia Cup competition.
“I had asked to see Irfan to discuss the team’s poor performance of late, but he tendered his resignation citing he is embarrassed to have seen Selangor go down to a club side on Tuesday (lost 3-0 to Sime Darby) and he takes full responsibility,” Mokhtar told Mailsports yesterday after the meeting.
“We accept his decision as he was firm on his decision. Assistant coach P. Maniam will take charge for the remaining campaign in the Malaysia Cup competition.”
Irfan’s two-year contract with Selangor was due to expire on Nov 30 “I will be meeting the players at training tomorrow to inform them of Irfan’s decision,” said Mokhtar.
Irfan’s two-year contract with Selangor was due to expire on Nov 30.
Mokhtar said that he has been very disturbed over Selangor’s performance of late and had wanted to get to the bottom of the matter with his meeting with Irfan.
“But since Irfan has tendered his resignation, I will the players to find out why their performance has taken a nose-dive.”
Mokhtar, who is the chairman of FA of Selangor’s local and international competition committee, said that he has heard many reasons for Selangor’s performance but cannot pinpoint on any.
“For instance, I got a message before the match against Sime Darby that Selangor will be losing 3-0. What do I make out of it,” asked Mokhtar.
“Then I hear, players are already negotiating with other teams for the new season and could that be the reason for poor performance because they are not focused.
“Some say that players have lost respect for Irfan.
“All these are hearsay, but very disturbing. In a professional setup, issues like these should not arise.
“After my talk with the players tomorrow (today), I hope to see some changes in our remaining three Group Malaysia Cup matches.
“We have a very balanced team, who should have won the Super League. We drew ten matches losing 20 points. I cannot understand their poor performances.”
Selangor has six national players -Norazlan Razali, Asraruddin Putra Omar, Mahalli Jasuli, K. Gurusamy, S. Kunanlan and Amri Yahyah - and two foreign players in Liberian international Forkey Doe and Adam Griffiths from Australia in their stable.