Malaysian Hockey Confederation’s (MHC) new technical director, Terry Walsh, is already on the hunt for a new national head coach, after getting a two-day symposium underway, yesterday.
The symposium is being attended by 14 local candidates for the position, but Walsh, who only assumed his position 48 hours ago, claims that all decisions will be made after a detailed analysis of their calibre is conducted.
“To find a coach who has 20-30 international appearances will be tough, that’s why the symposium is held, to find the right one for the national team,” he told Utusan.
“We need a coach who knows the modern concept of hockey, who can communicate to players in different positions, and one who knows the sport in general. Everyone needs to understand that it’s not possible for me to make drastic changes in just 48 hours.”
Among the candidates who were present at the symposium include ex-national coaches Tai Beng Hai, Stephen van Huizen, Arul Selvaraj and Muhammad Dhaarma Raj Abdullah.
Besides that, Walsh also highlighted the psychology factor, which needs to be paid more attention to, when it comes to selecting a coach.
“Right now the whole world knows about Malaysian hockey and they also know the team plays badly under pressure. We don’t even have a good substitute bench to begin with, which I think are the few things that need to be sorted out.”
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