Change is never a popular word under any comfortable circumstances.
The biggest revolutions around the world – be it in sports, or politics – have always been stimulated and fostered by a familiar force to be reckoned with. It’s never about timing, it’s never about luck and their rate of success is rarely contingent upon the comfort. There’s always pain, there’s always determination and there’s always tingling sense of brutal honesty.
The meaning of success was one that I’ve always associated to talent and luck, up until I read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. In fact, my aunt bought me the book, after a minor discussion with her, in which I proclaimed that some of the Barcelona players were just gifted in general. She responded in two ways – forcing me to watch Invictus before going on to get me a copy of Malcolm Gladwell’s book.
The book largely analysed the role of talent within the success of and individual, claiming an individual’s perseverance and determination – besides upbringing – claims the upper hand in being able to influence any degree of success. For many, JDT’s success in the AFC Cup portrayed the glittering semblance of a triumph that was purely fueled by money. The notion of ‘royal funding’ is one that’s publicly discussed within the local football spectrum. Their ability to financially afford the presence of the best local footballers within their squad is often cited as a reason for their success within the Super League. Is it really that simple though?
MYTH OF SUCCESS
There’s another brilliant book that takes a deep look into this particular subject matter. Matthew Syed, who was once the best British table tennis player, with three Commonwealth titles under his belt, wrote about the myth of his success in a book called ‘Bounce’. When he first shook the British table tennis scene in 1995, Syed was relatively young and his ability to do so, was primarily pinned on his ‘talent’ – something that the man himself disagreed. He went on to illustrate how being raised within a community, where access to table tennis was available from a young age, made him the player he became. More importantly though, he spoke about the hours of practice and the lifestyle he had, which allowed him to maximize his potential and do well at a sport, that he had no genetic or familial ties to.
JDT’s success on the biggest stage isn’t only about money. It’s about creating a culture, it’s about establishing an identity. There are subliminal benefits behind every aspect that they’ve improved within the club over the past few years. Their media department is by far, the most diligent one amongst all Malaysian teams right now. Content is constantly being channelled across all social media platforms and it wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that the quality of their content is edging closer towards being astute.
On a fine evening, a couple of weeks back, the media department of Southern Tigers Sdn Bhd got in touch with me, asking for a translated copy of the article I wrote on the Johor Crown Prince. I reassured them that a copy would be sent to them within 24 hours. But the next morning, when I switched on my phone while having breakfast, I noticed a text message from them, informing me that they’ve produced a translated copy of their own. And the text message was sent at 4.15 AM. Now I know that a lot of us may work at odd hours, but you and I can both agree that such efficacy is rarely omnipresent in Malaysian football.
This is the exact sort of culture that has allowed them to conquer Asia. It always has a trickle-down effect – excellent management results in players being taken care of in a professional manner. That in return, channels the right amount of confidence into their players, when they step on the pitch, every single time. Football is always about trade-offs. And it needs to be a fair one as well. When a management behaves in a professional manner and eliminates the existence of any off-pitch issues, they inherently generate the leverage to be able to demand and expect 110% from players in every training session as well as matches. Amicably, the players would have no issues in complying as well. It’s never only about the money. In the absence of proper investment and a credible management, money offers nothing but a temporary respite. JDT, judging by their progress, don’t seem to be interested in anything temporary.
These are the changes that need to tangibly take place within every other corners of the Malaysian football spectrum. The likes of Zainal Abidin Hassan and Hairuddin Omar have publicly called for these standards to be implemented uniformly across the country – a process that will take a significant amount of time, without doubt. “JDT have shown us that it’s not impossible to conquer Asia,” Zainal said. But is every other team ready to match JDT’s transformation off the pitch as well?
TOO BIG TO FAIL?
Businesses are generally profit-driven, but what happens when you’re spearheading a business within an industry that isn’t complex enough for you to be able to generate significant profit? Malaysian football – like it or not – isn’t quite the finished product. Investors, to a large extend, struggle to see the return of investment. And even when they do invest, it’s largely related to their CSR modus operandi. The Johor Crown Prince himself recently revealed only after a significant revamp (which took time), were they able to tangibly attract a wide scope of sponsors and investors. The other teams though?
I sat down and spoke to the Chief Executive Officer of Football Malaysia LLP, Kevin Ramalingam earlier this week and he was positive of the change that’s happening within other teams. “The role of Football Malaysia is not to be a parent to them, it’s about guiding them towards privatization. Also, the biggest misconception about privatization is that it’s primarily about setting up a private entity to lead the team. But it wouldn’t matter, if the business principles and management values remain archaic. So we’re looking at the bigger picture, and right now, the response from most teams have been very encouraging,” Kevin enthused.
It’s difficult though, to remain optimistic, when even the most basic aspect of running an organization/business in the form of salary payment, is neglected. Perlis FA only paid their players with intervention of the Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM), Kelantan FA only did so with assistance from the state government as well as the Federal government. And it’s easy for them. Every single time these organizations get into a financial limbo, the blame is easily shifted onto the perpetual victim of the blame game – FAM. But how is your inability to spend within your means, fueled by FAM in any way? Fair enough, the chunk of money you make from competing in the Malaysian Super League, may be peanuts, compared to your operational costs. And while that’s an issue that needs to be dealt with, your financial management and allocation of resources needs to be parallel with the size of budget at your disposal.
It’s almost akin to General Motors as well as major big banks in the United States. The nature of their business model means that they became extremely integrated into the global economy, which afforded them a certain degree of immunity from bankruptcy. And this immunity is precisely they went on to take unprecedented risks, that eventually led them to the brink of self-destruction. Fortunately for them though, the American government stepped in and bailed them out with a financial stimulus package.
You can’t help but feel if such complacency is brewing within Malaysian football. While it may not be integrated to the national economy in any way, football is both a political tool as well as an instrument of preserving unity. Failure of a football team to sustain itself, means there’ll always be major political consequences. Should Kelantan FA go bankrupt, the Barisan Nasional coalition will undoubtedly bear the brunt of it of it as well, seeing how football represents a major source of pride for the majority of people, who are divided by bipartisanship lines in Kota Bharu. This degree of complacency is possibly stemming from absence of fear. It’s precisely why they are willing to take financial risks, knowing that they would always be bailed out, when options are exhausted.
Of course, it’s never about absolutes either. Teams with zero financial backing, or teams with no state-backed support are absolutely capable of taking financial risks and blowing their budgets as well, as we’ve seen in the past with Shahzan Muda, UPB-MyTeam as well as Selangor MPPJ. But on a balance of probabilities, those with state-backed support are far more likelier to go gung-ho on their financial distribution plan. And right now, it’s difficult to foresee a permanent or tangible solution for the matter.
I spoke to Kevin on the possibly of implementing a salary cap in Malaysia and he questioned the potential efficacy of the idea. “It’s definitely a last resort for us. Because to be frank, it won’t work effectively in Malaysia. We need to implement policies that match the reality on the ground in Malaysia and problem is, there’s always ways in which money can be transferred. Also, the players will revolt, if their ability to generate income is capped, as it would be difficult for them to rationalize the decision,” he said.
JDT PROVIDING AN INCENTIVE TO SUCCEED?
So the only way in which these issues can actually be dealt with is if leaders themselves take the active decision to develop principles for the team and stand by them. Is there an incentive for them to so? Perhaps, JDT’s success will force them to be far more accountable with their decision-making. “JDT’s success in the AFC Cup is fantastic for Malaysian football. They’ve really set the benchmark for success and it will inadvertently push the other teams to up their tempo,” Kevin pointed out during the interview.
It makes complete sense as well. Success is never a constant, it’s always an evolution. While most Malaysian football fans were previously happy with winning the Super League or the Malaysia Cup, JDT’s success have now blew borders apart. There is now a bigger end-goal here and fans will be expecting their own teams to match those standards. The legitimacy of a success is contingent upon the level of adoration it receives from fans. So if winning the MSL becomes a lot less important than it always has been, teams will have to push. And if they don’t, leaders of these teams would lose significant political capital.
Mapping the success JDT have had, isn’t as straightforward as it appears. It’s precisely why teams like Terengganu FA have started developing a strong media team, and extensive content on their team. They are incredibly active in engaging with fans. Similar shifts can be seen in other teams like Pahang as well as Felda United. But the bigger shift in mentality needs to happen amongst the other sides as well. The focus needs to be long-term. For instance, Pahang have maintained their foreign players for the past three years, Terengganu have tied Issey Nakajima down to a two-year deal. Teams like Perak and Selangor on the other hand, continue to leave the foreign players in the dark, as to whether they have a future with the team. Your inability to treat your players as a valuable asset, is a reflection of the management culture that exists in your organization.
Forget about short-term success and knee-jerk decision. The culture of professionalism, when embedded into the management of a team, becomes their biggest asset, in the quest for long-term glory. Just like Matthew Syed said, there are no shortcuts to success.
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