The Secretary General for FELDA United, Zulkarnain Muhammad has confirmed the team will announce a new manager by this week with B. Sathianathan being one of the contenders.
Azmi’s resignation
Azmi Mohamed was the FELDA United head coach heading into this season after Irfan Bakti left the team a few weeks before the end of last season. However, Azmi resigned after only three games due to him questioning his own abilities of leading FELDA to greater heights following a strong showing in 2016.
Mohamad Nik took over as caretaker head coach and unfortunately, FELDA has gone into a slide, losing three games in a row in all competitions with the team now just hovering above the relegation zone.
Is Sathia their number one target?
According to Harian Mero, Zulkarnain has confirmed Sathianathan, the former national team head coach, is one of the managers FELDA is looking at along with two other contenders.
However, Zulkarnain also confirmed they can’t appoint the new head coach in time for FELDA’s first ever continental match in the AFC Cup away against Singapore’s Tampines Rovers and hope they can appoint one before FELDA’s Super League match against Perak this Saturday.
Sathianathan though is under contract with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) as the President of the Football Coaches Association of Malaysia (FCAM) but he is prepared to accept FELDA’s offer if negotiations go smoothly according to the same news outlet.
What do we think?
FELDA United definitely need someone who can offer them a sense of direction. Sathianathan sounds like a good appointment looking at his achievements and if he does get the job, FELDA can at least breathe easily only for a bit that they found a new head coach.
Sathianathan steered ATM FA to the Super League after winning the 2012 Premier League and winning the 2010 Malaysia Cup with Kelantan so those kind of achievements is something FELDA can hope for if they want to replicate their best season yet.
However, the identity of the two other contenders FELDA is also looking at is not known. With a good CV though, Sathianathan is seen as the strongest contender to take over FELDA although whether he can guide The Fighters back to the top remains to be seen as at the end of the day, results matter.
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