The Malaysia Super League is back! After what appeared to be a monumental hiatus, all the excitement and drama that we usually get from the country’s top league is already underway with Johor DT defeating Pahang to lift the Charity Shield last weekend. And if you thought last year was brilliant, be prepared to watch things escalate to a whole new level this year. With Johor DT pushing forward in their expansion plans, other teams trying to keep up and match the Southern Tigers, and the fiasco involving television rights for the league; there’s so much more to expect this year. That being said, FourthOfficial.com will be unleashing a series of club previews over the next five days and we’ll take a look at all the teams that will be strutting their stuff in the Super League this year. To kick off the series, we start with Kelantan FA!
KELANTAN FA
Manager: Azman Ibrahim
Head Coach: George Boateng
SQUAD LIST
GOALKEEPERS: Syazwan Yusoff, Khairul Fahmi, Shahrizan Ismail
DEFENDERS: Norhafiz Zamani, Fitri Omar, Jonathan McKain, Nik Shahrul, Farisham Ismail, Hazrul Mustapha, Tun Mohd Faim, Nazri Ahmad, Zairul Fitree
MIDFIELDERS: Brendan Gan, Wan Zaharulnizam, Wan Zack Haikal, Amar Rohidan, Fakri Saarani, Badri Radzi, Rozaimi Azwar, Faizol Nazlin, Isaac Pupo
FORWARDS: Erwin Carillo, Norfarhan Muhammad, Emmanuel Kenmogne, Khairul Izuan
2014 STATS
Malaysia Super League: 6th
Malaysia FA Cup: Semi Final
Malaysia Cup: Quarter Final
ANALYSIS
Kelantan endured a frustrating year in 2014, but they have certainly beefed up their squad to up the tempo and do better this time around. George Boateng revealed to us recently that he couldn’t do much with a squad that he inherited from his predecessor, Steve Darby, though he had the opportunity of forming his own team and embedding his own philosophy into them during the off-season. The return of Norfarhan Muhammad is certainly one that will boost their squad depth immensely and the man is also popular with the fans. Brendan Gan, who was linked with a move to Johor DT, was also retained after his influential role within the team last year.
They opted to revamp their foreign players, and this year, they’ve acquired some experienced players in the form of Jonathan McKain from Australia and Erwin Carillo from Colombia. The former has a reputation of being a rock-solid defender, while the latter has been known to be a real poacher and as far as pre-season performances are concerned, there have been strong glimpses of what he is capable of. That being said, their weakness certainly lies in consistency. They have extremely talented players like Wan Zack Haikal and Wan Zaharulnizam and they will be a strong team, should they remain consistent. Otherwise, things could get pretty tricky and delicate for the Red Warriors. That though, will not stop fans from being excited for the new season.
VERDICT: Title Challengers
List of Club Previews:
1. Sarawak FA
2. Terengganu FA
3. Perak FA
4. PDRM FA
5. ATM FA
6. Selangor FA
7. LionsXII
8. Felda United
9. Sime Darby
Other posts by FO Newsdesk
