* Beleaguered national team finally gets his squad for Liverpool match
* Super League outfit Police give chief coach Azman Adnan the boot
* Azman is seventh coach to be sacked
National chief coach Dollah Salleh had his hands full in trying to get a national selection squad to play English giants Liverpool in a friendly match at the National Stadium in Bukit this Friday.
Until Tuesday the former international was still calling for “help” for replacements and he finally got his final jigsaw piece to complete his 20-player squad when Liberian Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh who plays for Premier League’s PKNS FC of Selangor came in as a replacement for Dramane Traore of Police.
Earlier Selangor said a firm NO to release three of their players Hazwan Bakri (midfielder), Afiq Azmi (striker) and Robert Cornthwaite (defender) with Selangor team manager Amirudin Shari boastfully saying he “will bear full responsibility” if the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) takes disciplinary action on the team and players.
Selangor could be docked points in the Super League apart getting fined for not releasing their players.
If Selangor are docked points the Red Giants can kiss goodbye to their chances of a top two finish in the 12-team Super League. This will also mean that Selangor can forget about playing in the AFC Cup next year.
Only the FA Cup champions and the League Cup winners are eligible to play in the AFC Cup. However, since Singapore outfit Lions XII, who compete in the M-League as invited guest and won this year’s FA Cup are not eligible, the League winners and the runners-up will be Malaysia’s flag bearers.
It has not been smooth sailing for Dollah in picking his squad for the Liverpool match. Pahang skipper Razman Roslan has also turned down the call up but made a U-turn and reported for training after talks with Pahang coach Zainal Abidin Hassan.
The biggest surprise in the latest national call up was the total “wipe out” of players from Johor Darul Takzim. Only two – Safiq Rahim and Amri Yahyah – had their names on the list but that too as reserves. Surprisingly, despite the spate of withdrawals from the original list, Dollah did not call Safiq and Amri as replacements.
Instead, Dollah has called up Christie Jayaseelan (Felda United), S. Kumaahran (Harimau Muda B) and Vincent Bikana (Terengganu) to the squad.
Meanwhile, Police have confirmed that chief coach Azman Adnan has been sacked from the team together with “under-performing” skipper Muslim Ahmad and Nurul Azwan Roya.
Police FA secretary Datuk Fuad Abu Zarim said the sackings is due to performance. “Let this be a message to the rest of the team…it has nothing to do with match-fixing.”
A spate of defeats saw Police win only of their last six matches and there allegations of match-fixing.
Azman’s assistant Fauzi Pilus has been appointed the caretaker coach for the time being.
Azman is “Victim No 7” this year – joining George Boateng (Kelantan), B. Satianathan (Armed Forces), Bojan Hodak (JDT), Abdul Rahman Ibrahim (Terengganu), Azraai Khor Abdullah (Kelantan) and Robert Alberts (Sarawak) – who have been told to “take a rest” or quit on their own – as coaches in the Super League.
