# German is Perak’s new head coach for the new season in 2017
# Perak to go head hunting in Easter Europe for foreign players
# ‘We will not go through local-based foreign agents for foreign players’ – Weigang
By Rizal Abdullah
German veteran Karl Weigang has been confirmed as Perak’s new head coach for the 2017 new M-League season and the German has fired the first salvo at next year’s Super League teams.
“We want to be like JDT (Johor Darul Takzim),” said the 81-year-old widely traveled German in an exclusive when he was in Johor Bahru over the the weekend.
Weigang is now in the process of getting the right players for Perak’s challenge next season and will next head to Eastern Europe for his foreign players who can beef up the squad.
Weigang confirmed that Perak have only retained Brazilian centreback Thiago Junior and the rest have been given the boot, including Albanian striker Xheviar Sukaj, who still has a contract until the end of next year.
However, Sukaj, who missed a major part of Perak’s campaign due to leg injury, can only be fit in July next year. According to Weigang the Perak FA management and the player are working out a deal for mutual termination of the existing contract.
Others booted out are Brazilian striker Elias Fernandes and Uzbek midfielder Oybek Kilichev.
“We will not enlist the help of the many football agents who operate from Malaysia or any of the other Asean or Asian countries. They are something like vultures and make money out of every deal but you get peanuts from the players they bring,” added Weigang.
“You need the right foreign players to blend with the locals…Perak has a young squad and I expect better things from the team next season. The youngsters will fare better next season after this year’s experience.”
Weigang was the one who brought Hungarian striker Laszio Repasi “out of nowhere” and became an instant hit with the team and played a major role in 1998 when Perak won the Malaysia Cup.
The German also revealed that there will some new signings locally as number of players have shown interest to wear Perak colours.
“We are in the process of negotiating deals with them,” said Weigang, who spent 20 years coaching national teams in Africa, including Cameroon to the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy. Cameroon reached the quarter-finals.
