binny

With the main season over, thoughts were already turning to next season, and the transfer merry-go-round was starting to get into swing.

The two weeks before our next game saw no fewer than five transfers; two in and three out.

Abdul Alif hadn’t made it into the first team at all during the season and was delighted to join Perak for £2,000. Nordin Kamis was on his way to Sarawak for £5,000 and promising winger Mohd Fazil Abdul Rahaman going to Perlis on a performance-fee basis.

One thing that has disappointed me this season is the lack of goals, and so I was delighted to complete the £1,000 signing of Perak’s frontman Mohd Nizaruddin Yusof. And replacing Kamis was Rezuan Khan, who cost us just £1,000.

Excelsior

Iim Malaysian, and actually follow the local league and I can tell you that Nizaruddin Yusof is class IRL (relatively of course). I think he got capped recently

My hometown club is Sarawak. How did they do?
Hope it went better than in real life, ( we got relegated...)

Excelsior

wait a minute, binny; you didn't play the FA cup?
there are THREE competitions in Malaysia, the Super/Premier league, Malaysia cup, and FA cup.
Did SI cut the last one out???

Excelsior

oh sorry
you got knocked out so quickly I didn't notice the FA cup posts

How dare you treat the FA cup with disrespect
It's the oldest club competition in Malaysia- from way back during British rule...

oh btw, Kelantan REALLY suck IRL.
they got relegated from the proffessional leagues this season- even had the cheek to try to appeal the relegation (on the grounds that they were a "big club")
they got laughed off thankfully.
To top it off, Kelantan SKMK got relegated the season before, so now they are the only state without a team in the pro leagues...

just some background

binny

Excelsior - thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure that Sarawak stayed up. Also didn't realise how important the FA Cup was - there's always next season


A return trip to Penang was next up on the agenda, and we got off to a fantastic start when Abdul Manan cracked home a 30-yard free kick after just six minutes.

The goal though just sparked the Super League into action, and although we defended well, Penang were level with twenty minutes gone, and just before half time they were ahead.

Having only conceded two goals in the first half barrage, we knew that we might still be able to nick an equaliser, and sure enough we got one before the hour mark; Ng Kok Heng scoring his first for the club with a header from a corner.

Nine minutes later though Penang’s Argentinean striker put them back in front on the break, and we had it all to do again. We did get a helping hand nine minutes from time when one of their substitutes was sent off, but we just couldn’t find an equaliser, and we cannot now qualify for the last eight.

Excelsior

tough
look on the bright side, Malaysia Cup champions get paltry prize money (IIR, I remember a discussion on wanting to hugely increase M'sia cup prize money)
so that's my consolation for you
you may want to check the details yourself though...

oh well, on to the next season!

binny

That was what I was thinking as well :eek:


Two more sales during the week saw us reduce the squad size further. Subri Sulong was disappointed to have lost his right-back spot and he was on his way to Kedah for £5,000. Luis Rodrigo has bags of talent, but he just hasn’t performed this season, and I felt it was best for both parties that he return back to Brazil as he joined Vila Nova (GO) for £6,000.

The home tie with Johor FC was meaningless from our point of view, but we still wanted to put in a decent performance, and perhaps break our non-winning streak. We were without the injured Rufin Oba though; he’d twisted his ankle and wouldn’t feature again until next season.

To say we were poor would be an understatement. We fell behind to a sloppy goal early on, and even the normally dependable Abdul Manan had an off day; sending a penalty straight into the arms of the goalkeeper.

Walter Silva hit another two goals for the visitors in the second half to complete his hatrick and leave us completely deflated.

A replacement for Luis Rodrigo was found soon after the tie, as veteran and former Australian international Matthew Bingley joined from Pahang for just £1,000. He can also play in defence, and hopefully his experience will be invaluable to us for next season.

binny

The last game of the season was a home tie with Perlis, and the fans turned up to say thank-you for the major part of the season; when we actually played well.

There was a lot of huffing and puffing from both sides in the first half, and it was perhaps inevitable that we would fall behind towards the end of the period to a scorcher from just outside the box.

We started well in the second half, but our good build-up play never led to anything that looked like turning into a goal. Just before the hour mark we were made to play as our former winger Mohd Fazil Abdul Rahaman paid us back by scoring a second for the visitors, and five minutes later we were three down as Chandran failed to clear, and Argentine striker Bobby Gonzales tapped in.

We did pull one back through Padilha da Rocha, but we never looked like getting a second. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway as we had already been knocked out of the competition, and our season limped to a disappointing end.

binny

SUMMARY – September 2005

Penang 3 (Mohd Nazrie Akui 19, 45, José RamÃ*rez Barreto 66, Zulhissyam Jamaludin s/o 81)
Kuala Lumpur 2 (Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan 6, Ng Kok Heng 57)
Attendance: 3021
Malaysian Cup, Group C

Kuala Lumpur 0 (Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan m/pen 37)
Johor FC 3 (Walter Silva 15, 50, 90)
Attendance: 696
Malaysian Cup, Group C

Kuala Lumpur 1 (Marcelo Padilha da Rocha 68)
Perlis 3 (Phillimon Chipata 38, Mohd Fazil Abdul Rahaman 59, Bobby Gonzales 64)
Attendance: 2613
Malaysia Cup, Group C

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts1st Q Johor FC 6 4 1 1 10 4 +6 132nd Q Penang 6 3 1 2 11 9 +2 103rd Perlis 6 3 1 2 10 10 0 104th Kuala Lumpur 6 0 1 5 5 13 -8 1 </pre>

binny

The end of the season allowed everyone to go off on holiday, and just refocus for the task in hand next season. We failed to register a win in any of our last ten games of the season, and coupled with some inconsistent results throughout the first part of the season, it was clear to see why we failed to win promotion.

The squad is, and will continue, to go through a major reshaping during the close season as I try to find a balance and the quality necessary to take us that next step, and make the jump up to the Super League.

One player who will be featuring is Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan. He’s had a fantastic first season for the club, being the only player who seemed to know where the goal was. It was no surprise that the fans voted him as their player of the season.

It was also no surprise to see him named in the Malaysian squad for their end of season games against Yemen and Oman. He wasn’t named in the starting line-up for either match, but he did come on in both, and acquitted himself well. Malaysia though were not that great though in either game; going down 1-0 to Yemen, and being held 0-0 by Oman.