ISKANDAR PUTERI – Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) football club owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim views the appointment of Kim Pan-Gon as the new Harimau Malaya head coach as a positive step.
He believes that the appointment would make a difference as the South Korean has his own plans to strengthen the Harimau Malaya squad.
“I feel that it is a positive step for Harimau Malaya. This time (it) is going to be difference because when I look at the structure he showed me, it is very positive. More or less like the structure we have here (at JDT).
“Previously, there was none but now there actually is a plan… with a medical team and actually monitoring every player in the country,” he told a media conference here today.
He said this when asked to comment on whether or not the 52-year-old South Korean is the right person to handle the national team.
Tunku Ismail also acknowledged that Pan-Gon should be given time to prove his worth, saying that a coach’s capability could not be measured after just one season.
“When I first took over JDT, we did not win anything in the first year, we kept losing. When we drew, we felt grateful because (at that time) I just took over JDT. We never won.
“So, we cannot judge a coach for one season, must give him at least two seasons. Give him (Pan-Gon) time, he knows what he is doing,” he said.
The Harimau Malaya are set to take on the Philippines on Wednesday (March 23) and will host Singapore on March 26 in the Tier 1 tri-nation series at the Singapore National Stadium before facing Singapore League side Albirex Niigata at the Jalan Besar Stadium on March 28.
Asked about developments on sponsoring the cost of planting new grass at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Tunku Ismail said he would visit the stadium on Saturday (March 19).
“If there is approval from the government for (the sponsorship to plant the new grass at) the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, I will do it soonest possible,” he said.
Earlier, Tunku Ismail announced that JDT had forged a strategic collaboration with Universal Music South East Asia and Def Jam Recordings SEA to produce the club’s official theme song, which will be launched today titled “Pioneers”.
The song features famous international rapper Snoop Dog and national rapper Joe Flizzow. – Bernama, March 18, 2022
