Selangor fans annoyed with team for losing again

Selangor are in deep trouble following their second defeat in the Malaysia Cup as internal problems and impatient fans continue to haunt the Klang Valley giants.

 

The fans displayed banners, which read "We want coach (K.) Devan to resign" while national captain Safiq Rahim almost got into a spat with a fan after they were edged 2-1 by T-Team at the Shah Alam Stadium on Saturday.

Several fans used abusive words while some booed Devan and his players as they walked to the dressing room after late goals from Norfarhan Mohd and Zairo Anuar Zailani earned T-Team their fourth straight win over Selangor this season.

Safiq, 24, could not control his emotions when a fan, who was in the stands, urged the reporters not to interview him as Selangor had lost the tie.

 

"You think it is easy. Why not you come down here and play football?" said an angry Safiq who lashed out at the fan.

However, a police officer warned Safiq not to provoke the fan as it may lead to untoward incidents. The midfielder, who made his first start for Selangor in the Malaysia Cup on Saturday, went on with the interview and later apologised to the police officer for his behaviour.

"We made a lot of mistakes. What to do... we had chances but wasted all of them. We have failed and I am disappointed.

"Anyway, this is football... we could still qualify if we win our remaining matches. It is important that we forget about this defeat to make a fresh start in our next match," said Safiq, who captained Malaysia to victory in last December's AFF Cup.

Devan could see himself without a job next season if Selangor fail to win their 33rd Malaysia Cup title. It is learnt that the Selangor FA (FAS) has begun negotiations with several candidates and the two names strongly linked with the coaching job are former national coach B. Sathiananthan and Terengganu coach Irfan Bakti Abu Salim.

It is learnt that a group of Selangor fans had picketed in front of the team's hotel in Shah Alam, urging Devan to resign.

"Fans normally show their dissatisfaction when their team are not doing well. We have lost this match but we have two left to play with a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

" I think our final match against KL will be the decider but that is if we beat Police next weekend," said Devan.

On Selangor's performance on Saturday, Devan admitted that his team lost their confidence in the closing stages of the match.

"We should not have lost as we were in control. T-Team scored two goals from our defensive mistakes. The injury on Nasriq Baharom affected our back-line as his second half replacement Bunyamin Umar failed to impose himself.

"My players were not performing consistently in the second half. I believe they were over confident after taking a 1-0 lead," added Devan.

T-Team coach Yunus Aliff said his side made changes to their strategy after the breather and it paid off.

"We lost possession at the start but once we controlled the midfield, it was smooth flowing for us. Our strategy was to absorb whatever pressure from Selangor before moving forward in search for goals," said Yunus, adding that his team will claim top spot in Group D with victory over KL at home on Saturday.