T-Team coach get vote of confidence from team management

Yunus Alif's turbulent time with T-Team is over, now that he has been given a vote of confidence by the top management of the Kuala Terengganu Football Association team to continue as head coach.

 

But he will have to start the new season almost from scratch as six players have been dropped and as many as five regulars have asked to be transferred.

Terengganu Youth and Sports Committee chairman Rozi Mamat told a press conference yesterday that Yunus did well to steer the team into the Malaysia Cup semi-finals. "After a rather disappointing early season, our coach managed to steady the ship and in the end, we proved to be dominant in the Malaysia Cup group stage before bowing out to eventual winners Negri Sembilan in the semi-finals," said Rozi.

"Now, we are starting over again with the same coach but quite a number of new players including two imports, after several regulars have decided to play for new teams next season."

Among the better known players who are out of the team are Indra Putera Mahayuddin, Norfarhan Mohamad, Haris Safwan Mohd Kamal and Subri Sulong.

The rest are Ismail Abdul Rahman, Rosli Muda, Samsul Kamal Mohamad, Mohd Kamal Rodiarjat Mat Ali, Amzar Junaidi Jalil and Mohd Shazlan Alias.

"We also expect one or two more players including defender Azizi Matt Rose to leave before the end of the month when their contracts expire but we still have plenty of good men left like goalkeeper Syamsuri Mustaffa, midfielder Zairo Zailani Anuar, captain Rosdi Talib and defender Norfazly Alias.

"Our on-loan signing Fitri Omar will be playing for us on a permanent basis next year. We are also looking to bring in several Terengganu-born players from the Young Tigers," he added.

Coach Yunus said his priority is to find replacements for Indra, Norfarhan and Azizi. "We have also identified a few prospective players from South America, Africa and Eastern Europe but we will have to be very careful with our selections.

"I will also be on the lookout for local players as we now have more than 10 vacancies but we plan to recruit only players of calibre."

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said T-Team had underachieved this season although he was satisfied with their Malaysia Cup run.

"We will give them full financial backing for another season so they will have another year to prove that they can do better," he said.