Perak ‘rest’ coach Karathu after poor run

Perak's Mohd Hisyamudin Shaari (right) fights for the ball with Police player Mohamaddu Sumareh in the Super League match in Shah Alam Stadium last week. - BERNAMA

PETALING JAYA: It’s now Datuk M. Karathu’s turn to take a rest.

The Perak Football Association (PFA) have told the 72-year-old coach to go on leave for two weeks following the team’s dismal run of four straight defeats in the Super League.

The Seladang have dropped from third to eighth with 27 points in the 12-team standings. 

Karathu, in his fourth stint as Perak coach, is the eighth Super League coach to lose his job since the competition kicked off in January.

He joins Police’s Azman Adnan, Robert Alberts of Sarawak, Terengganu’s Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, Kelantan’s George Boateng and Azraai Khor Abdullah, Armed Forces’ B. Sathianathan and Johor Darul Ta’zim’s Bojan Hodak on the sidelines.

Said PFA secretary Abdul Aziz Yeop Jamaluddin: “Karathu is on leave for two weeks and assistant coach Abu Bakar Fadzim will take charge of the team.

“Some of the fans are unhappy with the team’s recent performances. So we are taking this as a cooling-off period where both parties (PFA and Karathu) can discuss what to do next.”

Abu Bakar’s first assignment is Wednesday’s clash with Terengganu at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak.

The 43-year-old Abu Bakar was Perak coach last season. He also played for Perak from 1993 and 2003.

Karathu’s only success with Perak came in 1990 when they beat Selangor 4-2 to win the inaugural FA Cup. Besides coaching Perak, he was also the coach of the national Under-21 team (1991-92) and Sri Lanka national squad (1999-2000).