Profits from Pan-gon’s presence must include transition plan

THE choice of Kim Pan-gon to be the national football team supremo has been seen as a masterstroke by FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin.

Hiring a South Korean accustomed to a high-performance culture and unquestionable work ethics was indeed a risk in a football environment known to encourage mediocrity.

But Hamidin knew by virtue of his previous role as the supremo at the Korean FA, Pan-gon will be able to cultivate a different approach in managing the national team and of course, public expectations.

From February to June, Pan-gon and his trusted assistants worked tirelessly to identify and monitor a large pool of players in the M-League.

In their intense pursuit of negotiating a successful AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign, where the team earned a ticket to the final on merit for the first time since 1980, Pan-gon and his coaches gave their heart and soul to such an extent that they suffered post-tournament fatigue.

The former Hong Kong tactician imbued a new work culture and introduced a number of elements allied with technological assistance not accorded to his predecessor, Tan Cheng Hoe.

But what’s next or who’s next after Pan-gon, even if the 53-year old father of two brings back the AFF Cup and the team perform creditably in the AFC Asian Cup?

No disrespect to E. Elavarasan, who was recently installed as the national Under-23 coach.

But at 60 years of age, Ela is in it for the short term.

In the long run, FAM have to find a way for the present generation of coaches, the likes of Nafuzi Zain, Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan, Nidzam Jamil, Shukor Adan, Hairuddin Omar as well as Noor Zaidi Rohmat, all in their early 40s, to be given an insight knowledge on Pan-gon’s methodology.

After all, four of Pan-gon’s predecessors went through a steep learning process at FAM before earning their stripes.

Datuk K. Rajagobal, who guided the national team to the only AFF Cup title in 2010, was assistant to Ken Worden in 1992-1993 before he was roped in full-time in 2002 to coach the youth set-up, including the Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 teams.

Rajagobal’s immediate predecessor was B. Sathianathan, who himself spent almost 15 years at FAM in various capacities, gaining invaluable international exposure ahead of his stint as the team boss from 2007 to 2009.

After spending eight years as Rajagobal’s right hand man, Cheng Hoe returned to FAM in 2017 as assistant to Nelo Vingada before assuming the hot seat from 2018 to 2021.

In his 14 years at FAM, Datuk Ong Kim Swee served as coach of the Under-16s, Under-17s, various Harimau Muda teams and as interim national team supremo before becoming FAM technical director in 2021.

While Pan-gon may be occupied with winning matches at this point of time, FAM have to put in place a process to ensure his tactical knowledge, motivational methods and man-management skills are transferred to his Malaysian counterparts. Quickly.

■ The writer is a juror for the Ballon d’Or awards