Give me chance to emulate Mehmet’s success, says Yee Fatt

PETALING JAYA: Give me a chance.

This is a request from Perak’s newly appointed coach Chong Yee Fatt (pic) to his demoralised team, who are still reeling in disappointment over the departure of Mehmet Durakovic.

Last week, Durakovic dropped a bombshell with the announcement to leave Perak due to family matters just two weeks before the start of Super League and Yee Fatt was brought in.

“I can see that the players are missing him. I called and told them to give me a chance to steer this team forward, ” said Yee Fatt.

“I hope to get the same cooperation from the players like they gave to Mehmet.”

Yee Fatt admitted that his good friend Durakovic has left a big shoe to fill.

“”He has been with Perak for a long time, and he had made them formidable, ” he said.

“I believe if he is still around, he can achieve more. He had another season in him to bring success to Seladang. I know the impact he has and can make.

Durakovic joined the club midway in 2017 and helped the team win the Malaysia Cup in 2018. In 2019, he took them to the FA Cup final but lost to Kedah 0-1 after extra time.

The former Kuala Lumpur director of football said it was good to be back home although he wished that he could have returned under different circumstance.

“It’s an honour to be back to my home state, ” said Yee Fatt, who played for Perak from 1981-1983 and 1986.

He was formerly an assistant coach from 2011-2013 and 2017 when Perak were led by the late German coach Karl Heinz-Weigang.

“I coached players like Badak (Shahrul Saad), Kenny (Pallraj), Nazirul (Naim Che Hashim) and Amirul (Azhan Aznan) in the past, and now, they have matured.

“The players are professional in their approach in training. I’ve inherited a good team, ” he said.

“It will be a challenging task to emulate the success of Durakovic. I’ve not set targets, I just want my players to fight in every match but it’ll be nice to qualify for another Malaysia Cup final, ” added Yee Fatt.