NST Online: Sports

Club CEOs: Can't live with or without them

Posted: 17 Sep 2011 07:25 PM PDT

THE setting was a fitting tribute for a legend of the club: more than 500 fans gathered under a marquee tent at the stadium to see their CEO induct a decorated German striker into the Manchester United Hall of Fame.

One small problem: Uwe Rosler never played for United. He was a 1990s star for arch rivals, Manchester City.

You could have heard a pin drop when Garry Cook made his infamous gaffe in December 2009, 18 months after taking up the top job at Eastlands. Then there were murmurs of discontent at the function as incensed supporters looked at each other in disbelief.

The Citizens' faithful never forgot it and many were pleased to see the one-time Nike executive depart the club last week in the wake of a leaked e-mail mocking the cancer-stricken mother of defender Nedum Onuoha.

The search goes on to fill the now vacant position of executive director on the blue side of Manchester.

With all the riches provided by owner Sheikh Mansour Zayed al Nahyan and the Abu Dhabi royal family plus a fantasy football squad comes a huge weight of expectation for the suit on an estimated salary of STG1.5 million (RM7.5 million) per year in the front office.

"Garry Cook was never the right person for that job," said a Manchester City insider, who's been associated with the club since the 1960s. "He was naive yet cocky, with all his American ideas, and didn't want to know who the northern people were.

"As much as Man City is a modern club, it also has strong, traditional northern English roots that anyone in charge must be aware of and respect."

In his defence, Cook tried to court the club's traditions by introducing the 'My first City game' campaign in which the fans' written recollections were placed around the interior of the Etihad Stadium. But others would point out that Cook was a Birmingham City supporter who had zero emotional investment in his job.

A previous Man City boss was a Londoner with a business background, known to be partial to one of the southern teams.

In an infamous episode a decade ago, he banned Manchester-born comedian Bernard Manning from the club after his brazen humour at a testimonial dinner had offended his wife.

"Bernard had been a City fan for more than 60 years and came up with a joke that had the whole room laughing at the woman's expense, something like she looked like a bulldog who swallowed a wasp," the City insider said.

"The next thing we know Bernard wasn't allowed to come to games and we'd have to smuggle tickets to him via his son."

Len Shackleton, a journalist and former England international of the 1950's, perhaps summed it up best in his autobiography, 'The Clown Prince of Football'. One chapter of the book, entitled The Average Director's Knowledge of Football, consisted of a single blank page.

*Join Jason Dasey (www.jasondasey.com) for exclusive 'live' coverage of Man Utd v Chelsea on BPL Sunday (10pm) for Malaysia's only HD BPL studio shows on Channel 831. Also available on Channel 817.

International triumphs rub off on Malaysia Cup

Posted: 17 Sep 2011 07:24 PM PDT

IF unpredictability is your cup of tea, it would be better to follow the Malaysia Cup rather than the English Premier League (EPL).

It may be early days yet in the EPL but already, the teams expected to be frontrunners have raced off the blocks and it does seem that the trophy will stay in Manchester for yet another season.

Whether it will be in the United cabinet or that of City's remains to be seen but it will take a huge effort to deny either the title.

It is a totally different scenario in the Malaysia Cup though as most of the pre-tournament favourites have suffered a hiccup or two, even mighty Kelantan were brought down to earth by club side Felda United.

Whether Felda can go on to emulate what Selangor MPPJ did in 2003 and win the Malaysia Cup will only be decided in the coming weeks but the unpredictability is certainly good for a tournament of this stature.

Before last night's matches, teams like Sabah, Kuala Lumpur and Felda were lording over the likes of Kedah, Selangor and Kelantan in their respective groups and it is certainly a breath of fresh air for the Malaysia Cup.

Malaysian football, despite the failure to advance past Singapore in the 2014 World Cup Qualifier, is currently enjoying a high but only sustained effort can see this continuing.

The Sea Games triumph of 2009 was followed by the lifting of the Asean Cup for the first time last year and on Wednesday the national Under-23 squad take on Japan in their first Olympic qualifying final round match.

This would have been unthinkable just two years ago as Malaysians had lost faith in the game and preferred to focus on the EPL and other European leagues.

The odds are against Malaysia qualifying for the London Olympics but after years of negativity, playing in the qualifier is a positive step forward and that is what matters at this time.

The national teams are better managed and the local teams can, rightfully so, share the credit for they too are more professionally run.

Gone are the days where clubs were accused of encouraging players to shirk national duty and there is genuine competition for places in the various national teams.

This, surely, is the reason why upsets have become a norm in the Malaysia Cup as players -- even those featuring for teams not expected to challenge for honours -- try their best to catch the eyes of selectors.

Most teams have also learnt to live within their means and have also been quick to take action -- Johor leading the way -- at the slightest indication of match-fixing, something which was lacking in previous years.

For sure, the M-League may be lacking the quality of the heydays of Malaysian football but what matters is that the journey has started and we must focus on getting there.

So follow the EPL but do keep an eye on the Malaysia Cup for there are some good things taking place closer to home.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Sabtu, 17 September 2011

NST Online: Sports

NST Online: Sports

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