Marzuki
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Football Club (Sabah FC) has issued a stern warning to head coach Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto following the Rhinos’ poor start to the Super League campaign.
Team manager Marzuki Nasir said the management was deeply disappointed with the Rhinos’ early season form, where a third straight defeat on Tuesday left them winless in the opening four matches.
Marzuki said the Club will keep a close eyes on the team and to re-evaluate their performance in the next three matches, thus giving Kurniawan breathing space to try and turn the Rhinos’ season around.
“This will include re-evaluating and obtaining input on the performance of the team under his guidance, especially after all five foreign imports are now available to strengthen the squad.
“The management will hold a meeting soon to assess the performance of the coaching staff before coming to any decision. This is for the good of Sabah FC,” said Marzuki in a statement issued to the press today.
Marzuki pleaded for all parties to remain calm as he gave an assurance that the management was committed to wanting the team to become successful.
He also assured that the management has confidence in Kurniawan and his players to make positive progress, thus show their true potential in future matches.
“The Sabah FC squad with majority of them local talents, will be able to produce the desired form, restore their pride and able continue to compete in the country’s elite football league.
“We must have confidence in our team, Sabah FC,” he concluded.
For the record, Sabah FC’s pre-season has been disrupted by restrictions brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The squad played in only three full friendly matches as preparation and to make things worse, the new signings Risto Mitrevski, Levy Madinda, Sam Johnson and Saddil Ramdani did not participate in the pre-season as they underwent the mandatory quarantine.
The quartet only made their delayed debut on the third game of the season.
The Rhinos started the season with a 1-1 draw against Malacca United FC before going down 0-2 to Kedah Darul Aman FC, both of which were away fixtures.
The squad made their much anticipated first appearance at home in the third game but suffered a 0-1 defeat to Pj City FC and their latest outing saw them lose 1-2 to Sri Pahang FC in Kuantan on Tuesday.
Sabah FC are currently 11th in the 12-team table on one point, avoiding the bottom spot courtesy of better goal difference over UiTM FC.
The Rhinos will take on second placed Terengganu FC in what will be another tough assignment for them at the Likas Stadium on March 21.
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