Malaysian football 2016 in review

Never again.

Year 2016 by far was one of the most complicated year for Malaysian football. As long as one can remember, no such year can compare with this year's agenda.

Things normally progress slowly due to the lack of urgency which is something typical in Malaysia. But 2016 is different. This year, there is a push, an urgency to change for the better.

Popular word of 2016 is privatisation. Fans wanted to see an act of professionalism taking place for real this time around, not just for the sake of changing the name.

Unfortunately, despite the optimism, from the beginning of the year, until 31 of December 2016, we barely seen something positive out of it, instead we were forced to read, watch, hear and accept the fact that we are nowhere near the right track of making Malaysian football great again.

Here are some of the best moment in Malaysian football  2016.

January:

DSV became the main sponsor for Kelantan thus changing the team's name, kit colour, stadium and constantly appeared in live games, instantly made everyone hate her.

February:

The most disappointing countdown is when FAM announced the name Harimau Malaya to Harimau Malaysia. So unnecessary. We all thought they are launching a new kit, but a name? smh!

People known Faiz Subri as one of the local player before but became an overnight sensation as his wonder goal viral throughout the world and currently in contender for Puskas Award. Amazing.

March:

Malaysia ended World Cup 2018 qualifying round campaign, finishing 4th out of 5 in Group A, scoring only 3 goals and conceded 30. Err..

April:

DSV said she wanted to stop funding Kelantan due to poor results.

At that time: W3 D3 L3

Has anyone see a patience?

May:

PFAM revealed that Kelantan and ATM have yet to pay their players worth up to RM4 mil. It so bad they have to make a press conference just to say they got the money already. Weird.

D'Herbs almost became the main sponsor for Kedah but both ended up in war of words in public. Please no more of this, 2017.

June:

Malaysia qualified for Asian Cup 3rd Round. Oceania Tour went horribly wrong as New Caledonia game status was revoked by FIFA. Sweet.

July:

Perhaps one of the most depressing thing as fans was when 4 JDT players who are regulars in the national team retired all of a sudden. What a timing.

August:

When TMJ said he have pendrive that contained corruptions in FAM, we all excited to see what's inside. It turned out to be nothing. Can you believe that??

September:

Media wondering who should be the next president of FAM, with some suggesting TMJ to lead Malaysian football like he did to JDT. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

October:

Kedah finally won Malaysia Cup after 8 years as Rizal Ghazali single-handedly beat Selangor and landed himself a place for AFF 2016. Great talent.

November:

Malaysia ended AFF Suzuki Cup 2016 in group stage after losing to Myanmar and Vietnam, making it the worst record since 2008. Time for 2018.

December:

Kelantan and Selangor's decision not to compete for MSL 2017 due to 'lack of fund' ending the year 2016. The worst ending of all. Can they just start talking about football? Every single thing is so negative.

Let's hope for a much better year in 2017. Better in terms of...everything. Goodbye 2016. Hello 2017.

Malaysia Cup final 2016- A reason to exist

It's been 95 years since Malaysia Cup exists on Earth. But has it been treated the way it should be?

The biggest sin of Malaysia Cup at the moment is that it doesn't offer a place in the continental competition. In fact, it doesn't offer anything much except short-term enjoyment. Hence, people are questioning the relevance of having the competition in the first place.

There are people who doesn't want Malaysia Cup to exist anymore.

There are people who want to change the current format, making it a knock-out competition and scrapped FA Cup.

And there are people who simply didn't care and support their team in the competition regardless of the relevance or not.

Sorry to say, people forget how Malaysia Cup shaped the culture of football in the country. It's from Malaysia Cup that the country found countless number of legends and talents. It's from Malaysia Cup that football lives in this country.

Most importantly, it's from Malaysia Cup that football fans exist in the country.

What became a problem is that, as years goes by, the world has to change to accommodate to the present time. But Malaysia Cup did not. It used to be a platform for the national team. When the league was introduced, it has lost the purpose. When the FA Cup was introduced, plus offering a continental place, Malaysia Cup went down the pecking order.

And nothing much has been done to save the competition. As if it's been left to die.

Last year's decision by FMLLP to kick-off the competition much earlier, basically before the league ends, is a wise move indeed.

But this year's Malaysia Cup is, to be completely honest, is a failure which is disappointing to say the least.

It failed to capture the excitement that it should be, particularly treating the competition as second fiddle and regard the matches as 'not important'.

The most depressing thing is, how league champion JDT appear to be reluctant to play with a full-strength team and ended up knocked out of competition, since they have made it clear, only a competition that provides continental football matters to them.

 The fact that this year's final has the same finalists like last year, coupled with semi-finals involving teams that simply lack of fans, something needs to be done to restore the glory of Malaysia Cup.

Final of 2016 is a final hope to see a real quality football in Malaysia, something that Malaysian football has been lacking throughout this year.

Enjoy the game everyone.

PS: It would be nice to see Malaysia Cup final hosted by some other stadiums next time, I'm just sick of Shah Alam Stadium.