Ever since Anai Igang was rested from the head coach job at Sarawak FA, questions arise about who is the real replacement.
While Denny Da’ail had been named as the interim head coach by the Football Association of Sarawak, some had wondered why Ian Gillan, a former Sarawak head coach, and also an A-coaching license head coach is with the team.
That said, when we obtained the starting list of the Kelantan FA vs Sarawak FA starting line up yesterday, the questions further deepen as we see that Ian Andrew Gillan was listed as the head coach of Sarawak.
It was baffling because the Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) had constantly named Mohd Denny Da’ail as their head coach and yet Gillan’s name was listed as the head coach.
We then asked Malaysia Football League Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Ramalinggam in regards to this, asking if it’s right to do so.
Kevin in his tweets said it is in his opinion that it depends on the management to decide on the roles of a person in the team.
“My opinion is that in different places the top man is named differently. Some places the manager is the to guy. Some places its the head coach.
In my opinion how a pro team assigns their duties should be up to them. After all they are meant to be pro and in control of their own structure.
Assigning the job scope for a head coach, manager, or assistant head coach should be a team leadership decision”.
If Kevin’s comments are correctly digested by us, this means that a team can decide on the job scope for their employees.
This means Sarawak’s management can in fact give the title of head coach to Gillan as seen in the team list, but at the same time give Denny the roles and responsibilities fitting a head coach.
While Kevin’s explanation justifies the terms used in handling a team, we can’t help wonder if Sarawak FA is using Gillan’s coaching license for documentation purposes so that Sarawak complies with MFL’s ruling.
A couple of months ago we were informed that Gillan already holds an A-coaching license while Denny is still in the midst of applying for one. We are uncertain if Denny had already obtained his A-license.
In 2018, MFL rules state that both the head coach and of a Liga Premier team must have a certain level of coaching license and only a handful of coaches in Sarawak have such credentials including Gillan.
Either way, the explanation by Kevin somewhat clarifies the confusion arising about who is in control of decisions in regards to player and team selection in Sarawak FA, with Denny well established as the person Sarawak FA has asked to be in charge of the head coach responsibilities despite his ‘on paper status’ as an assistant to Ian Gillan.
