Armed Forces In A Tight Spot At The Bottom Half

5 Mac, 2015

PETALING JAYA: Desperate Armed Forces coach B. Sathianathan wants his men to get their act right fast after having gone without a win in three matches.

The Gladiators have yet to earn a point and are trailing in 11th spot in the Super League. They are only ahead of bottom-placed Sime Darby FC on goal difference.

“There is no time to lose ... we know that the competition is still a long way to go but we cannot be lagging far behind,” said the former international.

The former national coach said it’s time the seniors live up to expectations.

“They will have to step up their game and put us back on the right track. I am concerned if we don’t improve we may have a lot of catching up to do,” added Sathianathan.

Forces have made eight changes to the squad who barely escaped relegation last season. The soldiers have come under fire after losing to Kelantan 2-0, Perak 2-0 and Felda United 2-1.

They have revamped their foreign legion with four new faces – Australian Mario Karlovic, Nigerians Obinna Nwaneri and Abdulafees Abdulsalam and Honduran World Cupper Jerry Palacios.

They also signed national striker and three time M-League’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) from 2010-2012 Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, who scored their only goal so far in the 2-1 loss to Felda last Saturday.

To add to their woes they have been eliminated from the FA Cup competition in the second round last week. They went down to Premier League side T-Team 3-0 in extra-time after both teams were tied 0-0 in regulation time.

The Soldiers have a tough away match against fourth-placed Terengganu at the Sultan Ismail Stadium on Saturday.

Original source - Eric Samuel, Star Online www.thestar.com.my