English Premier League Jan 30th West Ham United VS Liverpool: Pics & Photos

I was a Liverpool fan one time ago but no longer fancy them after Rafa Benitez is in charge. The whole squad looks more like a Spanish legion to me nowadays. :-(

Anyhow, I am delighted to see that Liverpool got slapped by West Ham United in the last dying minutes of the game. Who knows, we might see the last of Rafa Benitez this season.


Samuel Eto'o is on fire and Cameroon made it to the quarterfinal of African Cup of Nations 2008

I will say that Cameroon will make it all the way to the final and they might even win the African Cup of Nations this year. Cameroon’s skipper Samuel Eto’o is determined to score more goals and his determination inspires his team mates. The key to Cameroon’s success very much depend upon Samuel Eto’o.

Go for it, Cameroon!


English Premier League Jan 29th Arsenal VS Newcastle United: Pics & Photos

Another back to back win for Arsenal, eat your heart out, Manchester United!

For a full match report, proceed to PremierLeague Dot Com.


David Beckham begging for his 100th England cap?

I’m afraid so and he practically begged for it even though it was not that obvious all the way from Brazil.

Well, nobody can deny that Beckham has played well for England in the past. He has been an exemplary captain and I believe he still commands respect from younger England players.

Perhaps Fabio Capello should give him another chance to represent his country.



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English Premier League Jan 29th: Soccer Results

David Beckham unveils Cabo Sao Rogue

MSL Jan 29th Perak VS Terengganu: Predictions

Both Perak and Terengganu are doing pretty great at the moment. Both teams had won their games in the last outing. Perak made headlines in major newspapers after beating PDRM with a six-goal margin and Steve Darby is walking around a satisfied man like a typical proud Englishman with his nose high up in the air. :-)

Caceres, the new Perak foreign import centre forward is beginning to show his stuffs and those impatient Perak soccer fans who one time ago curse Caceres with nasty criticisms for his failure to deliver goals for the team have to lick their very own butts now. Yuck!

Khalid Jamlus, possibly the most successful opportunistic centre forward Perak has ever produced is dreaming of showing off his Golden Boot award to his critics at the end of the soccer season. He just might win the award if he continues to score goals consistently. Good for him, he only have a few good years left in him and he must grab such glorious opportunities so that he can leave the local soccer scene with a big bang one day.

As for Terengganu, they are doing okay but they still have a lot of hiccups. We all know that their head coach Yunus Alif is a master tactician and tonight’s match is all about tactics. Steve Darby is quite a tactician too in this new season, I can see that Steve has tinkered around with a number of formations for Perak and I think he is on the right track at the moment. I will cover his tactics and formations in the future.

I would say that Perak will win the game fair and square tonight. Yunus Alif is a good coach with a tactical mind. Unfortunately, his team lacks quality players that can quickly adapt to his fast changing soccer tactics. Terengganu will be in deep trouble if they adopt an attacking formation against Perak tonight. Terengganu should go for a defensive formation and try to catch Perak with their shorts down in fast counterattacks. If they like, they can try to use Azrai Khor’s psychological tactic. Purposely piss off some key Perak players and make them lose their composures. One of them is bound to make some silly mistakes and that would definitely break Perak’s rhythm. Ahmad Shahrul Azhar & Khalid Jamlus were victims of Azrai Khor’s psychological tactic in the past. :-)

Anyhow, I have confidence that Perak will win tonight’s game and I sure hope that they will. Good luck, Perak!

Kaka wins Italian players' Player of the Year

David Beckham doing a rap with Snoop Dogg?

Calm down, guys. The following news clip denied such rumors. Wonder what their rap songs would be if it was true?

‘Bend it like Beckham’ or ‘Posh it like Vicky’? :-)



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Spanish Primera Liga: Soccer Results Jan 27th

Lose some weight, Nasril!

I just realized something earlier today. I was going through past and present physical stats of current Perak soccer players (secretly copied and smuggled out of somewhere) and notice that Mohd Nasril Nourdin has gained considerable weight!

I don’t know whether it is relevant or not but perhaps this is why Nasril is not performing up to expectation this season. He has gone out of favor with the Malaysian national team and of course Steve Darby and the Perak soccer team. I do notice that he is a bit slow on his feet nowadays. Too bad, he has a lot of potential and it would be a waste to see him fade away from our Malaysian football scene like that.

Well Nasril, perhaps you should do something with your excess baggage. Lose some weight and maintain your physique like Hamsani did. Hamsani did a fine job of taking care of his fitness level and so forth; you should follow Hamsani’s fine examples from now on.

If you failed to look into this, you just might have to hang your soccer boots and play rugby in the next few years. :-)

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Korean Open Badminton Super Series 2008: Final Results Jan 27th

Lin Dan gets into a fight?

I’m afraid so, guys. Don’t know what happened really but I guess Lin Dan of China was not happy about something and gets into a fight with Korea’s coach while playing in the final of 2008 Korean Open Badminton Super Series championship earlier today.

The match saw Lee of Korea beat Lin Dan in a very close match. We all know that Lin Dan is a sore loser; I guess this event proves it once and for all.



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Don’t get cocky, Perak

As I have expected, Perak practically steamrolled over PDRM in their MSL match played at Selayang yesterday’s night. PDRM was totally outclassed!

Suddenly, Perak soccer fans are beaming with confidence thinking that Perak now has a championship material team in the new MSL 2007-2008 soccer season. Now, everyone is singing praises of Caceres and the rest of our Chilean imports. Well, I guess you were quite right, Steve. Perak soccer fans can be so damn stupid at times. They lack patience and failed to understand that success would not come easy for a new team lineup. It takes time and I believe that Perak still requires more time to bring the best from the present squad.

Winning any game by a six-goal margin is quite impressive but not in this particular case. Like what I have said in my match predictions yesterday, PDRM was in shambles even before last night’s game. Their team’s morale was really low after knowing that they cannot use Noh Alam Shah in their team. PDRM has spent tremendous amount of money to secure Noh Alam Shah’s services and now they are gaining nothing from him. PDRM even has a little crisis before the game, news of squabbles and dissatisfactions among their players leaked out and I was fortunate enough to get the wind of it.

What do you expect from a team that is plaque with problems? PDRM was in no shape whatsoever to face a quality team such as Perak. They were bound to get whipped and they certainly did receive such a whipping from Perak last night.

I don’t want to break the hearts of Perak soccer fans but I would like to remind them not to get too excited about yesterday’s night big win against PDRM. Don’t get your hopes too high, else you are bound to feel right darn disappointed in the end. Scoring six goals against PDRM doesn’t mean that Perak is better than Kedah, Selangor or Negeri Sembilan. Perak still has a very long way to go this season.

Before I go, would like to take this opportunity to say well done to Hardi Jaafar, Jamlus, Shahrul Azhar, Caceres and Azlan Zainal. I was not at the game last night but my colleagues reported that all five players mentioned earlier played superbly and that is good news for Perak. Keep it up, guys!

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Korean Open Badminton Super Series 2008: Semifinal Results Jan 26th

Time to kick your butt, Nicky Butt!

Nicky Butt should kick himself in the butt for letting in that own goal. Got a nice ring to it, isn’t it?

Nick Butt kicks himself in the butt. :-)



As an ardent Arsenal fan, I’m happy that Arsenal has beaten Newcastle United to a pulp by a three-goal margin (FA Cup 4th Round tie) earlier today. Sure hope that Arsenal would make it all the way to the Final.

Poor old Beckham

It is an outright outrage!

The following news clip reported that David Beckham’s name is being used by a bloody Chinese company to promote their range of condoms without his given permission!



Beckham must do something about this fast before that company bring a totally new meaning to that infamous word ‘bend it like Beckham’. Imagine a condom with a ‘bend it like Beckham’ trade slogan. That could damage Beckham’s megastar celebrity status in no time! :-)

MSL Jan 26th PDRM VS Perak: Predictions

No doubt that Perak is doing pretty great at the moment. Steve Darby is walking around like a pompous Liverpool fan, beaming with confidence so it seems. Our ‘Italian’ tough tackling defender cum centre forward Khalid Jamlus is back in the team after his long suspension and so is Perak’s skipper Ahmad Shahrul Azhar. Sounds like big trouble for PDRM tonight.

Steve Darby even gave Khalid Jamlus a rare football edict recently, declaring that it is totally ‘haram’ (blasphemous) for him to mess around with Perak’s defenses. Khalid Jamlus was told to stick with his ‘curi ayam’ (opportunistic) position upfront, Steve did that as if Khalid was a naughty English schoolboy! Jolly good show!

PDRM meanwhile is a big wreck. They cannot use Singaporean master opportunistic centre forward Noh Alam Shah and news of squabbles between players in their team further indicated that PDRM is heading for trouble. Sounds like good news for Perak tonight.

I would say that Perak would walk out as the clear cut winner with all three points even though Perak would be playing the game over in Selayang. However, there is a slight chance that PDRM just might pull off a big upset tonight if they can rattle Perak with some early goals. Perak has poor composure and lack the tenacity to come back from the brink of defeat this season. PDRM should capitalize on such weakness if they really want to win tonight’s game.

I would still say that Perak would win the game. I have a slight confidence that they will. Good luck, Perak… Don’t walk alone, Steve old chap!

Stoner upbeat, fit for defence

Part III: How to beat Perak - Past tactical formation

In this third part of this controversial segment, let us examine Perak’s soccer team formations and tactics.

In the last few seasons under Steve Darby, Perak seems to favor the 3-4-1-2 formation (attacking formation). Hardly surprising since Perak has Keita Mandjou and Troare Abdoulaye in their team and having such quality players meant that Perak can afford to form a strong attacking team formation.

I have to say that Steve Darby really make full use of his players then with this 3-4-1-2 formation. What is interesting to me and many other opposing coaches is the fact that Steve put faith on two regular local players to play the part of a backup striker or an attacking midfielder (position highlighted in yellow in the following diagram) in this formation. It was either Yusri Che Lah or Wong Sai Kong. To the best of my memory, I think both players did well enough for the team in the past. They did not score that many goals but they sure have helped Keita and Jamlus score plenty of wonderful goals.



That was then and now Perak fans should know that both Yusri and Wong Sai Kong are no longer with the team. Does this mean that Stevie old Darby no longer could use his favorite 3-4-1-2 formation in the new 2007-2008 MSL soccer season?

Well, yes and no. Based from Perak’s last match against Pahang, I can see that Stevie old Darby is still playing around with his team formations. I can see that there are times that Steve rolled out 3-4-1-2, 3-1-4-2 and even 3-5-2 team formations. He is still looking for the right combination.

I will highlight Perak’s team formations and tactics in the new 2007-2008 MSL soccer season in the next (fourth) segment. I need to talk to some experts before doing that. Stay tuned!

Related Post:
  1. Part II: How to beat Perak’s soccer team
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Master the art of diving!

I can’t believe that I’m saying this but one of the most important skills that strikers and centre forwards have to master is the art of diving to get penalties and free kicks. No coaches in the world would admit this officially but the fact is that every one of them secretly taught their strikers and centre forwards to dive convincingly and of course with finesse. Italian soccer is full of such tricks, making it one of the dirtiest soccer leagues in the world.

As for Perak’s soccer team, Khalid Jamlus and Razali Umar Kandasamy should learn to master this ancient art as soon as possible. I’m not worried about Caceres; he seems to have a lot of this in him. :-)

Stevie old Darby, you should know what to do. Teach them all the tricks in the book, old chap!

Plenty of Giant Groupers at Sembilan Island?

Thanks to the StarOnline and their sensational news about a giant grouper weighing a whopping 180kg caught by Malaysian fishermen somewhere near Sembilan Island, the locals living in Pulau Pangkor, Lumut and Bagan Datoh have revealed that giant groupers was a common catch there. Fishermen have caught giant groupers couple of times before but they never did bother to sensationalize it.

Such news would be great for sports fishing enthusiasts especially those keen on landing giant groupers. I love fishing but the thought of landing giant groupers gives me the creeps. I think I’ll stick to barramundis (sea bass) and snooks for the time being. :-)



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Well done, Hardi, Razali Umar & Caceres!

Sorry guys… I went outstation last Sunday and was kept busy for a couple of days, leaving me with little time to continue blogging on this blog. I’m free from today onwards and should be able to provide you guys with new things.

Would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Hardi Jaafar, Razali Umar and Caceres for giving their best in the game where Perak won 2-1 against Pahang last Saturday in Ipoh. It was an unfortunate match where both teams have to abandon the game for about 45-50 minutes because of heavy downpour. Luckily, Perak came back stronger after the break much to the delight of Stevie old Darby.

The match was especially great for Hardi, Razali and Caceres. Hardi for an example, shone in the middle of the field. The absence of Perak’s skipper (Shahrul Azhar) gave Hardi full control of the midfield and he did not disappoint us at all. Hardi as we all know is a hardworking player gifted with a lethal left foot. Definitely a good buy for Perak. Darby should use him more often.

As for Razali and Caceres, the two paired quite well in that match. Caceres even scored two goals (one through a penalty) while Razali did much of the running and sprinting upfront. Razali should be more courageous though. He should learn to take his chances and try to score goals on his own when he has the chance. He’s a good striker but I guess he is still learning to be a centre forward. Caceres meanwhile is relishing his moments of glory at the moment. It is great to see him get into the scoring act, should be good for the fans and Caceres especially. Hope to see more great goals from him.

Perak soccer fans should have more patience. I’m not at all happy to see that some Perak fans jeered Razali and Caceres whenever they did something wrong in front of goal. There were times that I feel as if Perak soccer fans were really damn stupid. Did they even consider the fact that the match was played in a wet and soggy pitch? Nobody can play decent soccer on such pitch. It is near impossible and Perak soccer fans should learn to accept such fact and stop verbally picking on our players. They have feelings too and it would be better off for everyone if we give them our support and appreciation for their hard work.

Good job, Perak!

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PROTON Malaysia Open Badminton Super Series 2008: Final Results Jan 20th

Poor old Rossi

PROTON Malaysia Open Badminton Super Series 2008: Men's, Women's & Mixed Doubles Results Jan 17th





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PROTON Malaysia Open Badminton Super Series 2008: Men's & Women's Singles Results Jan 17th




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The world’s biggest giant grouper?

According to WorldRecordsAcademy Dot Org, the current world’s biggest giant grouper weighs 179.5kg caught somewhere near Latham Island.

Check this out. The StarOnline yesterday reported that a group of fishermen caught a giant grouper weighing a whopping 180kg somewhere near Sembilan Island or Pulau Sembilan located in the Straits of Malacca on the 15th of January 2008! Look at the photo down below. That’s a good sized monster all right!



Could this be a new world record?

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MSL 2007-2008: The best possible formations for Perak

I have been meaning to post this for a very long time but I cannot do so earlier because it requires inputs from a few experts (local coaches with years of experience) in the field. I finally received all inputs from them early this morning and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for taking the time to help me on this. Thanks guys!

Okay now… Based upon Perak’s current team lineup, the best possible formations for Perak are 4-5-1 and 4-4-1-1. Take note that both formations only have one strike option upfront. I have to explain this further so that you can understand why such formations are perhaps best for Perak at the moment.


Perak soccer fans should know that we have a new team. Our new Chilean imports and a few other new local players need time to adjust. Perak is in shambles in all departments at the moment. Our defense is weak and letting in soft goals; our midfield lost at sea and our strike force fired blanks and failed to capitalize on chances. Bad news for Perak and Stevie old Darby!

I have confidence in the 4-5-1 formation since it is a defensive formation but it can be turned into an attacking 4-3-3 formation pretty quickly. I feel that Perak must put more emphasis on strengthening our defenses at the moment. Perak can abandon this formation once we have a working team that understands each other and that will take some time.

As for our current strike force, both Jamlus and Caceres are not really good strikers. They are actually good centre forwards. Both positions have lots of difference. Good strikers are those that can run and sprint with the ball and create scoring chances. This is something Jamlus and Caceres did not have but I’m glad to say here today that Perak has a real good striker in Razali Umar Kandasamy (he has great potentials and Steve Darby should consider using him more often) and he has this feature in abundance. Jamlus and Caceres are good centre forwards with lethal first touch (sorry for over exaggerating); they can pounce on the ball and find scoring chances in tight situations. That is all Jamlus and Caceres (based on his past records) is really good at.

Knowing those two facts mentioned earlier, at least I can understand why the experts that I have consulted suggested 4-5-1 and 4-4-1-1 formations for Perak. Perak can capitalize on the strength of our two out-and-out centre forwards by using only one of them at a time in a 4-5-1 formation. In a 4-4-1-1 formation, Perak can push either Jamlus or Caceres upfront with Razali Umar Kandasamy as the roaming striker behind either one of them. Bear in mind that the 4-4-1-1 formation is also a fair defensive formation and Perak should benefit a lot from such defensive formations at the moment.

Well Steve old chap, I certainly hope that you are reading this post today. I know that you did not like people telling you what to do, your stubbornness and silly persistence is quite legendary. We all know about it. What I’m doing here today is for the sake of Perak and our soccer team. I do not expect Perak to win every tournament in the world, I do not expect Perak to win every game but I certainly want to see Perak fight like a fighter out there. With the right formations, Perak can certainly do that. I have faith in the team (not in Perak FA though) and I wish them all the best in future matches.

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Part II: How to beat Perak - Break their rhythm

This is the second part of my special no-holds-barred segment on getting to know Perak’s soccer team tactics, strengths and weaknesses. In my first part, you were introduced to some of Perak’s key players and received some great tips that if used properly can in fact disrupt Perak’s style of play indefinitely.

Under coaches such as Karathu and Weigang, Perak’s style of play and tactics were quite mysterious and unpredictable. Things change after Netto and Steve Darby took over the team in the last few seasons. Perak’s style of play and tactics can now be read like a book much to the excitement of observant coaches from the opposing teams such as Azrai Khor from Kedah.

Under Steve Darby, Perak’s strength relies on their ability to play fluid soccer. Cute and accurate ball passing including long balls (you need David Beckham and Peter Crouch, Steve old chap!) are Perak’s regular routines on the field nowadays. With the departure of Keita Mandjou, Perak’s ability to launch fast counterattacks like what we had seen last season has been severely compromised. Great news for Perak’s opponents!

Good coaches all over the world know that there is only real way to break teams that play fluid soccer. The opposing team playing against Perak for an example must play physical or hard tackling soccer. This will break Perak’s rhythm and force them to play erratic soccer, giving them no opportunity whatsoever to make moves and deliver threats to the opposing team. This tip is not for defenders of the opposing team alone; their midfielders must play physical and hard tackling soccer at the center of the field too. Break Perak’s shape and rhythm early upfront and the opposing team would gain possession and control the game at their pleasure.

Related Post:
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A1 Team Malaysia dreaming for success in New Zealand

Give time to those Chilean imports

Everywhere I go in the internet, I can see that many Perak soccer fans are not at all happy with our new Chilean imports especially Caceres. YobLatino, a regular contributor in Yob4ever Dot Com is one of them and he is not all happy with Perak’s poor form at the moment.

Come on now fellow Perakians… You have to understand that all three of our Chilean imports are new in the team. Import players coming from other parts of the world playing in any foreign soccer league in the world needs time to adjust. Even Ruud van Nistelrooy needs time to familiarize himself with Real Madrid’s style of play before he can start scoring great goals like he did once for Manchester United. Another good example is Wayne Rooney. He was totally lost in Manchester United when he first moved from Everton. He had a barren spell of goals for months before rediscovering his knack of scoring fantastic goals.

I have taken a peep at our Chilean imports resumes and they were quite impressive. Even though I personally believe that Caceres can never replace our legendary Keita Mandjou upfront, he does has the credentials and Perak fans should give him time to adjust himself with Perak’s style of play. Hey, Perak’s style of play is nothing to be proud of especially to South Americans. I’m sure Caceres had a nasty shock playing here in Malaysia. :-)

I’m asking all Perak soccer fans to stop being so damn impatient. Caceres and the rest of our Chilean imports do not deserve to be jeered and booed on the field, at least not yet. If you want to do that, target those sitting in their nice comfortable rooms enjoying their unreasonable high salaries, perks and bonuses in Perak FA instead. They are the real culprits. They were the ones who had brought chaos to the Perak soccer team.

Damn you, Perak FA Officials!

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BWF latest world badminton rankings Jan 3rd 2008: Men's singles

To JWW Darby with love

Steve Darby or his real name Stephen David Darby has to thank his lucky stars that he is currently living in the 20th century. If the year is 1875, he might have been stoned or chopped to death by angry Perakians just like his fellow Englishman, the late JWW Birch. Poor old Birch, I don’t think he had the opportunity to try out Perak’s famous delicacy known as ‘tempoyak’ before his death. Poor bloke!

Steve Darby old chap… You ought to know that Perakians cannot tolerate arrogance and conceit coming especially from foreigners no matter how fair their skin color may look like. Perakians nowadays are much more civilized of course but that doesn’t mean that outsiders can look down and step all over them.

Perak FA seems to adore and worship Steve Darby like he is some kind of a talismanic hero. Well, if Perak FA wants to keep Steve Darby for the rest of the Malaysian football (should be soccer) season, they must send the old chap to some cross-cultural training schools. Get him to know and understand the many facets of our Malay and Perakian customs and culture.

Just send him to Pasir Salak and let our folks there ‘entertain’ him. They will make sure that he will not walk alone. :-)

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PROTON Malaysia Open Badminton Super Series 2008: Results Jan 15th

You have to walk alone, Steve!

The StarOnline in their late posting posted yesterday’s evening reported that members of Perak Football Fan Club are asking for the sacking (they want his butt out of the team!) of Steve Darby or Stephen David Darby. Looks like Steve Darby’s days as the Perak’s soccer team head coach are now very much numbered.


You never did learn your lesson, did you Steve? You pissed of Home United’s fans in the past and now you are doing it again on Perak’s fans.

Maybe it is time for you to walk alone, Steve. You have done enough damage already.

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Make Malaysia proud, Chong Wei, Kien Kiet & Boon Heong!

The Proton Malaysia Open Badminton Open Super Series 2008 has kicked off and many Malaysians (including myself) are hoping a great start to the New Year.

The world number one badminton player (Lin Dan, who else?) is absent and his number two that happens to be our very own Lee Chong Wei should grab this opportunity to win the men’s singles crown. Chong Wei must deliver! He is after all will be playing right in front of his home crowd. No excuses for failure, Chong Wei!

As for the inconsistent pair of Koo Kien Kiet & Tan Boon Heong, they should deliver for Malaysia the men’s doubles crown too. Come on Kien Kiet & Boon Heong, both of you have the quality to win. Be ruthless on the court and smash your opponents off like you are fighting for your very own lives. A lot of people have faith in both of you (including myself), please do not disappoint them.

MSL Jan 15th 2008 Perlis VS Perak: Predictions

Hmm… Khalid Jamlus is currently ‘enjoying’ his unholy and very undeserving R&R somewhere. I’m sure Steve Darby is pissing in his pants at the moment trying to come up with the best possible team and tactics for tonight’s big game against Perlis at their formidable home ground. Perlis is hungry for points and they know that Perak is a sitting duck as the moment. I’m sure that Perlis will go all out for points tonight. Bad news for Perak and Steve Darby!

Possible team for tonight:
  1. Ahmad Shahrul Azhar
  2. Carlos Arturo Caceres
  3. Chan Wing Hoong
  4. Danial Fadzli
  5. Jorge Antonio
  6. K. Nanthakumar
  7. Mario Esteben
  8. Mohd Arif Fazlie
  9. Mohd Azlan Zainal
  10. Mohd Hamsani Ahmad
  11. Mohd Hardi Jaafar
  12. Mohd Khairi Zainudin
  13. Mohd Nasril
  14. Mohd Noor Hazrul
  15. Mohd Razali Umar
  16. S.Subramaniam
  17. Shahrul Nizam Mustafa

Even without Khalid Jamlus, Perak is still good enough for a draw. A win is very unlikely since Perak is still testing the waters with their new team. I would say that Perlis will win the game but there is a slight chance that Perak just might escape with a draw.

Good luck, Perak! You will never walk alone, Steve! :-)

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BWF latest world badminton rankings Jan 3rd 2008: Men's doubles

Hmm… Koo Kien Kiet & Tan Boon Heong is still the world number one pair but I can see that the Indonesian pair of Markis Kido & Hendra Setiawan is really close behind them.

If Koo Kien Kiet & Tan Boon Heong failed to buck up and maintain their consistency in the near future, they can kiss their number one billing goodbye. It is good though to see that the top three pairs are racing against each other for the number one spot. Surely hope that the Malaysian pair would continue to be at the top until the end of the year.

Good luck, Koo Kien Kiet & Tan Boon Heong!



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What do you know about soccer formations?

I noticed that many Perak soccer fans have questioned Steve Darby’s tactical formations recently in Yob4ever Dot Com. Heck, I have done that ever since 2006 but then nobody gives a damn about it. Obviously Perak soccer fans at that time thought that Steve Darby is more or less equivalent to Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson and should know what to do. Yeah, right…

However, it is good to see them discussing such topic. I’m sure that Steve Darby would not like it one bit but maybe the fans can teach Steve a thing or two about soccer. You will never walk alone, Steve! :-)

I would like to recommend Perak soccer fans to get to know more about the history and principles of soccer formations. Surprisingly, such information can easily be found in the internet. Wikipedia Dot Org probably has the best reading material on this subject and Perak fans out there must go and read it first before attempting to teach Steve Darby a thing or two about soccer formations.

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Part I: How to beat Perak - Piss them off

A few weeks after the end of the Malaysia Cup soccer campaign last year, I had the opportunity to talk to a well known and highly successful local coach. I asked him about Perak’s soccer team and he was kind enough to provide me with his tactical analysis. He even highlighted some visible weaknesses about Perak’s soccer team and I will share one of them here today. I would have more for you in the future.

According to the great local coach, Perak has a good soccer team that plays team football under Steve Darby. Even though Perak has some players with good individual skills, Steve Darby prefers his players to play by the rule of team football; that is to work together as a team. Unfortunately, Perak is only good at playing team football when they have their first eleven players on the field. If any of the first eleven players is missing or failed to provide maximum contribution to the team, Perak would easily lose shape and direction.

To cut a long story short, to beat Perak, the opposing team must:
  • Break Perak’s rhythm by marking key players such as Keita Mandjou, Troare, Jamlus, Shahrul Azhar and some other midfielders (the tip was given last year while Keita, Troare and Kukoc were still around). Don’t give them any room to make and create chances. Perak would be a sinking boat without the full support of such key players.

By the way, the local coach who shared with me such tips even went a step further last year. He purposely asked his players to roughen up and piss off a few key Perak players. His objective is to make Perak players lose their cool, do stupid mistakes and ultimately break the team. His plan worked like a charm last year.

He’s a great coach, isn’t he? :-)

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Sheer arrogance!

I could not help but smile after reading Dato T’s post on Yob4ever Dot Com. It seems that some fans of our Perak soccer team have beginning to realize just who Steve Darby or Stephen David Darby really is.

I got to know Steve when he was coaching Singapore’s Home United team and he was larger than life then. Just imagine guys, an arrogant coach coaching a Singaporean team surrounded with arrogant Singaporean fans. What a combination! Yeah, Home United fans were not at all amused or thrilled with Steve Darby. They find him just as arrogant and conceited as some Perak soccer fans had discovered lately. :-)

I guess coaches who got the opportunity to talk about soccer on ESPN Star Sports think that they know everything under the sun about soccer. Yeah, right… Even Shebby Singh is a changed man nowadays. What the heck!

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Suggestions for Steve Darby

I sincerely hope that the current Perak football team head coach Steve Darby or Stephen David Darby is reading this post today. A few diehard supporters that I had the opportunity to meet earlier today have the following suggestions for you:

  1. Sit down with your team and have a good talk with them especially with those Chilean imports. Discuss what is best for the team. Find out ways to build the team around the new imports. The Chilean imports were supposed to be good and the rest of the players must familiarize themselves with their strengths.
  2. Be more adventurous and imaginative with your tactical formations. Look at Azrai Khor, Kedah’s head coach. He is full of tricks and never seems to run out of ideas. You have to be more daring and less persisting. Stubbornness would not benefit the team in the long run.
  3. Perak’s defense tends to give away soft goals. You have to drill your defenders, push them hard in training. Perak needs good defenders that can spot and mark threats on the fly.
  4. Please ask your goalkeepers to communicate more with the defenders. You were a goalkeeper once in your younger days; you should know that goalkeepers are in command at the back. Tell them to take charge.

I have given you the same suggestions last year but nobody really bothers to listen then. Now, everyone is saying the same thing. :-)

Cheer up, Perak football fans!

Every Perak football (soccer to those Brits) fans have good reasons to be pissed and right down disappointed. Their team was humbled and humiliated right in front of the home crowd last night. The final score (5 to Kedah and 2 to Perak) was quite unbelievable and pretty much unacceptable by Perak’s past football standard.

Then again, I don’t think the fans should overreact and get emotional. The fans have to bear in mind that the current team is no where near last season’s. Key players such as Keita Mandjou and Troare Abdoulaye have left the team and they left a very big vacuum that is not easy to be filled by just anybody. It would probably take forever to find competent replacements to take over their legendary shoes.

Yob4ever Dot Com should know me by my nickname pretty well. I was probably Perak’s strongest critic in the online world but so far I have said nothing about Perak’s current form and performance. When I heard that both Keita and Troare had left the team, I knew well in advance that the whole Perak football team would never be the same again. I also knew that Steve Darby would have big headaches in the new 2007-2008 Malaysian Super League season. Well, his headaches are much more apparent now after Kedah deliver Perak the awful knockout punch last night.

Maybe I’m just being too nice to Perak’s football team at the moment. I do have comments and criticisms of my own but I would keep it to myself for the time being. I would share them with everyone some time soon. :-)

In the mean time, I hope that Perak football fans would cheer up and forget all about yesterday’s big defeat. It’s not the end of the world and besides, Perak lost to a better team, probably the best team in the Malaysian Super League at the moment last night. Let Kedah have all the glory for now. :-)

Cheer up, guys!

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