Bojan Hodak appears to be the current fan favourite to replace Dollah Salleh as Malaysia’s new national team head coach.
The former JDT boss recently joined the likes of George Boateng and Datuk Ong Kim Swee in the race for the position. But while Malaysian fans continue to think that a bigger name is needed for the position, it also seems that they favour Bojan from the existing pool of candidates.
In a poll that was conducted on our site, we listed down five options for readers to vote: Bojan Hodak, Datuk Ong Kim Swee, Robert Alberts, George Boateng and ‘Others’.
While the majority of votes (32.59%) went to ‘Others’, indicating that they’d prefer a candidate outside the list, Bojan Hodak took second spot with 29.63%. According to a football fan on Twitter, Bojan’s understanding of local football, coupled with his track record within the country, validates his ability.
https://twitter.com/RimauMalaysia/status/646645600444743680
Datuk Ong Kim Swee came a close third with 25.19% – quite a number of Malaysians believe that the interim head coach deserves the job on a permanent basis, especially after he helped the national team put on a spirited performance against Saudi Arabia, earlier this month.
Robert Alberts, who previously coached the Malaysian U-19 team, and was more recently the Sarawak FA head coach, finished fourth with 7.41% of the votes, while George Boateng came in last with 5.19%.
Since then though, several other names have joined in the mix. Former Bengaluru FC head coach Ashley Westwood is reportedly interest in the job, while French legend Marcel Desailly, who expressed his interest back in 2014, after the resignation of Datuk K. Rajagopal, is rumoured to be still interested in the position.
Penaung Diraja PBNJ, Tunku Mahkota Johor cadang bekas pengendali JDT, Bojan Hodak sebagai jurulatih Harimau Malaya. pic.twitter.com/yDykSrQkxw
— MY_Futbol (@MY_Fussball) September 19, 2015
WHAT DO WE THINK?
It’s not a surprise that Bojan is being heavily recognized by fans as a suitable candidate. His record with Kelantan and JDT justifies the support he’s receiving at this point. But is he the man to revive our fortunes on the international stage? That’s the question that needs to dominate FAM’s discussion on Bojan. International football is a complete different experience, compared to local football. And while Bojan may be a terrific coach, he has zero experience on the international stage. This is where the majority comes in. We happen to agree with the majority, that voted for candidates outside the list, which presumably refers to more experienced individuals.
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