KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — The Football Association of Selangor (FAS) today terminated the contract of B. Sathianathan as head coach after the Red Giants squad only recorded a single win since the Super League competition resumed in August.
The termination of the 62-year-old’s contract comes less than 48 hours after Selangor lost 1-6 to league leaders Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri, on Saturday.
This was confirmed by Sathianathan after a meeting this morning with the top leadership of FAS including its president Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and deputy president Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar.
“I was fired. I was expecting this and had seen the signs. When you are fired, you have to accept,” he told Bernama.
Besides the drubbing by JDT, Selangor only managed one win and two draws since the resumption of the Super League after the competition was suspended for almost five months following the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
The latest results left the the 33-time Malaysia Cup champions in seventh place with just 10 points after a total of eight matches played, and are four points from the relegation zone.
Sathianathan, whose contract was until the end of the season, admitted that he was a little upset as he was unable to fulfil his duties until the season ended.
“The season is not over, we still have the Malaysia Cup after this, so anything can happen. I believe Selangor can win the remaining three Super League matches and end the league in second or third place.
“I hope Selangor achieve that goal with the new coach. I know the existing line-up of players is good enough for Selangor, ” he said.
Sathianathan, who is a former national coach, has served two seasons with Selangor after being appointed as the Red Giants head coach in November 2018.
Source: BERNAMA