It's time for Misbun Sidek to work for Malaysian Badminton without BAM

Don't think so but there were some communications over the mobile phone.... BOLEH

 

uncle loh
honestly,do u think misbun is bargaining with bam/ctc from the beginning?
why hold someone who dont want to stay?
for now,misbun had submitted resign EMAIL
stop earning bam salary
why bam dont want to approve at 1st?
bam still try to lure him back because they scare that it have negative affect on lcw and they have no more politic cake to share(during mo to ko)
now(after ae),i think bam should stop the drama by simply approve the resign
is that difficult?
what u can do to make someone who submitted resign email to back to work?
sue him to court?(not badminton court ah,lol)

 

I agree with you, but there were suggestions that BAM will make it difficult for MS if he returns officially to coach LCW.

I haven't read MS's resignation letter, but if he indeed has no desire to work for BAM then the matter is closed. BAM should not prolong the drama any longer. They should not hold on to MS and hope for the better. But the impression given so far is that MS may consider BAM's offer after the big boss has talked to him. That's what has caused the "suspense".

If as you have reiterated, MS has officially stated that he is not interested in BAM's offer any more, BAM is placed in an awkward position. Should BAM allow MS to continue to "coach" unofficially off-court as MS seems to be doing recently? Would it be considered an "interference" in BAM's coaching set-up when TSB is the official coach but is 'obligated' to accommodate MS.

Even worse if BAM should hire a new coach to train LCW, will the new coach be prepared to submit to MS in the way that TSB is now doing?

Can MS really play an effective role by resigning if a new coach is engaged? Can BAM stop MS from what he is doing right now?

What implications will all these have on LCW?

 

April 1st will be the date.. There will be another meeting again.

 

missbun not interested let him go la... he served the country well adi... Those top guns trying to save faces by being able to reverse his decision!

 

No, a lot here appreciate what he has done,

it's just that no one outside bam can do anything

The whole country's future in badminton lies in bam's hand,

Hope they do the right thing as nothing much we can do except bragging

But wait, there is one thing we can see ....

who step down or got kicked out first

when there is no result lol

 

I say Datuk will play AE13 and WC13 before he quits

 

This part no need to consider uncle. Ng Chin Chai already said BAM will not hire additional coaches for MS dept or even replacement for WTM, lack of budget. Either Misbun come back or continue with Tey SB. Tey SB always full of respect for Misbun, in all his public statements. Even this AE, he attributed it to teamwork between Rashid, himself & Misbun.

As said earlier BAM caught in the middle due to Sports Minister's intervention.

 

No need to wait for a week

the outcome is already predicted by the thread starter, Chris

 

Still Rooting for Misbun

After having written quite a lengthy piece on this subject early on, I thought I’d be quiet and let the respective parties involved work this out. However, perhaps for selfish motives (because I really want to see Misbun return to coach the Datuk) and also because I am sick and tired of the way things are run at BAM, I have decided to enter the fray again, even if I end up repeating myself.

It has been very quiet from both fronts (i.e. MS and BAM) for a long time now. We have seen conflicting reports from the media about the extent to which LCW wishes MS to return. I am also seeing some fans and news reports questioning whether it is really necessary for MS to return since LCW managed to win the AE title without MS’s presence. Some even say it would be bad for LCW if MS returns to coach him.

Before I tell you my thoughts, I want to make it clear that I mean no disrespect to Tey Siu Bock and/or Rashid Sidek and I do not belittle their coaching skills and acumen. I have no knowledge about their coaching prowess and I wish them the best of luck in what they do. I do understand that some BCers like TSB and some dislike RS. In fact, someone on this board seems to dislike RS with a passion. Anyway, if TSB is as competent as what I have read about him, I am sure his day to shine in the spotlight will come. But for now, my vote is to bring MS back.

Back to MS and LCW. I think it is absolutely naive for anyone to think that LCW can do without MS since he was able to beat LD at the AE without MS being there. To the contrary, I think it is because LCW beat LD at the AE that LCW needs his mentor back. I have been following LCW’s progress as a player since at least the 2005 World Championships at Anaheim, California. I know he has gone through several coaches including Li Mao. Li Mao’s contribution to the development of LCW as a player cannot be denied. Most likely, it was BAM’s policies and (mis)management that caused Li Mao to leave. And, it may very well now cause MS to leave. (I know he has tendered his resignation, but early April is when things will supposedly come to a head.)

Now, why do I say that it is important for MS to return to guide LCW? Over the past few years under MS, I have observed how LCW was slowly and steadily catching up to LD. Yes, LD would still defeat the Datuk more often than the Datuk defeating LD, but LCW was getting there. So MS was doing something right. The more recent win-loss ratio was better than in the early years of their heralded rivalry. Since the 2008 Olympic Games, LD greatly reduced his participation in tournaments, thus depriving LCW of opportunities to play his arch rival. While there may have been other valid reasons for LD to reduce his participation in tournaments, I always believed that one reason was to minimize the opportunities for LCW to play him. Not because LD was afraid of meeting LCW in a contest, but because it was a smart tactical move. After all, LD had won almost every title there was to win in badminton, and had nothing more to prove.

Simply put, if you allow a lesser player to play you often, it is advantageous to the lesser player. We all know that if we keep playing regularly with a less skillful player, the less skillful player will improve and we remain stagnant or worse yet, even deteriorate, unless we ourselves also play regularly with more skillful players. But if you’re LD, who is more skillful than you?

Additionally, LD is a leftie. Why give LCW the opportunity to play LD and gain experience not just playing LD, but a leftie! Hence, the more times LD plays LCW, it is LCW who stands to gain more from the experiences. I strongly believe that it was LD’s strategy back then to cut down his participation in tournaments to minimize the opportunities for LCW to play him. That was not unsporting or crooked strategy. I think it was smart strategy. But BWF changed the rules for the Super Series and Premier Super Series and LD has to play in more tournaments now, thus increasing the opportunities for LCW to play him. And MS should be there to help LCW make the most of these very few and precious opportunities leading up to the next Olympic Games.

How LCW will do the next few times he may meet LD prior to the 2012 Olympics has yet to be seen, but the momentum is in LCW’s favor now. The less distractions the better. The recent AE win and the final appearance in the Korean Open has boosted LCW’s confidence and he has seen a chink in LD’s armor. That, I think, was also a reason why LD did not play LCW in the Chinese Badminton League match. LCW was in outstanding form and a second straight loss to LCW within weeks would have been potentially devastating to LD’s confidence and greatly alarming to the Chinese camp. More importantly, it would have further boosted LCW’s confidence into the stratosphere. And confidence can often be more deadly than skills when the players are almost evenly matched. Think about it. The CBL is a big thing in China and it seems odd that the commercial shoots would have been scheduled to clash with the CBL matches. Surely the sponsors know LD is a badminton player and he has commitments to the CBL! I suspect it was made to clash after LCW won the AE. But even if I am right, that was not dirty strategy or anything like that from LD’s camp. It was a smart move on their part. And I think we need MS, who knows LCW well, to strategize and protect LCW in a similar manner that the Chinese camp is protecting LD.

Over the years, I have seen consistent improvement in LCW’s play. Several years back, whenever I watched him play LD, I would get very nervous with some of his shots, and especially so at net play. Now, I am no longer nervous seeing him play because he has shown that he has what it takes to take LD on. When I see him at the net now, I am so impressed and no longer worry about him getting his behind kicked at the net.

There is not that much separating the two now. And this, in my opinion, is another important reason why MS is needed to continue to guide LCW in the country’s quest for Olympic gold and glory. It is because LCW beat LD at the recent AE that MS is needed to continue to coach LCW. Some say that LCW did well without MS at the AE so MS is not needed anymore. That, I believe is naive. It is because MS did such a good job with LCW that LCW was able to perform so well at the MO, KO and AE even though MS was supposedly not his coach and not present at the KO and AE.

To those who say MS is not needed because LCW won in the absence of MS, I ask you- What did you expect? Did you expect LCW to crumble and do poorly at these tournaments because MS was not present? Did LCW have to fare poorly at these tournaments for MS to be asked to return? That is absurd, and that is very insulting to LCW and MS if one expected that. A good coach molds his player into an independent player. A good coach is not a crutch. A player who crumbles and fails miserably in the absence of his or her coach is not a very good player and the coach is not doing a good job. In such a situation, the coach is like a crutch. Take the crutch away and the player falls. A good coach directs, instructs, trains, strategizes with and ultimately helps build a player who will be able to be independent and perform at the highest level even in the absence of the coach. A coach who is like a crutch does not have the player’s best interests at heart because such a coach is either just a plain lousy coach or worse yet, a selfish coach who deliberately makes the player dependent on the coach so that the coach’s continued and long-term employment is assured.

A good coach is more than just training and having the player do drills, etc. A good coach will, among other things, also help the player analyze potential opponents’ styles of play and plan strategy to neutralize the opponents’ strengths and develop new skills or improve current skills to meet any challenge that may be thrown at the player. A good coach will also help the player build confidence and motivate the player.

Do you think LD and LD’s camp is going to just sit on their behinds and let LCW cruise past LD? It is obvious that they are back to the drawing board to strategize about how they are going to come up with a new and improved LD and other ways to stop LCW from depriving China of the Olympic’s top prize in badminton. MS and LCW have seen the chink in LD’s armor and LD and his coaches will be looking for the chink in LCW’s armor too. Clearly China is giving top priority to helping LD maintain his dominance over LCW. That is why MS is needed. He can help LCW try to get one step ahead and if not, at least match LD at each step. He can help LCW anticipate what LD and LD’s camp will come up with. He can continue to help the Datuk improve further, acquire new skills, vary his game, better read the opponent’s game, improve on making on-the-spot adjustments depending on the opponent’s strategy, etc. It has been a cat-and-mouse game between LD and LCW for a few years and the game has gotten much tighter and the stakes are high. MS can also help LCW’s game cope with the chasing pack (such as Chen Long and other Chinese players, Nguyen Tien Minh, Kenichi Tago, etc.) who are out to get him because when you’re at the top, everyone is gunning for you. Now is not the time to disrupt the MS-LCW relationship.

I do not know what it is that MS writes in his little notepad during matches. But whatever it is, I am quite sure it is not what he wants for dinner after the match from LCW, but something that helps him help LCW improve his game. Maybe he sees the opponent try something new and he jots it down so he remembers to help LCW counter the new tactic from the opponent, or maybe he saw LCW do something he did not like and made a note of it so he can address it with his protégé later, etc. Whatever it is, I do not see any other coach on the court approach coaching in such a cerebral and organized manner. LD is reputed to be the greatest player the game has ever seen. Over the past few years, MS has guided LCW, slowly but surely, to bring the good fight to LD and prevail over the greatest player the game has ever seen! Where it goes from here is yet to be seen, but I strongly believe that MS has an unfinished job and we should let him finish it. Win or lose at 2012 OG, let the man do his job his way. LCW has also expressed his desire to have MS back. Are you listening, BAM?

A player who works so hard and is so dedicated to his sport and a coach who also works so hard and is so dedicated to his protégé and sport is a combination that is hard to come by. What’s more, this combination has proven it can produce good results. In fact, if I am not mistaken, LCW has beaten LD more than any other player in the world. It would be a big mistake and a darn shame if this combination is broken up.

And what’s this about having the coaches write reports to be submitted to BAM’s coaching and training committee, etc.? It seems that BAM has the coaches doing other things that take the coaches’ valuable time away from doing what they do best. If I were MS, I would be resistant to having to write reports, etc. I deem it condescending and also insulting. If you see it fit to hire me as a coach, then let me do what I do best and leave me alone. Don’t have me writing reports on what my training plans, methods and targets are for my player(s), etc. Maybe I don’t want my thoughts to be reduced to writing and made available to others. It is also as if what I plan to do has to be submitted to the CTC for their blessing and approval. If I were a world-class coach, I do not need the CTC’s blessing and approval for my methods. Especially a CTC comprising persons with questionable credentials in the sport. Moreover, a coach may not necessarily be a good writer so making a coach write reports not only takes time away from the coach’s other duties, but also adds stress to the coach’s life. MS, as LCW’s coach was relied upon to guide the Datuk to Malaysia’s first gold medal in the OG. That’s pressure. MS has a sick wife to care for. That’s stress. And BAM wants him and other coaches to write mickey-mouse reports? Get the man back, leave him alone and let him do his job. Have the non-coaching CTC members write reports on why they are qualified to serve on the committee, and how they and/or their ideas can contribute to the advancement of badminton in Malaysia.

Finally, if MS wants to coach his son, what’s so bad about that? Give the man what he wants. So what if others say it is favoritism, special treatment, etc. Who said life was fair. When you’re that good at what you do, you can call the shots.

MS, good luck. I hope you get what you want at BAM and return. If you do not return to BAM, I hope you will still be involved with badminton as perhaps an independent coach. And it would really make my day if LCW dumps BAM and trains under you independently.


P.S.
I know this is the wrong thread, but please indulge me - I think KKK/TBH had the AE doubles title won but then they gave it back because they celebrated too early and lost concentration and hence their momentum. In a word, they lacked maturity. On more than one occasion, I saw our players celebrate after winning a rally as if they won the match already. This kind of behavior not only makes you lose concentration, but it also serves to taunt your opponents and further motivates them. In the end, the other side had the last laugh. It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings. I hope they learn from this and good luck to them in the future.

 

I have said this before and I will say it again. The top management applying 'The Apprentice'-like method of governing the sports like Mr Donald Trump is not going to work. This is a sport, not a corporate business, at least don't ask the coaches to write Mickey Mouse reports. Time and again I have seen Malaysia hired top coaches like Li Mao, Yang Yang, Fang Kai Xiang only to have them leave frustrated because of destructive intervention from someone at the top who thinks they know what they are doing or think it's for the sport's improvement but actually is vice versa. Skills and experience come with time and dedication, not simply by hiring world class coaches and then expect them to be World No 1 overnight. The fine line of balancing between corporate responsibilities and sport's credibility is also another skill to be mastered to reach this attain this equilibrium.

I wonder if the NSC or BAM ever take the time to come on board these forums and hear what the ppl are saying and not to be so full of themselves all the time.