Fair Play: Martinez vs. Philippine football
THE newfound love the Filipinos have for the Azkals has led to a raised awareness of the sport, which, in turn, led to the PHL vs. Indonesia game out-rating the PBA games on TV.
It has also, expectedly, led to fans being overly-protective of the team and any proposal to change the composition of the squad is greeted by petitions or immediately shot down.
Relax, folks. Take it easy.
Dan Palami’s got our backs.
While in the past, personnel changes in the team were not based on how good a player is on the field, or how effective a coach is, that’s no longer the case since Dan took
over.
Every player who has joined a step-ladder tournament, like the Palarong Pambansa or the Ched games, knows he could lose his spot in the next level. It’s the same with coaches.
Of course, the goal being to form the best team possible.
And that will be the case of the Azkals.
There are going to be new faces in the squad next year. Even Coach Simon McMenemy, whose contract ends this month, could be gone.
Is it the time to panic?
No, not really.
Dan Palami, as a colleague rightfully called him in his column a few months back, is a visionary. I think even before the Singapore game, before all of this started, he’s already plotted a course for the team.
So let’s give him a free rein, shall we?
Besides, in the one year since he took over the team, he hasn’t made a wrong step. And when a coaching crisis hit the team, he held them together.
Des Bulpin, an English coach, laid out the framework in December last year, but left abruptly after just a few months on the job. Getting abandoned by your coach is a potential morale-breaker.
But like the Askals they were named after, these Azkals are tough as nails. They got coach Simon four months ago and less than four weeks ago, they made history.
So let’s sit back, and enjoy the ride.
But if you want to get involved with Philippine football, there are a lot of things we can do.
One, of course, is to support the new PFF once the spotlight hits it anew with the latest move of disgraced president Mari Martinez.
Martinez, with best bud AFC president Mohammed bin Hammam, is questioning Fifa’s move to acknowledge Nonong Araneta as the new PFF president.
Martinez and Hammam want Fifa to recognize the status quo—that is for Martinez to remain president until the next elections in 90 days.
ABS CBN reported the two will challenge the order in the Committee for Arbitration in Sports.
Why insist on the 90-day extension when Martinez, being the most-hated guy in football right now, is sure to get the boot? Well, we can only speculate.
I assure you this guy is not after football development.
Is he after the next release of the Fifa aid? Or the AFC aid?
Hmmm.
Or does Hammam, as one PFF insider speculated, need Martinez for the AFC elections on Jan. 6? Money changes hands a lot in football and even Martinez, who got P10 million from Hamman in 2008, admitted he could no longer account for where the money went.
Philippine football is changing because of the faith of one man, Dan Palami. It’s time we repay him for that faith. Let’s cover his back against Martinez.
Palami, Araneta and the rest of the new PFF officers will need a lot of help as Martinez tries to drag the sport back to the dark ages for personal gain.
And this is the fight that fans need to get involved in.
It has also, expectedly, led to fans being overly-protective of the team and any proposal to change the composition of the squad is greeted by petitions or immediately shot down.
Relax, folks. Take it easy.
Dan Palami’s got our backs.
While in the past, personnel changes in the team were not based on how good a player is on the field, or how effective a coach is, that’s no longer the case since Dan took
over.
Every player who has joined a step-ladder tournament, like the Palarong Pambansa or the Ched games, knows he could lose his spot in the next level. It’s the same with coaches.
Of course, the goal being to form the best team possible.
And that will be the case of the Azkals.
There are going to be new faces in the squad next year. Even Coach Simon McMenemy, whose contract ends this month, could be gone.
Is it the time to panic?
No, not really.
Dan Palami, as a colleague rightfully called him in his column a few months back, is a visionary. I think even before the Singapore game, before all of this started, he’s already plotted a course for the team.
So let’s give him a free rein, shall we?
Besides, in the one year since he took over the team, he hasn’t made a wrong step. And when a coaching crisis hit the team, he held them together.
Des Bulpin, an English coach, laid out the framework in December last year, but left abruptly after just a few months on the job. Getting abandoned by your coach is a potential morale-breaker.
But like the Askals they were named after, these Azkals are tough as nails. They got coach Simon four months ago and less than four weeks ago, they made history.
So let’s sit back, and enjoy the ride.
But if you want to get involved with Philippine football, there are a lot of things we can do.
One, of course, is to support the new PFF once the spotlight hits it anew with the latest move of disgraced president Mari Martinez.
Martinez, with best bud AFC president Mohammed bin Hammam, is questioning Fifa’s move to acknowledge Nonong Araneta as the new PFF president.
Martinez and Hammam want Fifa to recognize the status quo—that is for Martinez to remain president until the next elections in 90 days.
ABS CBN reported the two will challenge the order in the Committee for Arbitration in Sports.
Why insist on the 90-day extension when Martinez, being the most-hated guy in football right now, is sure to get the boot? Well, we can only speculate.
I assure you this guy is not after football development.
Is he after the next release of the Fifa aid? Or the AFC aid?
Hmmm.
Or does Hammam, as one PFF insider speculated, need Martinez for the AFC elections on Jan. 6? Money changes hands a lot in football and even Martinez, who got P10 million from Hamman in 2008, admitted he could no longer account for where the money went.
Philippine football is changing because of the faith of one man, Dan Palami. It’s time we repay him for that faith. Let’s cover his back against Martinez.
Palami, Araneta and the rest of the new PFF officers will need a lot of help as Martinez tries to drag the sport back to the dark ages for personal gain.
And this is the fight that fans need to get involved in.
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