Segrt has failed, it’s up to the players to finish the job now
There is no doubt that Petar Segrt has failed as a coach of Maldives national team. The last thing players and the supporters need is another humiliation from this guy. Despite of his miserable failure, despite the fact that we have failed to score in the tournament thus far we have managed to squeeze through to the second stage by sheer luck. Now is the time for players, especially the senior ones to take the matters to their own hands and finish this competition in style. Just like we have highlighted before, this is probably the easiest SAFF tournament Maldives has faced since its inception and it still appears to be so.
Despite giving Segrt more than a month to prepare the team and having been at the helm for a while now it is still clear that this man has no idea of the positions these players can perform the best. Naaiz is not a top striker and keeping Fasir on the bench against India is another sign that this is a man yet to figure out how the players should line up. The performance of the team has been dismal to say the least and with all due respect to the previous opponents we have faced, even a mid table club side from the Maldives would have given them a good fight for the money.
Now with luck we have reached the semi final and face a tricky game against Nepal, who are always a difficult opponent to beat. But considering the skills of these players they will have no trouble coming out as winners on Wednesday even if assistant coach Shakir take the lead.
Local coaches such as Ali Suzain, Mohamed Siyaz and Mohamed Nizam will surely make these players a force hard to beat against any regional opponents. A foreign coach doesn’t promise results or sense as Segrt has proven with the two matches we have played and his decisions in the past.
There is no doubt Football Association of Maldives will keep Segrt for the time being in the hope of proving the whole country wrong but players body language suggests they will not entertain further embarrassment from this man.
Now that players have seen the opportunity round the corner we are expecting a better performance and results from the boys on Wednesday. No matter what the result is be prepared to give credit to the boys for what they have endured and what they might achieve. Fact is if we do well from now on it will be the players that will change the path we are in. Not this hopeless man who is here for his short holiday.