Relegation a blessing

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DESPERATE: Sarawak’s goalkeeper Saiful Amar makes a dive to deny Kelantan a goal during the Kelantan versus Sarawak match at Stadium Sultan Muhammed IV recently. — Bernama photo

KUCHING:  Thoughts of Sarawak being relegated was almost unthinkable to most fans of the Crocs as the team showed much promise and displayed such tenacity to make them be considered as a genuine title contender.

Nevertheless,  a litany of misfiring foreign strikers conspired against the Crocs as a football team must be able to score goals to survive in the Super League.

This has been the script of the Crocs for most of their 2012 season.

The present crop of passionate supporters missed the glory years when the Crocs ruled the pitch of the old Division One in the 1990s and the success of lifting the FA Cup.

The majority only knew the Sarawak team that was fast approaching decline and on a downward trajectory.

Along came  Datu Sudarsono Osman to helm the Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) and his leadership was phenomenal and just short of a miracle as he transformed and steered the state team to the pinnacle of Malaysian football, the Super League in a relatively short time.

Before Sudarsono became supremo, the Crocs hovered in mid-table mediocrity and the periphery of Malaysian football  scene.

The drop to the Premier League may just be a blessing in disguise for the Crocs.

Ascend to the Super League may have come too fast and too soon for the team as they flirted with success.

Descend to the Premier League offered an opportunity to rebuild and further strengthened the team.

As Sudarsono had stressed many times before, the Crocs are still on the learning curve and need time to rebuild.

Nevertheless, Sarawak now has the luxury of having quality players to form the core and foundation of its future team.

Players like Hairol Mokhtar, Ashri Chuchu and Sharol Saperi are some of the names that rose to the ranks to spearhead Sarawak’s challenge to climb back to the MSL and capture the coveted Malaysia Cup.

All are local players, young and hungry for success and all playing with their hearts for Sarawak.

The team has been there before and as such, fans must see the relegation as a time to rebuild from the ground up, a clean slate on which to build on and a galvanising force. This is an opportunity to reinvent and start  afresh.

Almost every great team in the local and foreign leagues has all emerged from the dark depths of the lower tier  stronger. Sarawak is capable of achieving greatness  too.