Written by: Khalis Rifhan

Harimau Muda B’s preparations for the 2014 Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League began last December and coach Razip Ismail has been hard at work both on the training ground and the drawing board as he aims to better their previous campaign league standings.

Razip’s Under-21 side replaced Ong Kim Swee’s Harimau Muda ‘A’ in 2012 with the latter making their only appearance in 2011. Ong guided his Under-23 boys to third spot in the league two years ago while Harimau Muda ‘B’ ended the 2013 season second from bottom.

Razip has recruited a number of new players, including Harimau Muda ‘C’ trio, Faris Shah Rosli, Irfan Zakaria and Syazwan Zaipol Bahari while Ridzuan Abdunloh and Wan Ahmad Amir have been promoted to the U23 side. Other notable names heading out of the exit door are starlets Maxsius Musa and Azzizan Nordin who have joined Malaysia Premier League outfit Sabah FA.

“Our preparation for the new season is ongoing as we started our training since December last year. We only retained seven players from last year’s squad and I’m hoping that at least one or two new players will shine,” said the former Kuala Lumpur FA coach.

“But it’s still early to tell because they are relatively new and inexperience,” added Razip who has also lost captain Nashriq Yahya to Malaysia Super League club Sime Darby.

With most of his new signings yet to taste action in a professional league, Razip is determined to get the best out his young players and will be banking on seasoned campaigners such as Faizat Ghazli, Ashmawi Yakin and Asri Mardzuki to provide leadership on the pitch.

“I am more interested in a consistent performance and hope that my players will be free from any serious injuries, as this can cause disruption towards the team performance and result,” the 51-year old pointed out.

“I hope I can achieve better result than last season because, from my observation, we have a better squad of players now.’

Harimau Muda will start the new Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League campaign against last season’s RHB Singapore Cup finalist Tanjong Pagar United on 24 February at the Pasir Gudang Stadium with kickoff at 8.45pm.

Harimau Muda ‘B’ 2014 Squad

Officials

Team Manager : Y.Bhg Dato Astaman Abdul Aziz

Head Coach : Razip Ismail

Assistant Coach – Mohd Zan bin Mat Aris

Goalkeeping Coach : Mazlan bin Wahid

Fitness Trainer : Norhudahiroshi bin Razak

Physio : Mohd Haris Zafran

Kitman : Abang Suhadi

Goalkeepers

Ahmad Solehin bin Mamat

Ilham Amirullah bin Razali

Defenders

Syazwan bin Zaipol Bahari

Abdullah bin Suleiman

Annas bin Rahmat

Syawal bin Nordin

Afiq bin Azuan

Akmal bin Chin

Ashmawi bin Yakin

Azrul Nizam Muhammad

Mohamad Faris Shah bin Rosli

Midfielders

Qayyum bin Marjoni Sabil

Asri bin Mardzuki

Nor Azam bin Abdul Azih

Hardee bin Mohd Rosli

Naim bin Zakaria

Afiq bin Fazail

Shahrul Igwan bin Samsudin

Faizat bin Ghazli

Forwards

Irfan bin Zakaria

Akhir bin Bahari

Ramzi Haziq bin Mohamad

Nurshamil bin Abdul Ghani

Syafwan bin Syahlan

Mohamad Ramzi bin Sufian