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Sabah revamps structure, appoints Jelius Ating as manager and Justin Ganai at technical director
Sabah prepares for their second straight Super League campaign by bringing in two former players and head coaches.
Sabah only narrowly avoided the drop from the Super League in the recently concluded 2020 season after they finished just a single spot outside of the relegation zone in 10th place of a truncated season.The Rhinos gain promotion having won the 2019 Premier League title but found the jump to the top tier of Malaysian football to be a bigger gap than they had anticipated and struggled for large parts of the season.
The Borneo side had only won a solitary game heading into that vital clash against Melaka at Likas Stadium towards the tail-end of the season and were practically staring at quick return to the second tier. However a much needed three points were found in that match and it was sufficient to secure a second season in the top flight.
To ensure that they will be better equipped and learnt all their lessons from the 2020 season, Sabah have already made big moves in appointing former head coach Jelius Ating as the new manager of the team with another former head coach in Justin Ganai being tasked with the Technical Director role.
"I'm thankful to the Sabah management for putting their faith in me and this role will give me a lot of responsibility in the team. Not just the technical aspect of the team but also in protecting the image of the team that will be known as Sabah FC starting next season.
"There are plenty of things which I have to oversee as the manager but at the same time, I will be able to help the head coach in terms of sharing opinions on how to improve the quality of the team. What is important is that the management are attempting a new approach as part of the strategy to generate better income for the team," said Jelius.
Jelius had to forgo the head coach role in the 2020 season despite having led the team to promotion because he did not have a Pro License required by the league to be a head coach for a Super League side. Sabah turned to former Indonesian national team stalwart Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto and in his first ever big role, it was a topsy-turvy season.
There are still question marks over whether Kurniawan will be retained by Sabah for the 2021 season but if he does get another go at it, he will have the help of the experience of Jelius and Justin above him where Sabah should be looking at not only continuing their stay in the division but also to show improvement from last season.
