Conversation With Coach Raja & Sathia

Conversation With Coach Raja & Sathia | #KaranganBolaSepak by Sivan John of the Bola Bola Show

Credit to the person who took this photograph

Earlier last year, me and my close two buddies decided to start our own podcast. Since then, we have published more than 30 episodes. Now close to one year since that very first edition, it has been a marvellous journey to say the least.

Along the way, we have been blessed with the opportunity to speak with many football personalities. From club officials (Kerteh FC) to former World Cup winner (Thomas Berthold) to international football managers (Stephen Constantine, Johnathan McKinstry), to book writers (Jordan Florit, Karan Tejwani and even current pros (Julia Simic).

Even on the Malaysian football scene, we were able to “zoom” shoulder in a mind boggling conversation with former NFDP Technical Director, Lim Teong Kim and rekindle some nostalgia with Malaysian league icons, Matlan Marjan and Abbas Saad.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Movement Control Order, we were only able to chew the fat from long distances instead of sharing the same table in a coffee shop. Hence why the one and only occasion in which I had a chinwag moment with a legendary figure remains something memorable to me, even almost 18 years after it had happened.

Sometime back in 2003 on a Saturday morning, I was having breakfast with a close friend at Raju’s Banana Leaf at Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya. After munching on a delicious ghee dosa and a cup of hot brew coffee with fresh cow milk, I was prepared to go on with my business of the day which was nothing else but head home.

I was open to any suggestion from my friend, so he asked me to accompany him to his favourite barber since he badly needed a haircut then we can think of what to do for the rest of the day. At first I giggled at his idea but then I just said “fine, what the heck”, so off we go!

Credit to the person who took the photograph

My friend’s preferred place to get his hair trimmed is at the famous Joe’s Unisex Salon, located next to the PJ’s municipal yellow building food court (famous for Zainul Nasi Kandar Original), not that far from Padang Timur MBPJ. I’m very sure for anyone who grew up in PJ around the old town and new town area who would know this place.

We took our seat at the customer’s lounge while my friend waited for his turn to be attended by his loyalist barber. As expected on a Saturday, the place can be quite busy with regular patrons. Of all sudden, I started to notice the arrival of two familiar faces who have just walked into the salon.

From their attire and looks, it was pretty obvious both just came back from a football practice session. Both had their sports shoes on while wearing a collar white tee shirt tucked into their (if I’m not mistaken, the colour was dark blue) tracksuit. The two gentlemen are coach Datuk K. Rajagobal and B. Sathianathan.

It didn’t take long for others to realize just who these two gentlemens are. As for me, my mood which was somewhat quotidian has just elevated to a feeling of delightfulness which can not be described. After all, how often in life are you presented with an opportunity to meet someone, that you used to see on TV, in the flesh?

And it is only a matter of time before someone in the salon is going to start a conversation on football with them, and others including myself unblushingly will start to congregate around them to listen to their thoughts and opinions. At first, I felt hesitant to join in as I didn’t want to give the impression that I was muscling in on their space.

But all that shameless notion just went out the window as soon as coach Raja started to utter the first few words out of his mouth. You could already tell that this was a humble man who is more than ever willing to share his knowledge of the game.

Of course, our discussion started with the state of Malaysian football back then. Among us was a retired teacher who began to talk about the system back in the good old days that produced calibre footballers like coach Raja himself (to which he nodded in agreement). Mind you, the circumstances involving the country’s football back then was different than what it is today.

Right from that moment, coach Raja started to dissect every single aspect that was wrong with the football system. He was very vocal on the fact that there are things that professional teams in Malaysia lacked in order to develop top class talent. This ranges from a decent field to even proper training facilities.

What about coach Sathia? I didn’t recall him speaking that much to everyone at that time. Perhaps in his mind, he already has the answer to our questions about Malaysian football. An answer which shook everyone in a heated press conference in 2009.

Now back to coach Raja, the more you converse with him, the more you can tell just how profound and detailed he was in his understanding of the game. And this comes to no surprise for me, as it was only a few years back he guided Selangor to the league title and was also named AFC coach of the month in the year 2000.

So the pertinent question that many kept asking back then, why wasn’t he hired by the Football Association of Malaysia to take charge of the National Team?

To my limited comprehension of the game, maybe coach Raja was way ahead of his time. That it will take a few more years down the road for the powers that be to finally open the door for him. As the saying goes, the rest is history.

Well it has been 18 years since that fateful day brought me the unexpected opportunity to speak to someone who is now regarded as an icon not just in football but in our country’s history. Hopefully another window will open again in the near future. Until then, this memory of me from 2003 is something I will keep close to heart forever.