24 February 2014

Weiss disappointed at being replaced after Azkals’ rise in rank

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

FORMER Philippine Azkals coach Michael Weiss is obviously disappointed over his being replaced after having brought the national team from a FIFA ranking of No.160, when he took over to 127, when he was dumped.
“Of course, I am disappointed to be taken out of the opportunity for which I have worked very hard together with the staff and the players for three years. To be taken away, this dream to go to the Asian Cup for the Philippines and the Filipino people is a sad thing,” Weiss told the Manila Standard. “It happens in football where people have the right to make decisions like that.”
The German coach also lamented the fact that he “didn’t get the support we needed to make the team stronger and to prepare accordingly for the Challenge Cup, which was my ultimate target.”
Weiss was denied the opportunity when the Philippine Football Federation and Azkals manager Dan Palami replaced him with American Thomas Dooley, who played for the United States in two World Cups, just months before the biggest challenge faced by the Azkals.
Despite the hurt caused by his ouster, Weiss said he wanted to “thank everyone, who supported me the last three years fantastically. Foremost were the players who have a fantastic character, the coaching staff and also the management even though I must say that 2013 was not so good anymore.”
He claimed that during the past year, he didn’t have the support needed to make the team stronger and prepare accordingly for the Challenge Cup.
“The numbers don’t lie. I don’t want to place it only on my shoulders. It’s the team and I am part of the team. I am very happy being part of this experience,” said Weiss.
He said the PFF and manager Palami have their reasons for his replacement. “We have to accept this and move one.”
At present, there are some unsettled financial issues which include incentives for past achievements, but Weiss isn’t keen on getting into the details which, he believes, “is not something for the public.”


Manila Standard Today

11 comments:

  1. i can understand his disappointment, also the fact that he didn`t get the support to make the team stronger. the truth is that only Palami who decides and does what he thinks is the best to fullfil his vision (which seem to be a bit exaggerated). he is also a little bit too focused on this Fifa ranking which actually says nothing about the real strenght of a team. or does anybody think we are really stronger than the Thais or some other teams below us (e.g. North Korea, Syria etc.). for sure not....as we will probably see on March 1 in Malysia. also i think Thomas Dooley will have quite a hard time when we will not meet the expactations of Palami. it can maybe even happen when the team doesn`t win the Challenge (which I expect) that he will lose his job (or a least after not winning the Suzuki Cup at the end of the year)

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    1. You are so right. The team manager puts a lot of unnecessary pressure that in the long run is useless and really does not add to anything. We might climb up the rankings but it does not reflect the true state of football in the country. The Azkals is now a business and to sell it they must have the numbers to back it up otherwise no sponsor would dare come near it. That's what this all is about. Money. I hope Weiss comes out and spill the beans on how corrupt the PFF really is and how incompetent the team manager is.

      Fifa rankings is useless just look at where the Cayman Islands is placed you will laugh. What the PFF should do instead is lobby to transfer the Philippines in the Oceania Region that way we will have lots of Fifa qualifying games more points towards the rankings. This will make Palami smile.

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    2. Hahaha, transfer to Oceana is a good idea.....LOL. ....but even there we won't qualify for anything as long New Zealand is there and even New Caledonia or Fiji would give us a hard time. The Fifa ranking is a nice gimmick, nothing more more, nothing less. See where Chinese Taipei is ranked and we even were not able to beat them on home turf last year. I guess Palami will get a bad surprise at the Challenge Cup when they even do not make it to the semi finals....it's hard for me to believe that they can win this tournament as I think 2-3 teams are stronger than ours

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    3. Lol 100% agree with all of your posts! I'm very skeptical that a coach with little to no training experience and no large successes as a coach is going to bring us our very first title. Weiss atleast had experiences in coaching national teams and he built up a good scouting network for all the fil foreigners. Dooley seems to have none of that so far and is only a puppet of Palami!

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    4. 03:59 you don't know the difference between your butthole and your elbows. What Weiss failed to do in 3 years Dooley has accomplished in 2 weeks. Pound some sand somewhere stud.

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  2. I think you guys here know better. You are all welcome to spend millions of pesos to fund the Azkals.

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  3. whew! you guys never cease to amaze everyone. #armchairexperts #bitterbunchofnobodys

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  4. What experience did Weiss have prior to the Philippines and what was his record?

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  5. Compared to Dooley worlds apart, winning Championship 2nd league in Japan and Emperors Cup in 2003,, best 8 with China U 20 in World Cup in 2005, and leading Rwanda to 85 in FIFA ranking....that s why Palami Chose him and paying good salary....

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  6. bah! just go away already!

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  7. We all talk about Dan Palami here like we all know Dan Palami. Seriously?

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