The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Steady progress for new-look Chelsea Posted: 17 Oct 2011 06:06 PM PDT OCT 18 — While the new Premier League season's headlines have been dominated by the growing rivalry between Manchester United and Manchester City, with Liverpool's resurgence and Arsenal's decline providing an occasional sub-plot, deposed champions Chelsea have been picking up regular victories and quietly going about their business. That's right: I just used the words "Chelsea" and "quietly going about their business" in the same sentence. Now that is a development. For the last few years — ever since Roman Abramovich and his Russian roubles arrived in West London in 2003 — the Blues have been anything but quiet. They have been brash, bold, cocky, outspoken and generally pretty unlikeable. The tone for all that unpleasantness was largely set by the manager who until now has defined their modern era — Jose Mourinho. The upstart Portuguese maestro brought with him a single-minded devotion to winning and an "us-against-the-world" mentality that was inevitably accompanied by levels of confidence bordering on — and often veering into — arrogance. Although it's a long time since Mourinho departed these shores — he fell out with Abramovich and left Stamford Bridge by "mutual consent" in late 2007 — his legacy remained in place and, despite the changes undertaken during the reigns of Avram Grant, Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea have continued to be a team built in Mourinho's confrontational and self-satisfied image. When Andre Villas-Boas was appointed new Chelsea manager in the summer, I feared the worst. Villas-Boas was, after all, widely known as "the new Mourinho" as a reflection of their startlingly similar backgrounds. Like his compatriot predecessor, Villas-Boas arrived at Stamford Bridge as a relatively young man after no notable playing career, an early leg-up from Bobby Robson, varied assistant managerial roles (under Mourinho at Chelsea and Inter Milan) and a brief but hugely successful spell in charge of Porto. He seemed certain to be a Mourinho clone, bringing more of the same of smugness and arrogance to Stamford Bridge. (By the way, you may have gathered that I don't really like Jose Mourinho. In fact, it's more accurate if you swap around two of those words: I really don't like Jose Mourinho. Hugely talented coach? Of course? Appealing human being? Urgh.) Three months into Villas-Boas' reign, and Chelsea are coming along nicely. Saturday's routine 3-1 home victory over Everton kept them within touching distance of the two Manchester clubs at the top of the table, with six wins and a draw from their opening eight Premier League games. They've also progressed well in the Champions' League, beating Bayer Leverkusen at home and drawing in Spain with Valencia. Most notably, they've done it all without really upsetting anybody (apart from Tottenham over their pursuit of Luka Modric), playing eye-catching football in an attack-minded fashion and largely keeping themselves to themselves. Of course, there has been the occasional drama: record signing Fernando Torres has earned internal censure for appearing to criticise his teammates in a Spanish media interview; Frank Lampard has been dropped and then recalled amid speculation over his future at the club; John Terry and Ashley Cole have... well, been John Terry and Ashley Cole. But Villas-Boas has done what he's had to do in a calm, controlled and diplomatic manner, preventing any internal dissent from entering into the public domain, showing maturity and composure in his media interviews and managing to not ruffle any feathers. Rather unlike his supposed mentor, Villas-Boas seems to actually be quite a nice chap, which comes as a significant relief. It should be pointed out that Chelsea have failed their one big test to date, losing 3-1 at Manchester United last month, and the early indications are the Villas-Boas' new team will struggle to last the pace with the new "big two" of English football. But Villas-Boas has shown signs that he will be there for the long haul. He appears ready to tackle the challenge of gradually overhauling his squad — Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata have started more Premier League games so far this season than Nicolas Anelka and Florent Maluoda — and you can sense a growing feeling that Chelsea are already less reliant on Drogba and Lampard than they have been in the past. The Portuguese manager has a big job on his hands. The nucleus of his team is still far too old and, with access to Abramovich's wallet seemingly more restricted these days, younger players such as David Luiz, Josh McEachran, Oriol Romeu and Romelu Lukaku will need to become regular starters before too long. That probably suits Villas-Boas just fine. Although they'll help him gain a few short-term results, the new manager won't be able to build long-lasting success around a team containing Terry, Lampard and Drogba. Their contribution to Chelsea's recent history has been enormous, but they are nearly yesterday's men. They are certainly Mourinho's men, and Villas-Boas has to mould a squad of players who feel loyalty to him rather than to his self-promoting predecessor. It will be a big challenge, but so far, so good. Perhaps the only way for Chelsea to finally break their attachment to the old Mourinho was to appoint the new one. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. 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| Sejarah Mat Indera perlu ditulis semula Posted: 17 Oct 2011 04:35 PM PDT 18 OKT — Sejak Mohamad Sabu menimbulkan pandangan baru tentang Mat Indera dan menuntut supaya sejarah kemerdekaan ditulis semula, mulai berkembang persepsi baru tentang kehidupan Mat Indera yang dilebel inteligen Bitish sebagai seorang komunis. Adik Mat Indera, seorang pesara tentera yang selamanya membisu tentang sebaran nama abangnya yang buruk itu tiba-tiba muncul di khalayak umum membela abangnya bukan seorang pemimpin komunis. Kemunculannya sama seperti yang berlaku kepada Mat Kilau. Selepas dia dan rakan-rakannya termasuk Dato Bahaman diburu oleh pencerobohan penjajah British di Pahang, mereka melarikan diri. Setelah kira-kira 13 tahun merdeka, sesudah merasa dirinya selamat, Mat Kilau muncul di khalayak ramai di masjid mengumumkan dirinya Mat Kilau yang dikehendaki polis dulu. Adik Mat Indera juga begitu. Setelah Mat Sabu menggemparkan cerita abangnya, dia merasa ada suasana kondusif baginya untuk membela abang, seperti keluar dari persembunyian, dia menyokong seruan Mat Sabu supaya ditulis semula sejarah abangnya. Antara persepsi baru tentang Mat Indera itu, ada keterangan bahawa dia bukan orang yang memimpin pasukan komunis menyerang Rumah Pasong Bukit Kepong. Sekali pun dia ada hubungan dengan orang-orang komunis kerana sama-sama mahu mengusir penjajah British, dia pergi ke balai polis itu menyelamatkan polis dan keluarganya dari serangan komunis itu. Dia tidak memimpin serangan itu tetapi dia datang sesudah ada serangan bagi menyelamatkan siapa yang boleh diselamatkan. Tetapi ketika dia sampai, hanya seorang saja yang dapat diselamatkan. Keterangan mata-mata yang diselamatkannya itu ada direkodkan. Persepsi baru itu pula menyebut Mat Indera adalah seorang yang bencikan penjajah Inggeris dan tidak bersedia untuk bertolak ansur dengan Inggeris dan bersedia untuk bekerjasama dengan mana-mana pihak yang menentang Inggeris. Sikap itu sama dengan sikap Dr Burhanuddin al-Hilmy yang memimpin Partai Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya bersikap non-co atau tidak berkompromi terhadap Inggeris. Sikap Dr Burhanuddin itu adalah disebabkan terpengaruh dengan sikap Mahatma Gandhi memimpin gerakan kemerdekaan India. Dr Burhanuddin belajar lama di India, terdedah dengan perjuangan Gandhi, bahkan beliau berkenalan rapat dengan dua pejuang kemerdekaan India iaitu Pandit Nehru dan Ali Jinnah yang kemudiannya menjadi bapa kebebasan Pakistan. Sikap non-co Dr Burhanuddin ini menjadi pegangan PKMM dan Mat Indera adalah seorang aktavis PKMM yang berpengaruh di tempatnya di Muar. Kalau British boleh mendapat kerjasama Dato Onn Jaafar dan penyokong-penyokongnya di Johor, tetapi Mat Indera langsung tidak memberi muka kepada Inggeris. Bahkan Mat Indera boleh menjadi pemimpin lebih ke depan dari komunis dalam menghadapi Inggeris. Ada masanya Inggeris boleh bermain mata dengan komunis tetapi Inggeris tidak boleh dapat apa-apa dari Mat Indera. Sikap Mat Indera itu mendapat sokongan orang Melayu dan bukan Melayu yang menentang penjajahan. Dasar British adalah jelas melagakan orang Melayu dan Cina. Antara kemarahan orang Melayu kepada Cina ialah rata-rata ketua komunis itu adalah Cina. Ia adalah peluang baik bagi British menenamkan rasa curiga orang Melayu kepada Cina. Apabila Mat Indera dilebelkan sebagai pemimpin komunis dan mengepalai komunis menyerang Bukit Kepong, maka ia mengubah pandangan orang Melayu kepada Mat Indera. Kebetulan Mat Indera pula hadir di Bukit Kepong dalam kejaadian itu maka ia satu kesempatan terbaik bagi British menamkan sikap bencikan Mat Indera. Mat Indera tidak peluang untuk membela diri. Dia diburu dan apabila ditangkap, Mat Indera terus dipisahkan dari masyarakat umum khususnya orang Melayu. Ada pandangan mengatakan Mat Indera tidak mendapat perbicaraan adil. Tiada keterangan tentang pembelaan diri Mat Indera. Yang diketahui dia dihukup bunuh saja. Mengikut Ghani Ismail, penulis bebas yang pernah bekerja dengan Tengku Razaleigh, berasal dari Taiping. Dia tidak jumpa orang Melayu di sekitar Taiping percaya Mat Indera seorang komunis. Bagi mereka dia seorang yang kuat Islam dan terpelajar. Malah ada orang Taiping menganggapnya keramat. Boleh diterima teori mengatakan dia komunis dan mengetuai serangan balai polis Bukit Kepong itu adalah muslihat British bagi menggelapkan perjuangan anti Inggeris Mat Indera. Tektik Inggeris sama seperti yang dilakukannya terhadap pejuang Palestin terhadap British dan Yahudi sebelum ia ditakluk Israil. Semua Arab yang penentang British di Palestin dilebel sebagai pengganas. Tektik sama digunakan Amerika dan Nato sekarang terhadap orang Islam yang menentang penindasan Amerika dan barat. Semuanya dituduh teroris. Jika Chin Peng mengesahkan Mat Indera adalah komunis, ia bukan mustahil bagi propaganda komunis untuk membuktikan parti komunis juga disokong oleh orang Melayu dan Islam. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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