'I'm not against a local coach taking over national team'

The Malta Football Association is ready to break with tradition by handing the reins of the national team to a local coach if he satisfies the criteria laid down by the football governing body.

The much-awaited announcement was made by the president of the Malta FA, Joe Mifsud, when addressing a news conference focusing on the Maltese national teams.

"I'm not opposed to a Maltese coach taking over the national team," Dr Mifsud said.

"If there is a local coach with the necessary know-how and experience to guide the national team, I see no reason why he should not be considered for the job."

Calls for the MFA to install a Maltese coach at the helm of the national team have intensified over the past few years after a succession of foreigners failed to make the impact expected of them.

Mifsud was known to be against the idea of having a fellow countryman taking over on evidence of his bold declaration that Maltese coaches would not be considered for the job.

Times have changed, though, and the MFA boss yesterday said his statement was made in circumstances different from today.

"That comment was made in the context that no Maltese coach had the experience to lead the national team at the time," the MFA president said when referring to his much-publicised declaration ruling out Maltese coaches for the national coaching job after Pippo Psaila left in 1993.

"A sense of perspective is called for when discussing local candidates for the national coaching job," Mifsud urged.

"There is a huge gap between local and international football, a difference underlined by the results of most of our clubs in European competitions.

"Our situation is very complicated because our players have yet to establish themselves in foreign leagues and the bulk of the locally-based players have to report for training in the evening after a hard day's work. The problem is not the coach but the players because we cannot create them."

Dismissing reports linking former Malta skipper Carmel Busuttil with the coaching vacancy as pure speculation, the MFA president said the new coach will be offered a contract up until the end of Malta's World Cup 2006 qualifiers, probably in October 2005.

Siegfried Held, a former West Germany international, had been in charge of the Maltese team for two years before his contract expired after Malta's final EURO 2004 qualifier against Israel on September 10.

Horst Heese, the Malta FA technical director, and Mark Miller, coach of the U-21 team, have been appointed interim coaches until Held's successor is appointed.

Held's reign ended on a positive note as Malta defied the odds by holding the more-quoted Israel to a 2-2 draw in Antalya.

"Before our last game against Israel, the majority of the Maltese were very sceptical about our chances of a positive result," Mifsud said.

"In fact, only two of our newspapers opted to provide coverage of the matches in Antalya. Our team pulled off a surprise by collecting a point from that match.

"If only the citizens of this country realise what a stir Malta's 2-2 draw against Israel caused in Europe, maybe then they can start to appreciate our efforts in the international sphere," Mifsud said.

The association's executive committee convened soon after Malta's last EURO 2004 qualifier against Israel to review past performances and draw up plans for the future. Mifsud also met presidents of the 10 Premier League clubs on the Saturday following Malta's commitment in Antalya.

"It was a fruitful meeting in which several ideas were floated for discussion," Mifsud said. "The two main themes of the meetings were: the training of the national team and the next national coach.

"For the time being, we have agreed to keep faith with the current training scheme until we take a definite decision on what direction to take and who will be our next national coach," Mifsud added.

Training scheme

"I firmly believe that our football has improved in recent years. Others have also made giant strides forward and the rate of their progress has perhaps overshadowed ours.

"Our improvement owes to the training scheme whereby a pool of players in the national squad train on a professional basis. Professional training does not only refer to the players' efforts on the field of play but to the back-up service provided to the squad which incorporates medical and rehabilitation facilities," Mifsud remarked.

The training scheme has been in place for around two decades now but Malta's failure to leave its mark has inevitably sparked questions as to the effectiveness of this policy.

Mifsud, however, believes that the scheme has not lost its value.

"We can draw a line and save a lot of money by discarding the scheme but it takes a long time to rebuild. We do not want rushed decisions," he said.

"We still have to see whether to retain the current training scheme as it is. Together, we have to find the best solution because we are duty-bound to ensure that our football improves."

Much of the criticism has centred on the exclusion of in-form players from the training scheme as the squads are selected from the group of players who report for duty at Ta' Qali.

"One of its major drawbacks is that players who are displaying fine form in the league at a particular time may not form part of the scheme," Mifsud said.

"However, when assessing a player's potential to represent his country, you have to take into account other considerations like his physical condition.

"You have to ask whether that player or players are well prepared to cope with the rigorous demands of international football. I think that, with the exception of maybe one or two, there aren't any other players worthy of a place in the national squad."

Turning his sights to Malta's participation in the next World Cup 2006 qualifiers, Mifsud said the team's objective was to gain as many points as possible.

"Our participation in the World Cup qualifying trek starts next year but we have to begin our preparations now," Mifsud said.

"Held was the 19th coach in the history of the national team. His record during his first year in charge was fairly good. The results in friendly matches were adequate... Malta were unbeaten in six matches," Mifsud said.

Mifsud announced that Malta will be meeting Germany in a friendly match in May.

He said: "We have arranged a friendly away to Germany in May next year. A few years ago, Germany came here to play a friendly match against Malta and now we are going there to reciprocate. This friendly is part of their preparations for EURO 2004, provided that Germany qualify for the finals.

"In February, we will be organising the bi-annual International Tournament. We are in the process of finalising the line-up of nations who intend to take part in this event," Mifsud remarked.

Mifsud said that despite all speculation small nations will take part in the EURO 2008 qualifiers. The finals will be played in Switzerland and Austria. The qualifying campaign will have less groups with more teams.