GEORGE TOWN, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- Penang FC’s target for the upcoming 2026/2027 Super League season is to finish among the top six teams, the club’s board of directors’ chairman Daniel Gooi Zi Sen said.
He explained that it would follow the series of improvement in standings for the club, which finished eighth last season compared to 10th the previous season, besides qualifying to the final of the Challenge Cup.
“We want to maintain the momentum and challenge other teams even though we have to play at the State Stadium in Batu Kawan as the City Stadium is being upgraded.
“The management has full confidence in head coach Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail even though there are some fans who question his standing. We will continue to support him and hope he repays our trust with better performance for the team and the fans,” he said after the announcement of the club’s strategic partnership and sponsorship with Vitahealth, Aspen Nutrition and Eastroc here today.
Meanwhile, Wan Rohaimi shared that the team would retain 14 players from last season to ensure a strong foundation, and has brought in 15 new players and are waiting for the arrival of two more foreign players to complete the team quota.
He also stressed that the team would learn from the weaknesses of last season when they failed to translate chances into goals even though they played well.
“We need to learn from what happened and not let it go as to me, everything that happens has a reason and it just needs improvements.
“Our main weakness last season is our failure to convert our chances. So I hope with the presence of two players from Uzbekistan, midfielder Bakhtiyor Kosimov and roaming striker Murodbek Bobojonov , we’re capable of settling the issue,” he said, adding that the two players, who played in the Iraqi League, seemed to be able to fit in well with the team.
Wan Rohaimi was satisfied with the way his players performed in three pre-season friendly matches in the Sri Semantan Cup in Kelantan recently, as they had only trained together for three weeks.
“I was rather surprised by their chemistry. They had good cooperation and a high team spirit. That’s the identity we want to instill, the never-say-die attitude when they play in the league,” he added.
He said that as the team’s final preparations, they will play three international friendlies, two in Songkhla, Thailand on Aug 7 and 9 and the last in Surabaya, Indonesia on Aug 15, and may add another domestic friendly match before the new season starts with the opening match against Brunei DPMM FC at Batu Kawan Stadium on Aug 23.
-- BERNAMA