KOTA KINABALU: Although it may have taken him quite a while, but Drago Mamic may have finally found or identified the root of the problem that has been haunting the Rhinos for the last few seasons – the lack of consistency.
This is not only happening on the part of the team as a whole, but also on the individual players (in the past).
The Rhinos’ head coach seems to have realised this before insisting that the players must have the desire of learning and improving all the time.
“In football, our job is never finished,” the Croatian insisted.
“As a professional or footballer, you will never be satisfied just after one or two games or after just one tournament. We must keep going.
“In this line, it is like a never ending story. We must try to improve all the time or at least maintain our level of play,” he added.
“For instance, during the recent tournament in Tawau, we have shown good performances, and now it is important for us to maintain this level and to try to improve our game.
“It is my job to make sure that the players will keep going and to try to improve their game. I will also try to instill the right kind of philosophy among the players in the team.
While happy with the team’s progress thus far, but Drago is fully aware that there are some players who think that they can take things easy.
“I know there are some players who think that it will be okay if they do not maintain the level we need of them for the team … they are completely wrong!
“What I want to see from the players is some kind of consistency … within the team as well as individual play … be it in training, friendly matches or competitive matches.
“There is no point of playing one good game when we cannot show any kind of consistency in our next several games.
“For the new season, I will be monitoring this aspect of the game (consistency). You see, there is no need for us to start thinking about our opponents because what is more important is for us to start thinking about our own performance and how we prepare ourselves for any game.
“I’m fortunate that we have so many quality players in the team, and to those who are not willing to fight it out or to try to improve themselves, I don’t think they deserve to stay in the team.”
Overall, Drago believes that the team can do well in the upcoming season.
However, he was quick to point out that they must put their feet on the ground at all times in order to achieve success.
He also said that the players must also be willing to fight it out until the end and not to be easily satisfied with what they have achieved or done, but to show consistency throughout!
