No changes in RP 5 coaching staff

Dismissing rumors of an impending revamp to “upgrade” the Philippine quintet’s coaching staff, newly appointed team manager Frankie Lim said the other day there will be no additions or removals.

“Coach Rajko (Toroman) is satisfied with the performance of his assistant coaches Allan Gregorio, Jude Roque and Djalma Arnedo,” said Lim. “He’s happy with them so I see no reason to make changes.”

Lim said a plan to bolster the staff by hiring former PBA coach Binky Favis has been scuttled.

Lim also denied the scuttlebutt that the Smart-Gilas players aren’t being paid. Former naturalization candidate Jamal Sampson was the source of the allegation. Sampson claimed there was widespread dissension within the ranks because of salary issues.

“Sampson didn’t get along with Rajko and (SBP executive director) Noli (Eala),” said Lim. “They had a misunderstanding. But I don’t think it’s decent for Sampson to attack our program because he has personal problems with Rajko or Noli. I’ve heard from basketball agents that Sampson has a reputation of being soft, that he won’t play hard and if he feels even the slightest pain, he won’t play. I won’t tolerate being held hostage by any player. It’s true we withheld some money from Sampson’s paycheck because his phone calls haven’t all come in but that’s not a big amount, like less than P20,000.”

Lim said he wasn’t involved in negotiating Sampson’s contract so he’s not aware that he is still owed $16,000 as he insisted. “I think he’s claiming an amount for his agent,” said Lim. “That’s something he and Noli have to work out. As far as I know, our only obligation to him is the amount we withheld pending the report of his phone bills. If there’s a surplus after we pay his bills, we’ll send it to him.”

Lim also laughed off Sampson’s claim that he had to sleep on the floor for five nights during his Manila stay.

“I find that hard to believe,” said Lim. “We got him a condo with a bed. Assuming the bed was too small for him, I think he would’ve complained after one night but not after five nights.”

Lim described Toroman, a Serbian, as the best man for the job. “He’s a good coach and a good person,” said Lim. “His credentials speak for him. He’s a hands-on guy, very passionate about the game and extremely knowledgeable. He’s very much involved in running the affairs of our team. He’s trying his best to deliver good results for our country. Right now, his priority is to get a big man. Once we’ve gotten our big man, then we can move forward.”

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British football coach Desmond Bulpin’s progress with the national team will be measured during the ASEAN Football or Suzuki Cup qualifiers on Oct. 16-24. The Philippines will try to book one of two tickets for the tournament proper by surviving the qualifiers involving Laos, Brunei, Cambodia and East Timor. The two qualifiers will join Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam in the tournament proper co-hosted by Vietnam and Indonesia on Dec. 1-29.

There are no plans to send a Philippine football team for the Guangzhou Asian Games this November. The football event is open to all applicants without qualification. Each team is limited to enlist players who are under 23 with three overaged exceptions.

Bulpin’s sponsors Dan Palami and Henry Tsai, two sports-loving businessmen, are giving the Briton a free hand to manage the team. The benefactors are footing the bill for Bulpin’s services without Philippine Football Federation assistance and that’s why they’re insisting on no interference whatsoever from the local governing body, insulating the coach from politics to do his thing.

Bulpin was reportedly involved in discovering English national players Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe when he was a youth coach. He was an assistant coach with the Queens Park Rangers, Leicester, Plymouth and Stockport.

Thailand is another Southeast Asian country with an English coach Bryan Robson who succeeded Pete Reid last year.

The Philippines was the first Asian country to form a national football team in 1907 and enjoyed an Elo ranking of No. 26 in 1913-15. The Elo ranking has since dropped to No. 205. The Elo system is a method of calculating relative skill levels of players named after Arpod Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor.

Bulpin made his debut as Philippine coach during a two-game Inter-Port Friendship series in Kaoshuing, Taiwan, last month. The Philippines played a scoreless tie in the opener and lost a 3-1 decision in the second match. The performance was considered creditable considering Chinese-Taipei is ranked No. 35 by FIFA compared to the Philippines’ No. 167.

The country’s top powerlifters recently paid a courtesy call on President Arroyo at Malacañang to show off their slew of medals from international competitions. They were accompanied by PSC chairman Harry Angping and Pagcor vice president for corporate communications Dodie King.

“2009 was a very productive year for us,” said Powerlifting Association of the Philippines president Eddie Torres. “Lily Pecante made history by becoming the first and only Philippine lifter, male or female, to finish in the top three at the World Open in the overall total category of the 90-kilogram class. We also produced age-group world champions with Patricia Llena, Merly Medina and Tony Taguibao.”

Llena, 15, took the world sub-junior championship in Sao Paolo last September. The San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, teener lifted a total of 420 kilograms in the three powerlifting events of squad, bench press and deadlift to claim the overall title, beating the US’ Kendra Miller and three-time world champion Talybora Yana of Russia.

Torres said the lifters wouldn’t have achieved their feats without the support of Malacañang, the PSC, Pagcor, the POC and Dewfoam.

Other lifters who bagged medals last year were Paul Tan, Anita Koykka, Rosemarie Vasquez, Enrique Rosales, Torres and the late Nick Cabalza.