Norizan Bakar

Norizan bin Bakar (born 27 January 1961 in Kampung Datuk Kaya Man, Perlis) is a former Malaysian football player. He currently the Director of Football for Felcra F.C..

Club career

Norizan played for his home state Perlis in semi-pro league from 1978 until 1989. His main achievement as a player was a Division Two title in 1989 with Perlis FA.

Coaching career

Perlis FA and Penang FA

Norizan started his coaching career with his own former team Perlis FA. He also had a stint with Penang FA.

With Perlis, he won the Malaysia Cup in 2004 as well as the Malaysia FA Cup runner-up in 2003.

Malaysia

After Bertalan Bicskei relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Malaysia national football team, Norizan was appointed as his successor by Football Association of Malaysia in September 2005. He was also appointed as head coach of Malaysia national under-23 football team, until 2006.

Early in his reign, the Malaysia U-23 squad achieved Manila 2005 SEA Games bronze medal, and the senior team also emerges as ASEAN Football Championship semifinalists in 2007.

However, in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, which Malaysia qualified as co-hosts, Norizan had his worst results as a coach. The Malaysian team was hammered 5–1 against China and 5–0 against Uzbekistan; only a 2–0 loss against Iran was considered a respectable score.^[1] After the defeat against Uzbekistan, Norizan was sacked, although he was still in charge for the final group match against Iran.^[2][3]

The poor showing by the Malaysia national team at the Asian Cup and the criticism from the Malaysia fans and medias also led to a mass resignation of the upper echelons of Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) including the deputy president, Tengku Abdullah ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah.^[4][5][6]

Kelantan FA and Perak FA

In 2008, Norizan became the manager for Kelantan FA. Due of family problems, he resigned from his position as Kelantan FA's coach at the end of the season.

He was appointed head coach of Perak FA in October 2010.^[7] In his first season with Perak, the team achieved 6th place in the league, a vast improvement from 11th place of the previous season. His second season with Perak brought mixed fortunes. Although the team ended the league at an improved 4th place, he had criticism from the fans over his tactics and players chosen, in particular import striker Lazar Popovic who only scored once in 14 matches. A heavy 6–0 defeat by Kelantan FA on 7 July in the league seals Norizan's fate,^[8] Perak relieved him of his duties soon after, his job taken over by his assistant Chong Yee Fat for the remainder of the league games,^[9] and Jang Jung for the season-ending 2012 Malaysia Cup competition.^[10]

Personal life

Norizan was also known by his nickname 'Cikgu Jan'. The nickname (Cikgu meaning 'Teacher' in Malay, and Jan is a diminutive form of Norizan), stems from his background as a former school teacher.

References

Malaysia squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup
1 Azizon 2 Hamzani 3 Fauzie 4 Nazrul. E 5 Zamani 6 Thirumurugan 7 Kaironnisam 8 Safee 9 Eddy 10 Hardi 11 Norfarhan 12 Shukor 13 Indra Putra 14 Akmal 15 Shahrulnizam 16 Ahmad Fauzi 17 Nantha 18 Fadzli 19 Rosdi 20 Hairuddin 21 Suffian 22 Ivan 23 Aidil Coach: Norizan