SHAH ALAM -- Selangor FA head coach Zainal Abidin Hassan says that he and former boss Mehmet Durakovic "are still great mates" despite the controversial changes at the club ahead of the 2016 Malaysia Super League (MSL) season.
Durakovic lost his job as head coach despite leading Selangor to a record 33rd Malaysia Cup title with a 2-0 victory over Kedah in the Dec. 12 final.
Just over two weeks later, ex-Pahang tactician Zainal was appointed in Durakovic's place, despite the Australian having another year to run on his contract.
"I don't want to talk about that," Zainal told ESPN FC. "But we are still great mates and we've been in touch [since the coaching change].
"Mehmet and I played together for two years at Selangor when I was a central defender and he was a defensive midfielder. He's still a good friend."
Zainal, 54, admitted that Durakovic's success in his two seasons in charge of the Red Giants would raise expectations for the 2016 campaign which begins on Feb. 13 with the Charity Shield at MSL champions, Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT).
"We will have to give a double effort in the new season," he said. "The Malaysia Cup win means there will be more pressure on us from the start. The whole squad will need to push all the way to maintain the same level."
The challenge for Zainal's Selangor at the start of the season will be to play home matches away from their beloved Shah Alam Stadium. The famous arena will be closed for renovations and the Red Giants will need to play at a yet to be decided alternative ground.
"It's not a shock for us, but something we have to face," he said. "It's very important that we don't give away too many points in the first couple of months of the season."
Zainal added that last season's captain Mohd. Shahrom Abdul Kalam would be handed the skipper's armband for the 2016 campaign ahead of fellow defender Mohd. Razman Roslan who led his Pahang side with such success.
"I will stick with Shahrom because he captained Selangor so well last season," he said. "But it's good to know that I have two players capable of leading the team and Razman can fill in if Shahrom is unavailable."
Razman is one of four ex-Pahang players who have made the move from Kuantan to Shah Alam. But the most interest has been around the arrival of new strikers, Liberian Patrick Wleh, from PKNS and Argentine Mauro Olivi from the Peruvian league.
"On paper, they look very good, but we'll just have to wait and see," Zainal said.
"Mauro is a different type of player to [former Selangor forward] Guilherme. He's mobile, tricky and fast while Patrick is very strong. They are two very good strikers.
"Compared to Pahang where I had a lot of runners, I have more ball players here so the kind of football that we play may be quite different."
As a player, Zainal played a total of nine seasons with Selangor over three spells. He also earned 138 Malaysia caps, scoring 78 goals between 1984-96.
"It's like coming home," Zainal said. "Of course, Selangor is in my heart."