R

eturning from retirement for a third time, 72-year-old M. Karathu is the Malaysia Super League'€™s (MSL) oldest head coach. Inspired more by Ron Greenwood than Jose Mourinho, his time-honored methods have made Perak FA one of the MSL teams to beat this season.

After narrowly avoiding relegation last year, Perak has been a revelation since Karathu took over in January. The club has lost just one of five matches to sit in fourth position and is also through to the quarterfinals of the Malaysia FA Cup.

It is a fourth stint in charge of his home state for Datuk Karathu '€” he earned the revered Datuk title in 2010. He was talked into the job by Perak officials after Croatian Vjeran Simunic was sacked at the end of last year.

'€œI accepted this offer because I like to stay in Ipoh with my wife, I am healthy and I can contribute because you can'€™t buy experience and knowledge,'€ he told ESPN FC. '€œI have molded the squad into a dynamic group committed to success in every match.'€

Coach Karathu is a pint-sized tactician '€” he'€™s only 1.65 meters tall '€” with a trademark moustache and a ready smile that he flashes as he talks about playing in the old days, of facing up to the likes of Japan and South Korea in the Merdeka Tournament and playing Rugby at King Edward VII School in Taiping, north of Ipoh, where he grew up.

But when it comes to coaching matters, he'€™s known to have a tough and highly competitive edge.

Soon after taking over at Perak, he publicly blasted the import players that he'€™d inherited from ex-Brunei DPMM boss Simunic.

'€œDefinitely, I am not happy with two of my four foreigners who were rushed to be signed before the closing date,'€ he said. '€œMy expectation of foreign players is different. They are highly paid so they must be better than the local boys. I intend to bring in at least two new faces '€” a striker who can partner the Korean, Namkung Woong, and a commanding midfielder.'€

As a player, Karathu earned 38 caps for Malaysia and was a tricky left winger who played his entire senior career with Perak. One of his proudest memories is scoring the goal that helped his state beat Singapore 2-1 in the first Malaysia Cup final in 1967. At international level, he appeared in the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok and inspired Malaysia to a 3-3 draw against the Asian All Stars in 1964.

But a serious knee injury in 1971 cut short his playing career and by the age of 28 he was managing Pe-rak'€™s U20 side.

He says a three-month trip to England in 1974 where he was attached to three top-flight clubs, including West Ham United under future England manager Greenwood, was formative in his development.

'€œI learned a lot,'€ Karathu said. '€œFootball has always been my passion but today it has become a business of developing, selling and buying players, with a scientific approach in training.'€

By the late 1980s, Karathu was put in charge of his beloved Perak. In 1990, he coached it to victory in the first ever Malaysia FA Cup, defeating mighty Selangor in the process.

Success with the Malaysia U21 side and Kelantan followed and before too long Karathu began to attract interest off shore. In 1999, he became the first Malaysian to coach a foreign national side when he was put in charge of Sri Lanka and in 2002 he was named Singapore coach of the year after taking Woodlands Wellington from last place to fourth in the S. League.

The last time he was tempted out of retirement he guided Kelantan FA to the 2011 MSL title, at the age of 68. He was pretty sure that was the last throw of the dice until his home state sent out an SOS call four months ago.

'€œPeople think you are old but they don'€™t understand your experience and knowledge,'€ he said. '€œIt'€™s a great challenge to handle 25 different characters of players and other officials. You need to work toward achieving results.'€

Perak faces a tough series of fixtures that could define its season, including two matches against Terengganu in four days, including an FA Cup quarterfinal on April 8, and an away game against MSL leaders Felda United on Saturday. Cynics say the wheels could come off after Perak'€™s surprisingly good run. But Karathu aims to prove them wrong.

'€œThe older generation of soccer supporters and officials know my capabilities. I have only signed for a year and have two of my students as player and coach as my assistant. The beauty is that I never applied for this job but was asked to do it. I will step down at the right time.'€