JOHOR BARU, April 26 — Star-studded Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) has decided to “rest” Croatian coach Bojan Hodak and replace him with Mario Gomez from Argentina.

Johor Football Association president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said the decision was made since JDT needed a change to improve the performance of the team and the country’s standard of football.

Bojan Hodak ‘good coach but JDT need to move forward’. — File pic

“Hodak is a good coach but JDT need to move forward. To move forward we need to make changes in terms of tactical to raise the level of the players,” he told reporters here today.

Tunku Ismail said Hodak, who took over from Cesar Ferrando Jiminez, had helped JDT achieve success in a number of tournaments, including winning the Charity Shield in January and making the final of the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup last season.

According to Tunku Ismail, although Hodak would no longer feature in the JDT set-up, the door was always open for the Croatian coach to return one day and help in JDT’s development.

“We spoke over the phone and Hodak was not slighted by the decision. He understood the situation. What is important is that Johor needs a change,” he said, adding that Hodak’s contract ends in October.

He said in the absence of Hodak, assistant coach Ismail Ibrahim will be in charge for the AFC Cup match against East Bengal of India on Tuesday before Gomez, 58, arrives on Friday from Hong Kong.

Gomez was the former assistant coach of Spanish club Valencia and Italian club Inter Milan.

“Gomez is an experienced coach and he is excited to accept the JDT job,” Tunku Ismail said. “He is excited to be a part of JDT’s football development project.”

Meanwhile, Tunku Ismail called for severe punishment against teams whose fans and supporters cause trouble during matches, including deducting points from teams that are found guilty.

“When we deduct points from the team, the fans will regret their action and feel more responsible in future. We need to be firm and dish out severe penalties to curb crowd trouble at stadiums. Teams must also beef up their security to prevent such incidents,” he said. — Bernama