BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Canada international Issey Nakajima-Farran had been the darling of the Terengganu fans when he arrived at the side in the 2015 mid-season transfer window. But two years into his stint, things are not looking so rosy anymore.
In a frank interview with Goal following Terengganu's 1-1 draw against Selangor in their Malaysia Cup group stage opener on Tuesday, in which Nakajima-Farran won a penalty and converted it to equalise for the Turtles, the 33-year old attacker revealed that several matters have started to upset him.
"There has been a lot of shit being said about me by the fans and the media. It has been a tough month for me, but I believe I've kept professional and kept my reactions to myself. There are haters everywhere.
"But I believe I've put in a decent performance today and I hope to keep that up. Because you know, at the age of 33, a lot of people are going to be questioning," expressed Nakajima-Farran.
More glaringly, in the match against Selangor the Canadian also no longer wore the captain's armband, like he did in their Premier League match against JDT II last Friday.
"That's another story of the game today; losing my captaincy. That wasn't a nice feeling, that wasn't such a nice feeling.
"But all I can do is keep fighting, and keep proving my point," he said.
Another matter that has irked the former Toronto FC and Montreal Impact man is that his best ability is not being utilised fully by his team.
"I'm a player who's not going to take on five guys. I'm not a player who's going to flip the whole opposing team upside down, I'm not Messi, I'm not Cristiano Ronaldo.
""But I'm a player who makes diagonal runs, I like to receive the ball in the space. And if my runs are not utilised, what use am I?
"One-two passes for me are also the best attacking strategy but that requires chemistry between the players, and today's game was the second time I got to play with the new boys. I'm sure as we go on, that connection will become stronger.
"Until we solidify this chemistry between us, I will keep making my runs and keep fighting for the team," he explained.
