After winning the 2007 Merdeka Tournament, he was selected as the head coach for the senior team by FAM president Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah.
After the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign ended, he then brought the under-23 side to the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand, without any success after only managing one win, one draw and one defeat and for the first time since 1999, Malaysia failed to advance into the semi-finals.
However, the FAM decided to extend his contract for one more year with a condition that he must improve Malaysia's FIFA ranking.
[5] In February 2009, Sathianathan's one-year contract was terminated by the FAM, after Malaysia was thrashed 5–0 by United Arab Emirates in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match.
[6][7] Subsequently, he coached Kelantan FA from November 2009 and guided the team to win the 2010 Malaysia Cup.
He was forced to leave his post after being handed a 6-month coaching ban by FAM from January 2011 for criticising the national football body and later became the CEO of Kelantan FA.
Sathianathan succeeded in maintaining ATM as a Super League team for three seasons and also a finalist of the 2013 Malaysia Cup, until he was relieved of his duties in April 2015.
[17] On 21 September 2020, Sathianathan was sacked by Selangor due to a string of poor results after the Malaysian Super League resumed.
In fact, the festivities and spirit are felt on the pitch too", as reported by Fox Sports Asia in an article.