Thailand needs more than just a coaching bigwig
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Thailand needs more than just a coaching bigwig

Somyot Poompunmuang photo: Apichit Jinakul
Somyot Poompunmuang photo: Apichit Jinakul

It didn't take long for the dreaded mud-slinging bout between Football Association of Thailand (FAT) president Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang and former national team coach Kiatisak Senamuang to start.

Earlier this week, the two sides traded verbal punches and the count in all likelihood is going to be a biased one with a split decision, probably favouring the side one is more sympathetic to, on the cards.

As the adrenaline wore off, Kiatisak opened the can of worms in the wake of his own decision of quitting as Thailand coach.

Somyot also seems to be in a rush to get the ball rolling, apparently without having a well-researched idea of the direction he should take.

A deal with a Spanish firm to help lay down a framework for youth development was signed within a few days of Kiatisak's departure just because football is passed around in that country in the same way it is in Thailand.

The process of interviewing prospective candidates for the vacant job is also under way now.

Whatever Somyot has been chanting for some time carries a lot of weight, but what Kiatisak has said in his public reaction to the circumstances that led to his resignation weighs even heavier.

Somyot has earned praise for his commitment to steering Thailand to the top echelons of Asian football.

After Thailand's latest defeat -- a 4-0 rout at the hands of the Japanese in a 2018 World Cup qualifier in Saitama -- Somyot said: "Should we be satisfied with winning the Suzuki Cup and the SEA Games? And then when we play against the real top teams in Asia we lose 3-0 or 4-0. Are the fans OK with it?

"Maybe some people are fine with that, but for me it's embarrassing. I can't and I won't accept these results. Something needs to be done."

Well, who can disagree with that that "something needs to be done."

However, Kiatisak has countered, saying: "We may be forgetting who we are. Everybody wants to play at the World Cup finals but we have to know ourselves."

With these two sentences Kiatisak has uttered a truth that no one in Thai football dared to admit -- at least publicly -- until the ex-coach's outburst a few days ago.

Kiatisak, in fact, recently said his men were "no pushovers."

Kiatisak added: "The target is too high and is difficult to reach so I quit to open way for another person to do the job."

So as soon as Kiatisak untied the knot and ended the unhappy matrimony, Somyot went on the lookout for someone to help him to bring about the "change" that he had been incessantly harping about for past many months.

The "change" is taking place at a time when Thailand have reasserted their supremacy over their Asean counterparts and are being rated as the undisputed football kings of the region.

Whatever their results in Asia's ongoing final phase of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers may be, the War Elephants have earned their bragging rights by being among the top dozen in the continent.

If history is anything to go, this is the station which in the past has proven to be a banana skin for the Thais.

They have been there before and their rise unfortunately only sent them in a downward spiral, needing many many years to reverse the trend.

The Thais savoured their golden era from the mid-90s to the early parts of the new millennium.

Former national team manager Thavatchai Sajakul put together a "Dream Team" in 1994 with Kiatisak, Tawan (now Totchtawan) Sripan and Dusit Chalermsaen being their key members.

Within two years, the Thais qualified for their first AFC Asian Cup in the UAE but suffered losses to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iran as expected.

Thavatchai resigned after the Asian Cup, but the Thai surge continued under English coach Peter Withe as they reached the semi-finals of the 1998 Asian Games after a historic victory South Korea in the quarter-finals.

Despite suffering a big setback at the 1998 Tiger Cup in Vietnam, the Thais had done enough to scale to their best-ever 43rd place in the Fifa rankings in September that year.

Later, besides reaching the semi-finals of the 2002 Asian Games, Thailand qualified for the then 10-team last stage of Asian qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup for the first time.

To the surprise of everyone, there followed a chapter which most Thai football fans would want tear off the history books.

It just happens that Thailand had tried to arrest that slump by signing a variety of high-profile coaches, including England and Manchester United great Bryan Robson, Peter Reid, a former Sunderland and Leeds United manager, and German veteran Winfried Schaefer only to have forgettable stays in the Kingdom.

Kiatisak, a new kid on the coaching block at the time, emerged on the scene as the saviour in 2013 and steered the straying Thai ship back on course.

It almost looks like as if history is repeating itself in more ways than one.

Schaffer is hoping for a comeback, coaching big shots are lining up for the job which promises to be a lucrative one and the FAT chief is talking about sending the youth brigade to the war zone.

There are a few lessons to be learnt from history. It will be prudent for Somyot, who has bravely admitted to his lack of football knowledge on many occasions, to spend some time weighing up the pros and cons of every move.

It is so glaringly clear that Thai football needs much more than a big-name coach, so hiring one is very unlikely to bring about the "change" that he has been propagating.

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