Somyot’s own goal can leave a bitter taste
Until last week, Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac was the white knight of Thai football — the only man deemed capable of shepherding the War Elephants to the arenas where only the best of Asia and world meet. All of a sudden the Serb has been left wondering if he would be around next year when the AFC Asian Cup takes place.
The finals of the 2019 Asian championship — to be held in Qatar in January — are too far away in fact, and there are no guarantees if the veteran will be in the Thai team’s dugout when they defend their AFF Suzuki Cup title at the end of this year.
Don’t blame Rajevac if he is caught looking over his shoulders every now and then starting with the four-nation King’s Cup on March 22 and 25 at Bangkok’s Rajamangala National Stadium.
Rajevac was given a two-year extension by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) last month.
However, in a sudden change of heart, the FAT top brass now seem too keen to put their money on a different horse.
FAT president Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang, since taking over the reins of the national football governing body a couple of years ago, has proven himself to be an astute administrator.
However, his reaction to former Thailand midfielder Totchtawan Sripan’s decision to quit as the coach of Thai League 1 giants SCG Muang Thong United after an embarrassing loss last Sunday has broken many, if not all, norms.
Totchawan resigned immediately after a 6-1 hammering at the hands of newcomers PT Prachuap — the Kirins’ worst ever defeat since joining the Thai league in 2009 — and the management of the fourtime champions later failed to convince the coach to stay on.
“It’s normal for coaches to leave clubs. However, I have talked to some Muang Thong executives who said it’s a pity that Totchtawan wanted to leave the club,” Somyot was quoted as saying.
He also added that he had talked to FAT technical chief Witthaya Laohakul who said Totchtawan was the right person to coach the national team in the future.
“He [Totchtawan] is good enough to coach the national team. He also has a pro licence,” Somyot reportedly said during this week’s unveiling of new national team shirts and cheering shirts for fans.
However, the FAT chief did admit that it would be difficult for Totchtawan to coach the national team in the near future since “current national team boss Rajevac has been doing a good job”.
What is disturbing about this whole episode is why the president of the national association would call up a local club to get information on the resignation of its coach?
Another question begging for an answer is that what was the pressing need for Somyot to discuss the future of the third Thai League 1 coach to become jobless this season with his technical chief?
It would also help if the FAT chief could give a digestible explanation of the reason for revealing all this to the media and that too when the current coach is busy working on plans for the Thai team’s success at the forthcoming King’s Cup.
Rajevac became the national team coach in May last year after former Thailand international Kiatisak Senamuang resigned from the post.
Since his appointment, Rajevac has helped Thailand retain King’s Cup top honours last year. He has in fact produced some respectable — though not eye-popping — results with the national team so far.
Rajevac’s contract has been extended for two years but it includes a clause which allows the FAT to evaluate his performance from time to time, which simply means the axe could come down whenever the local bosses deem it fit.
Somyot has said that he is considering a national team role for Totchawan, who guided Muang Thong to the Thai League 1 title in his first season at Muang Thong in 2016 and also helped them claim the League Cup last year.
While there is no questioning Totchawan’s ability, he has yet to prove himself on the local stage and his international experience is only limited to a handful of games Muang Thong played with other Asian clubs over the past couple of years.
In a nutshell, his main achievement so far has been successfully guiding a bunch which was already destined to succeed domestically.
When four of Muang Thong’s stalwarts — goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan, striker Teerasil Dangda, defender Theerathon Bunmathan and playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin — left the club to ply their trade overseas, the team’s fortunes dwindled at an alarming rate, and there was little Totchtawan could do to reverse the trend.
Despite all that, one can only admit that Totchtawan does hold a promise for the future.
However, the timing of Somyot’s statement has been drastically wrong and it was an act unexpected of him.
If his mishandling of the issue would have any meaningful effect on Rajevac’s mood, we may never know, but one should expect an extra-cautious approach from the Serb.
When there was a desperate need for a change, Somyot was lent all the support he needed. However, at this point of time, upsetting the apple cart makes no sense and should be avoided until the time has come for another change.