NEW!! Thai Story by Steve Darby: 2020

THAI STORY

by Steve Darby

I was walking along the Corniche in Beirut where I was coaching Perak in the AFC Cup when I got a phone call.

“Do you fancy working with me in Thailand?” “Who the **** is that?" I replied, thinking it was one of my mates winding me up. “ It’s Reidy (Peter Reid) I've just taken over Thailand, do you want to be Assistant”

I hadn’t been paid by Perak for 3 months so there wasn’t too much to think about! Plus working with an EPL legend and a Scouser was too good an offer. A quick call to the President Worawi Makudi and the deal was done. Despite all the things you hear about interfering administration in the three years I was there or survived? I can honestly say Worawi never tried to interfere in any team selection with Reidy, Bryan Robson or myself. I think that was just the role of the Thai media to do that. Who were consistent in their interference, usually based on their massive knowledge and experience in world football.  I have found that irony was not a major trait in Thailand so there will be a few Thai journos reading this who are convinced I am complimenting them!

I moved to Bangkok and Reidy greeted me with, “I know you are fluent in Thai but I've managed to get a translator!” He was wrong on both counts. I could speak Malay and Vietnamese but only about 3 words of Thai. I found a combination of age and inability to read the script made learning the language impossible. He was also wrong about having a translator as it turned out to be an ex-pat who spoke a few words and the players were not stupid, they knew that the translations were not what Reidy or I were saying. Especially as we had Leesaw (Teerathip Winochai) in the squad who was truly bi lingual.

The knowledge I did have was that having coached Home Utd in the S league and AFC Cup I had signed 3 Thai players and so had a knowledge of the players and to an extent the culture, plus we had made a few per season trips to Bangkok and even played Chonburi on a private field somewhere in Pattaya!

I had 3 Thai players who were all top class on and off the pitch and were excellent “Foreign pros” Surachai Jatterapong, Anurak Sitterand who have both gone on to be top coaches and possibly one of my all time favourite players, Sutee Suksomkit. I had signed him in Singapore and he never spoke a word of English and his wife used to translate, but he made the effort to learn the language and I gave him lessons. I didn’t need to teach him football, he was a wonderful player and I was delighted for him when he scored for Thailand vs Liverpool at Rajamangla. He also gave me fantastic “cultural” advice about visiting Thailand. He explained about face, about Lese Majeste, and where and where not to visit! He must be a great bloke as he named his son after a beer, Leo! Though he said it was after a Lion. 

I knew a few more Thai players by watching them; Tawan was in Singapore and Dusit in Vietnam also a striker I used to love watching Nattapong. He eventually turned out to be a golfer but I thought his name was Nattapong Goal as that’s all I used to hear after his name. My first experience of a Thai player was in 1998. My first game as Coach for Johor FA was a cup game against Perlis. 

I had no idea of any SE Asian players then, but Perlis were then a good team with quality foreigners. I remembered a ball being hit from about 40 yards and this little scrawny winger brought it down on one touch and then skinned 2 of my players in one movement with blistering pace and crossed superbly. I said to my Manager can we sign him for next season. He said no, he’s a Thai not Malay. It was Kiatasuk (Zico) and what a player he was. He ended up as my assistant for the SEA Games  and turned out to be an equally good coach who did a fantastic job with the Thai national team. But most of all he was honest and had integrity. Plus he knew his football.

So we had our first national camp at a rather sparse Franz Beckanbaur Academy at Nong Chok. We didn’t pick the squad as we had only just arrived and things like fixture lists and player name lists were still “flexible concepts” Our first view showed that there were some quality players, as I had expected. But we never found out who selected the squad but obviously there were a few mates chosen, especially amongst the keepers, who all looked like jockeys! 

The only one who stood out was Tee (Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool) he was obviously a real keeper. I had remembered watching Thailand play and remembered a huge keeper, but couldn’t remember his name. I called Sutee (who also hadn’t been picked) and he said just ask for “Boy” so after a few attempts, as some people didn’t obviously want him, along came a giant to training. It was great looking your keeper in the chest and not the top of his head.

The next call up was Sutee and it was like a breath of enthusiasm when he turned up. He had the ability to light up a dressing room up. Besides being a great player he could look after himself. When he was playing for Home Utd one game two players in succession tried to chop him down. He rode the tackles and when the third came at him he just went in over the top and the player was carried off on a stretcher. I asked him at half time was he OK? He just gave me a big grin and said, "it was him or me". No problems, coach. 

His back story was fascinating he was born on a small Island in the Gulf of Thailand into a poor rural family. But he wanted to be a footballer. So he left home at 14, borrowed 1,000 baht, got a bus to Bangkok and knocked on the door of Thai Farmers Bank coach, Chanvit, who took him in and he became a footballer. But he told me with his first wage he paid that 1,000 baht back. 

When he was at Home Utd I sent him to Chelsea, who wanted to sign him and then put him on a year’s loan to Brentford. Sadly that awful word visa was again a problem. A British work permit has stopped many Thais playing in England and both Reidy and Robbo said there were Thais who could have played Championship or lower Premier League.

In all my time in Thailand I found a similar theme. The players were talented, hard working and wanted to learn. They just seemed to be hamstrung into the system they were trapped in. The stars of the game appeared to be the club presidents and not the players, an almost unique football scenario but possibly starting to spread around the world. 

There were some excellent administrators Thara Plucha Oom the owner of GrandSport was top class in support of the national team and as was in later years when we had a "manager" in Anucha (President of Chainat) he was a great support to the national team.

There were some amazing moments, having to translate Scouse into English for the Thai translator to turn into Thai! Also we learnt the players by numbers first, then nickname then real name. Though often Reidy didn’t get to the third stage.

An example would be 7 = Ko= Datsakorn Thonglao & 8=Kop= Suchao Nutnum

One day Reidy said sub Ko…..so I got the 4th official to put up the board with 7 on, he screamed No not him I meant Ko!! I said this is Ko……he said no I meant him…it was Kop so the board changed quickly.

Also there were a couple of cultural rescues. In his first game I could see Reidy with steam coming out of his ears walking down the tunnel at half time. I knew what he was going to do. I grabbed him and said don't bollock the player in public, do it in the toilet one v one and he'll take it fine, but don’t do it in front of his mates as he’ll “lose face” and we’ll lose the whole team. He did and it worked, though I also told him not to walk naked round the dressing room after training. That one he didn’t listen to. An amazing cultural aspect in that a country famous for its night life the reality is the players were conservative in public and all got changed with towels around themselves.

In that period the club structure was comparatively weak, that was to change with the emergence of the Thai Premier League and the cash injection by big clubs such as Muangthong Utd and Buriram Utd. In fact, Buriram was almost a village with a bad field when I first went there, what a change! Now a magnificent complex. Similarly, my first game at Muangthong was at a one sided stadium, where you sat exposed on concrete steps. Now a proper football ground.

Results were excellent under Peter Reid and we were robbed in the final of the Suzuki Cup when a Brunei linesman flagged for an offside goal and TV showed it was a yard onside. If we had won that final Reidy may have stayed, but he went back to the EPL with Stoke.

After Reidy moved on I had the pleasure of working with another football legend. Bryan Robson, though he became to be known as Blyan Lobson and we even saw a shirt for sale with the name Lobson on the back.

Like Reidy, he immediately won the respect of the players and especially with his playing ability even in his late 50s. I played him in a training game once and he was man of the match! Also one practice I got a young player to shadow him. The young lad was amazed, he said the ball keeps coming to him and he’s always got time and space. Sign of a great player?

Sadly the clubs were getting powerful by now and refusing to release players for training and for the 2010 Suzuki Cup we travelled on the day after the Thai FA Cup Final (Chonburi vs Muangthong Utd) and virtually all the first eleven played in that game, even though we had a Suzuki game in Indonesia in 48 hours time. But no one seemed to care, especially the media.

Sadly Robbo developed throat cancer which he has since recovered from, but it meant he had to return to UK, which was a great pity. And as he left, it was time also for me to leave.

I enjoyed all three years in Thailand with the exception of one aspect. The media! I found they told lies about the team, made up stories and always had an agenda. They could not be trusted a good example being we flew to South Africa via Hong Kong! And the journey bed to bed was 36 hours. Some of the players when we arrived could not sleep (jet lagged) as also we all went economy and had a 12 hour stop over where the lads slept on the airport floor. They were awake playing X box FIFA Games. Next day the reporter who was with us reported the players were not professional and stayed up late!  

Similar the press turned against me when during a SEA Games vital match a reporter walked in the dressing room at half time with his mate who was smoking. I asked them to leave, therefore he lost face! And spent the rest of the time getting his staff to slaughter me in the press. (he did the same thing to a following coach, who also rightly kicked him out). 

Another humorous example was when a Bangkok Post reporter wrote during the SEA Games that I had given the players a day off as it was Father's Day and I wanted to honour my father! I told him my dad died 20 years ago, but he just laughed and said it was a good story!

We lost in the 94th minute to a Malaysian goal which meant we were eliminated in the SEA Games. As I was on the way to the press conference a reasonable journalist whispered blame the player (a young left back had lost the ball in the last minute, rather than kicking it 60 yards away) I thanked him but I was never going to blame a player, never mind a young kid. I told the truth, it was my responsiblity and we had both our best strikers - Teerasil and Ronnachai - missing for the game. If they had played we would have scored goals! But to this day I still feel the pain where the journalistic knives went in. At least they are consistent in that they attack every coach after a defeat, as though the coach wanted to lose or tried to lose.

Overall the good greatly outweighed the bad. Great people, different logic, not right or wrong just different. For any foreigner who wants to survive there, they have to adapt and possibly bend like Bamboo?

Peter Reid's Match Day Record

T&T CUP
NORTH KOREA W1-0

VIETNAM D2-2

SUZUKI CUP
VIETNAM W2-0

LAOS W6-0

MALAYSIA W3-0

INDONESIA W1-0

INDONESIA W2-1

VIETNAM L1-2

VIETNAM D1-1

FRIENDLIES
SAUDI ARABIA L0-1

SAUDI ARABIA L1-2

KING'S CUP
LEBANON W2-1

DENMARK D2-2

ASIAN CUP
JORDAN D0-0

IRAN D0-0

FRIENDLIES

NEW ZEALAND W3-1

PAKISTAN W6-0 

LIVERPOOL D1-1

P18 W9 D6 L3 F32 A14

Bryan Robson's Match Day Record

KATA CUP
YANGON W2-0

HAGL D2-2 (Won on pens)

FRIENDLIES

SYRIA D1-1

ZIMBABWE W3-0

HYUNDAI W2-1

ASIAN CUP

SINGAPORE W3-1

SINGAPORE L0-1

JORDAN D0-0

KING'S CUP

SINGAPORE W1-0

POLAND L1-3

DENMARK L0-3

ASIAN CUP
IRAN L0-1

FRIENDLIES

SOUTH AFRICA L0-4

SINGAPORE W1-0

INDIA W1-0

INDIA W2-1

TURKMENISTAN U23 D2-2

ASIAN GAMES

PAKISTAN W6-0

OMAN D0-0

MALDIVES D0-0

TURKMENISTAN W1-0

JAPAN L0-1

SUZUKI CUP

LAOS D2-2

MALAYSIA D0-0

INDONESIA L1-2

P25 W11 D7 L7 F31 A25

Steve Darby SEA Games Team Match Day Record

FRIENDLIES
NEW ZEALAND D2-2

PAKISTAN W4-0

SRI LANKA W4-0

BANGKOK UNI W5-0

SAMUT SONGKHRAM  W4-1

VFF CUP

CHINA U23 D0-0

VIETNAM U23 D0-0

SINGAPORE U23 D0-0

SEA GAMES

VIETNAM D1-1

CAMBODIA W4-0

TIMOR LESTE W9-0

MALAYSIA L1-2

P12 W6 D5 L1 F34 A6