Here's the latest issue of our new regular feature. Take five Thai football fans, share five contentious opinions with them and let everyone have their say. Nice and simple. Our panel today is made up of Ta (neutral), Kevin (Chonburi FC), Tim (Chonburi FC), Ben (Lamphun Warriors), and Harry (neutral). Take it away, chaps...
1.The Thailand national team head coach should be Thai.
Ta: Absolute BS. You don’t have to be Thai, you just need to know how to work with Thais.
Kevin: Absolutely not. The best national team head coach should be the most qualified head coach regardless of their nationality. It’s like saying “the head coach of a football club should also be a supporter”.
Tim: Yes, of course this is the case. How could anyone else motivate the Thai players. Language will always be an issue, and until the majority of players speak another second language this will prevail. Of course, the pool of coaches will be limited because of this, so success will be limited as well. However, as long as the Thai players have a Thai coach and win a small regional competition occasionally all will be fine. The dreams of qualification for the WC will be there until they come across a half decent team.
Ben: I think it's something a lot of countries experiment with . It's generally never successful. Look at Peter Reid and Bryan Robson. Two great players who managed Thailand with limited success. Brazilian managers look more suited to the Thai style. My opinion is that all national teams should have a manager from their own country.
Harry: No, not necessarily, but it has to be a coach who understands Thai sports culture and understands the needs and wants for Thai players. Coaching styles and methods to suit the needs of the players and slowly adjust to modernise it. It also has to be a coach who I think should be heavily influenced with not just the first team, but the U23s and so on, to oversee and understand the next generation.
2.Thai television should stop showing live matches in order to encourage fans back to the stadiums.
Ta: I’m afraid if Thai TV stops showing games, it will work to the detriment of the league and people will start losing interest. Imagine not showing Buriram vs. Muangthong and forcing everyone to go out to Esan only to watch the match, lol.
Kevin: Oh no, definitely not. This was the case for Muay Thai for many years. What happened was it just got less and less popular. Matches need to be live otherwise people would just lose interest. Think back to when the Thai league wasn’t televised, less people cared.
Tim: Stopping TV stops revenue from sponsorship. This would destroy the quality of the league as we know it, and it would become a regional backwater. Teams we love we all saw live first, but teams we sort of like, were seen on TV. So I guess TV and fans require a symbiotic relationship. At present this is not the case as TV decides the times with no reference to fans and travelling. Eg Chonburi FC playing up country on a Sunday night prevents the vast majority of fans attending, thus reducing the atmosphere. This then lessens the TV experience too. TV producers and schedulers need to realise this.
Ben: I don't think it makes much difference. Unfortunately, the majority of regular Thais I speak to think Thai football is substandard and not worth bothering with anyway. They are more interested in English or European football.Not showing the games on TV would decrease revenue, and therefore, the standard would drop even more.
Harry: Disagree, I personally don’t think this has stopped people from watching. At the end of the day, it is an entertainment industry. People go watch games to support their clubs but they want to enjoy the game (whether that is the atmosphere, or the entertainment they get from the players).
For me, the lack of entertainment for a long period put me off watching games. Same with football like La Liga, where it is technical type football, but over a 90 minute period the game hardly flows and the ball is constantly out of play, whether it be time wasting, players getting injured etc.
If football fans feel it’s entertaining and good value for money they will be back.
3.Thai clubs being bought by rich business owners and moved to different parts of the country is good for the development of the domestic game.
Ta: Yes. More of this please. But rich and “consistent” is key.
Kevin: Honestly, yes. When the “Thai Premier League” first started, most teams were based in Bangkok. Fair to say the attendances for most of these games weren’t great. However, when the clubs moved out, attendances got a lot better.
Tim: Well has it ever worked? Football is fan based. Rich owners come and go, usually to the detriment of our clubs. No, no, no to this. Investment of course should be encouraged. Even being a plaything is ok for most fans as success a la Chelski is bought. Who wouldn't want some of that. But to have investment then throwing it away by relocation just goes to show ordinary folk have no say, and fans are irrelevant.
Ben: It is something that is done in American sports 'franchises' but is completely alien to British or European fans. I'm not a fan of it at all as the football club should be at the heart of the community.
Harry: No, there has to be something in place for this. At established footballing countries, football clubs (sports clubs) bring a community together. So by buying clubs and moving them is destroying a community. Just unfortunately in Thailand , the football interest for the local team at many clubs is not necessarily large enough for the owners to feel guilty in leaving or pressurised in staying.
But no it should not happen. If they want to have a club in a certain part, buy that club from that area.
4.The Thai league will only succeed if experts from the JLeague and/or the EPL are brought in to run it.
Ta: The Thai League needs to be run and operated properly by those from these leagues.
Kevin: I think the Thai league would be better if there are more qualified managers and more people watching.
Tim: They can come in to run. By why limit to just two areas? Surely the best person should be chosen, this clearly should not be someone from Buriram. Experience of running a league and development would be useful.
Ben: How do you judge "success" ? Apart from the J league, no other Asian leagues have much exposure. I think bringing in foreign managers to run football clubs here would be fraught with difficulty. The culture, the language.....the corruption. As far as selling the game abroad, I don't think that will ever happen.
Harry: Brought in to coach? If so, I don’t necessarily agree with this
But brought in to stabilise the format and have long term stability by putting the foundations in place, then yes
If coaching, no, what it needs is coaches who are coaches who have put in hard graft for this trade and going about it through a process, meaning getting coaching qualifications, really studying the game. These coaches could be from any background/nationality
So this may lead to a Thai culture that needs changing. But surely the next generation of Thai coaches have the possibility of changing this?
5.All Thai league grounds should have artificial pitches so matches don’t become farcical during the rainy season.
Ta: Nope. Artificial pitches = injuries. Instead, every team needs to be forced to use the best paspalum pitch surface that is equivocal to J. league sides.
Kevin: I'm indifferent to this.
Tim: What?! Don't you like rain? Most of my favourite matches and experiences were due to waterlogged pitches. They more the merrier I say, and Chonburi FC's record in these games is exemplary. Plastic pitches on the other hand for Chonburi FC are awful, we rarely got any points playing on an artificial pitch. However, I am sure we could combine the two - plastic pitches that are waterlogged. This would create a unique footballing experience.
Ben: They have done that with a lot of lower league grounds in Scotland with great success. They are used all year round as community pitches. The technology has moved on from the QPR and Luton pitches of the 80s, so in some areas of Thailand, it could work and be used for other events to boost income.
Harry: Nope, all Thai pitches should have better drainage systems and to proper ground staff to sort it out. If they feel they cannot do that, then okay invest in artificial pitches.
Please note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of each individual and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the blog. Thank you.
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