Following the recent announcement of Chonburi's partnership agreement with Japanese club Gamba Osaka, I caught up with the knowledgeable - and ever helpful - Alan Gibson, to ask his opinions on the deal. Here's what he had to say...
What similar deals do Gamba Osaka have with other clubs or organisations outside Japan?
Gamba have an agreement with the Promotion Fund of Vietnamese Football Talents (PVF) in place, though I'm not even sure what that is. If it brings even one Vietnamese player to success in J.League, though, I'm all for it.
What benefits will such a deal bring to both clubs?
Hopefully Chonburi and Gamba can visit each other for training purposes, as well as sharing coaching ideas and resources. Perhaps Gamba can send some developing players (or even experienced players who they could spare) to the Thai League, while I would hope that Chonburi youngsters, or - without taking the best talent away - even an established player can move to Gamba and train, learn, experience. Hopefully, this leads to visits to and from Thailand / Japan by the clubs and a player exchange or two. Cerezo Osaka are tied up with BG Pathum United and it has seen players go both ways and Cerezo playing and training in Thailand. I hope I can soon watch Gamba in Thailand, also.
What sort of coverage has this story received in the Japanese press?
Very little in the mainstream. The club announced it, and those media outlets that follow / are involved with Gamba will have helped the story get out but it's not a big deal. J.League will push it as much as they can, trying to be the international-aware league that they want to be, by signing agreements between various teams, or federations (in the case of the JFA, also). J.League likes to make itself out to be "international" but then geo-blocks highlights, or restricts broadcasts of games to those that have paid a hefty premium. A lot more could be done with broadcasting of J.League games oif J.League and DAZN weren't so close and restrictive.
Do you think this is a good or bad deal and who do you think will benefit the most?
I like the fact that teams make these agreements, and I LOVE Thailand so any excuse to visit to watch a J.League team in action, even on the training field, is good enough for me! While I like these deals, and have seen many in the past, I'm not sure they're made the most of... more Japanese players should be "made available" to Chonburi (league rules allowing, but even just for training and experience) whether youngsters who wouldn't yet be in the J.League teams / squads but might shine in Thailand, or an experienced player that could help Chonburi in a certain position. IF Gamba offered more from their side, they could benefit the most, but Chonburi could get some nice loans and help some future players who will remember their youth later on!
As you know, we tried such a move before with Vissel Kobe. After the initial fanfare, that seemed to die pretty quickly and has not been spoken of since. What do you think happened and what needs to be done to ensure something similar doesn't go wrong this time?
I'm not sure either club did enough to push it along after the J.League had perhaps pushed their teams into doing this kind of thing. Perhaps Vissel didn't want to let players go, while Chonburi players were not seen as strong enough or have enough potential to bring one / them over? It was a time when Vissel were trying to grow (and they did indeed qualify for two ACLs recently, and won the Emperor's Cup - their first-ever trophy) but perhaps no one was involved enough at Vissel to make anything out of the agreement. More visits to Chonburi, more scouting, and a training camp or two would have helped.
Why do you think there is becoming a strong bond between Thai clubs and Japanese clubs? And between the Thai league and the J.League?
The J.League wants to show it is international and not just about Japan. But the clubs themselves obviously want to poach the best players. Chanathip, Theerathon, Teerasil and now Supachok are obviously some of the best players to come out of Thailand, so the J.League teams - or any with any brains and a scouting network - are watching closely, from a purely selfish point of view. J.League is by far the best league in Asia and in taking some of the best players (that have not proven themselves good enough to make the bigger step to Europe, of course) from Korea, Thailand will be able to continue to be no.1 in the region, but it is certainly to the detriment of those other leagues for the J.League to take their best players, while it affects J.League itself to have so many players overseas. The national teams benefit from players in bigger / better leagues but the league itself loses star quality, of course. Overall, it's good for the football of the nation, but the leagues do suffer as players move on up.
There is a connection here with Witthaya Laohkul and Gamba Osaka. How fondly is he remembered at the club and in Japan?
I'd have to say that there are few involved with Gamba (from fans, to plays and coaches to staff at the club) who know the name of Witthaya these days. Some of the old boys behind the scenes (I'm talking 60-year-olds who were there decades ago) remember those times, but it wasn't a big part of Gamba's history, really, compared to having a Thai in Japan, who I presume is more-often remembered in Thailand?
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
See you in Chonburi! Unless your boys visit Japan. I'll be there, involved and happy to show anyone around!
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