(Edit: Note to self: post final versions, not typo-filled draft versions.)
The line up was Kawin (GK), Kayem (LB), Zesh (CB), Panupong (CB), Thiemba (RB), Datsakorn (MD), Datsakorn (MD), Arromsawa (MD), Siaka (MD), Christian (FW), Teerasil (ST). Zesh kept his place as Nattaporn is hurt, Datsakorn was captain again in his absence.
The opening moments were dominated by us and we missed some good chances before a low cross from Chris found an unmarked Teerasil who couldn't miss. From this point if we had scored a second shortly after it may have been a different story, something closer to the massacres we inflicted on some teams visiting the Thunderdome last season, Instead, the first half fizzled out into a slow midfield battle.
In the second half we had the more of the ball and created some chances and squandered some very, very good openings. Ahnon replaced Teerasil, who looked hurt. Toth and Pornsai also came on. Khoen Kean threatened only once or twice and the one goal lead was enough.
Every player tried his best in this game and nobody can ever ask for more than that, however the performance was disappointing and we must make sure this was just a "one off" display, and lift ourselves before the Chonburi game.
As Zesh mentioned this week, anything can happen in football. Yet TPL new boys Khoen Kean must surely rank as underdogs when the 'T-Rex' visit the Thunderdome on Sunday.
The Isaan side are struggling on their debut season and currently sit in the last relegation spot, behind TTM Pichit on goal difference. English coach Nick Gorman (son of former Southampton coach John Gorman) - who runs a blog on the side - is doing his best to put that right. Laotian striker Kampaeng Sarawut is weighing in with a few goals while Chinese defender Li Xiang will be giving his all to hold out against Teerasil and co come Sunday. Also in amongst the action could be Scottish born Stuart Kelly who has joined the side after a stint in New Zealand.
For the champs, there's no new injury news but I'd expect to see a couple of changes from Tuesday' strong showing. Toth will be eligible again, Pornsai will be vying for a start and it will be interesting to see if Thiemba keeps his place ahead of Arthit, whom I prefer, though perhaps Calisto is weary of fielding too many teenagers in one game. I also expect to see the rotation system amongst the three centre backs continue, as it seems to be serving us well.
Edit: The interview has been translated here. After months of dithering, I finally took the chance to speak at some length with Muangthong's Pakistani international defender Zesh Rehman. Thanks to the person who helped to arrange it and of course to Zesh for being so amiable.
Yes. It was a bit frustrating for a while because we had so many chances but the goal just wouldn't come. We just had to keep patient. The goal in the second half helped us to settle down. It was nice to get a clean sheet, too. It was a good team effort.
I've noticed that in all our home AFC games, none of the opposition strikers seem to have given you too much trouble....
Yes, I also felt that I played well in Vietnam, too. But you can never get a clean sheet without a solid team effort. We've all worked hard and played for each other in every game so the whole team deserve credit.
Do you think we can go all the way this year?
There’s no easy games but if we play as well as we have done and as well as we know we can do, then I think we have a chance.
Both last year and this year the AFC Cup seems to be dominated by Arabic teams in the quarter final stages. Last year we were just edged out in the semis, I hope this year we can go one better.....
Yes, the guys have that experience now and have a taste of getting close to the big win. That can drive us on.
What about the league campaign? We got off to a shaky start didn't we?
Sometimes it didn't go exactly as we'd hoped but we're steadier now. Again, there’s no easy games, everyone is playing for something. We know a bit of a gap has opened up and we need to make up the distance but we're just going to keep working hard. The TPL and AFC Cup have been big priorities for us and we just want to do well in every game. Yes there is some ground to make up but anything can happen in football.
Off the pitch, how's your Thai coming along?
It's getting better. I'm learning new words every day. It's important to study and learn about the culture and language wherever you go.
I've heard about your passion for your foundation. Can you tell us what the inspiration behind it was?
I was getting lots of emails and calls from kids, players and parents, especially from Asian families. I wanted to give something back to the sport and we [at the foundation] want to do something positive to help people. We want to encourage community cohesion through sports and football and help anyone develop themselves. Who knows, I might have the chance to do something similar in Thailand in the future.
Was it started from a sudden moment of inspiration or was it an idea that built up slowly over time?
It was an idea we built up. My friend and I had been thinking about doing something like this for some time.
You've got some impressive ambassadors at the foundation such as Andy Cole, Luis Boa Morte and [the only goalie to save a Le Tissier penalty] Mark Crossley to name but three...
I try to keep in touch with people I've worked with in my career and these guys are not just good players, they're good people. They're happy to help and we're happy to have them on board.
Is it a challenge to be involved in the day to day running of the foundation from over here?
I'm not involved in the day to day running, we have good people in place to do that. Of course I keep up to date with everything that's going on with it.
Where do you see the foundation in five or ten years time? Will you be working full time in the foundation when you retire?
We'll always be helping people in one way or another. It could be developing them as players, improving their diet, helping them socialise or anything else. It's just good to help people improve and develop themselves. I'm twenty-seven so I'll be playing for a while yet but I'll certainly be putting more time into it when I do hang up the boots.
Looking at your career, what's been the best moment so far?
There's been a few special moments. My Premier League debut, taking the captaincy at Bradford, my international debut for Pakistan in 2005 when we beat Sri Lanka 1-0 and of course moving over here to Thailand.
Alan Shearer - a tough opponent, but not Zesh's toughest.
And as a defender, who's been your toughest opponent?
When I was in the EPL I played against Thierry Henry at Arsenal. He and the team were peaking at that time and he was almost unplayable. We lost two-nil though, so it could've been worse.
I'm a Southampton fan so I was hoping you'd say Matt Le Tissier! I don't know if you've played against him?
No but I've played against Kevin Phillips, he's a good striker in a different way. I have a good record at [Southampton's ground] Saint Mary's. I've won there with QPR and Fulham.
Finally, I've been comparing the English and Thai leagues on my blog. You're the ideal man to tell us, how do they compare?
In terms of technical ability, Thailand compares very well. The different style of play would take some adjusting for Thai players. The English leagues are more direct and have less build-up play. Skill wise though, Thai players are good.
So if Muangthong played Bradford, what would the score be?
It would be very close. I think we could out-pass them and keep possession well but we might struggle with their physical and direct game. They might muscle us off the ball but I like to think that wouldn't happen with me playing! I think if we played at home, we'd win.
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Thanks again to Zesh for his time. Do take a look at the excellent and inspiring work of his foundation. It's something I hope to feature in more depth in future, as football in the community is also something I'm keen on.
As with most interviews, I've done a little paraphrasing for conciseness. Any errors are entirely my own.
The club owners have purchased a very large area of ground to use as a training area.
Perhaps TOT will also use it, since rumor has it they cannot use the CW Stadium for home games so are effectively homeless.
"Soccer Mania", a Thai-language magazine and football store, recently featured an article called "Fashion Football" where they rated the strip of each TPL team. I found many ratings strange - they included:
Joint best shirt in TPL?
Khoen Kean - 10 (from 10)
MTU - 10
BEC Tero - 9
Buriram PEA - 8
BG - 8
Pattaya - 8
Navy - 4
Osotspa Saraburi - 7
Sisaket - 6
Chiang Rai - 7
TTM - 6
Sriracha - 8
TP - 7
TOT - 6
Really that awful?......
SCG SS - 5
Chonburi - 10
Army - 8
Police - 6
Now admittedly going on the shirts alone, I'm really struggling to understand how anyone can rate Navy's kit as worse than Sisaket's patchwork monstrosity, or how anyone can say Tero's kit is not better than Chonburi's rather odd design. But of course it's all down to taste and as long fans wear their shirts and cheer their team, that's all that really matters. Sisaket may not have a shirt that will win awards, but their fans are fantastic.
My personal ratings would be -
PEA - 10
Tero - 10
Better?
MTU - 9
BG - 9
TOT - 8
Army - 8
Chiang Rai - 7
Navy - 7
Sriracha - 7
Police - 6
TTM - 6
TP - 6
SCG SS - 6
Khoen Kean - 5
Saraburi - 5
Chonburi - 4
PEA - quality shirt, quality team
Sisaket - 2
If you're interested in a particular team's strip then tell me in the comments section. I can tell you what the magazine said about it.
Rapture, rain and really, really bad traffic. What do these things all have in common? They all tried to stop Muangthong fans turning out in force and all failed miserably.
Despite press reports suggesting injury worries for the champions, the line up was more or less full strength: Kawin (GK), Kayem (LB), Panupong (CB), Zesh (CB),Thiemba (RB), Pitchipong (MD), Datsakorn (MD), Siaka (MD), Narrapol Arrmomsawa (MD), Teerasi (ST), Christian (FW),
The first half was one way traffic. I wouldn't go so far as to say we put their goal under siege because Alahad's number seven did occasionally attack for the visitors, but there was no doubting our dominance. Chris in particular had the Lebanese defence in shreds and forced the visiting goalie into at least five saves in the first half alone. It really looked a matter of time but the goal wouldn't come. Surely we couldn't get sucker-punched?
In the second half we attacked the n-zone goal and after a goal by Chris that was (rightly) disallowed for offside, Teerasil got the breakthrough with a goal inside the box past the blindsided 'keeper.The relief was immense, but relief turned to outright jubilation when Arromsowa hit a low drive from the right to the goalie's (opposite) right to double the lead to 2-0. Christian grabbed the third goal and put the ball under his shirt, apparently telling us he was pregnant. Hey, if you score great goals then you can get pregnant every week as far as I'm concerned.
By now it was what I call: "party football". The match was over, everyone knew it and the home side started enjoying the game. A familiar theme last season, less so this time around. Anyway, the final moment of joy came from another Datsakorn "Le Tissier" Thonglao moment when he curled in a free kick from outside the box to make it four. There was only one threat to our clean sheet after that but Kawin rushed out to stop the striker breaking through. Game over. It could have been even more but we'll take this very happily, thanks.
Overall, an excellent team performance. Everyone looked fit and sharp even on the wet surface and it's surely no coincidence that Chris was back to his best with Teerasil returning alongside him. A clean sheet was delivered by the back line and the midfield opened the channels up superbly. However, with great respect to our hard-working and sporting opponents, they appeared no stronger than any of the group stage teams and I'm a little surprised they got this far. Now it's just the big boys left, mostly Arabic teams who gave us such tough games last year and make away fixtures so challenging. We have to go better than last year and take that trophy home. We're more than good enough to do it.
Man of the Match - Christrian Kouakou constantly terrified the visitors' defence with his footwork and zig-zag runs into the box.
MTU will face Alahed on Tuesday (KO 1930) in a single-leg match to decide who will proceed to the AFC Cup quarter finals. Teerasil should be back in contention for this encounter after a recent injury. The Quilins will be looking to better last year's AFC run that saw us go down fighting in the semi-finals.
Stay tuned for some player interviews coming soon.
Regza - Toshiba's brand of flat-screen TVs - have announced an extension to their sponsorship of Muangthong United. The electronics manufacturer will inject a further ten million per year into the Quilins and have confirmed their confidence that Muangthong will continue to win trophies in Thailand and in Asia.
As previously mentioned, MTU's scheduled game with Police United has been postponed, as has Chonburi's match, to allow both the AFC-involved clubs to prepare for their next fixture in the AFC Cup. However, there are many games over the weekend that will affect MTU, most notably the game between BEC Tero (4th) and Bangkok Glass (8th).
MTU and AIA are running a promotion to provide accident cover to the first 10,000 MTU fans who register themselves at matches or during office hours at the stadium. ID card/passport required.
With thanks to JoEisM ณ เมืà¸à¸‡à¸—à¸à¸‡ at mtufc.net. The caption on the banner in the final image reads: "We trust you (God of Thai football)"
Not a great game in all honesty due to the heavy water on the pitch. Although we've spent a lot of money on a new turf with a drainage system, three major storms in one week, including one that stopped about four hours before kick off, made this a game for battlers rather than purists.
Muangthong's line up was Kawin (GK), Thiemba (RB), Kayem (LB), Panupong (CB), Nattaporn (Capt, CB), Datsakorn (MD), Pitchipong (MD), Siaka (MD), Christian (FW), Ahnon (ST), Toth (FW).
The first half was more MTU but the final ball was lacking, Tero attacked on the break with a similar outcome. The second half saw much more possession for the home side but it really looked like it wouldn't happen before a ball to Christian was well protected by the forward who laid a great flick-on to substitute Jakkapahan Pornsai who slotted home and took my MOM award in the process. Commiserations and good luck to Tero for the rest of the season. They're a good side with good fans. Returning to home matters, I understand there may be big, big news from MTU this coming week.
In other news, a long feature on Peter Butler and a report on a Thai Port game both feature in 'Brunch' in the 'Bangkok Post' today. Both articles are very good reads and both rightly point out the lack of official coverage and internet coverage of the game by official bodies. Yet the 'Post' neglects to mention the growing coverage amongst us un-offcials including thaileaguefootball.com and perhaps best of all by the great thai-fussball.de in both German and English. For anyone who misunderstood, Sven of thai-fussball.de certainly has never signed me or anyone else up for a German site featuring men in leather. Well, except for a Rammstein fan site, maybe.
Muangthong will face off against Lebanese champs Alahed in the first knock out stage of the AFC Cup. Lebanon may be better known for its internal struggles rather than its football, but I'm sure Calisto won't underestimate the visitors. In all seriousness however, I'm relieved this is a home tie.
Few teams in Thailand can be on such familiar terms as BEC Tero and Muangthong. It's not just down to the geographical proximity, it's because almost an entire team's worth of players have swapped sides between the clubs recently.
From memory, the transfers are:
MTU to Tero:
Phanphipat (GK)
Jetsada (CB)
Piyachart (LB)
Zaizen (MD)
Nontadee (MD)
Leesaw (FW)
Runsiyo (ST)
Tero to MTU:
Ahnon (ST)
Kittipol (AM, now on loan to Suphanburi)
Most of the Quilins players who have moved to the Thepsadin have settled well, and as I predicted, Runsiyo has really found his scoring boots. With their money well spent, the 'Fire Dragons' sit nicely in the top half of the table, on the way to reclaiming former glory. Unlike other clubs they have taken advantage of their central Bangkok location and developed a decent support and smart image.
With both teams knowing each other so well, it should make for an interesting tactical battle. Mirolsav Toth should return to availability for this clash, and should content with former Tero hitman Ahnon Sagsanoi for the striker's spot. Teerasil may also return. Thiamba will discover if Tuesday's performance was enough to keep Pakasit and Arthit out of the side. I predict Calisto will rest one of Tuesday's centre-backs and replace them with Panupong, it will probably be Zesh since Nattaporn is captain.
As is customary with AFC games, the two ends are busier than the two side stands. The price increase for AFC tickets is a lot for some people, but the support is as great as ever.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day and it turns out I actually called a correct prediction in my preview. Calisto rests a few players including Teerasil. The team is Kawin (GK), Kayem (LB), Zesh (CB), Nattaporn (CB, capt), Bonmatoon (RB), Datsakorn (MD), Siaka (MD), Pitchipong (MD), Jakkaphan (MD), Christian (FW), Ahnon (ST)
The first half has very little of note, which is just as well because I hardly get to see any of it. My son has decided to take revenge for my refusal to buy him another MTU flag by barraging me with non stop questions.
“Dad, did Kawin wave to me again today?”
“Of course he did, son”
“Dad, are they the Singaporean team in blue shirts?”
“Of course they are, son."
“Dad, could their forwards hit the broad side of a barn?“”
“Of course they couldn’t, son.”
I jest of course, Tampines are a good side from a well-run league but it's typical that in group stage games, teams never look likely to score at the Thunderdome. It really does epitomise our difference in home and away form that we are dominating possession when not playing all that well at home yet were lucky to escape with a point at Tampines’ ground.
There’s more annoyance, Mr Omar, who claims to be in Canada but sounds distinctly African, calls me and explains he has a private jet with a consignment worth ten million dollars that he wants to send to me. Mr Omar is describing the dimensions of the consignment and I’m waiting to ask if those dimensions are mathematically compatible with insertion into his anatomy when Pitchipong cracks the crossbar and the noise of the crowd drowns out Omar’s response to my question. I’ll never know if it would’ve fitted or not.
The first half fizzles out. We had more play but it was scrappy overall.
The second half is a different affair, though. Early on, Christian gets a deep through ball almost inside the Tampines’ area. As I recall, he had a defender closing in on both sides and looked to have over-run the ball, but this is Christian and his long legs grab that extra inch and touch the ball over the goalie. 1-0
siamsport.co.th
Soon after, Ahnon scores a short-range finish to effectively end the game. I was pleased, but I remember Ahnon scoring a similar effort against Hanoi, and it didn’t set him off on a goal run.
By now the game is really opening up and I’m enjoying it, so I’m a bit annoyed when Omar calls me again and says - surprise, surprise - he needs someone to forward him four hundred quid in fees before he can fly the consignment to me. I tell him I’m not interested and he should contact Fratton Park. Thanks to whoever set me up with Mister Omar, it’s almost as funny as the time someone (thai-fussball.de must top the suspect list) signed me up to a German gay porn site that sent daily pictures.
The last thing Mr. Omar heard is my cheering as Jakkaphan Pornsai hit goal number three with a neat diagonal finish. Jakkapahan hasn’t quite made the impact I’d hoped for so far this season. I thought he was a winger but he seems to drift from right midfield to centre then back again and struggle to make his mark. But today he’s really showing what he can do and I hope it will spark a good run of form.The same goes for Ahnon who rounds off a great second half with a real poacher’s goal as he lined up at the edge of the box and puts a low shot to the goalie’s right side. Now that’s a goal from a poacher who’s feeling confident, that’s a goal that can set a striker off on a purple patch.
We threaten more but it ends soon after. Tampines played in good spirits and I wish them all the best for the next round. Singapore is a great place with a very professional setup in its league.
This really was the proverbial game of two halves. The first half was the MTU of 5-1 defeats this season, knowing what they can do but looking hesitant, just struggling to hit the gas. The second half was the other side of MTU, the one that knows they can still produce the form of last season when they get the tiniest rub of the green. I can’t put my figure on what’s making the difference, but I’m sure that the form of Ahnon and Pornsai can make a huge change. Also notable was the solid back line again, which is always the first step to rebuilding any team. In Zesh, Nattaporn and Panupong we have a trio that can rotate with ease.
So in to the next round we go, opponents as yet unknown, but we can feel confident. The league title may be too far away this season but we can still look towards a good AFC run. And if the trophy gets flown in like it did last season, at least we know Mr Omar and his private aircraft are available.
*******
I’m hoping for two player interviews in the near future. Stay tuned.
********
More than one person has recently asked about Toni Kallio, who sadly has not been near the first team for a while. The disappointing news is that Kallio has had trouble keeping up with the pace of the Thai game, partly due to niggling injuries. Unless something changes quickly then I think he'll be off soon. This leaves us desperately short of cover at left back, with young - but so far very proficient - Kayem as the only natural left back. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, or a Morrisey song - why did we loan out Piyachart?
From today's BP. Note this is not necessarily a bad thing, though the timing of it tells its own tale. There may be more big news today or tomorrow. Further comments and thoughts later.
Sports media tycoon Ravi Lohthong announced yesterday that he is relinquishing his ownership in Thai Premier League side Muang Thong United and is ready to give his shares in the club to an interested person for free .
"I have had enough of football management and want to focus solely on my media company," said Ravi who owns Siam Sport Syndicate which produces several sports newspapers and magazines as well as television and radio programmes.
Ravi took over Muang Thong United after they sealed promotion to the Thai Premier League in 2009 and has turned the Kirins to become a major force in the local league.
Muang Thong won the TPL title in its first season in the top flight in 2009 and retained the crown the following year.
He said the club was debt-free and that he had achieved his goal of making Muang Thong a famous club and the TPL a hit.
"I intend to give my shares in Muang Thong for free to anyone who is keen to run the club seriously," said Ravi, who is dubbed the Godfather of Thailand's sports media.
The club has two major shareholders, the other being Robert Procureur, and Ravi said those who are interested in taking over Muang Thong have to talk to the Belgian.
"I think there will not be a problem," Ravi said.
Ravi said if incumbent Worawi Makudi failed to get re-elected as president of the Football Association of Thailand, his company would terminate its contract to run the TPL with the FAT.
"The deal was made with Worawi as FAT president and if he is no longer FAT president, then we have to return the right to the new FAT board," he said.
An election for FAT president last week was postponed amid reports that Worawi could be heading for defeat .
MTU will look to bounce back from yesterday's disappointment and cruelly disallowed equaliser on Tuesday when we face Singaporean side Tampines Rovers at home in the final AFC group game.
Both sides are already assured of progress to the next stage of the competition however there is still much to play for as the team that wins the group will play the first knock-out fixture at home.
No new injuries or suspensions that I know of have been reported from yesterday's game so I would expect Calisto to field a full strength side. However, I do feel that despite the result of the reverse fixture that took place during our defensive collapse, we should be more than enough for Tampines at home and if it were up to me, I'd be tempted to rest at least a couple of players who have received knocks lately such as Kawin and Teerasil, replacing them with Weera and Anon or Toth.
bolasepako.com has all you need to know about Singaporean footie and the Rovers.
The last time I saw Chiang Rai United in action was against Rajpracha-Nonthaburi, the first ever team to defeat them, in fact. The ‘Fighting Beetles' always have a large following of bright orange behind them including a moonlighting BG Man and that’s surely played a key role in seeing their double-promotion over the course of two seasons.
The town has long been considered a smaller brother to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand and is often touted as a more pleasant and more authentic place to visit, though I remain neutral on that debate.
The debut season in the TPL has proven a struggle for the Beetles and they sit just above the relegation zone at present but are coming off a good win over Pattaya United at home. ‘Tong will also be feeling good after a hard fought draw in Vietnam and hopefully there will be no fatigue.
This is the first league meeting between the two sides. Miroslav Toth looks to be fine and well after his breathing problem against Sriracha. Zesh Rehman looks to be a regular contender for a first team spot again after playing his part in recent clean-sheets.
Ahead of the game at Chiang Rai at the weekend - and courtesy of Jirawat Srikong - we see the lads enjoying a relaxed training session up in the pleasant surroundings of Chiang Mai today. Good to see Miroslav Toth looking well.
But was one member not pulling weight? And might he pay a prank for it? :-)
It's now eight games without a goal conceded and the result ensures our progress to the next round. A draw at home with Tampines will see us top the group.
Hanoi: Muang Thong United coach Henrique Calisto was satisfied with a professional job as a goalless draw against Hanoi T&T at Hang Day Stadium saw the Thais qualify for the last 16 of the AFC Cup.
Chances were at a premium in the Group G clash as the visitors produced a cautious display given it was Hanoi who realistically needed to win to stay in the competition. A focused defensive performance ensured Muang Thong left with the point they needed to progress to the knockout stage.
“This was a good game. We know that Hanoi T&T are a strong team on home soil while we did not need to win the game at all costs. Therefore my players slowed the game down and waited for the mistakes from Hanoi,” said Calisto.
“Datsakorn Thonglao, Phitchiphong Choeichit and Dagno Siaka fulfilled their duties well in midfield. In my opinion, Datsakron Thonglao on his own has outnumbered Hanoi's midfielders but he was not able to fire long-range shots.
“One point to me is more than enough for Muang Thong United to secure top spot in the group. We have to save our energy to play Tampines Rovers in our last match of the group phase as well as for our quest to defend the domestic crown.”
Calisto returned to Vietnam for the first time since resigning as coach of the national side but the 58-year-old Portuguese put aside personal feelings for the encounter.
“I myself has a good relationship with Hanoi coach Phan Thanh Hung. However, I have put all the affection aside when leading my players into the game,” he added.
“I also even told my players to play rough in the midfield to prevent Nguyen Ngoc Duy and Nguyen Van Quyet from performing.”
Hanoi now lie third on five points and are unlikely to progress.
However, boss Thanh Hung stressed they would still give everything in their final group game against Victory SC in the Maldives.
“I know that my players have done their best against Muang Thong United,” he said.
“The Thai side play disciplined football and it is hard for us to break down their well-organised defensive line.
“Nataporn Phanrit is still a leader in defence when he manages to stop all of our attacks outside the box.
“I feel sorry for Gonzalo Marronkle’s header. This was a very good header coming from a very good combination from the midfielders. This kind of combination was rare in this game as Muang Thong United did not leave us with enough space to handle the ball.
“Maybe the chance to get to the next round is finished for us but we still have one last game in the Maldives before the group stage ends. I think we should have a farewell victory against the Maldives side.”
MTU travel to Hanoi, the charming capital of Vietnam, tomorrow to prepare to face Hanoi T&T on Tuesday in their penultimate AFC group stage game. The Quilins turned over the republic's champions with relative ease in the reverse fixture (report here ) and with great respect to the hosts, I hope we will rest at least a couple of key players for this game now that our progress is all but assured.
www.the-afc.com
Rene Desaeyere is now confirmed as coach of Suphanburi FC, owned by the son of former PM Banharn Silipha-Archa. Robert Procurer was approached to take temporary charge of the side during their search for a coach which suggests relations between the two sides are good, which in turn suggests Rene is perhaps still close with MTU. That must be good news for fans of either side. Like him or not, Rene knows his football and games are rarely dull when he's involved in any way!
