Eriksson's arrival hailed as new dawn for Thai football
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Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has joined BEC Tero Sasana as technical coach until the end of the Thailand Premier League season for an estimated salary of Bt50 million.
The 64-year-old Swede, who departed England in October last year after failing to lift Thai-owned Leicester City into the Premier League, begins his first campaign in Asia tomorrow in the Toyota League Cup against defending TPL champions Buriram.
Eriksson’s official position as the technical director seems to end doubts about the future of Belgium’s Robert Procureur, who remains coach and manager of BEC Tero, currently fourth in the TPL standings.
Eriksson said he was asked by BEC Tero president Brian Marcar to help the team, whose performances the former England manager has studied via DVDs.
“This is my first time working in Asia. I’m looking forward to Wednesday’s match. I want to see how the players handle in the game, especially their mentality. My job is to make them get better this season. The match on Wednesday will tell me what the club needs for the future,’’ said Eriksson during a press conference at the team’s Thephassadin Stadium.
The arrival of the experienced Swede comes a bit too late to fulfil BEC Tero’s ambitions to be crowned TPL champions in October. With title favourites SCG Muang Thong FC a long way ahead in the standings and only nine games remaining, the runnersup place is a realistic target for Eriksson amid fierce competition from Buriram and Chonburi FC.
“The game against Buriram will be difficult because the team was very successful last season. It will be a good test for my players,” said Eriksson who coached England from 2001 to 2006.
Svensson’s eagerness to work as far afield as Thailand raises questions as to whether his illustrious career as a titlewinner in Sweden, Portugal and Italy is now on the downswing. But the Swede showed no such concern.
“I don’t know what other people think, but I am looking forward to this job. If I can handle it, it will be a very good. And I think I can handle it, otherwise I wouldn’t have accepted it. What other people think is not that important for me anymore,” said the Swede, who insisted he would be working on a fulltime basis for the next two months.
“ I will be here as the advisor [and] technical director. I will follow training, I will follow matches and give players advice and work together with Robert [Procureur].
“I come with a lot of experience from a lot of different countries. I hope I can help the team.”
According to Procureur, Eriksson will take charge of training sessions throughout the week. But during games, the Swede will be in the stands while Procureur works pitchside. Procureur also said that the recruitment of Eriksson would broaden horizons for Thai soccer.
“This year we have made a massive effort to be more professional at every stage. The move with Mr Eriksson is very big for us. He will add a lot of experience to our team. This is not only good for BEC, but also because Eriksson will make the TPL well known across the world, not only helping improve us but also helping improve [football in] Thailand. “
