History and passion made me join Muangthong, says Cooper

The rivalry between the two clubs has grown intensely over the past few seasons. In fact, the TPL title was won by either club in the past five years, with Muangthong winning three times to Buriram’s two.

After finishing as the league runners-up last term, Muangthong believed a coaching change was necessary if the club was to go forward and the 43-year-old Englishman was given the job in what the club called a “major off-season overhaul”.

Having already started his new job over the past month, Cooper, who last year coached treble-winners Buriram, was officially unveiled as Muangthong coach at the club’s stadium yesterday. He stated that he found it difficult to turn down a chance to manage a club of the stature of Muangthong.

“When a club like Muangthong shows interest, it’s difficult to say no. I knew a lot about the football club by my work in Thailand. What’s special about this football club is that it got a long history of success and an infrastructure that’s very impressive.

“When I travel around Asia or other parts of Europe and you speak about Thai football, people enquire about Muangthong. It’s one of the most famous clubs in Southeast Asia. It’s the name that was most used all over Asia. It’s very difficult to say no.

“It’s not just about history. The club, as it stands today, it never stands still. It continues developing with new training facility. The academy is also wonderful as it produces players that we’ve already seen over the past four weeks,” said the Englishman.

Cooper was also relishing the chance to work for what he called “passionate” Muangthong supporters. “A key part, a really biggest part, for any football club is the fans because it’s not possible without the fans. These fans always impress me with their passion. It’s a big draw to control football club where you see the passion of the fans like we have at this club.

“A lot of people thing about the size of the club. But, really, the club is depicted by the fans and Muangthong fans are really passionate. You would have been blind if you had not noticed that. It’ll be good for me to work for those fans.”

The Englishman, though, said the key factor behind his decision to accept the post was the authority to manage the team after his times at his previous club was reportedly marked by interference from club management.

“From the very start, I met with Ronnarit [Suewaja, Muangthong’s director of football] and the staff. I was impressed with the way they discussed things with me. We talked about the future. We talked about how to develop things.

“And, it’s clear from the start that I have the autonomy to work with the football team. I can do what I want to do. That’s one of biggest reason why I accepted this position.”    

Given his connection with Buriram, it seemed inevitable that the first question that came out from the local press would be about his decision to switch allegiance. But, Cooper just wanted to move on in his coaching career.

“It’s football, isn’t it? At the end of the day, it’s football. I don’t look behind and I only look forward. What I can do at any football club I’ve been at and contribute as a coach, I hope I would be able to look that with pride.

“If you can move onto another big club or a big club with a history like this, you must not have done a bad job before. So, it showed that I did a good job previously.

“Yes, there is rivalry between my previous club and this club. But, that’s football. That’s what we live for in football, to win games and enjoy the moment. I look it as a challenge. I don’t look it as something difficult. It excites me more than it worries me.”