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KKFC weekly column
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Sawadeee Krub, my name is Nick Gorman welcome to our new weekly column Khon Kaen Football Club
President Dr. Kasom Chanawongse has asked me to write for our foreign fan club members, English
speaking supporters and website users. This will be a behind the scenes view of our football club.
• ForeignAffairsandnewforeignsigningsforKKFC
InowhavetworolesatKhonKaenFootballClub,firstlytoassistthesquadasTechnicalCoachandsec-
ondlyasForeignAffairsOfficer.MyroleasTechnicalCoachallowsmetoassistHeadCoachNarongand
hisstaffwithcoachingsessionsonaweeklybasis.AsForeignAffairsOfficerIamalsothelinktothe
foreignplayersattheclub.Myinitialtaskinpre-seasonwastobringintwoforeignplayerstojoinour
squad.SinceourpromotiontoTheThaiPremierLeaguethepastfourmonthshavebeenalotbusier
than you would realize. I have spent countless evenings contacting players from all over the globe. I
have spent time carefully selecting resumes leaving us with only four possible candidates.
Infootballwhenyoumakenewsigningsyoumustaskyourselfcertainquestions1/willtheplayers
improveoursquad.2/willtheplayerwesignprovetobeasgoodasandpossiblybetterthanwhatwe
alreadyhave?Infootballwhenyouarelookingatthepotentialofsigningforeignplayersthequestions
differslightly.1/willtheforeignplayer
improveoursquad.2/willtheforeign
player we sign prove to be as good as
and possibly better than the Thai players
we already have?
It’s impossible to know the answers to
thesequestionsstraightaway.However
it’smyjobtomakethedecisiononthe
recommendation and evidence I have in
frontofme.Solet’slookattheseques-
tions closely. Will the player improve the
team in matches and improve the depth
ofoptionstooursquad.
Firstlyourexpectationofaforeignplayerjoiningourfamilywillalwaysbe:Willtheplayerenjoyliving
in Thailand, will the player be accepted in our family, will the player adapt to our culture and ultimately
will the player settle into our family. So we need someone who will understand and embrace the way
we eat, sleep, travel, train and prepare, to understand our playing system and why we play this particu-
larsystemthroughouttheclub.Hemustbecomfortableinanewenvironment,newcultureandnew
surroundings.
If there is a shred of doubt that the player will be a problem or more hassle than he is worth then there
is no point in taking this risk. Therefore we have been very careful in selecting the correct player for our
club. I want this player to make a positive impact on the team. To encourage the young players not to
come and take a young local players place, to help improve a young Issan players potential. To share
and advise our players from their experiences in the game by coming from a more developed football
country to help develop his new country of residence.
Thereforeit’salltooeasyforcertainclubstotakeaplayerjustbecauseoftheirhistory.Therehistory
raisesbigalarmsbellsforme.Iaskwhytheyhavelefttheirclub.Aretheybeingreleased?Aretheyno
longerwanted?Aretheyaproblemplayer?AretheycomingtoThailandsimplyforapayday?Orsimply
for the wind down of their stop start career?
Thereforeahungryplayeristopofmylist,aplayerwhostillwantstoprovesomething.Aplayerwho
has a football mentality, a player who loves the game, and a player who wants to give his all for his
new team mates. This player will give his time naturally without being asked to do so, to help develop
his younger teammates – the Thai players who are willing to look, listen and learn from seeing his ex-
amples set on and off the training pitch and on match days.
SoIamwaryofhowthesenewsigningsintheTPLwillfair.Ihavewatchedcarefullyhowcertainclubs
in my opinion have made some panic buys. Players that have been signed have actually been on our
radar. I did not feel it was the correct player, at the correct time for our club. I will only recommend a
playertoourPresident,whohasbeenrecommendedtomefromavaluablesource.Andinourcaseour
signingswillbefromaveryvaluablesource.SoIamconfidentbytheendoftheseason,whichforeign
player will have made the most valuable impact on and off the pitch.
It is well documented how mangers are wary of signing foreign players through only seeing the player
byvideo.Andunlessyou’reHarryRedknappyou
can now afford to make this gamble without a
negativeconsequence.Iftheplayerwasnota
success then this would not have affected how
their season has evolved. But in a case like Khon
Kaen FC such a choice on one or two new sign-
ings can make or break a season. Therefore in
our situation it’s not wise to select a player on
video footage.
So we did not go crazy looking at too many
players who passed through our radar. We had
players recommended to us but viewed them
withgreatcaution.Wewereintruth,confident
inourLaosandChineselongtermsignings
with the view to bringing in two British play-
ers. We decided that three of the same nationality can cause a problem. It was very pleasing for me to
seeWilfriedDjokam(Guttuso)keptonforthisseason.Everyonesawhowhardheworkedonhisgame
and how he has created the correct temperament and attitude to be a success and to be appreciated and
enjoyedhere.Hehasearnedtherighttoberegardedasoneoftheboys,sohehasbeenrewardedfor
hishardworkanddesiretolearnthelanguage.It’sjustashameotherscouldnotfollowhisexample.
• AudaciousBidsWithoutwishingtonamedrop,IcontactedanoldfriendatPerthGloryFCinAustraliaandaskedif
therewasapossibilitywecouldsignexLiverpoollegendRobbieFowlerduringtheircloseseason,he
turneditdownflatasthemoneyhemakesthereissohigh.Similarresumesofplayersintheirtwilight
whowoulddemandhugepayincludethelikesofDannyCadamarteriandKeithGillespie.Afterreceiving
theirresumesfromtheirrespectiveagentsIdidenquiretotheirwagedemands,unfortunatelyanother
blind alley for us. But if you don’t ask you don’t get. I will be trying to bring out someone during the
Englishpre-seasontomakeanappearance.DietmarHamann
mayhavecomeuntilhesignedforLeicesterCityFCreturning
to work with Sven-Goran Eriksson. So watch this space I hope
to bring an experienced coach and player to consult the team
beforethesecondhalfofourTPLseason.
LetmemakeitclearIfeelitimportanttogivetheopportu-
nity to our present team who won us promotion and the new
signings who have been here since the start of pre-season
andwenowconsiderasournewlooksquad.Sothetime
could then be right for the new signings to come into the
set up and make an impact and give everyone a lift from the
fans, the board and most importantly Coach Nurong’s team
• Some of my football experience.IhavebeenlivinginKhonKaenfor23months,workingforthefootballcluboverthepast18months.
IpreviouslyworkedwithReadingFootballClubintheEnglishFootballLeague1,Championshipand
F.A.PremierLeague.IwasatReadingFCworkingasaFootballintheCommunityOfficerandAcademy
TeamManageremployedbytheProfessionalFootballersAssociationfor12years.IsawReadingclimb
the leagues, developing players and coaches into managers along the way with the club growing from a
smallclubwithanoldfashionedfootballgroundtowhatitistodaya25,000allseatingstadiumwitha
hotel and a team year on year pushing for promotion
backtotheEPLandinthequartersoftheFACup.I
see remarkable similarities with what is happening in
theearlystageswiththeT-RexandhowtheRoyals
grewfromasmallclubtowhatitistoday.Howafan
base can grow similar to how our club is now growing
withover10,000facebookmembersandupto4,000
supportersfollowingushomeandaway.Afootball
club never sleeps while it builds an ever growing fan
base. The growth at Khon Kaen FC is all down to the
hard work and efforts of everyone associated with the football club.
• Pre-seasonpreparation,FirstthreeTPLgamesandstadiumdevelopmentThe club has had a busy schedule preparing for the big kick-off with several preseason matches in Khon
Kaen,MahasarakhamandLaos.CertaintripsinparticulartoLaoswerevitalinpreparingandgellingnew
players into the team. For the new players to sample an away game altogether is invaluable and the
evidence on return of the team spirit proves how valuable this will be for the team. These trips are also
a great chance to build on the links we have with our
extendedfanbase.AfterthesigningofKhampeng
Sayavutthi and Kanlaya Sysomvang we have now
cementedourlinkwithourLaosneighborstofollow
theirhomegrownplayersintheTPL.Andifitcanbuild
on our fan base then this is a massive positive for the
club.ThesetwoplayersalongwithManoNhouvanna-
sakarenowagreatexampleforyoungLaos’splayers
to follow in their footsteps.
We have extended our fan base as far as China with
the two signings of the Chinese players. They have
bothsettledintoourclubveryquicklyandarebothmakingahugeefforttolearnthelanguage,taking
classesdailyaftertraining.XiangLihasalreadyshowedsomecommandingperformancesandislearning
everydaysowillbeabrightprospectforthefuture.WenxinLihashadfootballer’sbadluck.Thisseems
tohappentonewsigningsmoretimesthanyouwouldexpect.Aninjuryinhisfirstmatchforyourhis
clubisabitterpilltoswallow.Hehastakenitonthechinandhasasmileonhisfaceeveryday.Ithas
been a tough start to his new career but he will come back stronger and it could actually be the making
ofhim.Hewasslightlyoveranxioustoprovehimselftoeveryoneandthismayhavebackfiredonhim.
SonowIfeelhewillbemorepatient,morepreparedforthechallengeshewillnowface.Ontheposi-
tive side he has began running and is using weights to build his strength back up.
Asfarasinjuriesandsuspensionshavegonewedidnotstartthenewseasoninthebestshape.We
lostakeyplayerafterhescoredafabulousfreekickwitharedcardandwehadseveralinjuriesgoing
intoourfirstgame.Youcouldseecertainplayerswerewrappedupincottonwooltomakethestart-
inglineupinourfirstgamewithTOTSC.Afterdefendingwellandsoakingupthepressurewehada
counter attack and could have been
leading0-1athalftime.Agrittysec-
ond half performance with a great cross
fromSupagornKarada(Wat)forCharin
Butrahat(Man)toheadhomeandthen
KhampengSayavutthi(Chang’s)long
range effort hit the bar dropping to
Manwhoshowedgreatcomposureto
makeit0-2andagreatstarttolifein
theTPLbringinghomethreevaluable
pointsinourfirstgame.
1st Historic goal in TPL
Thisistestamenttoourteamsfightingspirit.Oursecondmatchprovedtobealittletoomuchallat
onceforoursquad.WithsomuchenergyexertedinourwinatTOTSCyoucouldfeeltheteamwasat
lowpower.Webelievedthefanclubwouldgetusthroughatoughtesttoatleasttakeapoint.Our
systembackfiredduetoheavylegsandkeyplayersplayingbelowpar,wemissedApisakAsayut(Od)
whowasnotmadeavailabletousfromOsotspaM150-SaraburiaftertheyrefusedtoplayusatMa-
hasarakham we showed no ill feeling to the club and vowed after to get revenge when they come to
KhonKaen.XiangLialsomissedimportanttrainingsessionsbeforeourawaygametoOsotspa.Hehad
to travel back to China for visa purposes. But no excuses, the opposition were better on the day and
had more energy and pace but still
we had nothing to fear after witness-
ing two teams up close. To be honest
afterseeingTOTinthefirstmatchI
felt they might not have enough to
withstandtheTPLandwillbemy
earlytiptogodown.Althoughthings
can change throughout a long season
and it is early days, however I wasn’t
surprisedthey’dlost6-0awayfrom
home in their second match with
Chonburi FC.
SothebuildupandpreparationforOsotspawasn’tideal.Thesesethingscantakeitstollonyourteam
beforesuchabiggame.Wemustkeepourkeyplayersfitandkeepourdisciplinesothelessplayerssus-
pendedthebetter.Wemustshowmorequalitywithourfreekicksinthefinalattackingthirdandwe
mustshowmoredisciplineinnottoconcedingfreekicksinthefinaldefensivethirdasthisseasonwe
willpunishedbydeadballspecialistsifso.InthecaseofourlastgameversusBurirumPEAwewasted
sixdirectandindirectfreekicks,sowemustmakeourqualityshinethroughinthesemoments.Ifelt
Barium had nothing really to scare us and no team has over impressed me yet, so this tells us we can
compete with the top teams.
The manager, President and
coachesnowseethefirstthree
gamesastheresearchintoTPL.
Now the next games will be
the test, whether we can pass
the test remains to be seen. But
withourteamspirit,fitnessand
desirewehaveafightingchance
and for any newly promoted
teamtohave3from9points
you cannot be too disappointed.
Mega Flag at Yamaha Stadium
GoingbacktoTOT,aftertheexcitementofourfirstgameandaway
winatTOTwewerebroughtbackdowntoearthatOsotspa.Itwas
difficulttoplaytwogamesawayfromhomeaftertheexertionof
somuchenergyingainingourfirstthreeTPLpointsaremarkable
achievement for the club to come from humble beginnings to where
wearetodaysincethebeginningoftheclubbackin2005.Wemust
dedicate this win to the fans, presidents, manager, coaching, play-
ing staff and former players. I have been saying to look at Blackpool
for inspiration. They have started the season without use of their
stadiumuntilithasbeenpreparedforEPLmatches.Soasimilarcase
fortheT-Rexwemustgiveourallwhileplayingourhomegames
inMahasarakhamawayfromourKhonKaenfortress.Sothisisjust
a small obstacle in our way. We have the correct attitude concentra-
tion and discipline to make the best of this situation to make it into
apositive.AssoonasIhearanymoreaboutthestadiumsdevelop-
ment I will let you know.
• TeamTraining,matchpreparationandTeamfitness.AtpresentwerotatebetweenourtrainingpitchesatCollegeofAsianscholarsatBanditAsiawhichis
ourWomen’sAcademyandKKFCYouthteamtrainingfacility.Theteamtrainherewhenavailable,other-
wise we train at Kaemkanakorn School while we wait for the development of the stadium. Therefore
thereisalotoftravellingtoandfromtrainingfortheteam.WealsoneedtosetoffforTPLmatches
on a Thursday or go to stay in Ban
PietotrainatMuangPhongfor
homematchesinMahasarakham.
The team therefore make there
way on a Friday for training that
day and on Saturday to prepare
foraSundaygame.Orwebring
the schedule forward a day if we
play on a Saturday we travel to
MahasarakhamonaThursday.
We must therefore be careful
with how much the team train
and how many rest days they are
given after travelling home from
away games. We must be aware how long this season will now be due to the schedule change. This is
veryimportantinourweeklypreparation.Theteamalsousesafitnesscentreforweightsandbodycore
strengthening.
LastseasonIcanhonestlysayIhaveneverseenafitterteam.Wecouldwinanddrawgamesinthefinal
quarterofmatchessimplythroughourfitness.I’msureoncetheteamsettlesintotheTPLtheywillreal-
izehowfittheyareandbecompetingonthesamelevelphysicallyandpsychologically.
• Thailand/FAyouthCupsquadselectionYouthDevelopmentisvitaltoaclublikeKhonKaen.WearenowcompetingwithclubssuchasBuriram
Pea,Chonburi,BECTeroSasanaandMuangThongwhohavecrazymoneytospendonthereplayingand
coaching staff. So at Khon Kaen we must build for the future with our focus on our local Issan talent
ashighimportance.Andwhattalentwe
haveinthenortheast.Myfirstintro-
duction to the club was assisting Coach
PitchettandCoachOngattheU18s
CokeCupinKalasin2009.Wehadavery
talentedsquadwhowerewelldrilled
by the coaches. I felt I gave the players
some inspiration and felt much appreci-
ated.
Coach
Pitchett
took
the
teamallthewaytothefinalandfinishedaswinners.Sothiswasmy
firstexperiencewhichgavemeagreatinsighttoourlocaltalentand
then provided me with a platform for my second experience to work
withthefirstteaminouraimtogainpromotiontotheTPL.Nowmy
third experience will be completely different. It will be a long tough
season. There may not be as many highs. But this is football we must
savor the highs and learn from the lows and our mistakes. This year
there will be times when we look to our youth policy and who knows
watchoutintheJunewindowforyouthplayerstoaddtothefirst
teamsquad.
OurYouthteamhashadaremarkablestarttotheseason.Coach
Pitchettandhisstaffhavedoneafabulousjobwithhisteam.Techni-
callyandtacticallywehavegreatsquadforthefuture.Everyplayer
understandstheirroleinthe3-5-2systemsowell.Whentheycomeintotheteamtheyadaptwithease.
It was no surprise to hear that Bangkok
Glass FC expressed a very serious interest
in certain key players. For the clubs sake
I hope we can keep this talented crop of
players playing together for years. The
club as a whole would then be in a very
strongpositionontheplayingfieldforthe
future. Sakonwat Sakonla is one player in
particularwhocouldstepupifrequired;he
has had the experience of playing in last
season’s promotion team.
• VisionAsiaandVisionKhonKaenWehavehadmanyseminarswiththeAseanFootballConfederationandpositivemeetingswiththevi-
sionAsiateamtosetupcoachingclinicsandunearthnewplayingandcoachingtalentforthefuture
ofKhonKaenFC,IssanfootballandmostimportantlythedevelopmentoftheFootballAssociationof
Thailand.ThisiswhyIfeelifwebringinforeignplayerstheymusthaveafootballbrainandenjoy
thecultureandlifestylenotjustcomehereforthetwilightortofinishtheircareer.Theyouthplayers
are the future of our club and possibly the future
of Thailand. The foreign players we bring in must
share their experience to give our young players
confidenceandencouragement.Iwouldloveto
see my adopted home playing at the same heights
as South Korea and Japan so we are fully behind
BryanRobsonandSteveDarbyastheyareputting
there all in to bring success to our football crazy
nation!
• T-RexFanclubIcantellyouallthestaffattheclubrealizeshowimportantyouaretoourteam!Youreallyareanex-
traplayertoourteam.GoingbacktomytimeatReadingFCwenamedthesupportersasnumber13on
our team sheet for every game. We feel the same way about you. The way our coaches and club captain
leadtheteamtoyoursongaftermatchesistrulyinspiringandquiteemotional.Iespeciallyenjoyedthe
huddletheteammadeintheawayendbeforethegameatOsotspa.Thisisinspiringfortheteamand
every pass, shot, tackle, header and save is made with you. We are one family. So I leave you with my
favoritefootballanthem.ItwouldbegreattoheartheT-Rexsignthisoneday:
Forit’sagrandoldteamtoplayfor-Forit’sagrandoldteamtoCHEER
Andifyouknowitshistoryitsenoughtomakeyourgrowoohoh-Wedon’tcarewhattheother
teams cheer
What do we care - For we only know
Thatthere’sgonnabeaSHOW-
When the Khon Kaen - Will be
there!!
I have attached a picture of a new
supporter to add to our fan base…
MysonMikowasborn16thFebru-
ary. I hope he can be a part of our
excellentYouthsystemoneday!
So thank you for your ongoing sup-
port and we look forward to your
comments and please share your
T-Rexexperiencesandsongswithus
here.
• FinallyWe hear a great deal about the refereeing standards in the Thai leagues. But I would always encour-
age anyone to support them and be patient not to criticize the ref. I like to praise there good decisions
but will count their mistakes and tell them how many they are making during a game. This has raised a
laugh with the refs but not all see the funny
side and can take it the wrong way. But if we
can make eye contact and connect on their
leveltheymightjusttaketousalittlemore
than the opposition! This is my only power
over referees and speaking only survival Thai
itmakesitdifficult.Asacoachwemustsetan
example to our players to encourage the ref
and never cross the line. It did make me laugh
toseeanEPLgamewithEvertonandBirming-
hamtherefbookMutchfromBirminghamwith
an imaginary card. Fortunately he remembered
his cards at half time and booked three in the
second half. I did wonder if he realized at some point that he hadn’t had his cards or didn’t realize until
the moment he gave the free kick and then went to his pocket and then put himself on the spot. I’m
sure he has thought about this little incident over and over in his mind and how and why he managed
toforget!Simple!Heisonlyhumanandweallmakemistakes.Theimportantthingishowwelearn
from them for the next game.
• FootballFunnyWeweretalkingaboutanoldphysiotherapistfromSwindonTownFC1993promotiondays,whatareal
characterthisguywas.Charactersyourarelyseeintoday’sgame.Onematchheranontothepitchand
treatedtheinjuredplayer,heranbackoffthepitchwiththeballunderhisarmandlefthisbaginthe
middleofthepitch.Thisraisedafewlaughsforthecrowdandeveryoneinvolvedwiththematch.A
fewjeersfromtheawayfanswhenhehadtorunbacktogivetheballbacktotherefandthenthe
inevitablewalkofshamebacktothedugoutwithhisbag.HetookitallinGreatSpirit.Anothertimehe
sprayed the ice spray right in his eyes instead of the player’s groin, which one would have been more
painful? So he was happy that day as it was only the players who saw this funny episode and not the
whole crowd. I will tell you anther one next week!!!
YoursinFootball
Coach Nick