Gian Chansrichawla
Football Tribe SEA Editor
Thailand National Team boss Akira Nishino convened his squad for the first time yesterday in preparation for the upcoming games against Vietnam and Indonesia. During this time, the Thai National Team’s official media unveiled his team of assistants.
The big addition to his coaching staff is Totchtawan Sripan. The former Thai international has had a highly successful coaching career, first leading his small hometown club Saraburi FC to the top division, before winning the Thai second division with Police United. His crowning achievement was winning the 2016 Thai League title with Muangthong United, before taking them to the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League the next season.
Even though failed spells with Police Tero and Suphanburi in recent seasons have lowered his stock, the feeling remains that Totchtawan is overqualified for an assistant role, especially after he was in contention for taking the big job itself. However, many hope that he can use this time working under Nishino for his own personal development, before taking on the job as the head of the U23 team or even the senior team sometime down the road.
Alongside Nishino and Totchtawan is the previously appointed Anurak Srikerd, who was recently in charge of Bangkok Glass (BG Pathum United), who he led to the Thai League Cup final. Having led many of the current squad to achieve success in the AFF U19 Championships back in 2015, he will be familiar with this group of players and could provide valuable insights for Nishino.
Lastly, two names remain from the Milovan Rajevac era, in the form of fitness coach Nebojsa Stamenkovic and goalkeeping coach Sasa Todic.