Football Tribe Thailand
Teerasak Po-on, known commonly as Coach Joe, replaced Chalermwut Sangapol in charge of Nakhon Ratchasima ahead of the 2020 Thai League season. The 41-year-old tactician is pleased with the players’ work ethic after two weeks of pre-season.
“We’ve focused heavily on building up the squad’s fitness level in these early stages of our pre-season schedule. This also involves getting to know one another, I and the staff included, but not so much tactical work.”
“I am pleased with the overall process. Everyone is willing to adapt to my way of working and I’m learning from the players too. We are still in our introductory phase, but hopefully, things will progress and we can start doing more intense exercises, adding further tactical details [to our gameplan],” the coach noted in an interview with Nakhon Ratchasima’s official media team.
Teerasak Po-on guided PTT Rayong to the first tier of Thai football as the 2018 Thai League 2 champions and manage to avoid relegation in 2019. Unfortunately, the Firepower board decided to dissolve the club, hence allowing Korat to snatch up one of the most well-respected Thai coaches in the game. And coach Joe is not the only one joining up with the club after they unveiled former PTT Rayong striker Dennis Murillo.
The Brazilian striker netted 7 goals from 15 games in the 2nd leg of 2019 and Teerasak explained why he is so eager to reunite with Murillo.
“The Swatcats’ squad lacked a true goalscoring number 9 and I see him (Murillo) as the answer. He’s a lethal finisher, good in the air, and can surely improve the team going forward.”
“As for other signings, we will have to be patient. Whoever comes in must fit the mold and benefit the team”.
After a strong start to the 2019 campaign which saw them finished 7th halfway through the season, Nakhon Ratchasima’s performance dropped dramatically in the last half, picking only a single win in 11 games. Head coach Milos Joksic resigned after the 5-1 defeat away to newly-promoted Chiangmai FC. The final four games under Sangapol yielded two wins and two defeats but that was enough to secure the 6th season in the top flight.
Korat have shown themselves to be a club that prides itself on sustainability, having kept Joksic at the helm from 2016 until late last season. Under these conditions, Teerasak could be well primed to succeed, granted he is able to hit the ground running after this window of rebuilding.