Southeast Asia

SEA Manager Focus – 23rd October 2018

By: , October 23, 2018 7:51 pm
Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah Credit – mstar.com

In today’s SEA Manager Focus, we take a look at some of the best currently unemployed coaches in each league across the region. Find out more about the best available coaches across Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam below:

Thailand

Name: Pairoj Borwonwatanadilok

Age: 51

Nationality: Thailand

Last Club: Suphanburi FC

Background: Nicknamed "The football Zhuge Liang" after the famous Chinese politician and military strategist, Pairoj is regarded as having one of the best minds in Thai football. 10 years in the managerial game, mostly with minnow clubs, has cemented Pairoj's reputation as a relegation survival expert. His tactical awareness and focus on team organisation allow Pairoj to maximise the squad's full potential and is comfortable working with a tight budget.

Circumstances of Departure: Suphanburi FC were winless in their 6 league games and doomed for relegation dogfight when Pairoj took charge. Fortunately, under the 51 year old tactician, Suphanburi FC added a lethal counter-attacking game to their already solid defence, only failing to score in only one game, and slowly but surely the club moved toward a mid-table finish. However, a fight with the "high ups" regarding player selection on the last game of the season meant that Pairoj's short-term contract was not renewed, leaving him a free agent. The experienced coach would be a great fit for most mid-table sides but is also currently linked with a mega move to title challengers Muangthong United.

Indonesia

Name: Milomir Seslija

Age: 54

Nationality: Bosnia

Last Club: Madura United

Background: A typical of an Eastern European coach, Seslija emphasized high-pressing and strong defending. At Arema FC he was the runner-up of Torabika Soccer Championship 2016, and at Persiba Balikpapan last season he made the team never conceded more than 2 goals a match despite being near the bottom of the table

Circumstances of Departure: This season Milomir Seslija appointed to be the new coach of Madura United, replacing Gomes de Olivera. His performances there were not quite good and the team was inconsistent. On the 1st of June he sacked, to be replaced by his predecessor, de Olivera.

Malaysia

Name: Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah

Age: 65

Nationality: Malaysia

Last Club: Sabah FA

Background: Formerly known as Khor Sek Leng, he is a Malaysian football coach and former player. Azraai, is one of the most successful coach in Malaysia and has won more trophies than any other coach in the history of Malaysian domestic football. His greatest achievement was when he brought Kedah FA to be crowned as a double treble champion - a champion for all three major football competitions in the country for two consecutive seasons.

Circumstances of Departure: He resigned from Kedah in the third season, which Kedah failed to scale the heights of the previous two seasons, mainly because of the loss of his influential imported players due to rule changes by the Malaysian FA. His problems with the new management team also led to his departure. From Kedah he has moved to several teams, but seems to have lost his touch.

Vietnam

Name: Le Huynh Duc

Age: 46

Nationality: Vietnam

Last Club: SHB Danang

Background: He was one of the best strikers in the history of th Vietnamese National Team with 34 goals after 66 matches. He also won three Vietnamese Golden Ball and twice managed to be the league's stop scorer. He started managerial career in 2007. He only coached one team (SHB Danang) from then to his departure of the team in 2017. He has won two V.League titles with SHB Danang as coach. He also guided the team to Quarter Finals of the 2010 AFC Cup.

Circumstances of Departure From Last Club: He left SHB Danang after 2017 season due to a run of poor results. From there, he has not taken up any more managerial positions. He just taken part in training at youth academies in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang.