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