Thai newspaper demands Japanese coach be fired and Kiatisuk brought back

According to Siamsport, the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) needs to speak up after the defeat in the King's Cup final and clarify the future of coach Masatada Ishii, instead of remaining silent. When will the 'War Elephants' have a chance to attend the World Cup?

Japanese coach not suitable for Thai football

"Using Japanese coaches in the national teams, including the national team, U.23 team and women's team, does not mean that Thailand will be as successful as Japanese football. There must be a foundation for training players like Japanese football and after many years, then we can hope to succeed. The FAT's pursuit of the solution of using Japanese coaches is clearly a vicious cycle that has no end and is stuck in that intention," Siamsport , the number 1 sports newspaper in Thailand, expressed.

The Thai team lost the AFF Cup championship to the Vietnamese team earlier this year.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

FAT recently fired the Thai women's team coach, Mr. Futoshi Ikeda (Japanese) to re-appoint the domestic coach, Ms. Nuengrutai Srathongvian. Coach Futoshi Ikeda is also the second consecutive Japanese coach of the Thai women's team to be fired, after Coach Miyo Okamoto (2021 to 2023).

Similarly, in the Thailand U23 team, coach Takayuki Nishigaya, also a Japanese, was fired after a series of poor results. FAT appointed a local interim coach, Mr. Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul. This local coach helped Thailand U23 win 3rd place in the Southeast Asian U23 tournament, after losing only 6-7 to the host team Indonesia U23 in the semi-final after a penalty shootout (1-1 draw in regular time), and beat the Philippines 3-1 in the third-place match.

But above all, local coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul has succeeded in helping the U.23 Thailand team play very well to qualify for the U.23 Asian Cup finals in early 2026, along with the U.23 Vietnam team, the two representative teams in Southeast Asia. Thanks to this achievement, coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul and the U.23 Thailand team received a bonus of 1 million baht (about 831 million VND) from Madam Pang (billionaire Nualphan Lamsam), President of FAT.

Meanwhile, the Thai team still retains coach Masatada Ishii, but after the defeat in the final match of the King's Cup 2025 against the Iraqi team with a score of 0-1 on September 7. Many opinions of the football public in this country have asked the question, should we continue to put our trust in this Japanese coach or not?

Because up to now, Mr. Ishii has only helped the Thai team win the King's Cup in 2024, while being unable to defend the AFF Cup championship (losing to the Vietnamese team with a final score of 3-5 earlier this year).

Will Thai fans still support coach Masatada Ishii?

Photo: FAT Screenshot

Coach Masatada Ishii is currently leading the Thai national team with 14 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses. At first glance, these numbers may not seem bad, but when examined in detail, these results do not bring any significant progress for the "War Elephants", especially in the Asian arena and the World Cup, Siamsport emphasized.

The Thai team was eliminated early in the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar, in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and is facing the possibility of losing its ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup after losing 1-3 to Turkmenistan on June 10.

If we continue to put our hopes on coach Masatada Ishii, it is clear that everything will remain the same, and nothing will turn up. This coach is also said to be very conservative, only calling up familiar players to ensure results, instead of having to have new options to help the Thai team change for the better, Siamsport added.

Therefore, perhaps it is time for FAT to have a change in strategy, in terms of the national team's coach, should use domestic coaches again like the U.23 team and the women's team, and above all, must have a practical project to aim for the opportunity to attend the World Cup, according to Siamsport .

One of the Thai coaches being considered to potentially lead the national team to replace Mr. Masatada Ishii is Kiatisuk Senamuang, former coach of HAGL Club and CAHN team in V-League (Vietnam). Mr. Kiatisuk had a period of leading the Thai team from 2013 to 2017, leading the team to the third qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup in Asia, along with many other successes in regional tournaments.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bao-thai-lan-doi-sa-thai-hlv-nguoi-nhat-ban-dua-kiatisuk-tro-lai-185250913110618363.htm