Citeh Citeh (which bills itself as “an underground Manchester City blog”) has some interesting commentary on the “unwelcome politics” that have come with former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s involvement at the club. According to a recent post:
Predictably, it hasn’t taken our new Chairman long to start playing politics with our football club. I grimaced when I read that City were giving trials to 3 young Thai players – Suree Sukha, Kiatprawut Saiwaew and Teerasil Dangda.
I have no issue with Thais representing City as long as they are good enough and have been selected on merit. It is not unreasonable to question whether this is the case with the Thai trio. Of the three, Suree appears the most promising having done well in the recent Asian cup tournament. That said, City have an extensive network of scouts and will have been well represented at the Asian Cup. Strange, then, that they didn’t recommend Suree to City. Why the other two are in Manchester is anyone’s guess.
As Thaksin becomes increasingly desperate as he attempts to maintain his fading political profile in Thailand, he will do anything, absolutely anything, in order to boost his flagging popularity back home. Crucially, note that there has been no comment on Suree or the other Thais by any of City’s management team or coaching staff.
To read more about related issues – and particularly about Thaksin’s new role as a football boss – do check out the coverage on Citeh Citeh. For information on this new episode in Thaksin’s life this blog has become a valuable resource.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Grasshopper // Sep 7, 2007 at 10:18 am
Thaksin held a huge Thai street parade in Manchester on commencement of the new season. Free food and free gimmicks; everyone supposedly left quite happy and spiced up. If Suree Sukha, Kiatprawut Saiwaew and Teerasil Dangda cannot get into the XI on merit, then they don’t get in. Sven Goran Eriksson has the final say… If I was a Manchester City supporter, I would think it is a good thing that such a huge market in Thailand would be focusing upon my team; providing money to buy players of proven quality like (dead pans) Mark Bresciano…
Whether or not it is a conscious ploy to get more Thai people to follow Man City, it does provide an avenue of hope (after how the trio got to Manchester is forgotten) for Thai football; and surely that’s not a bad thing.
2 bangkokpundit // Sep 7, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Umm.. What about the Chinese players who have been signed or given trials by Premier league teams and Chinese team affiliations with some Premiership teams which seem to have been done solely to improve their marketability. I also don’t think LA Galaxy signed Beckham and are paying him so much money solely because of his footballing skills. It is his marketability.
There is a market, albeit relatively small although certainly not insignificant, for Manchester City to exploit in Thailand. Any team which was to sign or give a Thai player a trial run would receive even more press coverage in Thailand. Simply signing a player or giving a player a trial, who even the blogger acknowledges has recently showed skill, is not a fatal sign of interference. No doubt that Man City are paying more attention to Thai players with Thaksin in control, but this is certainly not interfering with team selection which is something different. There is speculation of Suree being loaned to the Swiss team Grasshoppers (is Grasshopper a supporter?). Surely, they wouldn’t take him on loan if they didn’t think he was good enough?
3 Thai Chat // Sep 7, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Thaksin paid for the club so he can do what it wants.
There’s is no point in dwelling on this.
It’s much ado about nothing…
4 jeru // Sep 7, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Thaksin too appeared disturbed enough to threaten to sue the Swiss banks he said was freezing his Swiss bank accounts, which a day later Thaksin denied explaining that he ‘forgot’ he possessed no Swiss bank accounts.
Is that too much ado about something then nothing . . . or maybe really something????
Even Thaksin himself do forget all his many honest (accounting) mistakes whether in Thailand or in Switzerland, it seems.
5 Citeh-Citeh // Sep 7, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Thanks for comments all.
Grasshopper – I think you are missing the point. This is a blatent political move by Thaksin, an attempt to maintain his public profile back home. It may provide an ‘avenue of hope’ of hope for Thai players, but let’s hope it doesn’t raise expectations only to have them shattered at a later date. Note carefully – I did say that I would be delighted if Suree (or any other Thai) made the first team based on ability. Time will provide us with the answers.
Bangkokpundit – It seems strange that City’s excelllent scouting system didn’t pick-up Suree, even after the Asian Cup. Your argument is semi-plausible, until we consider the comments of the Thai coach in yesterday’s Bangkok Post/Nation saying that City will sign all three players despite the fact that two of them are clearly not good enough (presently) for the premiership. Are you still saying that this isn’t interference. Re the point about Grashoppers, the Swiss league occasionally produces a decent side, but to compare the standard with the Premier League is totally wide of the mark.
Thai Chat – Thaksin is the temprary custodian of Manchester City FC. The fans are the football club. Thaksin would be well advised to get this simple, basic point and quickly.
6 Military Advisor // Sep 7, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Citeh-Citeh: don’t hold your breath waiting for Thaksin to get the message on the fans being the club. He never quite understood that the population in Thailand were the nation. He’s a businessman used to fast and slippery deals. That’s how he ran the country. I suspect that City will be run the same way. Bringing in second-rate players is his nationalist ploy.
7 Thad Williamson // Sep 8, 2007 at 12:48 am
Nice work Citeh-Citeh. I think the move for the Thai players has some City fans who otherwise are pleased with Thaksin’s investment scratching their heads. However, I don’t think the fans will get all that upset about this though unless they are actually pushed into first team duty ahead of other players. To be honest I can’t see Sven standing for that either, but we’ll see.
8 Observer // Sep 8, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Thaksin bought the team and he owns it. You claim of temporary custodianship appears based on nothing more than a fan’s belief that a football team is something more than it is.
Thaksin can stuff the entire team with Thais if he wants and even make Lydia the captain. He will lose all his games and all his money. But that is what you get to do when you buy things – and what others lose when they sell them.
I thought Thais were silly when they considered giant turbine made by GE or Mitubishi as national treasures, but your team spirit make a lot less sense than their nationalism.
If this team was a quarter as important as you seem to think it is, then it should be easy to collect a group of fans to put up the money and be custodians.
9 Citeh-Citeh // Sep 8, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Military Advisor – It will be interesting to how Thaksin is viewed in Britain in one or two years time. He will get away with interfering as long as the team is making progress. Business practice is very different in the UK and accountability mechanisms are well developed. Other strong personalities have chaired English football clubs – Maxwell, Ellis, Swales, Bates et al – they all took the fans for granted and became hate figures at their respective clubs.
Thad Williamson – I enjoyed reading your thoughtful paper which is linked at my blog. Thai coach (Chanvit) is saying that Kiatprawut Saiwaew and Teerasil Dangda will also be signed. I wonder if Sven knows about this as it hasn’t been reported in England.
10 MUFC :-) // Sep 8, 2007 at 7:11 pm
The Thai boys had a trial which everybody’s known from the first day what the outcome would be. (Do I need to tell you that it is “No, they wont get signed”?
IMO, everybody wins -the boys, Thaksin & Citeh- so I don’t know why you’re making a fuss about this.
Be positive for once will not make you lose a sleep.
11 citeh-citeh // Sep 8, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Observer – Clearly, subjective drivel. You almost made a sensible point about fans’ beliefs then ruined it by demonstrating your antipathy towards Thailand and your bitterness towards City. Shame.
MUFC – Wrong. Everyone loses. First Suree, because he will be forever known as Thaksin’s stooge. Second, City’s promising academy players. Third, expectations are raised to an unrealistic level. Oh yeah, let’s be positive with our own little dictator at the helm, not to mention the human rights abuses etc etc etc. Oh, and I promise I won’t mention the derby result:)
12 Garuda-thai // Oct 9, 2007 at 9:37 am
Your guys know nothing about football! Do not make it political out of this .
Every team on PL have the first team and the reserves team .Some even have the third team. Also the City got a good academy system.
come on guys! you might hate Thaksin to the bone ! But everyone in Thai football circle see it as a big chance for those thai boy to be trained among the best of man city .
That just for training ! Everything eles blow up by the media.
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