Hua Hin City FC

[Big Boy]

Will you have any supporters left? Most of them are closet Hua Hin fans.

Is the first photo your promotion dreams going up in smoke again, just like last year, which resulted in Prachuab being put into an easier league this season?

[Sabai Sabai]

Thanks for that, based on that, it would appear we've done well to avoid Thai Honda and Ubon, even Sukothai I guess.

[Big Boy]

Yes, we've drawn the easier sides such as Prachuab

[buksida]

Not going to be drawn into banter with a team that is named after a real estate company.

[Big Boy]

Sounds like the green eyed monster getting jealous about the Hua Hin City coffers. Incidentally, how are Prachuab going to get their team to Udon Thani? Hitch a ride and share a tent? We're considering chartering a plane

[Sabai Sabai]

http://www.kondivision2.com/content.php?id=5205
I've just read this article(in Thai I'm afraid) from a respected ex Thai national team footballer and coach, who incidentally helped out Muangkan towards the end of the season. He gives his thoughts on the 12 teams involved and their readiness for the potential step up.Ubon are strongest team, with Sukothai and Thai Honda not far behind. He then thinks Udon and Prachuap are of a similar standard and their experiences last season may help them. He then has Hua Hin and Pitchin as being similar(both strong at home) and reckons they could both hold their own in division 1. Interesting article and sounds like Udon + Prachuap will be the ones we need to beat! Also, definite bonus we avoided the strongest 3 teams! Should be an interesting league!

[Big Boy]

a respected ex Thai national team footballer and coach, who incidentally helped out Muangkan towards the end of the season.

That says it all for me. Apart from a mid-season spurt by Hua Hin, Muangkan were running away with the league until the period, 'towards the end of the season'.

What do we normally think of England coaches past or present? Why does he need to make a few bob out of writing articles? Why is he helping out, rather than leading a team to success? He's failed.

[Sabai Sabai]

a respected ex Thai national team footballer and coach, who incidentally helped out Muangkan towards the end of the season.

That says it all for me. Apart from a mid-season spurt by Hua Hin, Muangkan were running away with the league until the period, 'towards the end of the season'.

What do we normally think of England coaches past or present? Why does he need to make a few bob out of writing articles? Why is he helping out, rather than leading a team to success? He's failed.

So despite being involved in Thai football, playing and coaching at the top level most of his life, the fact he didn't win the league when he took over on a short term temporary basis at Muangkan means he can't have a valid, educated opinion on the teams involved???

I would argue he knows a lot more about them than any forum member on here and I found it an interesting read and feel more educated about the teams involved for having read it.

Each to their own though and if you wish to dismiss his opinions based on him missing out on Champions League by a point or so, that's up to you!

[Big Boy]

No, I don't dismiss it, although with a few games to go, it was Muangkan's title to lose. I just don't believe everything I read. Why would somebody held in such high esteem be job hunting anyway. I would have thought he'd have been snapped up by the big boys, and not helping out a 3rd rate team in the lower echelons of Thai football.

Yes it is interesting.

I read an interesting article at the mid-season break stating Hua Hin City were runaway favourites for promotion to Div 1 this season. I really enjoyed the article, and wanted to believe it, but didn't. It was just one person's opinion.

My personal feeling (hope) is that money talks in Thailand, and somehow, it will bring Hua Hin City success. I've seen Hua Hin play some really good football, but I've seen them play very badly as well. in the last quarter of the season, they played more good than bad. My biggest concern is rain - it does not suit their style of play i.e.

- At Looktabfah, they were a goal up and well on top. The rains started, and they were fortunate to scrape a draw.

- At Singburi it didn't rain, but there was a couple of inches of water on the pitch. they didn't get past first base, and really deserved to lose.

- At Petchaburi, 2 goals up when the rains started - scraped a 2-2.

I ask you - this guy has been around the upper echelons of Thai football for a long time - what would he know about the lower levels? If you asked Roy Hodgeson about Plymouth Argyle's chances this season, he'd probably say, "Who?"

[Sabai Sabai]

Well hopefully Hua Hin can pick up points a little easier than you, as you seem to be missing this one!

I'm not defending nor lauding his abilities as a coach, I don't know enough about the guy to do so. Neither do I accept his opinions as gospel, however, this guy has been around Thai football for a long long time at whatever level and has surely earned the right to express a valid opinion.

To say he will know nothing about the lower echelons of Thai football is sheer speculation on your part.

Also worth remembering that coaching and having a valid viewpoint(ie punditry) are not always linked. The job he is doing these days is hardly relevant. His experience and being around the game for so long, in my opinion, is.

Although, you're welcome to dismiss my opinion in a similar fashion to how you dismissed his, I won't be offended!

[Big Boy]

I understand and respect your point fully. However, as you've probably guessed, I don't have a lot of time for pundits To me, it's like having your hopes built up, only to see them dismissed before it happens.

As an example, I won't even think about the Udon Thani match until the Prachin Buri match is over. IMHO you can't beat current form and knowledge of injuries/suspensions if you're going to say who will be successful. I wonder if your man predicted Petchaburi would be in the Champions League mix 2 months ago? You can be sure he thought it would be Muangkan and somebody else.

I worry that guys like this suffer from the 'England Football Supporter' syndrome - I do . i.e.: England won the World Cup in 1966, so its our right to win it every 4 years. Thai Honda won their league by 14 points, but how good were the rest of the teams in their division? Yes, I was pleased that we missed them in the draw, and anybody looking at their performance so far must give them a fighting chance. But nobody yet can say for sure that they are better than Hua Hin. The guy (and most pundits) will be working off historical data. Teams like Hua Hin don't have much of a history, so he'll be basing his predictions on a load of poppycock.

[Davy B]

Wow!! Great debate guys. As we all know football is all about opinions and you both are expressing them to their limits. It is great to have healthy banter. Pundits and Coaches are a breed apart. I read about pundits such as Robbie Savage, who was an average player himself who couldn`t get in the "Class of 92" with the likes of Scholes and Beckham, but can hide in a padded cell and slag off Sir Alex Ferguson - very brave or extremely stupid man - when he retired and left the club in total turmoil. He named 10 players that should be shown the door. I agreed with 7 of them. However 2 of them that I didn`t agree with have left to go to bigger clubs and will probably come back to haunt us. Enough said. As you know Big Boy, I have not had the pleasure of watching Hua Hin City for very long, but what I have seen has impressed me. I am sure that not many teams will look forward to playing us but I have reservations about OUR coach. Having said that, he got the job done and got the team promoted. We have no Plan B when it starts raining. He doesn`t seem to motivate the players, he makes wrong substitutions at the wrong times and appears to play players out of position and they become ineffective and most times makes no substitutions at all when it is blatantly obvious that they are needed. If I can see it, but I was not a player or a coach, can I become a pundit please??

[Big Boy]

Are you going on Saturday Davy? It's a lot easier to find than Putchaburi. Drive South until you get to the Prachaup traffic lights. Turn left, and it's the stadium just before the fly-over.

I agree with your comments about the coach. Actually, after 2 years of watching the team, I'm still not sure who is in charge. Is it the dentist? Or is it the old guy in the white T Shirt? Or is that the problem, too many cooks, resulting in indecision? You missed the worst substitution blunder of the lot. We had a player come off injured early in the second half. They forgot to put a substitute on, and we played the rest of the match with 10 men .

We definitely need a plan B. We can't travel to Bangkok and well beyond at this time of year and hope that it doesn't rain - this is Thailand, and it is wet season. Even if it doesn't rain, it will have rained, and we can't play on a heavy surface either - remember the stuffing we got at Singburi?

One thing in our favour is that we should be back to full fitness with just one game (this week) in 5 weeks. We did suffer from 2 (different) key players missing in each of our last 2 matches. It will be interesting to see who commands the centre half position, Stephens or Lampty. In Lampty's absence, Stephens showed a fantastic vision for the game, and was brilliant. Lampty is still the proverbial Brick Outhouse, and as hard as nails. 2 brilliant players in their their own way, but playing 2 a luxury/waste. Alternatively, do we need to play our captain Kanchit elsewhere? We've got a lot of options, and have to hope our coach(es) make the right choices.

[musungu]

I wonder why this topic has such a lot of coverage being high lighted under Latest Hua Hin Topics, when of late only two seem to contribute - is it because one of the 'two' is a MOD ?

[Big Boy]

I count 5 contributors on this page alone

I post as a member, not a Mod because it interests me. Look in somewhere like Current Affairs, which bores the pants off me, you'll find 99% of my posts are as a Mod. Everybody's interests are different.

If you don't want to read it, then please ignore it - nobody will be offended. The fact the thread has over 14,000 views shows that more people are interested than actually post. Incidentally, the thread has only appeared on the Latest Hua Hin Topics in the last few weeks.

[Edit] Sorry, I miscounted the number of contributors.