HANOI (5 March 2011) – Rumours are rife in Vietnam that former Philippines national coach Simon McMenemy and current Thailand’s Sisaket FC David Booth have been linked to football’s top job – following the departure of the volatile Henrique Calisto this week.
The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) confirmed that they are looking for a capable replacement to take over from Calisto with the priority on a foreigner.
According to a local newspaper, the VFF are looking at several candidates including the 34-year-old McMenemy.
The former chief coach of the Philippines national team became unofficially the youngest football coach in the world of an international team at the age of 33-years-old last year.
Previously, he was the assistant coach of English non-League football team Worthing.
McMenemy took the Philippine national football team to the semi-finals of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, following a win and two draws in the group stage including their famous win over defending champions Vietnam in Hanoi.
Even though they were denied a place in the final by Indonesia, their victory over Vietnam in the group stage was ranked as one of the “Top 10 soccer stories of 2010” by columnist Georgina Turner of American sports magazine Sports Illustrated.
The second nominee is David Booth, an English coach who led the Laos national team at AFF Cup 2010. He was also the coach of the Brunei national team in 1996-1999 and Myanmar in 2000-2003.
Booth also had previous experience with BEC Tero in Thailand, Mumbai FC, Valencia Club and Khanh Hoa (Vietnam). He is now the chief coach of Sisaket FC Club in Thailand.
The third nominee is believed to be English coach, Peter John Taylor, had previously worked for Hull City, Crystal Palace and Leicester City clubs.
The 58-year-old coach is now working for Bradford City.
Since 1991, the VFF have employed 15 coaches, including four Vietnamese – Vu Van Tu (1991), Nguyen Sy Hien (1991), Tran Duy Long (1994-1995) and Tran Van Khanh (2004) – with none making an impression.
