It is just eight days from the start of the new season in T3 and ChiangMai FC have fired Brazilian head coach Reuther Moreira.
Predictably there has been no statement from the club or from the as yet unannounced investors.
Moreira has been coaching in Thailand since 2011 managing several teams across the country, most notably Phuket Andaman in 2014, Trat F.C. from 2015 to 2018 and more recently Ranong United and Udon Thani.
As part of the proposed investment in to CMFC Marcelo Conceição hired Moreira as head coach tasking him with building a new team to compete in T3 North.
It is hard to know what went wrong – but not so hard to speculate.
Christ FC have not yet been paid for their management of CMFC and Coach Pao is reported to be paying expenses from his own funds.
I have seen comments that suggest CMFC simply could not afford a foreign coach but Reuther Moreira is basically a Thai coach – he has family and commitments in this country. He was working more for his love of the game than for any expected financial gain.
What is more likely is that there was not room for two head coaches; was this Coach Pao asserting his control over the team?
It is also likely that Coach Pao was looking to use more players from his squad at Coach FC. The arrival of a number of Brazilian players and of other players with T2/T3 experience may also have been an issue.
It was clear in last week’s friendly against MaeJo that Coach Reuther had built a squad that would compete strongly in T3 and that he had a warm and respectful relationship with his players. It was his team. That changed today.
So the turmoil continues and the club says nothing.