This is from the Bangkok post They are Kirati Kaewsombut, Ukrit Wongmeena, Yodsapol Tiengda, Chitiphat Tanklang, Piyapong Homkajorn, Arthit Promkhan, Chaowat Weerachart and Nattawut Sombatya. Kirati, Ukrit, Yodsapl and Chitiphat, who are over 18 years old, will train with Leicester's reserve team, while the other four will train with players from other countries. The players are from Buriram PEA's Road to Stardom project. Leicester City are owned by Thailand's duty free retailer King Power. Buriram PEA chairman Newin Chidchob said the eight could be future stars of the club and the national team. Newin said he planned to develop under-16 players and urged parents to send their skilful children to join Buriram PEA football academy. "We are willing to give Thai players chances to become successful in football," he said. "Parents should take their children to Buriram football academy. If they are good enough, we promise to give them all the support they need." We all know the owners wanted to do something like this make football bigger in Thailand
awful. they will speak in thai (or the language of choice over there) and stop team unity. Also make reserve training less like a stepper, and more like a separate training. Very poor footballing decision. Very disapointed.
If they are good enough then I dont mind them coming in but if they are only going to train with us because they are from Thailand then that will be a bit of a farce
I would be very surprised if these kids can't speak English, having been to Thailand I met very few youngsters that couldn't speak a word so I doubt language would be a problem. Until they have trained with better players we'll never know how good they are!!
will cause segregation at training. Less banter and good spirit. Really is a poor footballing decision.
Why is it a bad decision? You sound like a Millwall fan - our club and city are not full off racist bigots that would automatically look at someone and exclude them because they look or sound different. Anyway Thai people have been coming to Leicester for years because of the University of Leicester who have a big recruitment drive over there and offer scholarships and the like - knew a lot of Thais when I was at uni there. There is a big Thai community in Loughborough that have been here for years - good Thai restaurants too (I recommend the Thai Grand). Bet that is one the reason why we have Thai owners as Leicester is well known there. I remember when Bryan Robson was manager there and he said that they had some very good players - no reason not to have a look at them and see if if was speaking the truth.
I wonder if they are going to just train or with a view of earning a contract. I hope we dont sign them and have to play them because they are Thai. I have no problem if they are good enough but we cant start playing people because the owners want Thai people. The club was advertising for a Thai speaking financial controller a few weeks ago
I don't know why it would cause segregation. Unless all our squad our racists that is. And you never know, old Ukrit might be fluent in English and a right practical joker. Like Proud, if they're good enough to improve the team I don't have a problem with them coming and I'd imagine it'd be on a trial basis with them trying to earn a contract. I doubt Sven will be forced to play them. What the owners want first and foremost is promotion and they know we won't achieve that by forcing Sven to play players that aren't good enough and I doubt Sven would bow down to them anyway - a lesser manager maybe but not Sven. Also, the owners will not want to risk Sven walking out because it's great PR for the club to have Sven in charge. Everyone said that managers would be forced to play Abe but he's been in and out of the side since he arrived. If the players are deemed to be good enough they'll get a contract and if they're not, they won't. Simple. Any opportunity to unearth new talent is a good one IMO.
Ok let me explain that segregation comment: I went to a small college and we had a lot of foreign exchange students. They all grouped together and didnt branch out much. Its not racist, but when such a large number of people with a different culture come and join, they naturally stay together. Its not racist of the players at all, just the 'comfort zone'. Its only natural for large groups of people to speak their language to each other. you can defend it if you want but its just the social norm i think. I could well be wrong though, and ill accept that i am.
