FAT terminate contract with Reid

The ex-England player's future in the Kingdom had been in doubt for a while since a rumour linking him with the assistant manager post at Stoke City surfaced in the British media last month.

The veteran coach, who was in charge of the national team for a year, further fuelled speculation by saying that he had no qualms of taking up a back seat role. The development indicated that the 53-year-old's proposed exit was imminent.   

In a desperate attempt to retain the service of the former Sunderland manager, under whom the Thai team appeared to head into the right direction, Worawi Makudi, the FAT president, travelled to England to sort out the matter.

After a meeting in Manchester, Reid, whose managerial career included stints at Leeds United, Coventry City and Manchester City, reportedly agreed to continue his job.

However, the Englishman's conduct since then contradicted to his words as he was unwilling to return to the country. That made Worawi lose his patience, resulting in the termination of Reid's contract.

The FAT boss stressed that the two parties have mutually agreed to terminate the contract and he considered the proposal of a dual role - working for both national team and Stoke - as unfeasible. 

"Actually, Reid really loved to work with our team. But, I understood from him that the job at Stoke City would help him in becoming a manager of a top-flight English team again.

 "I do not think allowing Reid to take up both jobs is appropriate. So, we mutually agreed to terminate the contract," said Worawi.

Worawi insisted that Reid's relationship with the association remained cordial and the Englishman himself promised to provide assistance in the event the Thai team would like to have a training camp at the club's facility.  

"Next year, we planned to send our Pre-Olympic squad to England. I might ask Reid to be a coordinator in arranging the trip."

The identity of Reid's successor remained unclear as Worawi was tight-lipped about the subject. He later said that the association needed a week's time to search for a suitable person.