Bryan Robson has been confirmed as the new national coach yesterday. It will be the first time that the Englishman has taken up a managerial role at the international level.
The Football Association of Thailand president Worawi Makudi said the 52yearold would sign a fouryear contract and build a team capable of reaching the World Cup finals in 2014.
"He has agreed in principle to be the national team coach," Worawi said. The former England captain was expected to ink the deal but asked for more time to comprehend the contract terms.
"He's agreed to become coach, he's very happy with what we've offered him. It's a fouryear deal. The plan is he'll coach Thailand for the Asian Cup, the Olympics and hopefully the World Cup too."
Worawi said the contract would be up for review after the first year with an option for both parties to annul it.
"The contract stipulated that after the first year there would be performance evaluation. Both sides have the right to reconsider the deal.
"We don't want to be tightly bound by the contract. If the work does not meet our expectation, we can terminate it immediately.
"The association doesn't have much money to compensate for the cost of contract termination. So, the contract we offered him is based upon that view. Hopefully, we could see it out," said Worawi, who is also the FIFA executive board member.
The FAT president also said that Robson demonstrated his determination for the job by taking video tapes of the Thai team to study back home before returning to be officially unveiled as national coach next month.
Steve Darby, Reid's righthand man, will continue his role in assisting Robson while former national captain Kiatisak Senamuang reportedly agreed to become member of the new management team.