Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
THE National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) has roped in Englishman Paul Smalley to be the national coach and head of player and coach development effective from the end of October.
The national football coach position had been left vacant since the end of March after South Korean Kwon Oh-son's contract came to an end.
Smalley came to the Sultanate having spent three years as the National Technical Director in Bangladesh.
He has joined up with the SEA Games team and shared his views on what he has seen since arriving nine days ago.
“They have a real resilience, good attitude and good temperament and are looking forward to the tournament,” said Smalley in an interview with BruSports News on Wednesday night.
“They have been together now for a number of weeks and things are progressing nicely.
“It can be seen in tonight’s game (a 6-0 win over DPMM FC U-19 at the NFABD Artificial Turf in Berakas) the good things,” he added.
“But the reality of the situation is that it is a difficult tournament playing against teams with good credibility at both the under-23 and senior national team levels.
“It is a tournament everyone will benefit from experience and be better moving forward. Things are bright here in Brunei for the future from what I have seen so far,” concluded Smalley, who has been working in Asia for nearly six years.
Smalley was a former professional player and youth international.
He had coached England at youth levels in World and European Championships and also previously served as Director of Youth at Portsmouth Football Club in the EPL.
