MORE than two months ater earning the Philippines a spot in Asia’s biggest tournament, the Philippine Football Federation has sacked coach Thomas Dooley, replacing him with former England player Terry Butcher.
Dooley, who took over from Michael Weiss in 2015, led the Philippines to a scintilating 2-1 win over Tajikistan last March 27 to secure the country’s first ever qualification to the Asian Cup in January.
Dooley’s contract expired last March and the former US national player wasn’t given an extension as the PFF went on a two-month search that eventually led to the hiring of the former captain of the English national team.
Butcher was initially penciled to take over the head coaching job of Global Cebu FC in 2016 and he even visited Cebu to check the facilities at the Cebu City Sports Center and the University of San Carlos Football stadium.
He was also able to check some of the matches during the 2016 SunStar Football Cup, which was played at the Cebu City Sports Center during his visit. However, his appointment to Global didn’t push through.
Butcher, who is currently in Russia to commentate on the Fifa World Cup, will have a busy schedule as he will be preparing the team for the Suzuki Cup later this year and the Asian Cup in the UAE next year.
The PFF was sheduled to make an announcment regarding the national team late last night, but the news already broke when the Scottish Sun announced Butcher’s new coaching job. (ML)