Monday, December 3, 2012

Not a bed of roses

David Booth at a recent press conference in India
It's not been a bed of roses for former Phnom Penh Crown head coach David Booth since he took over the helm at Salgaocar FC in the Indian Premier League. His team remain without a win since his arrival and with six points from eight matches, they currently reside in the bottom five places, though a run of home games this month will give them something to look forward to. Scoring goals has been a problem for his team especially with Philippines striker Angel Guirado absent due to his involvement with his country's successful AFF Suzuki Cup campaign. Amongst Booth's squad is an Australian striker with a name to be reckoned with. Sean Rooney was with Newcastle Jets before joining Salgaocar in August from Indonesian Super League club Deltras. Forthright as ever, one of David's comments after a recent defeat was; "I do not have a magic wand. Even if a new coach comes in, there should not be huge problems in adapting," he explained. The vastly experienced Englishman was one of the first foreign coaches to be successful in Indian football when he won the Federation Cup with Mahindra United in 2003. He also won the President of Maldives Invitational Soccer Cup with them that year and then in his second job in India, he got newly-formed Mumbai promoted to the I-League in 2008. In his second spell with Mahindra, he took them to a fourth-place finish in the I-League and was voted Coach of the Year before the club were disbanded. In his first season in Cambodia with Crown, he guided them to the C-League title and the final of the AFC President's Cup.

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