Without ever having coached a game, former England defender Terry Butcher has left his position as the Philippine Men’s National Football Team head coach.
The stunning development was announced by Butcher himself in an interview with the Press Association.
“I’m sorry to announce that I will not be proceeding in the role as head coach of the Philippines national football team,” said the former Scotland assistant coach.
Butcher was announced as the new Azkals mentor in a press conference last June 14, 2018 at the Solaire Casino & Resort in Parañaque City. He replaced former USA captain Thomas Dooley, who led the Azkals to the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup final and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
The former Sydney FC coach was appointed alongside Scott Cooper as Senior Football Adviser, Chris Greatwich as assistant coach, and Steve Marcells as goalkeeping coach. How this development affects them remains to be seen.
However, Butcher cited that he was not able to meet his own expectations for the squad that led to his resignation.
“Across recent months I’ve been intensely engaged with many people to thoroughly understand and prepare for this exciting challenge,” he added. “The vital issue for myself was to carefully build a robust plan to meet the football ambitions of the national team and ‘do the country proud.’
“Regretfully, I’ve not been able to make this work in the way that I intended and I’ve decided not to continue in the role.”
Still, the 59-year-old wishes the Azkals luck as they prepare for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup on January, 2019.
“I remain convinced that the Philippines has great potential and I’m impressed with the high-calibre people that I’ve had the pleasure to meet,” he expressed.
“I wish all good things for the Azkals and in particular success in their debut in the 2019 Asia Cup. One day, I look forward to seeing a Philippines team in the World Cup.”
Neither the Philippine Football Federation nor the Azkals management has commented on this issue. Needless to say, this merely sends the team’s program for the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup into further disarray.
