Voting starts for top coach title

Hot contender: Ha Noi T&T coach Phan Thanh Hung is favourite to win the Coach of the Year title this year. — VNS Photo Quang Thang

With five hot contenders, Phan Thanh Hung of Ha Noi T&T is favourite to win the award after his team took the national premier league title with one game to spare.

Hung took charge of the team in January at the start of the season after former coach Trieu Quang Ha stepped down. He took on the task of rebuilding a team that had been performing poorly and he very nearly quit after only a few matches, saying he couldn't work with a team of ‘stars'.

However, the coach who used to work with the national youth team decided to stick with it and T&T went on to prove their strength in only their second year competing in the V-League.

The team from the capital won 14, drew four and lost eight to finish top of the league with 46 points.

With consistently good performances, his side was voted team of the month on three occasions while Hung was voted coach of the month twice.

However, he will face stiff opposition from Pham Cong Loc of Dong Thap.

Dong Thap finished third in the V-League, surprising a lot of people with a group of players than many considered average at best.

Loc breathed new life into a team that had struggled for a number of seasons with inconsistency which led to their relegation to the First Division in 2008. In just two seasons, he united the players and rebuilt the team, turning them into the league's dark horses.

This season, Dong Thap were one of the few teams to draw with defending champions Da Nang and they also defeated the former two-time winners Becamex Binh Duong, along with T&T, twice.

Loc has attracted attention from a number of clubs who are looking for a new coach for next season.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan of Khatoco Khanh Hoa is still thinking about what could have been after failing to push his team into the top three.

His dream was shattered in the last match on Sunday when in the dying seconds, Hoa Phat Ha Noi scored to make it 1-1, handing third place to Dong Thap.

Under his guidance, Khanh Hoa have finished in the top half of the league since he took over in 2007 and there is no doubt that he played a key role in helping them to finish in fourth position, their highest in the last five years.

Da Nang's Le Huynh Duc was voted coach of the month three times which could also be an important factor in the outcome of the final result.

The V-League's youngest coach guided Da Nang to the title last year and made a great start to this season, topping the table at the halfway point. However his luck changed and after a number of important players were forced to sit out the second half of the season through injury, Da Nang eventually finished in sixth.

The only foreigner on the candidate list is Ricardi Formosinho of Dong Tam Long An.

He officially took charge of the team after the sixth round in early April, and in a short space of time, Formosinho changed the face of the team who was twice crowned V-League champions.

The language barrier and different training styles did not prevent the Portuguese coach from communicating and teaching his players a new brand of football. The team improved with every game and became a force to be reckoned with by the end of the season. They finished with the best record in the second half of the season with 10 wins, one draw and only two losses, a great result compared to three wins four draws and nine losses in the first half.

The vote will be held next month and the results will be announced in a few weeks time. — VNS