Ord leaves suddenly
Gives family reason but reportedly joins Thai club
Bangladesh national football team head coach Andrew Ord left his job with two months remaining on his one-year contract after showing signs of improvement with the team, which had struggled at international level in recent past.
“We mutually parted ways after the coach after spoke of his family issues,” Bangladesh Football Federation's (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin told the Daily Star yesterday.
"He had communicated with us four days ago and proposed mutual parting. We accepted it yesterday [Tuesday] though the contract was till June [6th],” Salahuddin said. “His main problem is about his family. He has a two-and-a-half-year-old son who, he said, is growing up without a father. That's the reason he showed for leaving Bangladesh.”
However, it has been learnt that Ord has already taken charge of Thai League 1 side Air Force Central and it is believed that the communication with the club took place during Bangladesh's tour of Thailand last month.
During his 10-month stint, the 39-year-old guided Bangladesh in only one international match where his charges notched a creditable 2-2 draw against Laos on March 27. He also guided the under-23 team in AFC U-23 Championship where the boys in red and green lost all three matches against superior opponents but showed fighting attitude.
Ord also played a key role behind local coach Mahbub Hossain Roxy to help Bangladesh become runners-up in the SAFF U-19 Championship and display improved performances against Tajikistan (0-0), Uzbekistan (1-0) before beating Maldives and Sri Lanka in the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers.
According to Ord's guidelines, the BFF National Teams Committee arranged the recent FIFA friendly to prepare the team for September's SAFF Championship. Ord was supposed to lay out his plans for continuation of the team's training camp, which started on February 13, but his departure has interrupted BFF's plans and it will now have to wait for a new coach for the event.
“If he [Ord] is unhappy, then it will affect the performance of the national team. We still have enough time to appoint a coach ahead of the SAFF Championship. If we can appoint a coach this month, he will get four months to work with the team,” explained Salahuddin. “The National Teams Committee will sit on April 10 [Tuesday] to discuss the matter and soon they will announce the name of new high-profile coach."