Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Eddie Thomson

HIROSHIMA -- Former Australian national team coach Eddie Thomson is the longest-serving manager in the J. League, but two weeks ago he announced that he would be leaving Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the end of the current season. However, the affable, 53-year-old Scottish Australian, who has been at Hiroshima for four years, intends to stay in Japan and is currently looking for a new club.

In an interview with The Japan Times, the former Hearts and Aberdeen player gave his opinions -- in typical forthright style -- on what the future might hold for himself and Japanese soccer.

Got a job yet, Eddie?

No, I haven't spoken to anybody. I wouldn't do that if someone is already in the job.

But you must be looking at the teams out there and thinking, "That would do me." What about the Urawa Reds for instance?

I think a team like Urawa would be a real challenge for me. There's a team of underachievers. They need a kick up the a**, they do. Somebody's got to get their heads back to playing instead of worrying about their haircuts and Louis Vuitton bags and all that s**t.

Would you prefer a team in the Kanto area or doesn't it matter where?

I think everywhere (would be OK), but if you're in England you want to coach in London, and if you're in Japan, near Tokyo would be better. In Tokyo, you're on center stage.

It will be hard leaving (Hiroshima) -- the people are so nice. We've got a great house and the club's been super, but there comes a point where my ambitions are outweighing their ambitions.

When I took over the club, we had player power problems and had gone first, seventh, 12th, 14th. It was a house that was falling apart. We had five international players and we finished second from bottom in the league. There was something wrong and what was wrong with it was the players were running the club.

The only way to beat that is to make sure they're not running the club. The ones that are not going to toe the line, just get rid of them.

And now?

I love the club and I love the place. The club's great and I get on really well with (Kazuo) Imanishi, the general manager. The training facilities and everything are great, but if you're looking for us to be any better than middle of the table, they've got to spend some money.

I know I'm a good coach; I've been coaching 20 years and I've never had the sack, which is unusual. I've got the team playing as high as they can; they cannot play any better. The younger ones will get better, but the rest of the club, I can't improve them.

After four years at the club, you've got to change the personnel or you've got to change the coach, and Hiroshima just doesn't have the money to change the personnel.

Do you have faith in the J. League and Japanese football?

I have faith, yes. You look at Japanese soccer: technique-wise -- super; training and fitness -- super; communication -- nil. Well, not nil, but terrible compared with the rest of world.

They lack communication in attack and defense. For the Japanese, communication is the big problem, taking control, organizing.

How do you change that?

Well, it's embedded in the Japanese, unfortunately. I mean, you try and get a player here and he's got to go and ask his schoolteacher. You're talking of guys 24, 25 going back to their high school teacher or their university teacher. They won't make any decisions themselves.

When I signed for Hearts at 18, I lived 10 miles from Edinburgh, and I said to my dad: "Are you coming?"

He said: "No, it's you that's going to play there. If you want to go and play there, go and play there; if you don't, don't sign."

Thanks very much! But then I had to go and negotiate my own deal. Of course, I got underpaid, but it taught me not to be so stupid the next time.

Here they rely on the schoolteacher or somebody else. If you ask a Japanese a question, he'll go and ask somebody else first before he'll give you the answer.

I've been at Hiroshima now for four years and after team talks I say: "Any questions?"

Not one question.

But the younger generation's getting better, they're talking more. And Hiroshima is a country place; Tokyo lads are a bit more cocky and a bit more streetwise.

But Japanese soccer is leveling itself out. The league's good -- it's very good -- but the money they're paying I think is too much.

Do you think now we're starting to see the benefits of the J. League in the sense that it's producing its own stars?

In any country that's had part-time soccer, as soon as you have a national competition, it lifts it. The J. League is the best thing that ever happened here, for sure. If you look at the national team now, it's all the young lads that are playing in the J. League that are coming through.

They're steadily getting rid of the heroes like Dunga. The heroes have got to be local, like the (Shunsuke) Nakamuras and the (Shinji) Onos. But the foreign players, and the foreign coaches are still needed.

What do they need here in terms of coaching?

The most important thing is the coaching structuring -- you've got to have the people in place there whether they're working with me or (Shimizu S-Pulse coach) Steve (Perryman) or a good Japanese coach and spread the gospel around. The coaching's very, very important.

Sometimes you have to say in a game: I'm going to scuttle this and I've got to do this, I've got to put an extra forward on or another defender, should I play more defensively or push up. These are the decisions that your mind tells you and the Japanese coaches have got to be able to go and make these decisions.

Sometimes I see them on the sidelines and most of them just sit there. Their team's getting beat 2-1 with a quarter of an hour to go and they're not pushing an extra forward in or putting an extra man there, they're not doing nothing about it, they're letting the game go by.

The coach's job is not to accept anything. If you're getting beat and they're playing all over you, there's something wrong. You must do something about it. You've got to try something.

Coaches can smell when things are bad or complacent. If the players are playing good enough and working hard enough, then it's all just encouragement. But if they're not working hard or not moving, you have to shake them up.

It's good having (coach) Mick (Hickman) here to get some feedback. The rest of the coaches here agree with everything I do.

"What do you think of this?" -- "Yeah that's good."

"This?" -- "Yeah, good."

I ask Mick and he'll say: "I think we were f*****g s**t today."

You were national team coach in Australia for seven years; have you thought about the possibility of one day taking the Japan job?

Yes, I always say I enjoyed being the national coach because it's a challenge. You've got two or three days to get a team up and running and motivate them and get them playing.

Now (Philippe) Troussier's doing OK, but in two or three years time, I would be interested -- anybody would be interested in that.

Do you fancy Japan's chances in 2002?

I'd fancy my chances for sure. If Japan is going to fire, it's not going to be in France or South America -- the Japanese are far more settled when they're in Japan.

I'd fancy (Japan getting to) the quarterfinals or semifinals or something like that. For sure, I think they'll get through the first round.

They've got two years to go and they've got a lot of good young players and they're going to get better and better.

I'm not rubbishing Troussier, but they've got to pick their opposition and get some tough games and play a few of them away from home as well.

How do you think they'll do in the Olympics?

I think they'll go to the semifinals. But before they go, they should get all their handbags together and burn the f*****g lot and concentrate on their soccer. Throw away all their hair gel and their handbags and they'll be in with a real chance.

You think a dose of reality would be good for the Japanese players?

You bet your boots it would. At the (Barcelona) Olympics, the Australian players washed their own gear. Every single person. I think it's good for them.

What about Japan's chances in the Asian Cup?

I don't see why Japan can't win it. They've got a good squad and a lot of good players. I think one-on-one if you look at any of the teams, I would back Japan. If my life depended on it, I would back Japan. The Saudis, the Kuwaitis, the Koreans, the Chinese -- I think Japan's got more backbone than all of them.

Do you think Troussier is starting to get things right?

He's getting nearer the team. Now they've Morishima in there, and if you've got Nakata and Nakamura, you've got unbelievable talent in midfield.

You rate Nakamura?

A super player; he's got everything and is only going to get better and better.

What about Ono?

Ono's yet to prove himself to me. He's got great touch and great ability but I would love to see Ono take a stranglehold of the game and run the game. He needs to go out there and get a grip of the game.