Fegidero selected as interim manager

Fegidero on the left. (c/o Philippine Football Federation)

The Philippine Football Federation released a couple more statement on Thursday, in light of Tom Saintfiet's departure from the team.

Senior National Teams Director Freddy Gonzalez released these two statements as follows.

On Tom, he adds, 

"We had a longterm contract with Tom, and had every intention of seeing it through.

That he came to me about the Mali job just as we're about to depart for the Merdeka Cup is obviously disappointing. But it made clear to me that his heart was already set elsewhere.

I have no interest in holding on to anyone who's not fully committed to the Philippines and our goals.

We need people who are all in. It's the only way we will succeed. That goes for the players, the staff, and most definitely our head coach. We intend to get that man on board very soon."

The Malian Football Federation had installed Saintfiet earlier on Thursday, as it kicks off its quest to qualify into the final stage of African Cup of Nations next year in Morocco. The Eagles are in Group I and will face off against Mozambique and Eswatini in this particular window.

As for the second statement, it says,

With the upcoming Merdeka Cup just days away, the Philippine Men’s National Football Team has tasked Norman Fegidero to take charge as interim Head Coach. For this camp only, he will be supported by coaching staff of the Philippine Women’s National Team, with Mark Torcaso, Andrew Durante, Sinisha Cohadzic, and Garrath McPherson all committing to join and support our men’s team during this campaign.

"Given the circumstances, we needed to act quickly. Norman was the assistant coach in the last four games and was the obvious choice to take charge in the interim. With some of our staff departing along with Tom, we needed to bring in additional support," said Director of Senior National Football Teams Freddy Gonzalez.

"Luckily for us, we have a great staff on the Women’s side that was more than willing to answer the call for this tournament. It’s unusual to see a crossover of staff from separate teams, but it’s a situation that required a novel solution. This temporary fix will give us much needed time to pin down a permanent head coach."

Torcaso and his staff are fresh from the conclusion of their training camp at Rizal Memorial last week, the first one since the installation of Gonzalez as the replacement of Jeff Cheng.

Fegidero has had previous experience handling the national team, steering them to a runner-up finish in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup Qualifying in Iloilo. The Philippines defeated Brunei, 1-0, played to a goalless draw against Tajikistan, and won against Bhutan, 3-0.