The race for the vacant Hong Kong national team manager role appears to be heating up after Kevin Bond became the second high-profile English manager in a week to express an interest in the post on Thursday. Bond, who was formerly the manager of Pegasus in the Hong Kong Premier League, spoke after leading an impressive Hong Kong league select XI to third place in the annual Lunar New Year Cup at Hong Kong Stadium. The 61-year-old is perhaps best known for being an assistant to former Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp during some of his most successful periods in the English top flight. He also had a spell in charge of Bournemouth between 2006 and 2008. Ian Holloway reveals he was approached to become new manager of the Hong Kong national team, and expresses an interest After former Blackpool manager Ian Holloway made public his interest in the role on UK television last week, Bond broke his silence on the position and said he was well-matched for the role. “It’s a situation I’m very interested in,” Bond said. “I believe I’m in a good position because I know all the teams and their coaches, and I know the majority of the players. “As you can see from the past five or six days and the results and performances, we managed to be organised and we managed to be difficult to beat and cause problems. Gary White quits Hong Kong: new coach leaves post to join Japanese J.League club Tokyo Verdy after just three months in role “Going forward, who knows? But it’s certainly something I’m very interested in.” Bond was previously employed in Hong Kong for a spell in April 2016, when he led Pegasus to a cup double. He returned for a second spell with the club in November of 2016 before leaving for a second time eight months later to again team up with Redknapp, who was then in charge at Birmingham City. Bond has operated in an advisory capacity to Pegasus since then and is thought to be in the frame for the national team role after interviewing and making a four-man shortlist last time around. The ex-Southampton defender was hired by former Hong Kong Football Association board member and Pegasus chairman Stephen Lo Kit-sing to take charge of the Hong Kong side for the Lunar New Year Cup competition. “I’ve been here for a couple of visits and really enjoyed my time,” Bond said. “I would never want to get ahead of myself and I know there will be many fine people interested [in the role], but I do believe I have the right credentials. “I know the people out here, I know what they stand for, I know the strengths and weaknesses of Hong Kong football and the players and I certainly believe that I’m equipped to get the best out of the squad of players that Hong Kong has,” Bond said. I can’t imagine the #HongKong FA will be too thrilled that Holloway went public with this approach. Still, nice to know they’re aiming high in replacing Gary White pic.twitter.com/9e8BbnPwei — Paul Ryding (@pjrydo) February 3, 2019 <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- //--><!]]> Bond was heavily linked with the Hong Kong manager’s job last year before the role was eventually offered to Gary White. White subsequently left the role after three months following a brief but successful stint in charge of the national team during which he led them to the finals of the 2019 EAFF Championship in South Korea for the first time in nine years. Following White’s appointment, another former HKFA board member, Canny Leung Chi-shan, who was said to have supported Bond’s appointment, left her role with the HKFA complaining about a lack of oversight in the selection panel. Former Blackpool and Leicester City manager Holloway on Sunday revealed that he was sounded out by an intermediary acting on behalf of the HKFA, and said he would be interested in taking up the post, but added: “Whether I’ll get it or not, I don’t know.” Holloway has been out of the game since being released by QPR in May 2018.
