16th March, 2015
Reply #1
Name: Russ John
Team supported: Nakhon Ratchasima
Twitter: @russreport
The season so far has provided exciting and competitive football matches on the whole with good atmosphere at games – so important for the TV audience – as a side note, satisfied TV viewers are vital as they may become tomorrow’s ticket paying fans.
The stand out team has, of course been Army but can they sustain their dynamic form. I feel that the usual suspects will bubble to the top ie Buriram and MT United, the latter whom I was impressed with when they beat NRFC in game 1. Chainat and Suphanburi have also impressed me.
At the bottom, I see no hope for TOT and unfortunately the 3 promoted teams will continue to struggle within a pretty strong Premier League line up. Chang Rai, Tero, Chonburi and Port have yet to impress and Chonburi aside, these teams will occupy bottom half positions.
No season report can be written without a comment on refereeing standards. Acknowledging how difficult the role of the officials in the modern game is, with the attendant constant need to cheat by players, one has to comment upon the lack of consistency of standards. I think we can all cope with poor refereeing - as long as it is consistently poor but...
Penalty decisions, decisions that can dictate the outcome of a game (a season sometimes), have been poorly officiated. There have been 2 or 3 nailed on clear penalty claims dismissed and several non-penalties awarded due to simulation and basic lack of knowledge of the rules of the game. The only answer that I can see is some or more training in the form of referee’s workshops.
Finally, the Swatcats. 6 points from 5 games, albeit those points coming from victories over fellow strugglers represents a decent start. All Swatcats fans will acknowledge that we are not going to set the world on fire this year. Survival will be a plus. Without risk of bias, I feel that The TPL needs a potentially huge and well supported provincial team like the Swatcats - it will be a real shame if they are relegated. I personally think that they will survive – just. Watch out for Dominic Adeyeah – he will cause problems for most defences.
Reply #2
Name: Tommie Duncan
Team supported: Port FC
Twitter: @TJRDBKK
As a Thai Port fan I was going into the season with dread. Losing Bowling, the majority of the team, and bringing in a coach without a proven track record who chose a less than stellar side due to monetary constraints and who knows what other reasons did not really have me fired up. Aside from a few good friendlies the season looked pretty grim.
My attitude did a quick 180 a week before the season when Madame Pang bought the team and brought Thai Port into the world of TPL teams with money. In several ways this change was felt immediately with a freshly painted stadium, a more professional staff at the shop (albeit they still don’t have that ticket thing down yet), more people at the ground, and a positive outlook for the future.
Of course this has not translated into on field performance. The first 5 matches have yielded only 3 points. Terribly hard schedule, but the team should have been able to sneak at least two more points out of those games. Without Madame Pang there would be a lot of despair at PAT, but I do think Uncle will be gone and the team will make a lot of changes at the break. Bringing in a good foreign coach with eyes toward the future that young Thai players want to play for makes sense. If Port can stay up this season then it should be steady improvement down the road.
The rest of the league- Buriram the clear shining star. Seems they will run away with it. Suphan looks very promising, Glass as well. Army is off to a great start; but sustainable? BU up and coming? MTU and Chon do not appear as strong as in years past. The rest of the teams elicit a “meh.” Relegation fight should be entertaining. Hope we are not to big a part of it.
With more and more restrictions on foreign players I don’t really look for any marked increase in the level of play. It’s decreased every year I have been a fan. I really miss how things were my first year, with five foreigners on the pitch. The matches were much more enjoyable to watch. I’m all for developing local talent but what I want is to see great football and a highly competitive league with teams at parity. No salary cap and the restrictions on foreign players ensure we will never see that.
As usual the officiating has been abysmal. 5 weeks in and we have already seen a rash of awful calls. Every year I think, “They can’t get any worse.” Every year I am proven wrong. It really is Reetard Central out there. Maybe they train them to be that way. No one can be that incompetent.
And what’s up with this schedule? One game in a month! Time to do away with the Songkhran break.
Well, buckle your seat belts folks. It’s always entertaining and it will be this year as well; both on and off the pitch.
Reply #3
Name: Paul Murphy
Team supported: Army Utd
Twitter: PaulmurphyBKK
The season has started well, with a lot of closely fought games.
Of course, it's good to see Army Utd on top, especially given the loss of last season's two best players - Botti and Kapralik - and our 1st choice goalkeeper, Sarawut. Most fans agreed at the start of the season that the central midfield pair, Anuwat and Tossawat, would have to raise their games and they have responded with performances that have earned international call-ups. Melvin De Leeuw and Kai Hirano have been great additions so far and new goalkeeper Hassan Sunny looked excellent in his first two games before getting injured. Coach Gary Stevens seems to have forged a good team spirit, which may not keep us at the top for much longer but has allowed fans to raise what were modest expectations.
Like Russ, I agree the current league table will be quite different by mid-season but I can see Suphanburi and Bangkok Glass having good seasons, with possible Top 4 finishes. Buriram have been very impressive in the ACL and it's difficult to see anyone stopping them taking a 3rd straight title, especially with their new Brazilian strikers looking so strong.
The relegation spots look likely to be filled by TOT, Navy and Saraburi at this stage but the likes of Thai Port and Nakhon Ratchasima should get stronger after shaky starts.
I liked the look of Ratchaburi when I saw them. They played some nice football in the 1st half against Army and the 3-1 defeat was harsh on them. I can see them in the top 6. Chonburi appear to be suffering a hangover from last season's disappointments and it's difficult to see them challenging for the title again.
The current break is a bit ridiculous, just five games in, but T.I.T. Enjoying the season so far and Army's form certainly helps.
Reply #4
Name: Rob McEvoy
Team supported: n/a
Twitter: @robmcevoythai
It hasn't been disappointing but after the Thai national team’s success perhaps underwhelming. The star Thai players haven’t been noticeable yet.
The current break is a nonsense if you’re trying to produce a successful league. These are structural things that could be changed with some planning. Stop messing with the schedule.
Live games are still great but the TV product seems to be getting worse. No one would watch a TV game and get excited to go along to the stadium. That is still a big negative.
I am pleased for Gary Stevens that Army Utd are going well.
And as a neutral, I'll continue to defend the refs. There are bad decisions everywhere in this world of Mourinhos. Thai refs are not that bad 99% of the time. You can't only moan about decisions against your team. However, I wish linesman would let more offsides go.
I’ve also noticed a slight trend towards less kicking the ball out for non injuries and less non injuries in general. And more importantly, MTU seem to have dispensed with the huddle. Say what you like, but they are trend setters. Let's hope so.
Reply#5
Name: Brian Enever
Team supported: Chonburi
Twitter: n/a
The start of the season has been a bit of a mixture so far. Firstly we've seen both very bad and very good refereeing. Of course we all acknowledge just how difficult the job is but the lack of consistency, even by the same referee in the same match, is probably our biggest gripe. Nothing new there though.
As Tommie suggests, the further restrictions in foreign players will definitely not improve the standard of football this season, so signing the right foreign players has become even more vital.
Another problem has been the lack of a close season break for the Thai international players. At Chonburi, even after just a few games, they look jaded at times and a yard slow already.
After five games the league is just starting to take shape, with the likes of Bangkok Glass, Supanburi, and Muang Thong vying with The Army (who are probably exceeding expectations) at the top while TOT, Saraburi and The Navy already expecting a long hard slog. Although Buriram have had a mixed start they've been concentrating on the ACL and they're looking good so I expect them to start climbing the table. They're probably favourites for another title.
The one inconsistent team at the moment is Chonburi. Although we possibly exceeded expectations a bit last season, in Wada we had found a coach that organized us, got the team playing a system that got the maximum out of the players and, week after week, we played good football, especially during the second half of the season. We weren't just picking up points we were more than matching the top sides with the quality of our football and were deserved winners against the likes of Buriram and Muang Thong.
I must admit that, unlike most others, I was sceptical when Jadet was appointed our new coach. I wasn't around during his last (and successful) spells here so have only had his more recent appointments elsewhere to judge him by. And continual bottom half positions didn't inspire me with confidence. Surely a quality coach (even without massive resources) should be getting his teams into a more comfortable, mid table, position.
We had a poor preseason which we hoped was down using a lot of fringe players while none of our international and foreign players were available. But, with basically the same team as last year, things haven't improved since the start of the season. We are far too inconsistent and don't seem to have any pattern or shape to our game. We are disjointed when we have the ball, with our lack of movement meaning our options are far too limited. When we haven't got the ball we don't defend as a unit, and our two fullbacks are consistently being caught out of position.
In Dos Santos we probably have one of the best centre backs in the TPL but Jadet insists on playing him in midfield. But a central midfielder in a midfield four he most definitely is not. His movement, especially when he hasn't got the ball is all wrong and, when he has got the ball, pass and move isn't part of his game, he's a defender and it shows. And that in turn leaves Adul with far too much ground to cover. He's just chasing shadows.
For me, last week's game against Buriram highlighted just how far back into the pack we have gone. Yes we came away with a point, but we defended almost from the first minute and rode our luck on numerous occasions to achieve that. We were second best in almost all areas of the park and never looked like competing effectively as an attacking force.
I would normally give a lot more time for the coach but, at the moment, I can't honestly see what sort of system he's trying to introduce or how, playing the way we are, we are going to improve with time.
I do hope I'm wrong and this is a 'transitional' period with our inconsistencies and shortcomings being just a temporary blip while the players get used to Jadet's system. If I'm not, and Jadet doesn't change the way we play, unfortunately I can only see us finishing up mid table, which after continually finishing in the top three, would be a disaster.
The Final Word
Name: Russ John
Team supported: Nakhon Ratchasima
Twitter: @russreport
Some very interesting comments from the various contributors. Generally pretty positive outlook for the season ahead I think. It’s great to hear “farang” viewpoints on the TPL – I just wonder what your average Thai supporter thinks about the progress (or lack thereof) of their country’s top football league.
Agree with points on refereeing – mostly Ok but some room maybe for improvement. Refereeing decisions are the main topic of football discussion around the world – long may it last!!!
I think that the League as an entity is improving year on year – weaker, less well supported teams are being weeded out via relegation and more ambitious teams with greater expectations are replacing them. I look forward to a league where attendances never fall below 5000 which I believe should be an absolute minimum figure for a viable spectator sport.
Breaks in the season – absolutely ridiculous – it just shows where the TPL is in the pecking order – bottom. Football matches and seasons rely on continuity - what a great idea, start the season with 5 matches, wet everyone’s appetite and then put things on hold – what great insight and planning. I think that there are 2 more breaks to come - what a mess.
The league needs credibility. Premier League teams with no home, missing the first 15 minutes of televised matches due to Junta TV and nonsensical breaks in the season do nothing to help build confidence in the individuals who run the sport.
Finally, foreign imports. If attendances are low, the product must be substandard. Whilst I acknowledge that more imports might interfere with the progress of young Thai players. Look where Thailand is in the FIFA standings – Thais are poor at football – period. Get more imports in, improve the standards of football, get crowds up, then and only then start feeding in good Thai players.
The future of the TPL in far more important than the sentimentalism of persevering with old school poorly run clubs who cannot attract fans, it is far more important than the short term view of playing sub standard local players. Change needs to come…and quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment