NEW! Don't Panic!/We're Doomed!: 2021

Over the course of the remaining matches, I'll be plotting our chances of staying in the top flight or dropping down to the second division. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

   

28/3/21 

Result: Rayong 1-1 Chonburi 

Summary: And so the curtain comes down on Chonburi's worst ever league season, with a scrappy draw against the desperate Rayong, and a few words spring to mind. Abominal. Appalling. Atrocious. Awful. Dire. Dreadful. Grim. Lousy. Rotten. Terrible. In fact is was so bad, one of our own players (no name, no pack drill) starting Tweeting about another match that was being played at the same time. That's how far we've fallen. Sure, we stayed up, but the long term affects of this campaign worry me. We need to make BIG changes during the break - starting with the coach. He's clearly not up to it and needs offloading asap. Bring in someone with a bit of spark, a bit of guile and who knows how to get the best out of the players. And talking of the players...(cont P72)

League table: 

Verdict: 

20/3/21

Result: Chonburi 0-0 Sukhothai 

Summary: This is how the relegation scrap ends, not with a bang, but with a wimper. Perhaps fittingly, our top flight status was secured with a drab 0-0 draw against one of the teams who are statistically worse than us and the 1-2 home defeat suffered by another. It's the current Chonburi way. A grim goalless draw is hardly ever a cause for celebration, and today is no different. I'd feel embarrassed hailing our worst campaign ever and I'm certainly not in the mood for cracking open the bubbly or setting off fireworks. I'll probably just crawl under a rock and contemplate life and all its complexities. Then emerge, blink in the sunlight and prepare myself for next Sunday's meaningless clash with rotten Rayong. Life's a pip and a dandy just now.

League table: 

Verdict: 

17/3/21

Result: Chonburi 0-2 Samut Prakan City

Summary: Against my better judgement, I tuned in for the second half and watched on as we huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed again. Sure, we battered them for 45 minutes, but at no time did it look like we were going to score, before gifting them a second in injury time - adding to the howler presented to the opposition forward by Chanin in the first period. Make no mistake, this is a poor team. A poor team run by a clueless management. And we're still not out of the woods yet. Even though it didn't have a direct affect on the relegation scrap, Rayong's 6 (Six) -1 win against Police Tero should send shockwaves through the club. Imagine going there on the last day of the season needing a point to stay up, and losing...

League table: 

Verdict: 

16/3/21

Summary: Mixed results today. Chiang Rai Utd beat Sukhothai 3-1 (Yay!) and Prachuap squeezed past Muang Thong Utd by the odd goal in one. However, The Fire Bats' defeat means a win for us tomorrow will see us safe, regardless of other results. Let's hope the decision to rest virtually the whole first XI last weekend pays off and we can all be heaving a collective sigh of relief at the final whistle.

League table: 

Verdict: 

14/3/21

Result: Port 2-1 Chonburi 

Summary: VAR really does suck the joy out of football, doesn't it. I'm sick to the back teeth with it. So much so that I switched off after the red card just before half time and went to do my laundry. We'd already had an incident when we waited nearly five minutes for a free kick to be taken, after the referee had made his original decision, and then another farcical episode before Songchai got his marching orders; the original decision was yellow. It's no fun. No fun at all. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if we went down after all. We'd be spared all this nonsense in the second division. That's how much I hate it. In today's other match, Ratchaburi beat Suphanburi. Here's the league table...

League table: 

Verdict: 

13/3/21

Summary: Everything went as expected today. Prachuap won 2-1 at Trat and Sukhothai trounced Rayong, 5-1. This means the Killer Wasp have moved four points ahead of us - and pretty much secured their top flight status - and The Fire Bats are now breathing (fire?) down our necks. As I'm expecting us to lose tomorrow, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that Ratchaburi can do us a favour and beat Suphanburi. Otherwise, it could well be a nervy few days!

League table: 

Verdict: 

11/3/21

Result: Chonburi 0-1 BG Pathum Utd

Summary: Even though it didn't have my full, undivided attention, I did manage to catch a large chunk of this match - most of the first half and the last fifteen minutes - and I thought we played well. There was certainly no questioning the effort, but some our finishing let us down and we gifted them a goal. Otherwise, I was disappointed we didn't get something out of the game - similar to the first meeting, a few months ago. At least there was enough evidence today to show that we have the bottle for a fight. Repeat performances in our next two fixtures will hopefully yield points and we can go into the final couple of rounds without having to look over our shoulders.

League table: 

Verdict: 

10/3/21

Summary: What a day. What. A. Day. It's like all our birthdays and Christmases have come at once. Buriram Utd tonked Sukhothai 3-0 and Port Authority came away from Suphanburi with a 2-0 win. It couldn't have gone better if I'd written the script. A victory for us against BG tomorrow would be the icing on the Christmas/Birthday cake. And, who knows? Stranger things have happened...

League table: 

Verdict: 

9/3/21

Summary: In the least surprising news of the day, Prachuap beat Rayong 3-1. Not only does this result relegate the Dragon Horses, it also takes the Killer Wasp a point above us in the table, having played one game more. Tomorrow sees Sukhothai travel to Buriram Utd (surely a home banker) and Suphanburi entertain a resurgent Thai Port (a little trickier to call). Defeats for both our rivals will help us breath a little easier going into our match against BG on Thursday night. However, should the unthinkable happen, we could be in for a nervous ninety minutes (plus time added on) when we welcome the league champions. Gulp!

League table: 

Verdict: 

7/3/21

Result: Ratchaburi 0-0 Chonburi

Summary: Work is not only a four letter word and the curse of the drinking classes, it is also the enemy of the football fan. So another match I wasn't able to watch due to my employers insisting I follow my contract to the letter of the law. How unreasonable of them. However, I did manage to sneak a quick look at the final score before knocking off. And how happy it made me. A 0-0 draw at Ratchaburi is a decent result and made even better by Sukhothai going down 2-3 at home to Samut Prakan City - a team who have done us a couple of favours this week. I think it's fair to say it's been a good weekend and sets us up nicely for taking BG's unbeaten record off them on Thursday. It's written in the stars.

League table: 

Verdict: 

6/3/21

Summary: A well deserved 3-1 win for Police Tero over fellow strugglers (here I go again!), Suphanburi, virtually assures their safety and takes them 12 points clear of today's opponents. I think we can safely say that the final relegation spot is now a four horse "race". Prachuap's 1-0 victory over Nakorn Ratchasima means they move to within one point of us, making tomorrow's trip to Ratchaburi even more important. I wonder how we'll respond after Thursday's late disappointment? The last big setback we faced was the 1-5 defeat at Bangkok Utd and we bounced back - in a manner Alan Prtridge would have been proud of - by chalking up a 4-1 victory. Something similar just under 24 hours from now would suit me. Or even a draw would do.

League table: 

Verdict: 

4/3/21

Result: Chiang Rai Utd 4-3 Chonburi 

Summary: I was following the score updates whilst at work and going through the whole gamut of emotions (from A to B!). At one point, I was ready to inflate the balloons and put up the bunting, but if following Chonburi has taught me anything, it's don't blow up ballooons and don't hang bunting until you're absolutely sure of the result. Oh, and don't order cake and crack open a bottle of Chang until after the final whistle - not that I would drink on the job! Thankfully, all yesterday's results went our way and, as expected, Sukhothai went down 0-2 at BG, but it could have been so much better. I can't feeling that we've blown a big opportunity to secure our top flight status. Let's hope we don't live to regret this result.

League table: 

Verdict: 

3/3/21

Summary: What a great day for us. Samut Prakan City came from behind to beat Suphanburi 2-1 and Port Authority cruised to a 3-1 win at Prachuap. However, we need to stay focused in order to take full advantage of these results. A win tomorrow would be fantastic, and go a long way to easing our fears, but, right now, I'd be more than happy with a point. Things are looking up!

League table: 

Verdict: 

2/3/21

Summary: Well, well, well. Police Tero's 2-1 win at Muang Thong Utd has really put the maew amongst the nok pirab. Who saw that coming?! I'm willing to bet no-one did, but I'm certain that it won't be the last unexpected result during this hecric run in. Anyhoo, the cops' victory moves them back above us in the standings and a little bit closer to safety. As a side note, the goals today came from two players - Boskovic and Leesaw - who we let go during the most recent transfer window. Talk about a kick in the teeth!

League table: 

Verdict: 

28/2/21

Result: Chonburi 4-1 Suphanburi

Summary: Chonburi answered their critics - well, me - with a resounding 4-1 win against fellow relegation strugglers (as I'm legally obliged to call them), Suphanburi. After a shaky opening 5 minutes - when we went a goal behind - the Sharks showed enough fight and guile to convince even their harshest detractors (me again) that they have enough to stay up. In the end, 4-1 flattered the visitors, who were a shadow of the side I watched recently. Let's hope it wasn't just a flash in the pan and we can now string together an unlikely run of good results. Elsewhere, Bangkok Utd did us a big favour by clinging on to record a 1-0 victory at Sukhothai. All in all, a good day, and that league table looks a lot better now.

League table: 

Verdict: 

27/2/21

Summary: Police Tero's very late equaliser against Prachuap means they go three points ahead us, having played a game more. They also have a better goal difference (but our head to head record is better, should it ultimately come to that). However, the two points dropped by the visitors gives us the chance to put a bit of daylight between us and them, with a win in tomorrow's big match. Unfortunately, I'm not feeling very confident about our chances against Suphanburi. They have looked good recently and we'll still be reeling after Thursday. I'd love to be proved wrong, of course. In Sunday's other important fixture, Sukhothai entertain Bangkok Utd. Let's hope our midweek conquerers have packed their goal scoring boots. I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight!

League table: 

Verdict: 

25/2/21

Result: Bangkok Utd 5-1 Chonburi

Summary: Thank god I was at work today and didn't have to sit through that debacle. What an absolute disgrace. I don't think I've ever been as angry as a Chonburi fan as I am today. Even that cup exit at Thai Honda a couple of years ago didn't make me this mad. And I was pretty annoyed that night! I hope every single one of those players is feeling as bad as we are right now. No...scrub that...I hope they're feeling much worse. What an embarrassment. I'm dreading Sunday even more now. Our confidence must be shot and Suphanburi have looked pretty impressive in their last two matches. I can't see anything other than an away win at the weekend and that will really plunge us into the mire ahead of a tough few fixtures. We're going down, aren't we.

League table: 

Verdict: 

24/2/21

Summary: A goal in the eighth - EIGHTH! - minute of added on time, looked to have helped Prachuap to a spawny 1-0 win against Ratchaburi, but an even later equaliser, earned a point for the visitors, in a dramatic match that caught out the official Thai League website, who had already posted the full time score as 1-0. Meanwhile, Police Tero were chalking up a 2-0 victory against fellow strugglers, Sukhothai. Not quite the results we wanted, but as long as our destiny is in our own hands, we can't really complain.

League table: 

Verdict: 

23/2/21

Summary: Suphanburi travelled to Trat for today's big match and came away with a valuable 2-0 win. Not a great result for us - I would have preferred a draw or a home victory - but an even worse one for the White Elephants, who are surely down now. Tomorrow, Police Tero and Sukhothai go head to head and Prachuap entertain Ratchaburi. I'd be happy with a draw in the former and an away win in the latter, ahead of our trip to Bangkok Utd on Thursday. It's still very tight for that remaining relegation spot. Gulp!

League table: 

Verdict: 

21/2/21

Result: Chonburi 1-0 Police Tero

Summary: I was at work so didn't get to see any of the match. Therefore, I'm not able to comment on how we played. But frankly, who cares! Results are far more important than performances now so I'll take the three points from this much needed win. Elsewhere, Samut Prakan City did us a favour by tonking Prachuap 4-0 and Nakorn Ratchasima held Sukhothai to a 0-0 draw. All in all, a good day. And we've not had many of those recently.

League table: 

Verdict: 

20/2/21

Summary: Trat eked out a goalless draw at Port to move on to 15 points. Meanwhile, Suphanburi surrendered a one goal lead, conceded a couple of penalties and missed one of their own - courtesy of ex-Shark Leandro Assumpcao - to lose 2-3 against Buriram Utd. For now, we stay out of the bottom three, but it's tight down there!

League table: 

Verdict: