TPL
Chonburi 1-1 Chainat
Chonburi Stadium
Attendance: 4,267
Saturday 14th June, 2014
Match Report
As the current Thai military government continues with its "Bringing Happiness to the Thai People" campaign, our club management persists with its own "Heaping More Misery on the Long Suffering Chonburi Fans" drive, with yet another two points dropped against a poor team who we should have thrashed.
In line with recent weeks, our first half performance was so rotten, that I've run out of whatever the opposite of superlatives is, to describe it. You know you're in trouble when Jaime Braganca is brought on after thirty minutes to try and lift the team. Yes folks, that sound you heard at around 7:30pm on Saturday night was the scraping of the world's biggest barrel.
To be fair, there was an improvement in the second period - and it had absolutely nothing to do with the introduction of Therdsak (I really hope that my sarcasm is coming across loud and clear here). We totally dominated and were - what's the phrase? - camped out in the Chainat half for long periods. Our corner and free kicks in "dangerous areas" count was also high. However, we still struggled to hit the target, until Nurul's lovely little piece of skill was followed by a shot low into the far corner. Yet another late strike to rescue us from an even worse fate.
It was reported this week that the club hierarchy held a "Crisis Meeting" to discuss what has been going wrong lately. Pah! We hold such meetings every week - usually pre and post match - and I'm willing to bet that our theories are a little closer to the truth than the official ones. I've been saying for a long time that there is something intrinsically wrong at the club and it needs sorting. I had hoped that the removal of Heng and the arrival of Wada was the beginning of a new chapter. Unfortunately, the old problems remain. We're still stale. We're complacent and we're living off our reputation. There's no spark any more. No joy. No ambition. No fun.
One of the rumours doing the rounds last night was that our current coach will be out after Leg 1 and our previous coach - the aforementioned Heng, currently making a few bob as a World Cup pundit on True Sport - will return. The thought of this sends shivers down my spine. Ultimately, it probably won't make any difference, as I don't believe that Wada has much input in team selection and who we sign. Someone else is pulling those strings. Of that, I am convinced.
Purely by coincidence, I received a short e mail yesterday from someone who wants to coach Chonburi. Here it is in full:
Dear mister,
I apply for the post of coach of the first team.
I can be in Thailland soon if you want to grant me an interview for present to you my sports project.
Best regards
XXXXXXXXXX
(Coach)
I'm so tempted to reply, telling him he's got the job and to report for work at 8:30 on Monday morning. He can't be any worse. Can he?
Back to last night's match and a couple of other things that warrant a mention. The official crowd was announced as 4,267. Now, I can only assume that this figure includes all those people watching on television at home. There were nowhere near that many fans in the stadium. I'd say it was closer to 3,000. There were even less after half time, as hundreds decided it would be more enjoyable to stay outside eating and drinking - two particular avenues of pleasure that have been closed to us inside the ground.
Also, Nikola Nikezic's reaction to Suttinun's challenge - which saw them both red carded - suggests that he wouldn't last five minutes in the Burton and District Sunday League. It was hard but would have gone unnoticed in many leagues around the world. The resultant spat means that we will now be without our classy centre half for a couple of games, just at a time when he's getting back to his best following a long lay off through injury. Thanks, Nik. I hope you enjoy your short break and maybe spend the time growing a pair.
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