TPL
Chonburi 2-1 Chiang Rai Utd
Chonburi Stadium
Attendance: 3,155
Wednesday 22nd June, 2016
Match report
by Peter Reeves
I was interested to see two things this evening. During the week the Bangkok Post carried an article interviewing Jeerasek Chomthong described as Chonburi’s ‘Media relations Chief’, saying that the club had no money, had no ambitions better than finishing in the top half and critically saying they could not afford to get good players (meaning the current lot are no good) and we have to go with what we’ve got (meaning they aren’t). So this is the media guy is it? Needs a few lessons doesn’t he. We had a non-footballer from the club publicly criticizing the club’s footballers. Players don’t like that. Coaches don’t like it. Fans don’t like it either. In fact some were furious and disgusted with the comments.
The problem isn’t with the players. Have a look in the mirror, those that have managed the club from a top contender and proud team to now self-admitted also-rans. I wonder why he didn’t criticize the management? So I was interested to see firstly the players reaction to what the club think of them and secondly the fans reaction. How many were going to turn up? The latter was evident very quickly as the TV panned round a near empty stadium. The club have no money? I wonder why. It wasn’t the only place either. My partner was watching Swatcat on the laptop, another club in crisis, and we amused ourselves before kick-off playing ‘spot the fan’. Looked like about two thousand. But back to Chonburi…The first issue of interest?
I am deliberately going to avoid comments about the formation, style, content, defensive set up or any of the usual things. Dos Santos though in midfield was an interesting decision given that he is usually the only one holding the defence together. After 4 minutes Chiang Rai had a blistering shot saved by the goalkeeper and on 8 minutes a reasonable chance at the near post put wide. In between a Chiang Rai defender made a rare error and presented a chance for the Sharks but a tame shot at the goalkeeper wasted that. In 11 minutes a simple chance for Chiang Rai, clean through 10 yards out he leant back and skyed it. Poor technique. 14 minutes another Chiang Rai near post chance wasted. The visitors could have been out of sight after a quarter of an hour. I sat back and waited for the inevitable.
Half way through the first half a quick assessment. Chonburi looking a bit disjointed, losing most of the 50/50’s, off the pace, Chiang Rai knocking it around confidently with a decent shape looked superior.
25 minutes, the inevitable happened with a ball down the left, winger beat the defender for pace and cut it across for a simple tap in. It seemed the heads might drop. Some were trying, but some just not there at all. Some of the link play and final ball passing was dreadful. So it carried on. 29 minutes the Chonburi goalkeeper tipped a dipping shot over the bar. Chiang Rai were composed, in control, playing out from the back and I wondered if Sharks could make it to half time without conceding a second or even a third.
Then a novel thing happened. A player got control of the ball executed a neat drag back and smacked it in to the top corner. 1-1. Usually they end up in the High Street, but it was a good strike. His body language- as he lined himself up, no urgency to make the strike, just dragged it back and casually hit it. As it ripped into the top corner, no reaction, didn’t run to the fans, didn’t go to his team mates, just turned round looked at the box and made a gesture. One very unhappy player possibly.
Half time came and at 1-1 Chonburi were fortunate, Chiang Rai had been better in most aspects even though some Sharks players were having a go. Would they rue those missed first half chances? Didn’t take long. Chiang Rai lost a defender with a knock on the head and naively didn’t plug the gap while he was off leaving only 3 at the back and one central defender. Poor coaching. Rodrigo got it coming in from the left of a defence short on numbers. Didn’t look, put his head down and wallop. They do go in every now and then. Normally that would have joined the other one in the High Street as so many have done. 2-1. Both Sharks goals looked out of the top drawer but as we all know they usually miss by miles. It was going to be their night.
Chonburi were though doing better now and it was even as the second half wore on. Credit to them for finding some commitment to the cause. Chiang Rai were still though more effective in their approach play and looked like the ‘home’ team at times. Sharks looking to play on the break. It almost worked a couple of times. Scrambles in both boxes could have led to further goals at both ends and twice in extra time Chiang Rai could have equalized, but no. Sharks had got a win that looked unlikely in the first half an hour and earned a still non-responsive Therdsak a reprieve.
Chiang Rai had played well, looked the better team and played the better football for most of the game and gone home with nothing. That’s football sometimes. It was quite an entertaining game, a good attitude and effort level from most Sharks players given they’d been told publicly by one of their own they weren’t good enough, and a get out of jail free card for Therdsak. It will move them up the table but it only papers over the cracks.
I always like to close these pieces with some observation. So let’s consider attendances at these games. Why is it in a country that on the face of it is ‘football crazy’ many clubs get such a poor turnout? Having talked with fans at Chonburi I know the answer there. They have a stadium that holds maybe 10,000. It should be full. That would help the cash flow wouldn’t it- if it was full. It is only 10,000 after all not the Nou Camp. How many tonight, 2000? Didn’t look a lot more than that. 800,000 baht lost in cash. Over a season that is nearly 14 million baht. In cash. Do they do anything about it? No. Why not? They don’t know how.
Not only Chonburi though is it. If a club is doing just moderately well in the PL, in an area with a reasonable population then assuming you have the stadium size, 10,000 is the minimum I would expect. The minimum to me that would be acceptable. If it was lower I would want to know why and do something about it. The top clubs maybe 15-20,000. Buriram apart do they get that?
I don’t know about the clubs in Bangkok, a famous city with a population of 6 million. How many clubs? 4 or 5 that play there? Plus millions of tourists every year. 20,000 minimum if you have the stadium size, anything small it should be full. I don’t know not being able to see attendance figures but I doubt it. Clubs have created an environment where supporters support the team not the club. That is not right. There is a difference. Clubs do not have effective community and public relations programs and if they say they have, then they are not very good at it. In fact if a club is only getting 2-3000 they are very bad at it. What happens on the field is important. So is what happens off it. So many clubs here, or the management of those clubs, do not understand that. The potential is lost, it just ‘goes over their heads’ as a Chonburi fan quite rightly said to me this week and the club suffers.
Management at these clubs should be saying to themselves “what can I do for my club not what does the club do for me”, to paraphrase JFK. So many clubs here in financial trouble. Why? So many clubs not fulfilling their local potential. Why? Do you think the team will perform better in front of a packed stadium that is rocking to the rafters or a three quarter empty ground with no atmosphere? What would the players and the coaches think? If management think it doesn’t matter they are in the wrong business.
When I was at QPR we took the average attendance from 14,000 to a full house of 18000, competing against Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford within a few miles and Arsenal and Tottenham. For the ‘big’ games we filled the stadium and had satellite feeds to half a dozen school halls with a few hundred in each which were also sold out. Did it affect team performance. Oh yes. Effective, note….effective Community programs, Marketing and PR will double the attendances at games at the levels they are at now in Thailand and that’s just the start. Do management/owners want that?
If you know an owner ask him. “How would you like an extra 800,000 baht every two weeks?” An extra 14 million baht a season. In cash. Would that improve the team, facilities and improve cash flow. You do the maths. The scary thing is it’s not that difficult. I suggest they give it some thought and the first thought must be “what can I do for my supporters, my club?”.
And then do something.
No comments:
Post a Comment