Chonburi 0-0 TTM - Match Report: 2012

TPL

Chonburi 0-0 Thailand Tobacco Monopoly

Chonburi Stadium

Attendance: 5,922

Sunday 5th August, 2012

Match Report

It's difficult to know what to write about last night's match, as it was every bit as dull as the scoreline suggests. Tobacco Monopoly are a dour side and it really is painful to watch them. They contributed absolutely nothing in the way of entertainment yesterday and I'm struggling to remember anything about them other than their roughhouse tackling, their petty time wasting tactics and the bizarre antics of their coaching staff.

 

Having said that, we weren't much better. We seemed to lack ideas and the spark that has been present during our recent good run was certainly missing. And for this, I think that the coach must take a fair portion of the blame. His team selection was odd, to say the least: Kiatprawut at centre half? No Geoffrey? Puttinan substituted after thirty minutes? And, to cap it all, Therdsak on the left wing? He's as much a left winger as Boris Johnson! Strange choices. Strange tactics. The latter in particular was madness, as we had Arthit on the bench. Why wasn't he playing?

 

Needless to say, we struggled to find any sort of rhythm and this led to frustration all round. The players seemed to be frustrated with the way they'd been asked to play and the fans were frustrated  by our inability to break down the worst team in the Thai Premier League. In fact, such was the disgruntlement in the stands that the reaction to Thomas Dossevi's second half substitution spoke volumes. There was a moment of stunned disbelief as the Frenchman's number was held up, followed by complete silence and then by one or two boos. I was half expecting a chant of, "You don't know what you're doing" to start up. Dossevi had been one of our better performers and to see him replaced by a defensive midfielder - Phanuwat - at a time when we needed to score a goal was more than the majority of home fans could stomach. 

 

This annoyance manifested itself after the final whistle when a couple of vexed Chonburi supporters let their feelings be known by launching into a tirade against Heng as he made his way from the dugout. The couple were quickly ushered away by security staff but not before they had voiced their (and many other people's) opinions. It was a sad way to end the evening and I hope that they don't get punished by the club. The incident, like the match and our title aspirations, should just be forgotten.