Here is Neal Oliver with his thoughts on Ratchaburi's chances for the season ahead.
What are your expectations for the season ahead?
With the effects of Covid, I expect another miserable season of watching a lot of Thai football on TV. At least it has moved to a decent provider with AIS, and I have purchased a much larger TV for effect, LOL. I might be able to make out the players better. I actually hate watching football on TV, but will make an exception for the Dragons.
Playing all of the football outside of the deep red zone will be very strange, and a crazy decision in my opinion e.g. Prachuap have had to relocate to a stadium in Buriram, where the threat from Covid is 3x worse than Prachuap Khiri Khan. So what happens to home advantage is this period?
Some clubs had requested 25% supporter attendance the last time I checked. I hope this does not include away support with supporters being encouraged to travel from deep red zones. Double jabbed or not, they could still be spreading the virus.
Port really seem to be going for it with their player acquisitions in recent months, but I thought the same last season when they failed to buy success.
My honest feelings at the moment (they’ll probably change when the first ball is kicked) is I just can’t get excited about a season being played hundreds of miles away, and I’ll be stuck watching my TV.
Not having seen our new arrivals in action, I actually fear for Ratchaburi’s survival this season (but I am well known for being a pessimist). We looked out of place most of the time in the AFC Champions League, and I fear our new arrivals won’t hit the mark. This is probably because I haven’t seen us play in pre-season. I I’m just sitting in the lockdown doldrums.
How do you think the lack of a regular pre season will affect your early performances?
Ratchaburi have a bit of an advantage, having played competitive football during the close season by way of the AFC Champions League, although we couldn’t have bought a goal in that competition. There hasn’t been too much of a break in training, so I hope the effects won’t be too great. Everybody will be in the same boat.
What are your thoughts on the plan for the way the season will start? And what would you have done differently?
I hate it. I would have cancelled, and reverted back to the original ‘traditional’ season dates. By the time we get to January/February, we should be over the worst of this pandemic. Football in strange stadiums with no, or limited support is not football. Football and supporters should go hand in hand.
How long do you think it will be before things can return to "normal"?
The answer is dependent upon vaccine roll-out. The way Thailand is moving at the moment, I hope we’ll have broken the back of the problem by the end of the year. Of course, we will have to jump through many extra hoops at the turnstile to prove we’ve been vaccinated, but I’m sure that will just become 2nd nature, and hopefully, eventually go away.
Once we're allowed back in, which home games are you most looking forward to?
I look forward to all of them, but I guess the atmosphere at Buriram games is always a bit special. Buriram always seem to attract the biggest crowd.
And which away games are you most looking forward to?
I was actually looking forward to Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Khonkaen Utd and Nongbua Pitchaya because they are easily accessible by air (plus a hire car) from Hua Hin. However, Chiang Rai and Khonkaen Utd happen during Covid restrictions, so that has thwarted my plans somewhat. Outside of those, the only other game I will definitely go to, if allowed, is Prachuap.
There are other stadiums I’d like to visit, but the (provincial) stadium’s construct plus obnoxious security staff at PAT put me off. I will go to some, but which I go to will be a last minute decision.
I keep promising myself a visit to Buriram, but it’s a long way, so who knows? Never say never. As one of the best stadiums in Thailand, I should make the effort.
What are your thoughts on your team's opening four fixtures?
This will be the opposite of last season when we played a bucket full of home fixtures at the start, which gave us a bumper boost to the season, and ultimately a place in the AFC Champions League. This season we start with 4 away fixtures, which could have the opposite effect. Of course, BG and Muangthong will be effectively be playing away as well.
What do you make of your new signings?
I will be honest, and say that I haven’t taken much notice. There are 2 reasons:
Many Thai football supporters try to replicate real football, in particular regarding the transfer rumour mill. I used to try to follow new signings, but found it absolutely impossible. So much rubbish gets talked at transfer time, I used to think I knew where the club was going, only to find out people had been talking from where the sun doesn’t shine. Close season/transfer window for me have become a non-event. I switch off until the final squad is named, and we can see them run out on matchday.
The Thai League transfer process itself. We get told a name who nobody has ever heard of, and we’re shown their demonstration video, which highlights maybe 30 moves they were involved in during the entirety of the previous season, or even longer. So, we see maybe a 10 minute video, when the previous season lasted 2,700 minutes. OK, I don’t expect to see every minute they’ve played, but I’d have more faith in the recruitment system if we had a proper scouting system. I’ve asked about scouting many times, but I don’t believe the concept is understood in Thailand. These players arrive, bringing great hope, but in reality, many play a couple of games and become bench warmers, while others don’t even feature.
Normally, I would develop an opinion on new signings during pre-season friendlies, but that isn’t going to happen this season.
And what about the players you've let go?
I am disappointed on 2 counts:
Philip Roller was a bit special. I guess if he wanted success, he had to go, and I’m sure he won’t let Port down. A great player, who will be hard to replace.
Lossemy Karaboue is the most influential player I’ve seen in a Dragons shirt. I haven’t followed Ratchaburi for as many years as most, but we’ve had quite a turnover of players in that short time. 2 seasons ago, we seemed to put together some really good players, but good players don’t make a good team. The first half of the season was still pretty mediocre, and I was watching the relegation zone as opposed to the top of the table. Lossemy Karaboue arrived as a mid-term signing, and he was truly the missing link.
He bossed every game he played in, and knitted the good players together into a very good team. He took us to the FA Cup final, where we were narrowly beaten by VAR. Last season, he helped us into the AFC Champions League for the first time ever (such a shame he didn’t play). I believe he could step straight into any T1 team, and make an immediate impact. Why we’ve let him go, I have absolutely no idea. I did read that he’d been replaced by somebody much better – really? I didn’t see any new recruit in the Champions League who had ‘replaced’ him. I wish him all of the best, and I’m sure he will be a major asset to Suphanburi, and I’m sure he will turn their recent form right around.
Which players will have the most impact this season?
I guess we have 4 players who Dragons fans will have to pin their hopes on this season:
Kamphon Pathomakkakul – I’ll be honest, in his first couple of games last season, I was calling him a headless chicken, and couldn’t understand why he’d replaced Ukrit Wongmeema between the sticks. However, within a few weeks he had become one of my favourites. His performances in the AFC Champions League were second to none. I think it was Brian Cough who once said that having the best keeper in the league was worth 10 points. So, I guess he will give us a 10 point advantage before we start.
Pawee Tanthatemee – this guy is astounding in defence. It is easy to understand how he has broken into the national side. In defence he is amazing. The one area that he lets himself down is his finishing. He often finds himself the recipient of the ball in attacking set pieces, but I think the goal is too small for him to hit. If he could improve his finishing, he would be the complete package.
Steeven Langil – The Dragons own wizard. What he can’t do with a football, hasn’t been invented yet. On his day, I don’t think there is a defender in the land who would relish being against him. A great, old fashioned winger. I look forward to see him against Philip Roller this season. That will be special.
I have no idea who our 4th player is yet, but if he’s better than Lossemy Karaboue, he must be very special. I guess the rest of the Thai league will be in awe of this guy.
If you could re-sign one of your club's former players, at the peak of his powers, who would it be?
Simple - Lossemy Karaboue. By far the most influential player of his time. Brilliant.
If you could give your head coach one piece of advice, what would it be?
This is a perpetual joke. Who is he this week? Honestly, I saw we had a name during the ACL Champions League, and I’d been told he’d been with us for a few months. Coaches at Ratchaburi are not very high profile. Go to the English Premier League, and a coach is as high, or even higher in the club’s profile as the players. At Ratchaburi ..?
The only advice I can give is find a player who knows where the back of the net is (Harry Kane is still available as I write this). With the likes of Steeven Langil and Jakkapan Pornsai feeding him, it should be the simplest job in the world.
Please remember, good Thai strikers are as rare as rocking horse droppings. We need a quality ‘proved’ foreigner.
What do you think of your club's new kits?
Club kits are a sore subject to me, but hopefully rectified this season. When I first started supporting the Dragons, one of the big pluses was the Farang sized shirts. After the first season, the club downsized. I made my own Hua Hin Dragons shirts. Last season our Chairperson, Boonying Nitikarnchana asked us to wear only authentic club regalia, so I stopped wearing the Hua Hin Dragons shirt. Unable to buy an official club shirt, I had to resort to wearing Plymouth Argyle shirts. Of course, wearing club colours would have been ideal, but not possible.
This season, we are in contact with the club, and they have said they will provide specially made Farang sized shirts. So, whether I like them or not, it doesn’t matter. They will be Ratchaburi shirts, so I have ordered one of each, and will wear them with pride (even with the space invader), like them or not.
What song would you choose for your team's run out music on match days?
Football isn’t football unless you run out to ‘Semper Fidelis’
Who are your favourites to win the league?
I think Buriram will be back this season. You can’t keep a team like that down for too long. They have been re-building, and after their fantastic run at the end of last season, they will take it. Port have invested a lot, but seem to let themselves down with silly problems such as an electricity supply. They must be the leagues big spenders, just a shame they don’t have a stadium to match.
I also think BG Pathum will be there or there about. They have some great players.
Who is going down?
I look at this season’s T1 teams, and it is tough.
Looking at the old guard, I would have thought Suphanburi was a favourite to go. However, now they have signed a Superman in Lossemy Karaboue, so long as he doesn’t get injured, I expect him to transform them in to a top half team. The other weak link is Police Tero.
Having lost 2 key plays, and not having a decent striker who I’ve seen, I actually have doubts about the Dragons this season. I hope my nerves are put at rest when I finally see this season’s team play at Khonkaen Utd on the 4th September.
I’d love to see Prachuap relegated, but that is just because they are Prachuap, and I don’t like them – a very personal thing.
Of course, the newbies will probably struggle also. The step into T1 is a big one.
Which team would you most like to beat this season and why?
I’d love to see Ratchaburi get the better of Prachuap. I don’t like Prachuap, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Prachuap lose in real life. It would be very satisfying.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
I don’t think so. As I’ve said, I tend to hibernate during the close season to avoid the constant Fake News that is the transfer window. I will resume posting on the Hua Hin Dragons page this weekend, as the excitement of the new season re-commences.
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