Here's issue 13 of our popular 'Five Asides' feature. Take five Thai football fans, share five contentious opinions with them and let them all have their say. Nice and simple. Our panel today is Pablo (Buriram Utd), Kick Off Corner (Muang Thong Utd), James (Port), Gian (Muang Thong Utd) and Ta (Neutral).
1. It should be compulsory for every Thai club to have a giant mascot.
We need to bring these guys back now!
Kick Off Corner: I don’t think that this should be a compulsion. I recon the clubs should be more focused on how they can fill their stadiums first. Also having a mascot feels super American.
James: A lot of the ex-players that I talk to all have funny stories about their team mascot, and so on, but it’s something that isn’t at the top of my ‘list’ of things I’d like to see brought back! That said, can it please be mandatory for every club to have a cartoonist, much like the one Chonburi has employed? One of the best things to see every matchday.
Gian: Sure, why not. Though I shudder to think of what some of these clubs may end up producing as mascots…
Ta: Ew, please don’t bring them back. The one that still creeps me out til today was the man dressed up in a blue cape with lightning thunder across the chest at Buriram. Although Buriram’s gone a bit ‘softer’ with their approach and introduced ‘Thunder’ a cute-looking cartoon elephant mascot back in 2018, thank goodness they got rid of that cape man. Looking at the bigger picture, I don’t think the mascot culture fits the Thai League or Thailand. I cringe at a lot of them and don’t see what’s the point. I understand it’s good to have mascots for the pre-game selfies with children and whatnot, but I just don’t think people here in Thailand are as into the mascot culture compared to other parts of the world ie. the USA. So, nah, no mascots for me.
2. Thai football is being held back by constant time-wasting tactics
- such as players feigning injury, endless huddles etc
Pablo: Ah time wasting sure is a huge blight on the game and not just in Thailand. Seems like they've adopted the West Asian football culture tactics of slowing the game up as much as possible to frustrate opponents and stifle their flow. Needs match officials to take a much tougher line and get the yellow cards out from early in games to curb such pathetic behaviour.
Kick Off Corner: As much as it’s frustrating to see the players go for these time wasting tactics, it’s part of modern football. We see it at the highest level. In my opinion the refs should add the time wasted in the end and hopefully this will stop the players feigning injury / time wasting.
James: Yes and no. This happens everywhere in the world, and it’s up to head coaches to be smart enough to work around it, and for match officials to be strong enough to dish out yellow cards and so on. The biggest loser out of it all is the fans, as well as the broadcaster. And if you’re upsetting your broadcaster… you’re hampering any future TV deal and its value.
Gian: Absolutely. The time-wasting tactics are probably one of the biggest turn-offs for fans who attend matches, and are a very bad look for the league. Referees should punish players for excessive time wasting where apparent, and stretchers should not be brought on unless requested by both the referee and medical team. Seeing players get stretchered off only to sprint back onto the pitch minutes later is a farce.
Ta: YES. Thai football and time-wasting tactics go hand in hand, if you don’t believe me, switch on any game with a 1-0 scoreline and 10 minutes to go. The fake injuries are what get under my skin the most. Couple that with referees failing to make no-brainer decisions and it just kills the game. If the strict added time rule implemented in the recent FIFA World Cup 2022 were used in the Thai League, we’d see 15-20 minutes of stoppage time in most games.
3. All Thai clubs should have to employ a throw in coach to teach the players how to take a legitimate throw in.
Pablo: That's a novel idea for a back to basics tool to 'cure' repeat offenders! As for enforcing such laws of the game, well the standard of officiating in Thailand leaves a lot to be desired in terms of consistency. Perhaps refs and assistant refs need to have their match fees progressively reduced for each missed foul throw!
Kick Off Corner: I don’t think so spending resources on hiring a throw in coach benefits the club in anyway. I don’t see it as a problem nor do I think that it’s game changing in anyway.
James: It’s quite comical how bad it’s gotten with such a simple thing these days. To be unable to take a LEGAL throw-in, as a professional footballer is simply embarrassing. Much like many things within the league, if there was a crackdown on it, it’d be short-lived, and things would return to “normal” not long after.
Gian: Honestly, maybe I’m not ‘purist’ enough but I don’t see this as a huge issue. Plus, Thai team benches are overstaffed as it is, adding someone else to teach people how to throw a ball seems a bit excessive. If refs get serious and punish foul throws, players will adapt.
Ta: I’m a bit more lenient regarding foul throws, yes it’s in the rule book that these can be called against, but there are bigger fish to fry in Thai football. Many clubs don’t even have a proper sports nutritionist/physio yet, I’d say we punish teams without these ‘essential’ coaching personnel instead.
4. The mid-season break should be scrapped.
Pablo: The stop start nature of the Thai league never ceases to amaze. Administrators seem to almost revel in frustrating coaches, players and fans alike. This season's main cup competition also suffered from poor scheduling including overly long breaks between rounds. Yet more fine examples of Thai administrators defying common sense and logic.
Kick Off Corner: Totally disagree. Although I do think it should be shortened.
James: Strong disagree on this one. The mid-season break is a great idea, yet it’s poorly executed by many clubs. Not only does it give a chance for players to get a bit of rest, it also gives new players (foreign or local) time to bed in and adjust to their new surroundings. The fact that many clubs use the time off to play an abundance of meaningless friendlies, and not give the players much time to rest… that’s on them.
Scrapping the break wouldn’t see any change in terms of the drop-off in performance that we see from many clubs in the second-half of the season, with many adjusting their plans/budgets once they’re confident of their survival in the league, or their ability to mount a serious charge for continental football. This happens at all levels (T1, T2, and T3) and it’ll never change in my opinion.
Gian: I think we should keep the mid-season break, though it should probably be shorter on non-AFF Cup years. Players deserve a break over the new year period to spend with their friends and family. Also, I suspect that stadium attendances will also be lower during this period, so it would make more financial sense to have this break as well. It is often argued that forcing players to work over new years is justified for top level competitions like the Premier League because the players are paid extremely well - and even that argument is dubious. In divisions like T1, or even more so T2 and T3, where the players aren’t as lavishly paid, I don’t think its fair to make them play during new years; especially if they will be playing in front of diminished crowds anyways, and national team players only get to have this break every other year.
Ta: The Thai League 1 2022/23’s mid-season break was 55 days. It’s ridiculously long if you’re looking from just a league’s perspective, but when you put the cup games and the AFF Cup 2022 into the equation, it explains the lengthy hiatus. For me, I’d suggest that in the non-AFF Cup years, ie. the coming 2023/24 season, they scrap the mid-season break and the games should just roll over from matchday 15 to 16.
5. Thai clubs should do a lot more to engage with their local communities and encourage people to support their hometown team.
Pablo: Engagement with local communities should be based on tapping into tribalism, existing sense of identity, culture and inclusion. Rather than merely seeing potential fans as metrics and marketing of products, needs to take empowering bottom up approach by not making assumptions and enabling local champions as volunteers to help galvanise support and participation. Can't just manufacture authentic fandom and commitment. So Mr or Madam Chairpersons/Presidents/Owners, are you prepared to listen, learn and be open to what your fans and communities really want and need?
Kick Off Corner: Yes totally. The clubs should also partner up with the schools in their locality and offer free tickets to students who are passionate about the sport. This does not only inspire the kids to pursue football but it also helps fill up the “empty stadiums” to a certain extent.
James: Ding, ding, ding! WE HAVE A WINNER! To me, this is a massive failing of many clubs in every tier of the pyramid. I can understand a T3 side struggling to get their brand out there, but how a T1 or T2 side is unable to do so… what are they thinking? Especially the teams outside of Bangkok, that might only be the major side within their province! Clubs should be out in schools, working in conjunction with local charities, and so on. Show the local community you care, and then maybe… they’ll reciprocate! It’s something firmly in the ‘too hard’ basket at the moment, and to me… it’s a missed opportunity.
Gian: Absolutely! I believe that getting more people in stadiums and more local interest in the league should be the number one priority. So many clubs do a really poor job of marketing to the local community. The potential gains these clubs could experience from hiring marketing professionals are huge. With more people attending games, clubs will be less reliant on wealthy owners and sponsorship deals, and could make the league far more financially stable as a whole.
Ta: I couldn’t agree more with this statement. With stadium attendance numbers going down and online fan engagement stats plummeting, it’s time clubs take the initiative to interact with their local community and go beyond just the football side of things. There are endless possibilities for clubs in Bangkok and rural provinces to create a ‘hometown’ atmosphere that has been fading away. We need more clubs following Nong Bua and what they’ve done with their local community throughout the season.
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