Incompetence on Parade: The Life and Times of an Unknown Nobody(FM14)

[Brian Swartz]

FM and Me

I have a love-hate relationship with FM. It can be beyond awesome, and it can also be insanely cruel to people like me who don't know a ton about that football thing. The depth and complexity also presents a fairly massive challenge. Actually successfully completing a FM career would be akin to the 'holy grail' of sports sim achievements for me, but well, I've never remotely come close. Prior to this game I'm on right now, I never completed two years in one.

My only half-decent attempt was also published on this forum, with FM11, here: FM 11 -- From Humble Origins ... - Front Office Football Central (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=81806&highlight=Andorinha) Some good fun was had there but I quit halfway through the second season(for no good reason, it was more frustrating than I think it should have been, I was actually getting better).

So for that reason, when I started this game I didn't post about it right away because I didn't want to be 'that guy' who joins the throng of FM dynasties that come around every World Cup, posts six times and abandons it. Great way to tick off readers in my opinion.

I'm starting this now because, well, it's time. I'm almost four calendar years in, and have every intention of seeing it through, whatever that ends up meaning. I hope this proves enjoyable to read, I'm having a lot of fun with it.

The Setup

My goal was and is to make as realistic a career as possible. My personal experience with soccer is that I was a pretty decent defender and goalkeeper in youth league and then gave it up for basketball. That's it. So the bottom rung on the FM setup, 'Sunday League Footballer', is hideously overqualified.

Editor time. After some testing I ran into some limitations, because you can't start lower than being a head coach somewhere, and there's a minimum level below which clubs won't even talk to you. Experimentation showed that level to be a little over half of what you start at with the 'Sunday League Footballer' setting, so that's where I began.

I recreated myself as accurately as possible in the profile, and loaded leagues from all over the world. I don't start with the intention of staying with the same club, how long/short a time I stay in one place will depend on what events happens in the game. This way I have potentially lots of choices, and could end up anywhere.

[Brian Swartz]

THE JOB SEARCH

Or, a journey of a thousand miles begins because the person starting out was too much of an idiot to not just stay at home and never try in the first place. Or, the search for a homo sapien idiotic enough to hire me. Pick your poison.

I'll be using the following measure to track my progress:

Professional Approval(Current Rep): 15%. Sunday League starts out at 27-30%, depending on how you set up the game.
Local Name Recognition(Home Rep): 24%
Global Name Recognition(World Rep): 0%

The journey begins in the US, January 14, 2013. I'm 35. There are currently 77 head coach openings all over the world. I apply to them all, and several more during the initial interview process. This is only because they wouldn't let me apply for anything with less responsibility. Like say, equipment manager or waterboy, for which my experience is probably still insufficient.

I would eventually interview with nine clubs, most of them in Asia. Naturally the power centers of football had more fertile fields of home-grown, established coaches to choose from. Got a couple offers but their contracts would run out before the season began late in the year -- I needed something that would let me at least prove myself before the deadline. I invariably emphasized two things in the interview process that are central to my footballing philosophy. First, it's a player's game -- I'm not going to implement a specific system that a chairman, president, or tycoon wants to run. I would have my players in the positions needed for them to be successful, and I didn't much care how entertaining that was to anybody. Secondly, that I understood the financial side of a club was a matter for the board of directors, and not for me. My job was to put a competitive squad on the pitch, end of story.

I went on holiday, applying for every last job that came up. It wasn't much of a holiday really, just application after application followed by(when I was lucky) form letters suggesting that I should be committed for thinking they'd spit on me if my hair was on fire. Persistence pays off they say. It sure didn't at first. My fingers got so worn out that I began to thrw mi hndz up in dizgusst at mi lzoy typgni skilzzzz.

July 2, 2013 -- Finally I got a bite that meant something. It was on the other side of the world, a completely different culture, in decidedly suboptimal circumstances, but beggars can't be choosers, so ...

I'm headed to Indonesia. Specifically, to Persigubin Gunung Bitang in the Indonesian First Division, Group D. Inasmuch as their previous job search failed(presumably hiring me won out over dragging the bottom of the river by virtue of a coin flip), they are willing to give me a year-long contract for 4.5m rupiah's per week. At the present exchange rate of 10.3k rupiah's per dollar, that's the equivalent of about $437 weekly. That's not bad pay at all for somebody whose family barely admits they have heard of. In the interests of 'keeping it real', I'll be using the local currency, in this case rupiahs. Worth keeping in mind since the amounts sound like an awful lot until you do the conversions.

[Brian Swartz]

I'm sure most of you have the Indonesian domestic football structure committed to memory(who wouldn't), but being the neophyte that I am I had to look a few things up.

INDONESIAN DOMESTIC STRUCTURE

Top Tier: Super League(22 clubs, 24th-ranked domestic league in Asia). The top two qualify for something called the Asian Confederation Cup, the bottom four are relegated to ...

Second Tier: Premier Division(48 compete in three groups of 16. 28th in Asia). Top two in each group qualify for Second Phase, a playoff system to determine who gets promoted to the Super League. The bottom two in each group have the ingnominy of playing the next season in ...

Third Tier: First Division. Ah, that's where I'm headed. First Division sucks a lot more, 80th in Asia. Another 48 clubs here, divided into four groups of in this case 12 each. Similar to the level above, the top pair in each group are promoted while the bottom pair in each group are relegated ... except there is an asterisk there. Two the groups, C and D(we're in the latter) only have one club relegated to the predictably named Second Division. Why, I don't know. But I'll take the gift as it gives us more room to stay in the division.

Still, this makes me the head man at one of the top 118 clubs in Indonesia, right? Well, not so much. To begin with, Indonesian football exists, but there isn't much else positive you can say about it. The national team is presently ranked near the bottom among the world's competitors. Worse yet, while there is not a single First Division club that is more lowly-regarded than Persigubin, there are two dozen from Second Division that are considered better than us as well.

Put it all together, and I am now responsible for the 144th-best club in the 170th-ranked country(out of 209). If you can't go up from there, I don't know where you can go up from.

Persigubin Club Facts

Founded in 2003, they are heading into their 11th season of play -- there's not a lot of history here. Their greatest claim to fame was making the Second Phase in 2010, only to finish last in their group and stay in the division. They are a fully-professional club, but have only a Local reputation due to their lack of actually accomplishing anything, ever, and short history of existence.

Moreover, we have a financial rating of 'Insecure', which is nice way of saying we're losing money hand over fist with no end in sight.

Wage Budget: 34.06M/wk., of which 33.76m is presently committed. There's not a lot of wiggle room.
Transfer Budget: none
Value: 50M
Balance: 201.3M debt
Sponsorships: General 297.0M, uniform 92.83M.
Stadium: The club is so new they haven't bothered to name it, and there's no information on it(blank Facilities tab).
Season Tickets: 62
Scouting Range: Southeast Asia, plus Cameroon, Liberia, South Korea, and Brazil. This is all rather hilarious considering the First Division requires that all registered players for league matches be Indonesian. Even if I signed someone from those other countries, they wouldn't be able to play.

Board Expectations

First Division -- Mid-table
Indonesian Cup -- 'Be competitive', whatever that means. They've made it clear they won't be judging us on the Cup, but want the focus soley on league play.

STAFF

President -- Wayhu Fadli
Assistant Coach -- Purba Jeffery Bob(you can't make these things up), 52 yo, very high marks in adaptability, determination, working with youngsters. 550k
Head of Youth Development -- Deni Saputro(500k, 41). Amazing at working with youngsters. Problem is, except for some minor ability in defense, he can't really teach them to do much of anything. So they'll listen to him tell them all he knows, and then when he's done that, they'll pretty much be the same as they already were. Super. Not to mention that we don't actually HAVE any youngsters for him to teach ...
Head Physio -- Surya Matui(500k, 29) -- Barely enough skill to deserve the title of physio.
Chief Scout -- Agung Sukma(35, 500k). He's the worst I've ever seen, and I've seen me some crappy scouts. Heck, I might be almost as good as this guy ... yep, he's really THAT bad.

National Teams

USA -- I still want to keep tabs on how we're doing back in the states, even though I hope I don't see it again anytime soon. They're up to 16th, an impressive 20 spots better than at the beginning of the year, and with two games left in the North American group have qualified for the World Cup. So far, so good.

Indonesia -- Here, they didn't come close, knocked out early in Asian qualifying. There's nothing to look forward to until the AFF Championship at the end of next year.

[mrtourette]

A good read so far, looking forward to more.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Assistant Coach -- Purba Jeffery Bob(you can't make these things up),

I'm going to take a shot in the dark & guess that "Coach Bob" spent some time working in telephone customer support :D

[Brian Swartz]

2013/14 players

Keepers

Ferminus(29, 1.4m)
Roni Setia(16, 150k)

Ferminus is solid and serviceable, while Setia is talented enough to be our man of the future. There is a third better than either of them in on trial(Andi Widodo), but we can't afford to give him a contract so he'll be leaving us imminently.

Defense

DC Rial Fitrandi(23, 1.6m)
DC/DR Ben Onisius Benoni Patay(27, 1.3m)
DR Piterius Piter Urwan(30, 1.6m)
DL Ignasius Kasipmabin(35, 900k)
DC Sutiono(25, 9m)

This group looks quite good. I intend to play five at the back fairly often, as they're a lot better than we are in some other areas. Sutiono's contract is ridiculous, over a quarter of our total wage bill, but nobody's trying to sign him right now so we're stuck with it.

Midfield

AMR/MR/MC Patrick Adie(34, 1.3m)
ML/MC Melianus Ningmabin(30, 1.6m)
MC Frans Yarangga(26, 1.3m)

Yarangga is the best of the group but the best we can hope here is that the midfield doesn't embarrass itself. There's no backups or money to sign any, so if injuries crop up we'll be in a world of hurt.

Attackers

AMC/ST Fabian Yogi(29, 3.75m)
AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka(28, 1.6m)
AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(16, 150k)
ST Engel Ewangin(36, 3.5m)
ST Decky Uropmabin(24, 1.4m)

Yogi is considered the best player on the team, Ewangin is still good despite his age, and Uropmabin makes a solid third wheel. Sutanto is thought to be the most talented player on the squad, the only one we think is good enough to play in the Premier Division someday.

OVERVIEW

15 players makes for a pretty bare squad, but money being as tight as it is we'll have to suffer through. We'll play either a 5-3-1-1 or 4-3-1-2 depending on circumstances, and emphasize a direct, counterattacking style as a necessity given our complete inability to pass well enough for any kind of slow-building attack to work.

[Brian Swartz]

PRESEASON

We announce a 900M turnover for the last fiscal year, and a loss of 280M(32%).

8.5 -- AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka is going to be out until a good way into the season, 3-4 months from now with knee tendonitis. That leaves us with just 14 players ....

8.21 -- The board announces they are unable to find suitable parent club. They want us to sell players to make money and ease our financial pressure. Lol. We have nobody anyone wants, and if we did, we have 15 freaking players on contract. Hard enough putting a team on the pitch as it is. Fughedaboudit.

9.2 -- We are considerably screwed. Our best player and the linchpin of our attack, AMC Fabian Yogi, will be out 2-3 months with fractured ribs from a training session. That means he'll miss the first few matches of the season. We'll start the year with two of the three players at AMC injured, only young Sutanto able to carry the torch.

9.5 -- Torn hamstring during a friendly for MR Patrick Adie. He'll miss 3-4 months, and we don't have anyone who can credibly take his spot. In the interim, that will be a big hole in our squad.

We are down to 12 healthy players, and the season begins in a month.

9.10 -- ST Engel Ewangin suffered a fractured wrist(2 months). Anybody else goes down, and we won't be able to so much as field a starting 11.

9.18 -- Sutanto twisted an ankle in training(6-8 weeks). That's 5 of 15 players out now, we'll be going with 10 for a while.

9.30 -- The injuries continue to mount, with DR Piter Urwan now being out about 2 months with a hernia. To add to this, Urwan is our team captain.

OCTOBER BOARD REVIEW

A loss of 105M was recorded, which will likely be made worse by the fact that backup GK Roni Setia has turned 17 and automatically has been given a pro contract (1M per week). Expenses decreased by 37M but income by 50M.

October 2 -- We reject a bid for one of our remaining defenders on the grounds that it's probably not a real good idea to go into my first-ever competitive match with only eight active players. There wasn't any money anyway, just a 25% next-sale clause down the line.

October 6 -- 65 season tickets were sold this year, up three from before I got here.

October 7 -- ST Decky Uropmabin twisted an ankle(6-8 weeks). This is getting comical(and ridiculous). 8 healthy, 7 injured now, and less than a week till our first match.

October 11 -- A disappointing although now-irrelevant draw with Canada(1-1) for USA leaves them two points in front of Costa Rica ahead of their finale in four days time.

We open the season at home in two days time ...

[Brian Swartz]

A good read so far, looking forward to more.

Thanks for saying so!

I'm going to take a shot in the dark & guess that "Coach Bob" spent some time working in telephone customer support

This cannot be completely discounted :P

[Brian Swartz]

** Actual game date as of now is December 6, 2016, so I'm almost three and a half years 'behind'. I'm planning on posting in fairly rapid-fire fashion for a while so that I can close the gap to current events.

October 13 vs. Persibas, we're favored 5-4.

I was frankly unsure of how the rules worked on this, but we are apparently allowed to scrounge up emergency players from local amateur clubs to fill out our squad in the event of ridiculous extremes like this. Even with a 'full eleven', I still ordered a very defensive approach with so many of our regulars out. Starting in a week or two, we expect to see the first players back, but until then ... the six competent outfield players we have are in defense and midfield, none of them natural attackers, so our only real hope is a 0-0 draw.

We're picked to lose despite the official line, due to the absence of our attacking players(specifically Yogi and Ewangin). This is a complete 'duh' moment for me.

It was such a depressing thing, after all the work to put in a plan to give us a chance to succeed, and then get out there on the pitch and realize that none of it had much chance to work today. It's like trying to play on one leg, frankly. Just a horrible feeling, but we had to do what we could and make the best of it, no other choice really.

And then there were the fans, who didn't come out here to see us turn turtle and stall at every opportunity -- but that was what we needed to do to have any chance of a result.

14' -- Shockingly, after the first couple of minutes we did very well to disrupt their attempts at a short passing, possession style game, surrendering nothing. A straight-on shot from just outside the area by one of our 'guys off the street' was well-placed, and it took a great effort by their keeper Sangra to push it wide. The fact that it was the first shot of any kind taken in this match shows that so far, our strategy is working.

25' -- One of their players had the ball at the corner of the six-yard box, but he was well bracketed by Fitriandi and Sutiono, both of whom were playing well today. He went down, and they called a penalty!! We complain, but to no avail. Ariyanto stepped up for the try and converted it, his first-ever goal for Peribas. 0-1. In the whole of the pre-season, a dozen friendlies I think it was, we were never once whistled for a penalty ... and we get one here.

I had no choice. I went to a less conservative counter-attacking strategy and ordered our defensive line higher up the pitch ... we had to try to create more chances now that we were behind.

41' -- We get a freekick, straight on just outside the area, with Persibas screaming it was a dive. Oh, the irony! Yarangga pushes it wide right and high though, so it comes to nothing.

HT -- Still down 0-1, even though we've outshot them 7-1. Most of ours have been speculative long-range efforts, but for my money they didn't earn the one they've gotten. We deserve at least a draw here, but we need a break to get it now.


48' -- A floating shot has a chance to sneak in for us, but it's off the crossbar.

51' -- A nigh-unbelievable sequence down in our end. They get a freekick, intercept our clearance and center again. A point-blank volley is blocked by Ferminus, then a straight-on floater from just outside the area hits the crossbar, and Batu(whose volley was blocked initially) volleys it in easily from right in front!! And .... it's disallowed on an offside call anyway.

We're not dead yet. That was more pressure in 20 seconds than they've put on us the rest of the match combined.

They controlled the action more and more from there on, not getting in a bunch of shots but dictating play and breaking up our counterattacks before they rightly were able to begin most times.

71' -- Sangra illadvisedly snags a ball and goes over the line to give us the first of a pair of corners, we get a weak long-range header on the second which is easily saved, and it's time to go for broke a little. I tell the guys to press harder for the equalizer, losing by two isn't going to hurt much more than losing by one. We're the fresher, more well-conditioned squad ... maybe they'll make a mistake. Or maybe we will, but we have to take that chance.

FT -- We lose 1-0 after never really getting anything going at the end. Shots were even at 11, we had 51% possession ... they were probably a bit better but it all came down to that stupid penalty in the first half. A bad call, but we never should have given them the chance to make it, they had almost no chance to score and were completely bracketed by our two best defenders. Tough loss, and not a good omen to start off my career.

Late in the match, DR Ben Onisius Benoni Patay went down during a tackle and was diagnosed afterwards with a dead leg(6-8 days). The hits just keep on coming. We now have more players injured than we do healthy. At least this one won't be long-term.

[Brian Swartz]

October 15 -- Costa Rica thumps the US in an embarassing 3-0 rout to take the top spot in North American Qualifying. USA finished second, one point behind, and Mexico is 5 back in third.

October 19 @ Persipon(1-0-0). They are 5-4 favorites, while some are picking a draw as the most likely result. I'd take that in a second, but with our injury issues it's unlikely. Same defense-oriented strategy.

15' -- One of our amateur fill-ins had a decent angled shot that went well wide, best chance of the match so far. It's been defensive and dull, the Persipon controlling more than we permitted last match as they've been sending seven men into the attack. So far we haven't given them anything dangerous.

29' -- We go to a tighter marking scheme as it's looking a little too easy for them to get off shots in our zone. A little more pressure should help, though we've done well keeping in front of them and blocking most of their attempts so far.

50' -- Our first chance in what seems ages sees a shot blasted from about 12 yards on a pretty tough angle get blocked away by their keeper.

53' -- A free kick gives them a great look at a close angled header from the left side, but it's misdirected into the side of the net.

With both teams looking for that one break that would send them to victory, the flow of the match broke down with a series of fouls. Physically, Persipon were getting the worse end of it with a couple players forced out with injuries.

62' -- Basri came wide open for them at the short post on a corner, and despite our efforts all day long we now trail 1-0.

67' -- A long-distance prayer hits the left post.

77' -- A very nice lead pass sets up Basri right in front, but Ferminus somehow manages to block it.

90' -- On the second of back-to-back corners, the ball squirts free right in the goal mouth, but Ferminus is first to it and nothing comes of it.

FT -- Another 1-0 loss in a match we could well have had a draw out of, and Persipon has won both of their contests by that count so far to put themselves among the leaders.

Later that day, DR Patay returned to full training, shrinking our injury list for the first time as no new medical issues resulted from the match thankfully.

[Brian Swartz]

10.27 @ Persatu(0-1-1). Our hosts are slight 6-4 favorites, and this match features the only two sides who have yet to score through their first pair of matches in league play. We have Sutanto back, and the youngster will start at AMC. Ironically, this expected borefest is the first of three televised matches we have for the year.

2' -- We got a good opportunity with, of all people, Sefia(backup GK) setting up one of the amateurs for an open angled shot, but it was blocked out for a corner. After bouncing around, the ball came to Sutanto just outside the box, he went for the far angle and hit the post. A couple decent chances right away, but we get nothing from them.

HT -- We're up in shots 8-2 but no good chances really for either
side.


67' -- Near disaster as Ferminus mishandles a floating off-target cross, and has to leap a second time to tip it over the bar for a corner. That one nearly got away from him for a fluke goal.

68' -- Sutanto sets up Setia who hits the side of the net only. A good example of the kind of rush that would likely end up with a score if we had Yogi et. al. out there, but our makeshift lineup just doesn't have the skills to consistently produce good opportunities or convert them when they present themselves.

79' -- With Persatu stepping up the pressure the last several minutes and our rushes producing nothing remotely hopeful on the other end, I switch to a defensive posture in order to not give up anything cheap at the finish here. I'll take a point on the road under the circumstances.

81' -- A blast from about 17 yards out hits the crossbar, our best look at their goal in over an hour.

89' -- Sutanto sets up an open header, less than 10 yards out in front -- it's weakly directed well wide left. *grumblegrumble*

FT -- It stays scoreless to the end, despite a 21-6 edge in shots. It's clear to see why Persatu hasn't scored yet, their attackers aren't much better than our scrubs. Sutiono is named man of the match for his work in defense.

It was also Sutanto's professional debut today.

[Brian Swartz]

October Review

A pair of 1-0 defeats and a scoreless draw form a very uninspired first month, but there's the promise of better things to come as we get healthier. Based on what I've seen there's a chance for us to make a real move upwards in the standings if we can get most of the guys back and playing well together.

We have five matches in November, three of them at home. We need to pick up some points and get a sense of what we have, the season will be over a third completed by month's end and if we don't have any more significant injuries we'll be almost completely healthy by then.

The board continues to be satisfied, and in particular pleased with lockerroom atmosphere and to a less extent the control exercised over the budget. The fans are concerned by our home loss that opened the year, with poor performances by multiple players, and the 'less than exciting'(that's a nice way of putting it) style of football we've played.

We lost 152M, with income basically staying the same and expenses increasing. Persigubin is falling apart financially.

[Brian Swartz]

11.2 vs. Persewar(1-0-2) -- We're slight favorites(5-4), and with our injured list reduced to three including the recent returns of Fabian Yogi and Engel Ewangin, I like our chances of coming away with at least a draw. We'll also get our first look at Yustinus Oropka, who has been injured since I got here in July.

Those three will fill the attacking roles, and all of them are far from being match fit so at best we'll face a growing process this month, but there is a sense of hope that we can start to play like we are able soon.

Recently promoted Persewar play a 3-5-2, aiming to control possession, and their lone win is an impressive 3-0 victory over the Persibas club that beat us in our first match.

8' -- An even back-and-forth start with both teams looking like they have the capability to put multiple goals on the board. We had the first chance with Yogi finding Ningmabin on the left side for an angled shot just inside the area, but his howler of a volley attempt was tipped over. Disappointing, but not for long as on the ensuing corner Yogi volleyed it from 15 yards out and nobody had a chance and getting that one! Sure didn't take long for our best player to make his presence felt, and we get our first goal and first lead of the year, 1-0!!

15' -- Just a few minutes later, Yogi led Ewangin with what looked like a great chance for a one-on-one, but they caught him just in time. So Ewangin laid it off a few feet to the right, where Oropka placed it in the left side of the net for a second score! 2-0, and I'm really impressed by our skill on the attack right now.

26' -- They get a good luck at the goal for the first time on the counter, but try to get too cute with a pushed shot towards the left side and Ferminus is able to block it away. It was Irawan, who has shown a lot of skill attacking on the right wing except when it comes time to actually cross or shoot. He's an athlete, but thankfully doesn't appear to have the technical skills to back it up.

35' -- Falaq gets behind our defense with a nice lead pass, and easily places past Ferminus. Our lead is down to 2-1 ... no time to get complacent.

HT -- We're up a goal, but it looks like we're getting tired and they've gotten the better of the past 20 minutes or so by a bit. I switch to a counter mentality, telling the defense to drop deeper and make sure we don't give up anything cheap. We're not fit enough to play a whole high-quality match yet, but I want to hold on to what we've already done today. If we can keep them to just four shots again like we did in the first half, I like our chances to get our first league win.

Our defense held very solid and they basically got nothing from their 5-wide control of the midfield, but a couple long close misses and a bunch of offside calls on our end wasn't much better production.


59' -- Irawan got loose in the area, 10 yards or just a bit more on the right side, and Ferminus did very well to keep the game from being tied on his blast. Fitrandi made his presence felt clearing out the ensuing corner.

70' -- We go more defensive with the 5-3-1-1, giving Setia a bit more outfield time in order to get Yogi out -- he's been beyond exhausted for about 15 minutes now. Nearly another great chance before we could get the sub in, but Ewangin was tripped up in the area before he could get it off, no call.

73' -- Ningmabin gets a fairly rare shot, and blasts it but right at Lubis.

76' -- A good clearance by Patay ends another potential threat but he comes up hobbling.

78' -- A freekick just outside the area is a solid chance for an insurance goal, but Ewangin sends it high.

86' -- A mishandled ball by their keeper almost gifts us a goal, but Ningmabin's 22-yd floater is wide left.

91' -- An incredible cross from halfway to midfield finds Mardinsyah at the corner of the box, with the hobbling Patay a couple steps behind. He easily heads it in, and we're tied at 2-all! Absolutely freaking unreal

92' -- Ewangin blasts one well high and wide. Another one a minute later from almost 40 yards is nowhere close.

FT -- A 2-2 draw, and that injury-time goal cost us a win and two points. I have a feeling that may well come back to haunt us, but with three players still out hurt and others working there way back into playing shape, it's hard to fault the team. It's still a gut-shot though. We outshot them 19-7, and after the way this one started, up 2-0 at home after 15 minutes, it's a tough pill to swallow.

Fabian Yogi(1 goal) is named man of the match. Patay at least has no permanent injury. The fans were pleased with the match and with the exciting style of soccer played. They are far happier about it than I am, two more minutes and we'd have been well on our way to climbing back into the middle of the table after the disastrous start to the season we've had. As it is, we're still tied for last.

[Brian Swartz]

November 5 -- So much for the good news on Patay. He overexerted himself during weight training and managed to strain his wrist. He's expected to miss two weeks.

I was thinking of scheduling a friendly during our break till the next match to get some people back to fitness faster, but with this latest setback we are still so thin that I decided against it.

November 6 -- One out, one in. Piterius Piter Urwan is back from his hernia recovery and he'll take Patay's place on the right of the defensive line for the next couple of matches.

November 10 @ Persinab(2-0-2). Persinab has bigger injuries than we do at the moment, as they'll be missing five players. They are slightly favored and play a 4-4-2, currently riding high after winning their last two games without conceding a goal. We'll look to be solid defensively and counterattack quickly in the early going.

It was easy to see why they are on a streak of not conceding goals early, they are good in the air and seem to anticipate the action on both ends of the pitch better than any of the other clubs we've faced so far. Just a real good solid club.

On the attack, they don't seem to have a real good sense of things, particularly in constant offsides calls. Of course, they do have a lot of injuries, so they are probably not using their top guys there.

18' -- It looked like we were starting to figure them out a bit. After a missplaced, seriously spinning cross-pitch pass went out form them, we took possession, and Sutanto found Yogi in the area on the right in-between two defenders. He passed up a decent shot to get a great one, leading Ewangin beautifully right in front as his striker partner got behind his man and ran onto it with a full head of steam. The shot was blasted home from 10 yards, no chance at all for the keeper, and we go in front on the road 1-0!! An impressive attacking move, and Persinab's defensive streak is gone.

19' -- It didn't last long at all. Yoweni snatched a floating cross in the middle 25 yards out, as Sutiono misjudged the ball. He dribbled straight in and showed impressive touch in a perfect low lob over Ferminus's head, well under the bar and well over his half-hearted attempt to jump for it. Nothing he could have done. 1-1, and we're even again. It's Yoweni's fourth goal of the year already, so we're hardly the first team he's victimized, but it was quite disheartening to have our lead last no more than a minute and a half.

24' -- Yogi was double-teamed and taken down, and it looks like he hurt something but can probably continue. The last think we need is for him to get injured again ...

27' -- Yoweni finds Mansoben in front with a clear blast from about 13 yards, but it's right at Ferminus. They're controlling possession almost completely, and I'm thinking seriously about going to defensive mode to try and hold them down. If we had our fifth defender available, I'd put them in but with Patay injured we don't have that option.

29' -- Kasipmabin floats in a great freekick from almost midfield, and Oropka heads it home inside the box at the right post! But it's disallowed, they say he pushed one of the defenders to get free! That was Pigay, the same guy who took out Yogi's legs a few minutes ago.

I hate him. Oh, how I hate him. But judging from the reaction of the players who were closer to the play, it's probably an accurate call. Still, I thought we were back in front, and it was one heck of a kick and finish anyway. Blast!

33' -- Yogi loops one to Ewangin over the middle, who had gotten a couple steps inside his defender. Their keeper came out, but couldn't cut down the angle fast enough and the ball zipped inside the left post! A second assist for Yogi, a second score for Ewangin, and we're back in front 2-1!! What a game this has been already!!!

39' -- Tebay, who assisted on their first goal, loops in a deep cross to Mansoben who is behind our defense. He puts a soft header beautifully over our keeper, and we're dead-even again!! That time it was Fitriandi defending, and he didn't react nearly quickly enough. We had two guys right on Tebay though and he put that pass right on the money, an incredible play. Gotta be impressed with that, and it's 2-2.

44' -- A nice passing play from Oropka to Sutanto to Yogi sets up a fairly close shot, but it's an awfully sharp angle and into the side of the net.

HT -- Still 2-2, they've controlled possession, beat us soundly in the air, but the individual skills of Ewangin and Yogi have us right there with them. For now. It feels like the other shoe is about to drop, especially with Yogi laboring -- we might be able to get about 10-15 min. more out of him but that'll be it, and if we aren't back in front by then it'll be very hard to save the match.

I try to fire the guys up by being enthusiastic about what they've done so far, it has been excellent after all. They seemed to respond well for the most part, we'll see if we can keep pushing in the conclusion here. With just nine combined shots for the game, the finishers on both sides have been really outstanding.


49' -- Ewangin gets a crack from 22 yards out, tries to go up high but needed some angle on that, Pakage jumps and snares it easily.

56' -- Time to pull Yogi. Setia will come on at MR, giving us Oropka, Sutanto, and Ewangin up front. I hope to heck Yogi's ... whatever it is ... isn't serious.

59' -- They make another sub after missing a long free kick, then a try by Mansoben is blocked, Yoweni gets in a good try at an angle volley but Ferminus is equal to the task.

Still another half-hour to go. I'm not sure we can hold them.

62' -- Pigay takes down Setia, no doubt trying to intimidate the young keeper playing vastly out of position. He's shown a yellow card -- couldn't happen to a better guy.

63' -- Yoweni takes a pass down the right side, somehow finds a trailing midfielder who blasts one from 15 yards, just over the upper right corner of the net cage. That was a dangerous looking and impressive play, I'm pleased they didn't convert.

64' -- Some nice touch passes between Sutanto and Oropkadown at the other end, a ball is fed ahead for Ewangin to run onto ... but their defender slides and tackles the ball away at the last second. Almost had something going there.

69' -- A good-looking rush but their defense does just enough to prevent us from getting a shot off, had a couple of near-attempts from about 18 yards straight on before they intervened.

70' -- The perenially-aggressive Yarangga picks up a yellow for us. I'm forced to tell him to back off, the last thing we need is to get someone sent off at the end of this match.

With nobody seeming to have much of an advantadge at the moment, I decide to stick with our approach the rest of the way. They are tiring and I think we had good chances to hold the draw.

75' -- A long freekick by Kasipmabin is nearly a fluke goal, instead resulting in an eventless corner.

77' -- They are called for offside on what would otherwhise have been a sure goal. Swallowed my throat there for a sec.

79' -- A bad header gifts them a corner, which with their aerial ability is no small cause for concern. Ferminus manages to punch the ball out though.

82' -- A collision at midfield(Sutanto and two Persinab defenders) typified the finish to this game. It left all three players on the ground, dazed for a moment, but the match continued, no foul called. Good hustle on both sides, some great individual efforts and a lot of physical play, leading up to not much of anything.

87' -- Ewangin pushes down the left side of the area, trying to bait the keeper his way before lofting a cross over to Sutanto. It was a good idea, but didn't come close to working as Pakage didn't fully commit and easily retreated to grab the slow pass.

90' -- Fitrandi gets back just in time to block a try by Yoweni out, and the corner is caught by Ferminus. Looks like that was the last chance.

92' -- Or not. They get Tebay a look inside the area and Ferminus just manages to turn it aside. Another corner for them and I can barely watch ... Urwan gets there first at the far post ... they head it back towards the goal ... and we finally clear it. Phew!

93' -- Another corner. Would this match just end already? Tebay hits it ... Urwan is there again ... and it's finally over.

FT -- 2-2, a heart-stopping draw, and one we were on the short end of a bit so I'll take it.


Top honors went to Engel Ewangin for his two goals, with Yogi's pair of assists contributing to a solid day for him. He was determined to be fine after the match, which was a great relief.

Including the last two matches of the previous year(not my fault of course), we have set a new club record: six without a win. There are rumblings in the press about how this year is going to be a disappointment if we don't get victories soon. They're not wrong, but it's not time to panic five matches in. We have three more this month and are gradually getting healthier all the time. With two of them at home, if we haven't pulled out a win by then, we can start panicking at that point with my blessing :)

[Brian Swartz]

November 12 -- ST Decky Uropmabin is back training now and ready for action.

November 16 vs. Persenga(1-2-2) We're slight favorites back at home, Persenga is not off to a good start(recently promoted), and we are going to be fielding our top attacking trio of Yogi, Ewangin, and Upromabin for the first time this year. If we're going to grab a victory, there's not going to be a better chance for it.

6' -- That didn't last long. Uropmabin went down with nobody near him, and had to be replaced by Sutanto.

They were able to frustrate all our attacking moves early on by congesting the box and preventing us from getting any kind of look at the goal, but we definitely looked the more dangerous team.

12' -- A decent look for Sutanto from about 16 yards or so, but it was fairly weak and right at the keeper.

18' -- They get a header from a corner but it's way high. Yogi does not look sharp today so far.

20' -- We're completely dominating the game, but some lax and out-of-position defense gifts them a 10-yd angled shot which easily beats Ferminus. Now we trail 1-0. This match has been disastrous so far.

24' -- Yogi to Ewangin back to Yogi for a clear shot from 15 yards, but it's right at the keeper. Those are usually money in the bank for him.

26' -- They foul Ewangin on the edge of the area, and it's a yellow card! Yarangga takes the free kick, and puts it just inside the left post, nobody was close enough to try to make a play on that. It's his first goal of the year, and we're even at 1-all.

HT -- Tied 1-1 still, not a whole lot of shots either way. Our anticipation, teamwork in attack, and control of the ball has been the worst in the last few matches. I tell the guys I expect better in the second half and that seemed to fire them up, normally I take a positive approach but I just have the sense they need a kick in the behind today.


55' -- They get a long header, straight on but it's right at Ferminus.

59' -- Urwan gets assessed a yellow. We're playing a bit frustrated and losing most of the possession battles, so I switch to counterattacking. Lets at least not blow this by giving up another cheap one.

63' -- A foul and a yellow for Fitriandi just outside the area. It's getting testy out there and we're making almost all of the mistakes right now. From almost exactly the same spot as we scored our freekick in the first half, they miss wildly to the right.

64' -- Back the other way, Ningmabin crosses and Ewangin is there just inside the box, his header is easily punched past the keeper and we take the lead! Ewangin just ran between their defenders who just stood there and didn't react to the cross at all basically, unbelievable. 2-1

66' -- Ewangin challenges for a ball at midfield and goes down injured. That's just what we need. Setia will have to come on and Sutanto goes up front to replace our striker. We've gotten both strikers hurt today ...

73' -- Looks like we're about to be a walking medical ward again. Sutiono goes down near midfield after challenging for a ball.

75' -- A nice run up the left by Ningmabin, who centers for Oropka ... he pushed it wide right. That was a good chance to put this match away there.

76' -- We work it back in, Ningmabin to Sutanto, who blasts a volley from the edge of the box ... blocked, but it's right back to him and this time he hits for an angled goal! That's his first tally, and up 3-1 now, we'll just try to defend and get out of this match without losing any more players.

It's like Persenga has stopped playing defense the last bit here, we haven't done anything special they've just lost focus. I'll take it, whatever the reason.

77' -- Another angled look for Sutanto is high and wide.

80' -- The floodgates open, a good attack again and this time Oropka is in front for the score ... but they disallow this one, calling him offside.

81' -- As they try to press and get back into this one, one of their attackers trips Sutiono and gets himself a yellow. Lots of cards being handed out today, that's the fourth.

83' -- Just hideous lack of coverage defensively again, they chip one in on the short angle from the corner of the box. After making a couple of good interceptions recently, Fitriandi was way out of position there. It's 3-2, and it's not over yet.

85' -- Oropka drives one wide from 23 yards out.

FT -- The cheapest goals I've seen this year, both scoring and conceding, happened today with some big lapses on both sides. But we get that elusive first win of my career here 3-2! Frans Yarangga earned player of the match and was big with the free-kick equalizer, Ewangin's goal a minute before he got hurt gave us the lead, and Ningmabin had the best half I've seen him play in the second half, playing a key role in our last two scores.

Surprisingly, none of our match injuries are expected to keep anyone out as all got positive reports from the physio. We'll have Patay back in a couple of days as well, leaving just MR Patrick Adie who still has a couple weeks yet on the injured list.

[Brian Swartz]

November 17 -- Assistant coach Bob informs me that Ferminus has been showing great progress and we now consider him to be a solid keeper for the level of competition we face here in the First Division. As we've conceded multiple goals in three straight matches, we'll need his work as the season rolls along.

November 22 -- A big blow for us as Ferminus fell and sprained an ankle during training. He's expected to miss 2 months. Roni Setia will get a chance to show his stuff, but he's not half the keeper Ferminus us at this point in his career.

November 23 @ Yakuhimo FC(2-1-3). Our recent play(unbeaten in our last four) has been noticed by the oddsmakers who have us down as 7-4 favorites on the road. Without Ferminus in goal though, we'll play conservatively here with the 5-3-1-1 and a counterattacking strategy. Our hosts have five players out and have lost 3 of 4.

2' -- Uropmabin is tripped right at the corner of the area, but his freekick is way off the mark.

5' -- Yogi gets a freekick from the left side, and Ningmabin ends up with a great header opportunity inside the box, but he misses it wide left. Just got too cute with it and took a bad angle. That's a good a scoring chance with a header as you can get, he just blew it.

8' -- Yogi trips up one of their midfielders and draws a yellow card. He rarely fouls, but this puts us in a tight spot. I decide to keep him on.

11' -- They get a header from about 13 yards, a weak effort that Setia grabs easily.

26' -- We blow another point-blank header as Yogi's cross is just a bit far for Ewangin right on the door step. He redirects it, but it's off the left post. The defense has been solid, but that's twice we've just missed inside the box.

29' -- A tough-angle try for Yogi is weak and into the side of the net. We seem to be taking more and more control as the match goes along.

32' -- Two-man game with Ewangin and Yogi ends up with Yogi taking one from 18 yards, it's deflected over by their keeper and they clear the corner without incident.

34' -- Ningmabin to Yogi who floats in another cross for Ewangin, he was almost in the net himself when he put this one home! We take the lead 1-0!! That time there was nothing whatsoever wrong with Yogi's cross, far post opposite the keeper and in between the defenders, great execution.

46' -- Just before the halftime whistle, Alma gets behind Fitriandi after a good lead pass and boots it past Setia from just outside the box. We're tied at 1, and we're making a darn depressing habit of giving up equalizers not long after we score.

HT -- 1-1. We've defended well for the most part only because of numbers, none of them are having a particularly good day back there. We've been a little better in the air, but with the two headers we missed, haven't been able to take full advantadge of it. We need a quick score to get back in front here.


What we got instead was a lot of back-and-forth action in the midfield, consistent turnovers both ways.

54' -- Roni Setia did something to himself on a routine clearance, but he'll be able to stay on. He's our only keeper right now, we're dead if something happens to him.

59' -- A wild sequence nearly cost us. Setia mishandled a cross, batting it up in the air. Fitrandi headed it off the line, but it ended up at the feet of Mamoribo who popped one over the bar from about 14 yards out on the right side. That could easily have been trouble.

61' -- Ningmabin floats in a cross that's just too far for Ewangin to get to. He was open, but couldn't get there.

63' -- Oropka in for Yogi as he's pretty beaten up following his latest collision. The yellow earlier also played into the call to pull him now, I don't need someone getting sent off due to a fatigue-prompted mistake. This is essentially an admission that we're playing to hold the draw now.

Before we can get him off, Kepno pulls the trigger on a blast from the left side of the area, thankfully missing it.

67' -- They get an extreme-angle try in the box, we block it out for a corner. Sutiono clears it out.

73' -- Sutanto is on for Uropmabin, our final sub and purely a fresh-legs move.

88' -- Ewangin leads Oropka into the area ... great chance at a one-on-one but the pass was just a hair too hard and their keeper got their first.

92' -- A completely idiotic deflection by their keeper Aziz hands us a free corner opportunity, but we get nothing out of it.

FT -- 1-1 draw. It was an evenly played match, but we should have stolen it. Blowing those two early headers cost us that opportunity. Engel Ewangin(our lone goal) was named player of the match, while aside from a solid game by Urwan, our defense had a bad outing all the way across.

Setia has a sprained wrist and will miss 2 weeks. That means we don't have a keeper for that duration, and we'll have to play conservatively, scrap and claw for anything we can get.

[Brian Swartz]

NOVEMBER REVIEW

** Yarangga's free kick is 3rd place in First Division goals of the month.

The board continues to be pleased, particularly with the positive team atmosphere. They are also taking note of the good control over salaries and the fact that we are presently on course for a mid-table finish in Group D of the First Division.

The fans main complaint is our 1-0 loss to Persibas at home. That was the opener, a month and a half ago, that had the ridiculous fluke penalty call. It's understandable why it's considered a bad loss -- Persibas is 11th right now, and dead last in goal differential -- but for goodness sake, things happen and you have to get over bad events like that. I'm a lot more annoyed at the last-minute goals we are allowing personally.

GROUP D STANDINGS

Persemalra(19 pts, +9)
Persinab(16 pts, +10)
Persipon(14 pts, +4)*
Persebangga(14 pts, +3)*
Penajam(13 pts, +4)
PSKT(9 pts, -1)*
Yahukimo FC(8 pts, -2)*
Persenga(8 pts, -6)
Persigubin(7 pts, -1)*
Persewar(7 pts, -3)*
Persibas(7 pts, -9)
Persatu(2 pts, -8)

* indicates those clubs that have only played seven matches and may move up after their next match; the others have played eight.

The only team on a better streak than us right now is Persinab -- they haven't lost in six matches, and the only one of those they didn't win outright is that disgusting 2-2 draw against us when they scored at the end to tie it. Persatu has a virtual lock on the relegation spot unless they start improving: they've lost five straight since our scoreless match with them.

Worst-case scenario if we lose today, we are 5 points up the relegation spot and 9 points out of Second Phase qualification(second place). The big challenge for us right now is to try and not sink all the way to the bottom while Ferminus is out. We expect him to be back in mid-February, six league matches from now. Until then, our attacking players are going to be on an island without a lot of help as we are forced to play conservatively and give our defense all the cover we can. MR Patrick Adie is back now, our best attacking midfielder, and that should help a bit. He has not played since pre-season. Our only injuries right now are to the keepers.

The thing of it is, the way we've played there's no question we have a top-half squad; but we've got ground to make up and it's going to be awfully hard to make it up with those guys out in goal.

And what the heck is with the 'P' obsession?! We have exactly one club in our group that doesn't start with the letter P. I have no problem with alliteration, but I like a little variety as well.

[Brian Swartz]

12.1 vs. PSKT(2-3-2, 6th). We're slightly favored here, but probably shouldn't be with the keeper situation. Decky Uropmabin will go in keeper. The 5-3-1-1 will be standard with us for a while, we'll start conservatively and only loosen things up just a bit if the flow of the match warrants it.

Fortunately, we expect Setia back before our next match, so we just need to find a way to get through today without him.

6' -- Adie is involved in the first scoring opportunity of the match, putting a ball down the right side for Yogi to get, he then centered it to the trailing Yarangga whose shot was right at the keeper, but a solid passing play set up there.

11' -- We've looked fantastic so far, and Yogi got set up at the near corner of the box, but didn't get quite enough angle on the shot and a diving save by Pitoy resulted in a corner. Fitriandi headed it across from right to left for Urwan, but his header went well high. 3 shots, 2 on target, all decent opportunities or better. We've done everything but score in the early going.

20' -- Radinsyah got free in the area for an angled shot, but put it well high. So far we've kept Uropmabin from having to do much of anything.

21' -- Crazy play off a cross after we cleared out a corner. Uropmabin went up for it right at the goal mouth, but tipped it off the crossbar instead. Fitriandi tried to clear but got tangled up in our other defenders. Mardianto pounced on it literally five feet from a score, but thankfully there were so many bodies in the way that it was knocked out for another corner. We dodged a couple of bullets here, and I've got a feeling there will be more before this one's over.

28' -- Adie gets hurt in a midfield collision, but he thinks he can stay on for now.

36' -- We've gotten very little lately -- it's been a droll last 20 minutes or so. Ningmabin gets a cross into Yogi just outside the box, but it's a bit high and he can't get anything on it.

38' -- It's pretty clear Adie isn't going to be able to give us anything much today. He's through, and Oropka comes on.

39' -- Another cross is bobbled by Uropmabin, it goes over the bar but he almost let that one in. We are less fortunate on the corner, as Permana hits a header from just outside the box, straight in front and directs it in the left corner of the net. We're down 1-0, and have no choice but to be a little less conservative and try to get it back. Sutanto comes on to take the keeper spot, Patay heads off and Uropmabin goes up front to aid in the attack.

42' -- A shot by Yogi is blocked out for a corner, which goes to Ewangin but he's tackled immediately before he can get a shot off.

HT -- I tell the guys it's just been a bad-luck day, which is mostly true, it seemed to go over well. This is a different match if we convert one of those early chances.

We were a bit better to start the second half, but not good enough to get anything really substantial as there were too many errant passes.


62' -- Ewanginhits a strong volley from inside the area, but Pitoy makes a nice diving save. That's the second shot he's stopped today that would have been a score against most keepers -- there's a reason he only concedes about one an outing.

67' -- Absolutely incredible. Another fine rush, Yogi to Ewangin to Uropmabin ... and another diving save! We should be winning this match, and we can't even get on the board.

75' -- Yogi gets free, well behind the defense, into the area ... and an amazing sliding tackle from behind by their defender Augustina knocks it out for a corner just as he was about to shoot. We just can't buy anything today, this is ridiculous. We should have 2 goals minimum by now, probably 3.

We throw caution to the wind and try to push forward for the equalizer.

79' -- They work it into scoring position and a lead pass is just a bit hard and Sutanto pounces.

84' -- Uropmabin finds Oropka angling in from the right wing, he hits a good angled try ... and yet another diving save by Pitoy!! We get a corner out of it .. .

85' -- A similar shot by Yogi is weak and wide right.

86' -- Almost another breakaway, this one for Ewangin, but Pitoy picks it up as he arrives.

88' -- Pitoy shows his humanity and fumbles a cross by Oropka out for a corner. It's to Uropmabin at the near corner, he collides with Anes and is furious at the lack of a penalty call there. The ball squirts just wide of the post, and I can only shake my head. What do we have to do to score today?!

91' -- Uropmabin all alone into the area ... and they call him offside! Ridiculous call from where I'm sitting, but it stands.

FT -- I tell the team they played well regardless of the score, and they're a little disgusted with that approach. It's true though, this match was beyond frustating. We lose 1-0 despite several excellent opportunities pretty well finished. Pitoy had the finest match I've ever seen a keeper have, with 5 saves on our 16-7 shots advantadge. This was as well as we've played all year for my money, but it's still in the books as a loss.

Sutiono played well in defeat, while I was disgusted by Fitriandi once again. Adie suffered no long-term effects, and we will be working on getting him on the pitch as much as possible to build up his fitness in the coming matches.

[Brian Swartz]

12.3 -- Raul Fitriandi strained a chest muscle and will miss at least a month, maybe a bit more. That pretty much forces our hand right now to be more aggressive tactically than I'd like, since we can't field a proper 5-wide defensive line now.

12.6 -- World Cup Draw.

The U.S. will have a tough time next June, as they are in Group A along with England, Brazil, and Australia. This is an extremely tough group and will be a stern test to advance.

The other groups are as follows:

B: Cameroon, France, New Zealand, Uruguay
C: Italy, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Togo
D: Colombia, Denmark, Greece, Japan
E: Holland, Iraq, Nigeria, Russia
F: Argentina, Congo, Mexico, Portugal(our southern neighbors aren't too pleased with this either)
G: Chile, Costa Rica, Germany, Switzerland
H: Croatia, Iran, Morocco, Spain

[Brian Swartz]

12.7 @ Persebangga(5-2-1, 2nd). Setia is back in the lineup, we'll play very conservatively on the road today against the biggest surprise in Group D so far. Persebangga is making an early run at back-to-back promotions, having just come up from Second Division ranks. They've been opportunistic, but they've also been stingy, allowing less than one tally per contest and losing only to table-topping Persemalra. Head man Achmed Muryahad has been there just over two years and made a massive success of himself so far, though they don't have any more of a following(yet) than we do, selling less than 200 tickets despite a 20k capacity stadium. Somebody thinks this club is worth investing in ... It's little surprise they are better than even-money favorites.

5' -- A lead pass to Yogi in the area, but he takes a little too much time and they recover to block the attempt. An open look from just outside, straight on a minute later by Kasipmabin is struck wide. A good start for us though to put a little pressure on them and show this won't be a walk.

The big difference early between Persebangga and other clubs in this division is that they make less mistakes -- they don't give away possession much, you have to take it from them most of the time.

16' -- A hideously off-target by Uropmabin, probably close to 25 yards out. Still, they haven't gotten off an attempt from any distance. So far, so good.

19' -- Heckuva blast by Yogi, but it's almost 30 yards out and Ibrahim has plenty of time to get to it and tip it away. The corner goes nowhere, and I've seen enough to risk a bit more aggressiveness.

23' -- Another nice counter, Uropomabin to Yogi running up the gut, wide freaking open into the area, but he led him to much with the header. We are getting close, but it feels kind of like last match, when we never broke through.

28' -- A few minutes of more tense play on our end, and their first shot angled from about 12 yards is wide right.

33' -- Yogi again ... wide right as Ibrahim came out to cut down the angle, he didn't have time to completely settle on that one. Still, very makeable from about 20 yards.

40' -- A smartly struck, angled header off a corner was a dangerous moment until Urwan cleared it off the line.

HT -- They're beating us consistently in most of the little things, though we've had our moments, but on the attack we've been far more dangerous as reflected in the 7-3 shot count. We'll stick with what's working for at least a while longer.


47' -- We decided it was a really bad idea to cover Surya on the right wing at all. He waltzed in to less than 15 yards out, then barged a shot over the crossbar, refusing the gift. No defensive tactical setup can stop us from making that kind of boneheaded play, Kasipmabin responsible in this case.

Another reason to respect this opponent: this is the first time I've seen anyone look fresher out there. We won't have the fitness advantage we do in most matches.

55' -- Yogi goes down after having the ball taken in their half, and he's done for today. We can only hope it's not serious. Oropka comes on.

60' -- The closest thing they have to a counterpart, Bachtiar, goes down in the same spot on our side of the pitch. It's no surprise that Yarangga was involved, and I'm shocked he wasn't carded. A rather obvious payback move, and one I'm not at all pleased with.

63' -- I put Sutanto in for Adie who is out of gas -- he's got a couple matches yet before he's ready to go the distance for us. It's been a quiet second half so far with only one shot each way, and with our two best offensive middle of the field players out, I tell the guys to tighten things up at the back. Unless lighting strikes, it's time to try and hold for a draw.

72' -- Siswanto comes free less than 10 yards out, but Patay manages to get in front of it just in time. They just about had us there, Setia would have been hard pressed to do anything about that strike.

74' -- Another dangerous run past Kasipmabin on the right side, but he makes a critical tackle without a penalty foul to send it out for a corner. Patay beats two opponents to the ball for the header to clear, but the last ten minutes or so have been our worst of the match. We're getting tired and sloppy, it's showing, and the dam could break at any time.

79' -- Siswanto has a good luck at a header from about 8 yards out in front, but he puts it just over. Their corners are looking more and more dangerous as well.

83' -- Siswanto gets a crack just inside the area ... blocked! Yang is there from 15 yards ... blocked by Kasipmabin!! Our defense is doing fantastic work, doing whatever is necessary to get a body in front of these balls. We just need a few more minutes ...

85' -- We've got a break, as Ewangin finds Oropka on a breakaway! He chips it from just inside the area to avoid the angle getting cut down, and a fine play by Ibrahim just gets his fingers to it, tipping it wide but not by much! Oropka was inches away from winning it for us there. Back to back corners use a little time but provide no threat.

FT -- No injury-time surprises, and it's yet another draw for us. Of all people, Roni Setia had the best performance for us today, his first shutout and first match back.

[Brian Swartz]

12.14 vs. Penajam(4-1-4, 5th) We're short Oropka today as he came down ill a couple days ago and was sent home to avoid risk of spreading the infection. This leaves young Sutanto as our only available sub. Penajam has similar injury issues right now and while they've been up and down, three of their four wins have come on the road. They're a high-scoring bunch but give up a lot too, more than any other club in the top half of the group. We need our scorers to break out of their slump today.

We're slight favorites as usual at home, but the pundits like Penajam to take this one as they think our injuries are more critical.

1' -- Well that didn't take long. Yogi finds Ewangin in the area, and he takes a bit too long allowing them to knock it away for a corner. Ningmabin eventually got an angled volley from about 20 yards, he would have to hit it through a crowd and it was sent high.

5' -- Twice in one minute Gede Putra collides with Yarangga, on opposite ends of the pitch. Both times he got the worst of it, Frans got only a foul call for his trouble.

7' -- Ningmabin crosses for Uropmabin, but it's a little too far. Another good start for us, but we need to capitalize and get something on the board.

10' -- Is this a football match or a street fight?? Hidayat smacks into Ewangin, who goes down and Sutanto will come on. 80 minutes to go and no subs -- we need to do something quickly, because things could get interesting late in the match.

For a while it was played almost exclusively in midfield, their attacks threatening virtually nothing and us getting caught offsides or mucking it up with an ill-considered pass.

27' -- Yogi leads Sutanto, too hard or that was a clear one-on-one for the youngster. Not as good as Fabian normally is with that kind of pass, just too much on that one.

28' -- The fouls continue, and Yarangga picks up a yellow. Even if he doesn't get sent off today, he'll still be suspended for our next match. I have no choice but to tell him to back off for the rest of this one.

40' -- After a few minutes of sustained pressure, Adie finds Uropmabin for an angled shot from about 10 yards, and he easily beats the keeper on left(far) side! For the first time in about three full matches of action, we score and we really needed that one. It's 1-0!

42' -- A rather blatant foul by Urwan stops a counterattack, and he's fortunate not to get carded there. The freekick goes into a scrum, but Sutiono eventually manages to make the clearance.

44' -- Another foul by Urwan and there's not even a hint of leniency this time.

47' -- Uropmabin goes around two defenders ... and tries a shot from well right of the area. Center ... the ... ball, that's a ridiculously low-chance shot and you've got Yogi and Sutanto in the area. Think, dude!

HT -- Shots are 4-1, with their lone effort a half-volley from outside the area. My primary concern right now is that two our best three defenders are limited by the fact that they have been carded and I have no subs. We need to be smart in the second half, if we are we've got a great shot at holding on for the win. Our passing has been pretty atrocious when we've had the chance to attack, so it'd be nice to clean that up and get an insurance goal as well.


46' -- less than 20 seconds in, they get a decent angled shot but Sutiono was back there blocking off part of the angle and Setia played it smart, cheating the other way towards the short post. He made the save easily, and there's no harm done.

47' -- A nice push, Adie's in good position to blast a cross ... their keeper tips it, high in the air and I thought it was over the goal. Instead, it came down right at the far post, and Sutanto put it in from practically inside the net with a header that would have been hard to miss! That's his second goal of the season, and I won't look a gift horse in the mouth -- we'll close up shop and keep things tight at the back the rest of the way. I remember what happened last time we had a 2-0 lead, and I'm not interested in giving them any chance to repeat that scenario. Adie gets the most undeserved assist I think I've ever seen, his second of the match!

51' -- Full of adrenaline, Sutanto screwed up a chance for another one. Urwan centered for Sutanto and with attention focused on the others, he had a great look at a blast from about an 8-yard angle. It was right at the keeper though and blocked away, if he'd gotten it close to either post I don't think anybody would have stopped it. Too much power, not enough direction on that one.

53' -- Sutiono absolutely lost track of Tuharea ... I don't know what he was looking at but he just stopped, they hit Tuharea with a lead pass and he was all alone, beating Setia like a rented turnstile to the right side. 2-1. I wish we weren't so darn good at having horrid defensive breakdowns right after we get a lead ... We can't just play keep-away now, there's too much time left.

60' -- Sutiono and Taharea both slide for a through ball that's in to the area ... Sutiono gets it so they'll have a corner, Taharea doesn't get up and has to leave the match. Bad luck for Penajam, they manage a header toward the goal and into a crowd, but Setia manages to grab it.

65' -- Uropmabin gets his head to a long freekick by Adie, but it was moving too fast for him to get an accurate bead on it and he puts it wide.

69' -- Almost an exquisite passing play as we traverse the final third in the air, headed first by Yarangga and then by Uropmabin, but the second pass was just a bit too far for Sutanto to get to.

Meanwhile, we are getting fouled more and more often, yet nobody on Penajam is getting carded. I'm becoming annoyed by this.

72' -- Just as I'm thinking how the field is opening up on both ends as fatigue is mounting for both clubs, Uropmabin finds Yogi over the middle, he outruns their defense right down the middle of the pitch and launches a rocket from the edge of the area into the left corner of the goal, no chance! 3-1, and it was the kind of play that shows why Fabian Yogi is our best player, nobody else has the skill to both handle the ball like that at that speed and blast a shot like that. That should put this match away. Should.

79' -- Sutanto in between defenders up the gut, lays off it to trailing Yogi, over to the right, good chance for Adie -- he doesn't do enough with it and it's out for a corner. Then Adie compounds his error by getting called for a foul and he's given a yellow card. I can only shake my head in annoyance, but he is tired and still working his way back into shape so it's hard to be too upset. Besides, there's nobody on the bench to put in ...

81' -- They get a corner ... which we knock out for a corner ... which we knock out for a corner from the other side ... which Ningmabin finally clears.

89' -- Uropmabin lets loose a ridiculous blast from ... had to be 35 yards out. What is he doing shooting from that rang... I mean, great shot! It's over Igor's head and in, the exclamation point on a great show for the home fans!! A screamer from halfway to midfield, and there's nothing the keeper could do. Absolutely incredible. 4-1.

90' -- Yellow card for Hidayat!! It's about freaking time, I literally laughed out loud, gleefully.

FT -- We win 4-1, the most we've scored this year and we did it without our top goalscorer(Ewangin) most of the way. It's also the first match we've had either way decided by more than a goal, a fantastic win for us. Decky Uropmabin scored 2 of his 3 season goals, with an assist as well to clearly earn player of the match. Yogi(1 goal and some fine plays in midfield though his passing was bad in the first half) and Patrick Adie(2 assists) were excellent also.

[Brian Swartz]

12.21 @ Persemalra(8-1-1, 1st). Our last match of the calendar year, and it's against the clear best team in Group D. Persemalra are 1-2 favorites, and for good reason: they have won every home match they have played, and the majority of their road contests as well, scoring a group-high 21 goals on the year. For our part, we have drawn our last four on the road: adding a fifth to that streak would be as much as I can hope for here. With Yarangga suspended for his third yellow card, we lose a key part of our defense and will once again have only one sub available, though our hosts to have significant injury issues of their own. They play a 3-5-2, which in theory could leave them vulnerable to our counterattacks ...

1' -- It took us a whole 15 seconds to get a clear shot for Ewangin, about 25 yards out and he tried to float one into the far corner but it was a little high. Good attempt though. A sharp-angle shot from Uropmabin about 30 seconds later was high as well, but I'm still encouraged.

7' -- We've totally controlled the opening minutes, and Patrick Adie sends a freekick from about 30 yards high and wide.

9' -- Good grief. They get a freekick from just left of the area, Ningmabingets to it ... to Adie who can't control it, and Fuad puts it inside the left post from the middle of the area, his first goal of the year and we're behind the 8-ball right away. Excellent reaction shot off the bounce, but we gave them that one. 0-1

16' -- Kuswanto gets a step on Sutiono, but he stays close enough to block it out for a corner. Plays like that are why we'll miss him next year.

23' -- Nice pass from Uropmabin up the middle to Yogi, similar to the way he scored in our last match but he didn't get as much on this attempt and it was tipped away. Our attacking opportunities have dried up a lot, their midfield is breaking a lot of things up and making it difficult and there's more or less constant pressure on our end. It's easy to see why Persemalra is dominating the group, but we still only need one big play to get back in this match. A minute later, Yogi strolled in for an angled shot and put a weak effort well wide to the left. Disappointing effort there.

26' -- Adie with a cross to Ewangin right on the doorstep, but it's too high and he can't get to it.

34' -- Injury for Patay but it looks like he'll be able to continue. We've done much better the last 10 minutes or so in competing for possession.

39' -- Turnover just outside their area, Ewangin to Yogi, angled blast ... off the crossbar! He almost tied this match right there ...

41' -- And now we are going to pay for the fact that he didn't. Kuswanto outjumps Sutiono for a header, expertly controls it and moves in to put a shot in the upper left corner. That's the best individual play I've seen a forward in this league make -- it's 2-0 now and it's not at all clear that we can do anything about it. We had our best defender in position right with him and it didn't matter.

46' -- A long one from Ewangin is high, but not by much.

HT -- We're down 2-0 and headed for near-certain defeat, but the only real difference so far is they've converted their chances and we haven't done so with ours. We've had an 8-5 edge in shots and a few quality chances, just only put one of them on-target. Possession is at a respectable 47% and they've only been somewhat superior in the little things -- I'm not at all unhappy with how we've played despite the score. Their first goal was somewhat of a fluke which happens both ways as we know from our last match, and we should have a goal by now with the opportunities we've had.

I don't make any changes, and remind the guys they were expected to lose today anyway, just go out and finish it well, play freely.


52' -- Sutiono gets caught too far up field and loses contact with Kuswanto and they find him with a nice passing play, easy score as once again Setia had no chance. Stick a fork in us, it's 3-0 and we're done.

56' -- Ningmabin to Ewangin for a close angled shot, a defender got back just in time to deflect it sky-high. The corner goes to Urwan and he blasts it basically the opposite direction of the goal and well into the stands. I have no clue what he was trying to do there, but it was a really stupid idea.

58' -- Adie's not looking himself after a midfield challenge, and there's no point in keeping him out there today. Sutanto comes on.

61' -- Ewangin crosses one in, Uropmabin gets it and it's not hard, but well-placed, bouncing in the right side! 3-1 now, and that should make the guys feel a little better about getting our butts handed to us.

67' -- Another header for Uropmabin, but it was deflected first and he couldn't get his timing back in time, putting it well wide.

73' -- With our defense focused on their forwards up the gut, Sada gets behind us out wide and perfectly places a soft shot just inside the left post. These guys just don't miss -- every decent opportunity they've had has been a goal. 4-1.

79' -- Really strange play here, one of the weirdest sequences of our season. Sutanto had space into the area on the right, then stood there and waited till he was triple-teamed. He got to an open Uropmabin in front 10 yards away, who turned and blasted it off the right post. Blown opportunity, right?! Retop couldn't control the ricochet, and Yogi got there first, deftly putting it in the open left side of the net. 4-2!!

83' -- What the ... Another Ewangin cross(apparently he's the decoy today) finds Yogi in front, inside box but at too sharp of an angle and it's bounced off the keeper. He was actually too close on that one, and it almost ricocheted back in but not quite.

FT -- We lose it 4-2, but I can't fault them for their effort. We outshot them 18-8 and could well have been right with them if they'd hadn't been as fantastic in their accuracy(or if we'd been better). I told the team I was pleased with the effort and they didn't react well at all -- apparently they don't think that's good enough.

Uropmabin's goal and all-around good play made him our best today, followed by Fabian Yogi though his finishing was poor except for the one goal he did score. Roni Setia was third, which might surprise with four conceded but none of them were on him, they were just great shots.

The word on Adie is that he has a sprained wrist and will miss two weeks. Could have been worse. We have no matches the rest of the year so he won't have to miss that much time, but we just can't seem to keep him healthy. I gush praise about Kuswanto in the press conference, for good reason, but I'm a little confused when he states the next day that 'it's a dream to receive praise from such an amazing head coach'.

Uhm thanks, but I'm actually a virtually unknown head coach with a club exactly where they were predicted to be.

[Brian Swartz]

CONTRACT RENEWALS

With the six-month mark approaching on a number of guys I had to make some decisions. The following are up at the end of June ...

DC Sutiono(presently on 9M). He's been our best defender so far with 1 assist, started every match, and overall solid rating of 6.67. He also wants a raise to 9.75M which is obscenely beyond what we can afford. With our financial situation and the budget I've been given, anything past 4M would have to be a premium talent. I offer him the 4M and 1-year extension, he wants 9.25 at least. He's not getting it, so he's almost certainly going to be gone.

AMC Fabian Yogi(3.75M). Our top player as we all know, he has 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 games and is the quarterback of our counterattacking style. Says he's not really interested in coming back but he'll consider any fantastic offer. 4.5M with a 2-year extension? Nope, he wants 8M minimum. We just don't have it. We're averaging 4 freaking fans a match. Four. So unless the board is willing to pump in more money(they're not), say goodbye to Yogi. Makes me want to cry, but ...

ST Engel Engawin(3.5M) -- This one's interesting because he's 37 and won't be getting any better, but we have a club option for a 1-year extension. He leads the club with four goals so far this year, and unless he completely falls off the cliff(very possible) he's worth another year I think. Option exercised.

DC Rial Fitriandi(1.6M) -- He's not been as good as expected this year, the odd man out in the defensive line even if he wasn't injured, but he's only 23 and we still think he's capable of being a star at this level. Our relationship is ... not the best, so asking him to reduce his demands is kind of pointless. He wants 3.25M, which he isn't going to get. My ceiling for him is 2.5M, he wants 2.75. I think we're overpaying at 2.5 as he strikes me as an underachiever with an attitude problem, but I can't budge him.

MLC Melianus Ningmabin(1.6M) -- Solid but unspectacular on the left side of the midfield. He wants a raise to 1.8 but is willing to add another year at his current wage.

DR Piterius Piter Urwan(1.6M) -- I like Urwan, aside from Sutiono he's our best defender. He's willing to shave 100k off his pay in exchange for a 1-year extension, so I take it gladly.

AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka(1.6M) -- He's depth only on a quality squad. It took some time but he also agrees to a 100k pay cut with a 1-year extension.

ST Decky Uropmabin(1.4M) -- 3 goals and 2 assists in six league matches, and only 25 years old. They say he's already peaked but still -- him we want to keep around as a solid attacking option and the only one if Yogi leaves and Engawin declines. He wants 2.5M, we talk about the club's finances. He thinks his demands are reasonable and he does have a point. We should be paying him more than the 1.5M for depth guys like Oropka/Ningmabin, he's a better player than they are. I try a max deal for 2M per. He ups his demand to 3.25M. Apparently he didn't like being asked to reduce it. I'm willing to give him the 2.5 but not much more. He won't take less than 3 so we are at an impasse for now. His contract isn't up till August so we'll revisit this a bit further down the line.

He's now ticked at me and doesn't think he wants to play for me anymore, so that decision may be made for me. Looking at it now it was clearly a mistake, but you gotta go with your gut.

GK Ferminus(1.4M) -- He's shown some progress and is a solid keeper for this level, and the lowest I can get him down to is 2.3M for 1 year(he doesn't want a longer deal). I take it.

DCR Ben Onisius Benoni Patay(1.3M) -- He's been underperforming so I want to keep him, but not if he wants a big raise. We settle on 1.7M, he wanted 1.9 but I didn't want to go quite that high.

MRC Patrick Adie(1.3M) -- We haven't seen that much of him, but enough to know that he's solid but not spectacular. Adie is 34, so I don't want to break the bank. After some haggling I convince him to add a year at the same minimal rate.

MC Frans Yarangga(1.3M) -- Our pit bull, he's the hinge from defense to attack. He's too aggressive sometimes -- ok, more than sometimes -- but I really like him. At only 26, he's definitely worth keeping around. He also wants 3.25M. I start off at 2.5, we settle on 2.75M. I tried for a longer deal but he would have none of it -- it's a doubling of his present salary, but he's worth it.

GK Roni Setia(1M) -- 17 years old, he looks to be our keeper of the future. We still think he's a star in the making and he has a club option for an extension. Easy choice.

DL Ignasius Kasipmabin(900k) -- Decent at best so far, the fans don't like what they've seen from him, and he's 36. In other words, I wouldn't mind another cheap year as a backup, but he's pretty much done. He knows it, and accepts an extension at 1M.

AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(150k) -- His deal is good through 2015 already, and as he's not 17 yet we can't offer him a pro contract until summer. He's done nothing to dispel the impression that he's capable of being a very good player -- at the Premier Division level. But that's the future, he's not ready to take over for Yogi yet.

So most are willing to come back, but it looks like we will have some cash freed up by the loss of Yogi and Sutiono(about 13M between the two of them). Right now I'm inclined to give Uropmabin what he wants and then try to get a few more players in of the best quality we can. Cross that bridge a little later though.

[Brian Swartz]

12.29 -- Ningmabin has to leave the team for three weeks due to a viral infection. This will leave us shorthanded in midfield as there's nobody else competent at the left side.

12.31 -- The draw for the Indonesian Cup was today, and we'll host Cilegon FC in a week's time, then play the away leg the week after that.

Lionel Messi(FC Barcelona) wins the Golden Ball and Player of the Year.

DECEMBER REVIEW

1 win, a draw, and two defeats, but it was our best win and we played a couple of top opponents in the month. The board remains satisfied, with the fans joyful over the 4-1 win against Penajam. Poor performances of Fitriandi and Patay are the fans greatest concern.

Another 200+M loss, and the debt stands at almost 1B.

STANDINGS

Persemalra(28 pts, +14)
Persinab(21 pts, +10)
Persipon(20 pts, +6)
Persebangga(19 pts, +3)
Yahukimo FC(16 pts, +2)
Penajam(16 pts, --)
PSKT(15 pts, --)
Persenga(13 pts, -4)
Persigubin(11 pts, -1)
Persewar(9 pts, -6)
Persibas(8 pts, -13)
Persatu(3 pts, -12)

Persatu has a virtual lock on the relegation spot, they are winless and have scored just 5 goals all season. Likewise Persemalra is clearly the class of the league as was just demonstrated to us. The other qualification spot for Second Phase though is very much up for grabs: my money's on Persinab.

As for us, we classify as a bit unlucky. At 2-5-4, we having been gradually getting better as the season progressed, partly because of health and partly due to having gotten to the point of really understanding what I want us to do tactically on the pitch. I think we are clearly capable of being a top-half club but we need to start turning some of those draws into wins in order to get there. Right now, I'm bullish enough that I want us to finish in the Top 5, and I think that's a very doable concept. The Yogi/Ewangin/Uropmabin combo has proven capable of being dangerous in attack against anybody in this league.

Long-term, the picture is a bit more murky. In the entirety of First Division, only Persinab(second in our group) averages less than our four fans per match. That's right, four(they have three). Everyone else, all the other 46 clubs, have at least 20 with only 9 under 200, half averaging at least 1000. However, right now we have a very average payroll for First Division, so as long as they are willing to maintain that I think it's worth me sticking around and building on this. We've got a very fun team to manage and Sutanto/Setia are good pieces to build on for the future(maybe Fitriandi too if he learns to grow up emotionally).

At the moment, the jury is very much out on my status as the board are unwilling to even discuss a contract.

[Brian Swartz]

1.3 @ Persibas(2-2-7, 11th) It's hard to keep a competent first eleven out there normal conditions: now we have four matches in 11 days thanks to the Indonesian Cup. This will get ugly even if we don't have more injuries. If we do ... well, it may be time to grab a few townies again.

But first things first. If we are going to climb into the top half, then we need to win matches like this against bottom-feeders. The first meeting was the infamous penalty opener to the season. With all our key attackers ready for this one, I'm expecting a different result. Persibas is second-to-last in Group D both in scoring and conceding.

We're 1-3 favorites though our pundit of the day picks a draw and says we both suck. I hit the revenge angle and half the team responds well, the rest(including the sulking Uropmabin) sit there with a dumb look on their faces. Patrick Adie is back but I don't expect much out of him since he just started training yesterday.

11' -- Uropmabin rolls a center for Adie and he puts one off the crossbar and in! First shot and we score off of it. 1-0

18' -- They pass around the edge of the area and we give them more space than we should be, then Ariyanto chips one into the right corner too high for Setia. What do we do after we score? That's right, we let them back in it. 1-1.

23' -- They get a shot from about the penalty spot off a third consecutive corner, thankfully it's right at Setia. I've got a bad feeling about this match already, we need a win and it's turning against us.

27' -- Arriyanto's open again from the same spot, wide left. 3-1 in shots at this point, not in our favor.

30' -- How utterly ridiculous. They cross it in and Arriyanto is wide open at the spot. We stand there around him and stare dumbly while he blasts a shot in the left side of the net.

2-1. I haven't seen us look this bad all year. What the heck is wrong today? I'm already preparing a royal ass-chewing for halftime.

34' -- A blast from Yogi doesn't even stay inside the box.

41' -- Arriyanto centers, Hari's in front in-between apparently comatose Fitriandi and Sutiono, and a blind cripple could have scored that header. 3-1.

47' -- A weak chip by Yogi sails well wide. Pathetic attempt.

HT -- Outshot 6-3, porous defense, lazy on the attack ... I haven't seen this kind of nonsense all season. I pull no punches and they at least responded properly to a rare screaming fit. I don't know how much good it'll do ...


46' -- Uropmabin had a bit too much adrenaline at least. 30-yard shot straight on, and it was still rising when it went over the goal, and when I say over I mean 15-20 feet over.

47' -- Adie goes down, hurt. Again. I need to find a way to make a stretcher part of his uniform.

48' -- Yogi finds Ewangin a bit outside of the area, and he blasts one short-side inside the left post! 3-2, and we're in this match again ... if we can manage to defend worth a crap.

57' -- Another looong blast by Uropmabin. Closer, but still high.

72' -- We're getting no chances as they are just defending and fouling at every opportunity. With countering not working at all, we go for broke and send everything we have at them. We've got to create something.

75' -- A bit of a break for Ewangin, but they pushed him a bit wide and his angled shot was into the side of the net.

86' -- Arriyanto is called for a foul in our area, he's carded but it's a bit too late for that to really matter.

88' -- Corner sent to the near post, too close and Fitriandi can't get here before their keeper grabs it.

91' -- Hari gets behind our overcommitted defense and adds the final insult.

FT -- We lose 4-2, and have now been beaten twice by Peribas. They've beaten everyone else in the group a combined total of once. If we played the whole match like the second half, we'd have been ok -- the first half was the worst football I've seen all year. There are no words for this debacle.

Ewangin's goal gives him a team-leading five, and he's the only one deserving of praise today. Fitriandi and Kasipmabin draw specific criticism, which they don't respond well to. I don't care.

Adie's latest injury is a bruised rib, probably a bit under two weeks for this one.

[Brian Swartz]

1.6 -- Ferminus is back, Kasipmabin out for 3-4 months though with a slipped disc, so we can say goodbye to him for the rest of the season or at least close to it.

vs. Cilegon FC(Indonesian Cup) We're 4-7 favorites to advance.

1' -- A yellow for Sutiono, not a great start.

5' -- After consecutive fouls on Sutanto, Sulim gets a yellow. Looks like the ref will have a busy day today.

9' -- Fitriandi comes too far forward and they find Nutiono behind him. He beats Ferminus to the near side and we're down immediately. Fantastic. 0-1

20' -- Yogi goes down hard and has to be taken off. Superb.

26' -- They get a header in front but Norval directs it wide. We really look bad again today ... Yarangga picks up a yellow shortly afterward.

35' -- Freekick for Yarangga just outside the area, but he misfires.

36' -- They try to float one over Ferminus from straight on, but he makes the leaping save. That one probably was a goal against the shorter Setia.

37' -- Similar try for Sutanto on the other end, wide right.

39' -- Yarangga gets caught tripping one of their players, and you can say goodbye to him, 2 yellows and he's done for the day.

44' -- Norval gets free at the spot and volleys one home in the right side. 2-0, and down a man already this is pretty much over.

45' -- Rivanto in front with a header that's wide left, we're lucky they didn't score again there. We really suck right now.

48' -- Noval centers for a trailing midfielder, good strike by Ferminus makes a diving save ... Noval pounces on it and it's 3-0. Disgusting.

53' -- Another header in front, pushed wide. The way we're not defending, they might score 10 goals.

81' -- Sutanto up the right side, crosses in for Ewangin who volleys it in from inside the box. The keeper might as well have not even been there. That's nice, but far too late. 3-1.

84' -- A questionable offside call robs Sutanto of a one-on-one chance.

89' -- We get caught pressing and Noval has an open net after a pass from the opposite side. 4-1

FT -- Ahmad Noval posts all four scores in a humiliating home loss, which 96 attended. I'm disgusted with the way we are playing right now.

Yogi will be fine, Yarangga accepted a warning and his suspension professionally, so I didn't let him have it too hard in the press. I did talk about how upset I am with our play though.

[Brian Swartz]

1.10 vs. Persipon(6-3-3, 4th) We're still missing both wide midfielders, but other than that everyone's ready to go. Ferminus isn't back to full strength yet, but a couple more matches should get him there. Persipon are strong 2-5 favorites, and my biggest concern is that we pull our heads out of our behinds and start playing like we wouldn't rather be watching grass grow or scuba diving than competing in a professional football match. Nothing else matters if we don't get back to playing like we were in November and December.

Our first match was a very competitive 1-0 road loss, with Basri coming open at the near post for an easy corner score in the 62nd minute to provide the only tally.

Ain't nobody on the team happy right now after the way we've been playing. That's good, they shouldn't be -- but this could spiral downward quickly if we don't turn it around now.

Interestingly, Basri isn't even in the match squad, possibly out hurt. I implore the guys to step up their effort, most seemed to be listening but not visibly reacting.

8' -- Uropmabin is fouled and gets a freekick in front ... high and wide right. So far I'm not seeing much evidence of a better effort.

11' -- Perfect setup, Uropmabin leads Ewangin into the area at the spot, but he takes a moment too long to control it and his shot is blocked away. Those are the kind of opportunities we really need to convert. Somebody needs to make a play here.

12' -- Yogi finds Ewangin on a similar play, but the defense is closer his time and tackle it out for a corner. Nothing doing, but we are controlling play right now, an encouraging start overall.

16' -- There it is! Uropmabin plays a nice ball over the middle, Ewangin manages to get control of it and feeds right to Yogi who is all alone as all four defenders converged. Baskara gets in position in time, but Yogi puts it inside the right post from about 10 yards or so out, beating the diving save attempt. We take the lead 1-0 ... now what do we do with the lead?!

18' -- A nice move by Prayoga who shows speed and skill dribbling through our defense, but his 25-yard floater doesn't even make Ferminus move before grabbing it. I tell the guys we need to stick with him closer and make him give up the ball.

20' -- Second of a couple attempts, Oropka gets it to Uropmabin with an angled 20-yd shot, off the post but I think that would have scored short-side again.

25' -- They are called for a yellow in tripping Oropka, probably the least threatening player in our formation since he's out of place at MR. Sutanto is fortunate he doesn't get carded for a blatant trip less than two minutes later -- that's the kind of mistake he needs to grow past.

28' -- Prayoga tries to split our defense again, but Fitriandi and Sutiono converge and take it away from him. That's the kind of effort and teamwork that's been missing -- even if we lose this lead, I think we're starting to get back on track.

30' -- Ewangin to Yogi who runs through three defenders to miss badly from the edge of the area with men all around him ... the impressive part there was that he didn't lose the ball 10 yards earlier. Normally I'd expect him to pass off there.

35' -- A nice tackle by Yarangga squirts the ball to Wahyudi, who finds Prayoga behind the defense and he beats Ferminus easily. That's their first decent attempt, but that's all it took. Bit of a busted play there. 1-1

36' -- Another yellow, this time for tripping Ewangin. A minute later, they are called for third in tripping Yarangga. I don't think this strategy's working out too well for them.

39' -- A pass up the left side to Prayoga draws most of our defense, and a centering header to Lubis beats Fitriandi by a step or two. Lubis puts a volley easily past Ferminus on the left side, and in five minutes we've gone from winning to losing. 1-2

41' -- After a pair of back-to-back corners, Urwan sets up Fitriandi for an angled shot that's blocked by the defense. A third corner goes to him again at the short corner but he can't get anything through the crowd.

HT -- A pair of defensive breakdowns have cost us after an excellent first half-hour of play. I've seen too many matches like this already this season.

53' -- Yellow card for Urwan, a ridiculous call as it was a clear dive by Wahyudi. That'll get Urwan a suspension as it's his third yellow of the season.

Some of the sloppiest passing I've ever seen ensured we didn't come close to getting a chance to equalize.

58' -- And then suddenly it bounced our way. Oropka to Uropmabin up the right side of the area, but the defense was right with him. Herstianang got a foot into clear it ... off of Uropmabin ... and straight to the foot of Ewangin who put it in easily on the half-volley from just outside the box!! He found a great angle there and nobody had a chance at it. 2-2, and we're back in business!

62' -- Oropka crosses for Yogi but it's too close to the goal and Baskara is there.

69' -- Yarangga second yellow in minutes away from the ball, and he's carded. Dude is just a loose cannon! I tell him to chill for the rest of the match.

72' -- Persipon pulls back, heading for the safe waters of a draw. I'm not quite ready to do that, but we are getting tired ...

80' -- Nobody is getting an advantage right now, so I acquiesce to the draw, tell the guys to pull back, and put Setia in for Yogi. I don't want him getting hurt late in a likely useless struggle.

86' -- An opening in the area for Syafii though we converge on him quickly. He went down hard with three defenders around him, and I half-expected a penalty call but none came.

90' -- Two late corners, one fumbled out by Ferminus to give them another shot.

91' -- Our turn, Uropmabin is fouled and we get a freekick right of the area. Nothing.

FT -- We could have done worse than a draw against a club challenging for Second Phase qualification, and for a good part of the match it looked like we would. Ewangin is named man of the match largely for his equalizing goal, and of course he also assisted on the first one by Yogi. We weren't great today, but it was a big step back in the right direction, and that was my post-match focus.

Media is starting to criticize Fitrandi, who doesn't taking kindly to being put under a lot of pressure. I talk to him and support him, tell him how important he is to the team. He is appreciative and says he'll try to be more disciplined in defense ... here's hoping.

[Brian Swartz]

1.13 @ Cilegon FC(Indonesian Cup, Second Leg) The fans are confident of a big win. Good for them. I'm not, inasmuch as we got smashed 4-1 in the first one and our away mark on the season stands at 3 losses and 4 draws, with not a victory in sight. Even if we win this one 3-0, we'll still fail to advance as they'll have more away goals. At least our next match isn't for nearly two weeks so there's nothing to hold back for. Yarangga is suspended but we get Adie and Ningmabin back on the midfield wings. Oropka will man the center.

The oddsmakers have us as 1-2 favorites, but that didn't help us last time. The main thing I would like to achieve with any reasonable expectation is to win the match, not necessarily the round on aggregate, stay healthyish, and have the squad aside from the obviously inconsolable Uropmabin in a more positive frame of mind heading into the rest of our Group D schedule. We're pretty tired, so if it doesn't go well early, I'll use the subs and call it a day.

3' -- I tell them to watch Norval, who scored all four goals, like a hawk. And so Sutiono picks up a cheap yellow almost immediately. Grrr.

4' -- Ewangin to Yogi, nice trailing pass to Ningmabin but he's taken down no call as he's about to get off a good angled shot.

5' -- Ewangin gets a clear shot from 23 yards out straight on, hits it well but right at the keeper.

10' -- Ningmabin to Yogi up the gut, he hits it from 25 ... good attempt but just high. We look to be the better club early in this one, a sight different than the first match. They come back down and get an inconsequential header in front, their first chance of any kind.

13' -- Yellow for Urwan. I don't like the way this is heading.

22' -- They're playing cautiously to ensure they hold their large lead, sensibly so. Adie really needed a few days of rest before he was ready for action, and he's laboring already. I put Sutanto on for him as it's unlikely we'll be able to press forward for a big win, though we're playing solidly.

27' -- Another long shot for Ewangin straight on, but it's well high. This has all the makings of a scoreless match unless we can connect from long distance or catch some other sort of break, they are effectively frustrating our attacking moves most of the time.

30' -- They pick a yellow at midfield for fouling Oropka, then foul Sutanto a few yards outside the area and Ewangin has a freekick. He just misses wide right, well placed just over the line and a foot left that would have been a score.

36' -- A yellow for Yogi.

37' -- Two man game between Ewangin and Yogi, angled shot just outside the box by Ewangin but it's blocked away by the keeper. I thought we had a score there, probably should have.

46' -- Urwan clears out a dangerous corner, but time isn't called and they get it back in. Sutiono and Fitriandi get caught too close to the middle and Norval comes free for a header from about 10 yards, angled well across for a score. 0-1

HT -- We've outshot them 6-2, that was the only corner for either team, the little stats are close ... but Norval finished his try and we've missed at least two or three that were better. That's five goals for him in a match and a half, and we're trailing a match we should be able to at least draw based on how it's been played.

57' -- Uropmabin unleashes a bouncer from over 30 yards, well placed but because of the distance there was time to knock it out for a corner.

60' -- Yogi sets up Uropmabin in the right side of the area, but it's a very sharp angle and into the side. Ningmabin's day is done(fatigue) comes off for Setia. Yogi comes open up the middle, good touch on the 25-yd shot but it's just off the upper right corner.

79' -- Another long shot straight-on for Ewangin, another miss. They've effectively frustrating our attempts to get better shots in the second half, and we haven't gotten any breaks.

82' -- A hideous 30-yd volley attempt by Uropmabin. He loves the long shot too much, and could have gotten closer there.

83' -- Firmansah is carded for tripping Ewangin. A 35-yard freekick is hideously off-target probably 15 yards wide right.

FT -- We lose 1-0 despite a 14-2 edge in shots and overall game good enough to have at least a draw and probably a win. We would have lost the round anyway, but it would have been nice to get a couple scores today.

[Brian Swartz]

1.20 -- Latest Asian Competition Rankings show the Indonesian Super League dropping 3 spots to 27th, the Premier Division down 8 to 36th, and the First Division down 3 to 83rd. The lower divisions dropped a bit as well.

1.26 vs. Persatu(0-4-9, 12th) We are 1-6 favorites in what is the definition of a must-win. Urwan will be serving his yellow card suspension today, leaving us short a man in defense with Sutanto forced to fill in. Our first meeting was a scoreless draw in which, horribly short on healthy attackers, we saw a season-high 21 shots go begging.

7' -- Yogi goes down hard in the area trying to manufacture an attack, and he'll stay on but we could do without him being hurt.

9' -- Ewangin to Upromabin who is all alone in front but a little too close to their keeper who cuts down the angle and blocks the shot. A corner results in a loose ball in front, but we can't get to it.

11' -- Ewangin with a good look but a diving stop tips it out. Two corners produce nothing. Our finishing seems to be getting worse with each match.

13' -- Just as I say that, a line drive from more than 25 yards beats Khuluq inside the left post, and Ewangin has his eighth goal of the year to put us on top 1-0!

16' -- The shots just keep on coming, with Adie blasting one angling in from the right, but it's right at Khuluq and he blocks it away. There's a not-small difference between Persatu and everyone else in this group, as their lack of a win through the first 13 matches indicates.

Our passing became more erratic after that and Persatu improved their game a little, and we weren't able to mount the same kind of consistent pressure.

30' -- Their first shot of significance is a header in front, about 14 yards out which is easily saved by Ferminus.

33' -- Bethan gets behind the defense on a counter as ][b]Patay just stands there like an idiot, and he's alone into the area, beating Ferminus who had no chance on that one. Superb. They've scored six goals in 13 matches, and just made us look stupid on that. 1-1.

35' -- Uropmabin uncorks a 30-yarder, our first shot in a while, it's a well-placed line drive that beats Khuluq but is off the post. Ewangin misses high a minute later on a long-distance try after a corner.

40' -- Yogi goes down hard again and this time he'll need to come off, Oropka is in and Sutanto takes the AMC spot. Another foul immediately following the kick and Adie has a straight-on attempt just outside the area, at first I thought it was a penalty call. His blast is well high.

43' -- Didn't take Sutanto long to make his presence felt up front. A fantastic header by Ningmabin started a counter with Ewangin taking it up the left side. He found Ningmabin in the left side of the area with a return pass, blocked off he shoveled one to Sutanto put it past Khuluq inside the left post! 2-1 now. Ningmabin made the play, probably his best sequence of the year.

45' -- A header at midfield sets up Uropmabin ahead of the back, but for once he actually waits too long and his shot is blocked out for a corner. After a turnover, Ewangin has a shot blocked as he couldn't get it off in time for a clear look, and time is called.

HT -- Up 2-1, we finished well and could have very well added another goal before the break. I would like an insurance score and will switch to a more conservative approach if we get it, but for now we'll keep pushing with only a single goal lead.

50' -- They are obviously concerned with Ewangin and are making a career out of fouling him today.

54' -- A volley by Ewangin is blocked out for a corner.

58' -- Adie to Sutanto to Ewangin, who perhaps tried to get a little too cute on a fairly open shot from 20 yards. Khuluq got to it with a diving tip, a little more on that and it was good, heading for right top corner. Sutiono's normally inept corner kicks have been much worse than usual today.

62' -- We work it to Ningmabin for pretty good look from inside the area, but he's well off-target. Setia is on for Adie, who has been beat up pretty good today.

64' -- Sutiono shows his value with a fantastic tackle of Mustofa who looked like he was a step behind the defense. I decide not to tempt fate and tell the guys to hold back now and just look for chances to counter.

74' -- Surhandak gets a freekick from 30 yards straight on, thanks to just our third foul of the day. It's a weak effort though and easily taken by Ferminus.

78' -- A scramble in front of our goal is far too close for comfort, but Ningmabin eventually gets it out of there.

82' -- They are getting too much pressure on our end, and we'll retreat and try to block off any possible chances of a tying score.

FT -- A couple of desperate long-range attempts miss and we hang on for the 2-1 win. It should have been a bigger margin, but we'll take any victory at this point, they've been few and far between as it's only our third of the season. Upromabin(1 ast) edged out Sutanto(1 gl) for player of the match.

Yogi has a dead leg and will miss 6-8 days.

[Brian Swartz]

January Review

A win, a draw, and a loss in First Division play, a decent month were it not for the lopsided loss in the Indonesian Cup to Cilegon. The board remains 'satisfied', they are extremely positive about the positive team atmosphere but note that the one-sidedness of the defeat in the Cup cannot be ignored and fans are also concerned that the style of football has not been that excited(translation: we need to finish better and score more goals).

Another big loss of 160M brings our balance to -1.14B. And counting.

Standings

Persemalra(35 pts, +16)
Persinab(28 pts, +12)
Yahukimo FC(25 pts, +6)
Persebangga(25 pts, +3)
Persipon(22 pts, +3)
PSKT(21 pts, even)
Penajam(20 pts, even)
Persenga(20 pts, -2)
Persigubin(15 pts, -2)
Persewar(15 pts, -6)
Persibas(14 pts, -12)
Persatu(4 pts, -18)

Everyone has played 15 except for Persewar and us ... we visit them this afternoon. We have road matches against the teams around us in the standings and home matches against the higher-ranking ones to finish the year, and unless we can get a win or two in those away contests I don't see us moving up the table.

[Brian Swartz]

February 1 @ Persewar(4-3-7, 10th). A rematch of one of our most disappointing results this year, in which we scored twice in the first 15 minutes only to see them equalize in injury time for a 2-2 draw. This time around, Yogi was a last-minute decision but not quite ready to go ... he would have been an emergency sub at best anyway without the time to get his leg back into shape. So Sutanto gets the start at AMC, leaving us with two subs.

As before, they play the double-edged 3-5-2 so more fireworks are expected, and Persewar are slight 5-4 favorites with any result expected to be a significant possibility. We need a win to stay in contact with the mid-table clubs as Persenga and Penajam both won their matches this weekend, but Persewar has won two of three themselves.

1' -- Uropmabin gets a good look as Sutanto heads it to him in front, couldn't have been more than 10 yards out. He turns and fires ... Amri barely needed to move to grab it. There was plenty of room to put it in the left side of the net, that should have been a quick goal.

We barely manage to break up their first few attacking runs thanks to a couple of nice tackles. Both sides have the same idea: wait for a turnover, then get the ball forward quickly. Just a matter of who executes it better. Their idea of how to stop us early on seemed to be 'foul the guy with the ball'. We were indecisive enough to make it unfortunately effective.

11' -- Hakim's second blatant trip, this one on Sutanto, earns him a yellow card.

15' -- Mariansyah gets it behind Sutiono at the edge of the area, Ferminus comes way out and is able to get his hands on the ball, we clear it before they can get a shot at the nearly-open net. Well it's even now, both of should have a goal but neither do. Good play by Ferminus, but a half-decent lob and he would have been toast.

25' -- Ningmabin with a deep cross and their defense it caught asleep, Upromabin mishandles it but Amri can only push it away ... open net but he can't get through their defenders, the rebound is to Adie out wide and his shot is blocked as well. We never had a clear shot there but just needed one deflection to go our way.

27' -- Ari gets carded for fouling Ewangin, I'm not sure that was even a foul so I'd be hopping mad if that had gone against us. Ningmabin follows it up with a blast from another zip code that almost scores, but Amri tips it away. What do we do with the corner, class? That's right -- nothing.

32' -- After some loose ... and that's putting it very charitably ... marking and defensive coordination on our end, Praestiyo has a volley inside the box, but Fitriandi blocks it out for a corner. There's been a lot of dangerous chances in this contest, yet nobody has scored yet.

38' -- Irawan gets a pretty good look at a header off a corner kick, and we're lucky to deflect it out. A minute later, a freekick gets Waraby free for a sharp-angle header in the box, and it's into the side of the net. I'm getting the feeling more and more that we are dodging bullets right now, and I tell the defensive line to pull back for the rest of the half.

46' -- Ewangin hits a skip pass to Adie, who puts a weak shot wide.


HT -- They've outshot us 5-4 so it's not been as active as I expected.

47' -- Ewangin to Sutanto in a good counter, but the defenders were close enough to push him wide and the angled shot went into the side.

48' -- A chaotic corner and Praetiyo is given a yellow card for taking a dive. That could have gone either way.

51' -- Another berserk play. Ferminus tips a cross to keep it away from their forwards, but it doesn't go out. Praestiyo heads it in front, where Mardinsyah is all alone in the goal mouth. 0-1

59' -- A long shot from straight on by Ewangin is well off-target.

70' -- Disaster. Mardiansyah comes down the left and leads Prasetiyo into the area behind Fitriandi. Ferminus just stands there and doesn't even react to cut down the angle, easy score and you can put a fork in us as it's 0-2.

73' -- Sineri hits one from halfway to midfield and into upper left corner. 3-0. What a bunch of crap.

90' -- An angled shot from Adie is just barely blocked, but he retrieves it and finds Uropmabin who hits to open net. 1-3, but this one is about in the books and it didn't look like Persewar was even trying on that sequence.


FT -- 1-3. The ironic thing about this is the last two matches we've played have been our best this year in terms of possession(58% and 56%), but it seems since the calendar turned to 2014 we can't get anything right at the business end. Misplaced passes, poor decisions, inability to finish, mental breakdowns at the back -- we've got a crisis of confidence or something, and I don't know what to do about it. I made it worse by calling it a solid effort(which it was), but they were pissed about the result and thought I was being ridiculous.

We drop to 10th, and will drop further if we can't find away to convert more of our opportunities.

[Brian Swartz]

2.8 -- Another friendly with the goal of getting Setia and Yogi back to top condition.

2.15 vs. Persinab(8-4-3, 2nd) -- Our 2-2 away draw earlier in the year might have been our best result of the year. Right now Persinab are leading the race for the second qualification spot, and are tied for best in the group with only 16 goals allowed while their 28 scored are more than anyone except for Persemalra, the most dominant club in all of First Division. Any more of our recent defensive breakdowns, and this will be a one-sided loss as Persinab are 1-3 favorites and have won their last three matches by a combined 7-1 count. On the plus side we are as healthy as we've been all year; Kasipmabin is still out but everyone else is fit and ready to go. We'll try to make it as difficult as possible on them to score, and hope to at least make them earn it here. I know their forwards Yoweni and Mote are high-quality, so I tell the guys not to give them any room to work.

7' -- Fitriandi goes for a header and misses, Yoweni draws the defense and finds Mote for an easy score. Well that didn't last long did it. Sutiono thinks Mote was offside, and it was close ... but the score counts. 0-1.

10' -- Another foul by Fitriandi who is absolutely stinking it up, and we're fortunate to have them miss a close freekick high and right.

14' -- Mote from 25 yards, placed well in the right side. 0-2. We are helpless against these guys and they know it.

17' -- Yoweni to Adii angling in from the right -- he misfires but it's pure luck they didn't score again there.

44' -- Adie centers for Yogi whose weak close-range header is right into their keeper's hands. That's our first good opportunity of the match, blown completely of course.


HT -- We've been taught a painful lesson already today as Persinab has almost always been in the right position to break up what we are trying to do.


47' -- Yogi is taken down as he moves in on goal, I thought that was a penalty but no call.

53' -- Adie takes it up the right side, point blank header for Upromabin in front but he's offside and it won't count. Questionable call at best IMO as I thought he was even with Baidowi.

60' -- Sutanto on for Ewangin who is having his worst day of the year.

67' -- Yarangga goes down hurt, how wonderful. Oropka on.

81' -- Mote in front near the spot misses narrowly to the left.


FT -- Well we got our butts good and truly kicked once again, 0-2.

[Brian Swartz]

2.23 @ Persenga(5-6-5, 8th) -- Our 2-2 draw earlier in the year had everything, with Ewangin equalizing in the second half, five yellows handed out, and 15 minutes of a two-man advantage for us late due to injuries that we could do nothing with. I'm not positive we would have a decent shot at beating a side composed of the blind and infirmed on our recent form, so it's no shock that we are dogs though 10-1 is a bit more than I expected.

17' -- Praestyo's weak free-kick attempt is easily saved, the best chance so far as we've missed on a couple of promising runs.

28' -- Nice passing play almost reminiscent of earlier in the season ... Yogi to Uropmabin to Adie up the right side, he centers for Ewangin open at the spot, and he doesn't put much on it, blocked away. Figures. Adie however is right there and blasts it home! We lead 1-0!! Oh we needed that. How we needed that. Had to basically be gifted to us as Ewangin should have scored on the first try.

30' -- Did our darndest to surrender the lead right back, but Praestyo's close-range angled header is off the bar and over.

31' -- Adie to Uropmabin ahead of the field ... wide freaking open ... but he can't control it and it simply rolls it to their keeper without incident.

35' -- The second of a pair of Persenga corners is headed out then back in, Ferminus grabs it in a crowd. We take it down, Ningmabin to Yogi, an angled shot inside the area ... weak and right to the keeper. Why are we afraid to freaking shoot the ball lately? That kind of play was money for Yogi at least two times out of three early in the year.

A lot of up-and-down action, counters and counter-counters as everyone's getting a workout. Good football on display if not a ton of scoring chances, nobody can finish stuff off.

41' -- Ewangin to Uropmabin to Yogi back to Ewangin, open at the edge of the area ... and he might as well have handed the ball to Dianto on a silver platter with how weakly he struck that lazy looper right at him. STRIKE ... THE ... BALL ... you haven't been our leading scorer with that kind of crap!!

44' -- And again. Yogi straight up the middle to Uropmabin, who softly lofts one right to Dianto's hands. This is getting absurd.


HT -- Should be 2-1 or even 3-1, but we're up by a goal and are limiting their chances with our best counterattacking runs I've seen in months out of this group. Now if somebody would remember how to strike the ball with a bit of authority, we'd have something here ...

Still, we haven't won on the road this year. Ever. Taking this match could go a long way towards getting me a new contract ...


48' -- Would have gone a long way. After we lose a couple 50-50 balls, they eventually work it to Warman from about 16y, and he blasts it(that's how you do it, gents) easily past Ferminus in the right corner. 1-1

Being the insipid whiners we are, we complain about offside. It wasn't, he wasn't, get back to midfield and work on retaking the lead fellas. That one was a rare mistake by Sutiono who gave him way too much room.

51' -- Or not. Ruminsir hits one from at least 30, Ferminus] dives way too early, and the ball slides inside the left post. 1-2. Match blown unless we mount some kind of rally here.

53' -- Yogi to Adie for a long angled shot, once again he needed to get more on that one. Easily saved.

54' -- Warman again from long range ... just high.

55' -- Ninmabin beats two men down the left, to Ewangin in front for an angled header ... it's high. The cross was a little short, otherwhise that would have been a virtual gimme.

65' -- Uropmabin up to Yogi, Dianto comes out, Yogi chips it over him from the edge ... and it's off the crossbar! Quit being so darned cute and blast the damn thing!!

73' -- Yogi from just outside the area ... weak and wide right. Double facepalm.

75' -- Straight-on freekick for Adie ... off the bar, and we stand there dumbly as they knock it out for a corner instead of fighting for a shot into the open net. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Yogi and Adie come off, Sutanto/Oropka on.

77' -- Another straight-on free kick from maybe 30 this time, well high.

FT -- We get nothing at the end, and lose it 1-2. Passivity in the shots we got(14-10) is the cause here, yet another match we should have a result from but didn't.

[Brian Swartz]

2.28 -- Sumba Barat put in a bid for Fitriandi. I have no plans to resign him and our financial situation is dire. They are offering only 25% of the next sale, I suggest a meager 20M fee(twice his value) as well. They refuse and withdraw the offer. I'm not giving him away for free, as much as he's a whining underachiever we're still a defender short without him.

STANDINGS

Persemalra(41 pts, +20)
Persinab(32 pts, +14)
Yahukimo FC(28 pts, +7)
Persebangga(28 pts, +1)
Persipon(26 pts, +4)
Persenga(24 pts, -1)
Penajam(23 pts, +1)
PSKT(22 pts, -1)
Persewar(22 pts, -3)
Persigubin(15 pts, -7)
Persibas(15 pts, -14)
Persatu(4 pts, -21)

Our string of 3 straight defeats has dropped us well behind the middle of the pack, and our only realistic hope is to outlast Persibas and avoid dropping another spot into 11th. This year's pretty much played out, and we're looking forward to the next season with much uncertainty. 11 points clear of winless Persatu with five matches left, we have almost no chance of being relegated.

Another loss of 160M, and the board remains 'satisfied'. Not sure how with the way we're playing. Disgusted or repulsed might be more appropriate terms. They aren't satisfied enough to give me a new contract, which with four months left on the current one speaks volumes about how satisfied they really are. The trouncing by Cilegon in the Indonesian Cup and the generally positive demeanor of the players continue to be the most significant factors.

At this point I have little choice but to keep my ear to the ground for appropriate openings in case I'm not invited back, but meanwhile we have five matches yet to play.

[Brian Swartz]

3.7 vs. Yahukimo FC(8-4-5, 3rd) A string of four straight wins from December and January propelled Yahukimo into a tie with Persinab for the second qualification spot, but they've since lost two of three including a 1-0 home defeat to Persipon last time out. Still, their form is much better than ours and you can add desperation to it now with only five matches left. They are 1-2 favorites to take us down today.

I tried to fire the team up and encourage them to get us out of this losing streak, which seemed to resonate at least with Yarangga.

9' -- After some back and forth play, good hustle from both clubs, Yogi to Ewangin who drew two defenders and slide the ball across to Uropmabin who was clear just outside the area, and our best long-shot threat buried it in the left side! 1-0 we take the early lead and we've looked fairly solid at the back, hopefully we can hold it this time against a dangerous foe.

11' -- After two immensely stupid turnovers, we are fortunate that an angled shot is blocked out for a corner by Ferminus.

14' -- They work it to Kotto, straight on from 17, high and wide left. If that play was any indication though, we'll be under a lot of pressure today.

27' -- Yogi looks for Ewangin, Harianto takes out his legs and they call a penalty!! Our first penalty chance of the season and an opportunity to add a critical goal to our tally. Yogi buries the try in the left corner, no chance to stop it and we're up 2-0!!

I tell the guys to pull back even more than our usual approach would dictate. We need to do anything we can to protect this lead.

33' -- Fitriandi leaves his man to cover a weakness out wide, not a wise choice as Kotto is open from no more than 10 out and fortunately his blast is right at Ferminus. We caught a break there and a narrow miss into the side on an angled header greets the second corner ... if this keeps up they're going to score eventually.

37' -- Mamoribo blasts a nice try from straight on outside the area, and Ferminus was able to tip it high. Big play by Ningmabin to clear out a low corner into traffic.

43' -- Decent look from about 25 for Ewangin is high and wide.


HT -- This sure looks like the match to break our streak, and I tell the team how pleased we are. Still, we're fortunate they haven't scored despite the fact that we've played very well.


48' -- Adie to Yogi who strikes a long blast on the volley ... missed but not by much.

51' -- After a couple corners, a long header by Yogi on a poor clearance is well wide.

We've increasingly been settling for long-range efforts as the year's gone on, so I decide it's time to start working on getting the ball into the box before we fire.

58' -- Samberoni gets behind the defense, a good tackle by Fitriandi takes away the ball ... and almost knocks it in for an own goal!

68' -- Sutanto on for Yogi, and Oropka on for Ewangin shortly thereafter. It's time to just go into full stall mode now.

93' -- Samberoni draws the defense and Alma places one perfectly inside the left post. Disappointing to give up a goal this late, but we're still up by one. 2-1


FT -- We hang on for a 2-1 win to break our skid, with Engel Ewangin earning player of the match with two assists. Unfortunately only three people saw it, although that's two more than have seen some of our matches this year.

The media is starting to comment on my job status, saying that the jury is still out and describing our results as 'good, if unspectacular' and stating my performance as 'steady'. Certainly could be worse. Maybe this will incite the board to get off their butt and make a decision -- or maybe the reason I don't have a new contract is that they already have ...

Persibas won as well so we're still up on them only on goal differential, and Persatu actually came through with their first win of the year, shocking second-place Persinab 3-2 on the road!! I can't fathom how that happened, they had one goal in their previous eight matches combined and then put up three on one of the league's best sides at their building?!? Even more incredibly, that was three goals in only five shots.

[Brian Swartz]

Though our next match is the day's primary interest, I did take note of three First Division coaching openings, all of which either have similarly crappy financial situations or imminent relegation. I'll definitely be watching developments among other clubs closely though ...

3.16 @ PSKT(9th) -- We trail PSKT by four points with four matches to go, so any chance we have of catching them and moving up in the standings would have to involve a win here. The previous day, Persatu lost and clinched the relegation spot, while Persemalra won and clinched Second Phase qualification, so the only Group D drama is who gets that second place. Surprisingly, we've been named even-money favorites on the road, which is better than I think we deserve but with PSKT getting just a draw out of their last four matches, neither club is exactly burning up the standings. We lost at home 1-0 in the first meeting despite outshooting them 16-7, as Indra Permana put home a header on a corner kick late in the first half. This was the infamous match when their keeper, Fernando Pitoy, turned away shot after shot after shot. We can only hope to have better luck getting something past him today. The revenge angle was fairly well-received in prematch.

11' -- Some better-than-usual passing ends up with a header in front for Uropmabin, hit a bit too softly and Pitoy was able to grab it. A quick turnover and Yogi hits him for a longer-range chance, which hits the crossbar at the left corner, a bit lower and there's nothing Pitoy could have done ... probably trying to be a little too perfect which a keeper of this caliber can certainly provoke.

19' -- Hajiyanto gets open enough for a quick crack from inside the area, which Ferminus makes a nice play on to tip away. He didn't quite get the angle right, but it was a solid save. Then disaster strikes on the corner, again against the same team. It went to the near corner, bounced off a couple people and right to Suteja who was on the doorstep and found a crack between our defenders. Just one of those scramble plays, and the bounce went their way. 0-1

22' -- We get Uropmabin open less than 15m out, but he angles it wide right. That should have tied the match right there. Another longer one a couple minutes later went into the side of the net. He's getting in scoring position just fine, but not converting anything today.

25' -- Ewangin with a nice setup, Pitoy guessed near post and that's where it went, he made a diving save. Different match, same results -- we just can't get anything in against this guy.

34' -- A rare turnover by Yarangga sets up Anes straight on from just outside the area, wide left.

38' -- A long shot by Yogi, probably 30 yards out, and Pitoy gets to it but doesn't deflect it quite enough, it's in the right side of the net! A surprising goal there, good shot by Yogi to be sure, but I would expect that to be stopped most the time as well. We'll take it, drawing even at 1-1 and proving that their keeper is human might even be more valuable.

46' -- Turnovers both ways end in another chance for Yogi, but this time Pitoy barely has to move.


HT -- Even 1-1, I tell them to keep up the good work and it didn't seem to go over that well. We're outshooting them 9-5 and have had excellent control of possession, but we are also notorious for second-half letdowns.


46' -- Nice lob pass from Uropmabin to Ewangin, who goes upstairs on the first-time half-volley but Pitoy gets his hands up in time. An offside call would have negated it had he scored.

They control most of the action early in the half, but don't get much in the way of attempts on goal.

58' -- Uropmabin leads Adie in the right side, who moves in and has his sharp-angle shot blocked out to the surprise of nobody. Adie retrieves it and hits Uropmabin from about 12m out, he could have hit a better angle but that blast was a goal against most keepers. Pitoy tips it away and we get nothing.

74' -- Two-man game with Ningmabin and Ewangin results in a rare good look at goal for the midfielder ... but it's well wide.

76' -- Freekick straight on, and Fajiri puts it off the inside of the right post, no chance there for Ferminus. 1-2 and there's little time left now. Respect is due for that, simply an exquisite and probably match-winning strike there.

84' -- Another freekick for Fajiri, who tries the same thing again and doesn't miss by much.

93' -- One final shot and Ningmabin is off-target again.


FT -- A very tough 1-2 loss as we were more than good enough to at least draw. I officially hate PSKT and hope I'm here long enough to see them again and kick their butts in future years. We should have won at least one of our matches this year, and walk off with nothing but two defeats by a single goal each.

[Brian Swartz]

3.29 vs. Persebangga(8-5-6, 5th) Persebangga are 1-3 favorites and our role is that of spoiler: 7 clubs are separated by five points fighting for the second qualification spot, and they are right in the middle. We played them to a scoreless draw earlier in the year.

6' -- Three straight corners, with the third yielding an ineffectual shot by Yogi into a crowd at the goal.

8' -- A blast from the edge is wide for Persebangga.

14' -- Uropmabin with a nice ball into the area for Ewangin, but they converge before he can get a shot off. We're off to a good start, but neither side is getting any kind of good looks at the goal, just a few shoot-and-hope attempts.

28' -- A 30+ freekick from Adie is no trouble for Saputro in goal.

37' -- Freekick from Nugrohu straight on about 25m, well hit but Ferminus just manages to tip it over. That was close.

41' -- On the other end, a freekick goes from Adie to Uropmabin, who sets up Yogi for a gimme ... but it's disallowed, Uropmabin was offside. After trading possessions a few times, Yogi gets a shot in the middle but he had to wait a bit for a pass behind him, and Saputro saves his try.


HT -- No scores, Persebangga have looked quite poor so far to be honest. We're at 58% possession, which is normally their calling card, and that would tie a season-best for us. We've been particularly dominant in the headers, and it's a great chance for a win if we can get a score somewhere. I tried to fire them up to finish off well and it seemed to be mostly effective.


47' -- Weird play. Uropmabin fires at the goal, looked like a score but then it appeared to rise and hit the bar, went over ... and they called it a corner. Saputro wasn't anywhere close, and I didn't see it deflect off anyone. Frustrating as that was a good look. Whatever ball we're using, the Brazuca has nothing on it.

50' -- A long pass is met perfectly by Arif, who put a lot on that header but was far enough out for a diving save by Ferminus. A heck of a play still, and I'm glad we remain even. It seems to wake them up, and we're under pressure for a few minutes. Then ...

60' -- Yogi sets up Uropmabin for an open volley. Sharp angle, but he was alone right at the corner of the box and missed wildly.

66' -- A deep freekick is sent into a crowd, and somehow Surya gets to it right in front between Urwan and Fitriandi, volleying it in! We've controlled the whole match, and now trail 0-1!!

67' -- Absolutely incredible. Just as I'm about to pull him, Yogi launches one from almost 30, and it's unreachable in the top right corner. Incredible shot there, I hated it until it went in. 1-1!!

A few minutes later I pull him anyway(and Uropmabin) to get fresh legs out there for the finish.

80' -- Sutanto tries to beat Saputro from long-range upstairs, and almost does but it's just over. Setia comes on for Adie, and I wonder how we'll navigate the close of this match.

82' -- 30yd freekick for Yang, well off target.

85' -- Oropka fires from straight on and isn't even in the correct zip code.

87' -- Another shot from Sutanto, well hit but wide right. Yang gets one a minute later at the other end, and his rocket is a little high.

93' -- One final rush. We work it around, everybody touches it a couple times, then Sutanto to Ewangin who looks for Oropka in the area ... it's too far but Sutanto runs on it and puts it inside the right post! With just seconds left before the whistle, the youngster scores his fourth of the year, and we take the victory in injury time!! 2-1!!!

Sutanto earns a player of the match citation, and we move two points up on Persibas, who recently got themselves a new coach, with two matches left to go. Only one fan observed his thrilling finish ... meanwhile, Ignasius Kasipmabin is back to training but there is little time to get him in shape. Ironically, for the first time all year we have no injuries.

Interestingly, Sutiono has drastically reduced his demands to 6.75M. I offer him 4 as before -- he's not willing to go below 5.75. Still, that's a lot closer than we were. Maybe, just maybe, he'll be willing to resign if nobody wants to pay him that much. Frankly he might be worth 6M, but we can't afford it.

[Brian Swartz]

APRIL

Another month, another 143M down the drain. The board is still satisfied, liking the squad atmosphere and the fans still think Fitriandi sucks. I agree which is why I'm not resigning him, so they only have two more matches to suffer through his screwups.

[Brian Swartz]

4.5 @ Penajam(10-2-8, 3rd) Well, we get to play the role of spoiler once again. Penajam are prohibitive 1-6 favorites, having won five of their last six First Division matches which makes them the hottest team in Group D. They are now just one point back of Persinab for the final Second Phase spot. On the other hand, our first meeting was our biggest win of the year, a 4-1 shellacking.

4' -- A nice move by Ewangin gets him clear enough for a shot against two defenders, but they blocked off most of the angle and an easy save for Tigor.

8' -- A lob freekick by Adie is off the top of the bar.

17' -- Yogi's in for an angled shot, probably should have waited a bit, and blasts it well high.

Still, while they've been good in the air we are controlling the action well on the road against a hot club. I like what I'm seeing.

27' -- A high cross to the far post by Urwan, Adie is there but Tigor gets a hand in. Patay gets literally the first decent shot at a header off a corner that we've had all year, they head it off the line, Urwan heads it back towards goal, but it's just wide. A couple almosts there which unfortunately still add up to zero.

34' -- Bit of a chaotic play. They're looking for Tangon angling in from the right, Kasipmabin tackles the ball away, but it squirts right to Tuharea who puts it past Ferminus for the score! Patay should have tried harder to get to that, instead of campaigning for a foul call. 0-1

Shortly afterwards, Yarangga picks up a frustration yellow.

39' -- Al Hadad is free on the left angle, but misses a chip wide.

45' -- Ewangin leads Uropmabin in from the right side, and he shows excellent patience to dribble in a bit closer, then a well-placed ball inside the left post for the score! We're tied up at 1-1 just before the half!!


HT -- We're back even and have looked the better squad, hopefully that will show through in the second half.

A lot of good up-and-down action both ways as you can't fault the effort on either side, but only poor chances result and nothing close to scoring. It did appear that the momentum had turned after a few minutes, and we were the ones under pressure more often now, trying to preserve the tie.

71' -- No shots for over ten minutes now, and Patay is called for a trip on Tuharea, giving them a freekick about 30y or a bit closer. The shot's saved by Ferminus ... but a penalty foul is called on Yarangga! We protest to no avail. Ferdiansyah goes left and Ferminus guessed right, and we're down 1-2.

77' -- They get another freekick, this one's saved as well.

80' -- Fresh legs in for the final push.

86' -- Yarangga's second yellow and he's sent off.

91' -- Fabulous pass Adie to Sutanto, he's got an angle ... tipped high by Tigor. Almost another injury-time goal for the youngster. We get a corner now ... and then a second ... too close and Tigor has it.

FT -- We lose 1-2 despite a good effort. We are now 11th after Persatu falls to Persibas 3-1, and have Yarangga suspended for a visit by our mighty group leaders in the finale.

[Brian Swartz]

4.19 vs. Persemalra(14-3-4, 1st) The dominant team in our group are 5-4 favorites, and Yarangga is serving his suspension. Keeping it close would be enough for me. We lost the first one 4-2.

6' -- Fantastic passing gives them a good open look from 17m, surprisingly missed to the left.

9' -- An angled shot by Kuswanto is blocked away by Ferminus, the follow-up into the side. They're all over us here at the start.

We did much better in the possession battle after that, and I was thrilled to have weather the initial storm, at least temporarily.

33' -- Another good look for Kuswanto, but he didn't control it perfectly and by the time he did we were able to cut down the angle and Ferminus blocked his attempt wide. A poor clearance by Patay on the corner and another diving save was required. Second corner and Sutiono clears this one. We are very lucky to still be even.

42' -- They get it into the box but at an extreme angle, and Ferminus saves yet again, Patay with a better clearance this time.

44' -- Back the other way, our first decent shot as Ningmabin aims for the right corner, just missing it high and wide.


HT -- I tell them they are doing well. Ferminus is having an amazing day to keep it even. Our final half of the year, and I wonder how long we can keep this up.


46' -- A long-range rocket from Ewangin is off the bar.

52' -- Kuswanto takes an excellent deep pass, controls it, and blasts it home from 16. No doubt about that, and we're down 0-1 with no real shot at getting it back.

56' -- A freekick by Adie is close, but high.

61' -- A long header by Kuswanto from a corner is headed sharply but cleared out by Uropmabin.

63' -- After a chaotic corner, Adie gets a crack from 17 and it looked like he scored, but it was off the post. We really could have used that.

67' -- A brilliant header by Putra after a very patient buildup is unreachable in the right corner of the net from 15. Nothing to do but applaud that. 0-2

72' -- Yogi gets a volley shot off a corner, from the edge of the area and a fairly sharp angle. It had to be perfect, and it was into the left corner just inside the post! Fabulous shot there, and it's 1-2, we aren't dead yet!!

83' -- Another solid save by Ferminus and they'll get a corner -- we put fresh legs on for the finish.

84' -- Sutanto up the middle for Uropmabin, alone into the area but he couldn't get set soon enough and his try is blocked. That was probably our last good chance.


FT -- We lose 1-2 in a pretty even match. Despite the loss, it's a good effort to finish the season with. Our impressive visitors upped our usual attendance to 18 today.

[Brian Swartz]

FINAL STANDINGS
2013/14 Indonesian First Division, Group D, First Phase

Persemalra(48 pts, +19)
Persinab(37 pts, +12)

Penajam(36 pts, +6)
Yahukimo FC(35 pts, +10)
Persipon(33 pts, +2)
PSKT(32 pts, +1)
Persewar(30 pts, +1)
Persenga(30 pts, -2)
Persebangga(30 pts, -6)
Persibas(25 pts, -4)
Persigubin(21 pts, -8)

Persatu(7pts, -31)

I don't know why two of the groups(C and D) had just one relegation spot, but I'm glad we did since our late-season slide would have put us in one of them. 5 wins, 6 draws(all of them early), and 11 losses. Not an inspiring year and I'm disappointed we didn't do better. We get a paltry 113M for 11th place finish.

[Brian Swartz]

5.10 -- The season's been over for us for a few weeks, but today it ended for everyone with the completion of Second Phase play. The two qualifiers from each of the four groups(First Phase) form two new groups of four, with the top three in each getting promoted to Premier Division. Pretty good odds there, and the prize money of at least 620M doesn't hurt either :). One match against each opponent, so there's little margin for error.

Shockingly, Persemalra crashed out in Group A, managing only a draw, while Persinab dominated Group B with 2 wins and a draw, surrendering only a single goal. They'll be going up, Persemalra will be devastated to remain in First Division despite having the most dominant First Phase record with 48 points.

[Brian Swartz]

BOARD REVIEW

5.11 -- They called me in for a sitdown, and the rumors swirling were that I was about to be handed my walking papers. Officially, they describe my job as 'insecure' and felt I should have done slightly better. Specifically, there was disappointment that we 'barely managed to stave off relegation' -- I pointed out that we had 3x the points of horrid Persatu but the concern was we only managed to be better than them, not anyone else in the group. Additionally, fan discontent with the performance of our defensive line has reached the point where they think the situation is starting to get out of hand.

President Wahyu Fadli asked why the team performed so badly this year, and wasn't interested in the real answer(bad contracts, espescially that of Sutiono). It's not hard to understand their position, they certainly overpaid for what they got in terms of the product on the pitch this season. I chose the least excuse-making of the options presented to me, that it was my first job, and asked for time, essentially throwing myself on the mercy of the board.

They were not particularly gracious. It was made clear that they are losing patience with me, but are willing to extend my stay into the first few matches of the next year to give me a final chance to prove myself. They want nine points from our first five, but I was able to talk them down to a much more achievable six: nine from five would be a group-leading pace or close to it, not really reasonable in my view so I'm glad they were flexible.

It'll definitely be a stressful off-season, as my job now depends on hitting the ground running next year.

2013/14 SEASON REVIEW

Goals Scored: 29(10th in Group D)
Goals Allowed: 37(10th in Group D)
Avg. Attendance: 12(47th in First Division out of 48)
Annual Salary: 2.04B(28th in First Division)

We were equally poor on both ends of the pitch, which contributed to our inability to win back-to-back matches even once. A competitive salary, much of it mispent on players unworthy of their contracts, did not prevent this. We edged out Persinab(11) to avoid having the worst attendance in the tier, but it's worth noting that fifth-worst(44th) was 177, almost 15 times what we brought in. More than 80% of our season-ticket holders(65) didn't consider it worth making the trip on a consistent basis. It's hard to find words for such a deplorable situation.



Keepers

Ferminus(30, 2.3M) -- 6.68, 16 app, 26 conc
Setia(17, 1M) -- 6.63, 8 app, 10 conc

Both are quality for this level, Ferminus is expected to remain the starter and Setia the backup. We'll stay with them and I don't anticipate changes here.


Defense

DRC Ben Onisius Benoni Patay(28, 1.7M) -- 18 app, 6.39
DR Piterius Piter Urwan(31, 1.5M) -- 17 app, 6.62
DL Ignasius Kasipmabin(36, 1M) -- 14 app, 6.50
DC Sutiono(26, 9M) -- 22 app, 6.60, 2 as
DC Rial Fitrandi(24, 1.6M) -- 17 app, 6.25

One problem with Patay is we played him most at DR while he's best in the middle, but still he definitely underachieved compared to what we think he's capable of. Urwan is an excellent leader, too error-prone but overall the best of our returning defenders. Kasipmabin is hopefully purely depth next year.

Fitriandi's problem was making crucial mistakes. 5 errors leading to directly to a goal being scored were identified on our defensive line this year. He made all five of them. For that and other reasons, he will not be back. Sutiono's contract demands ensure that he's gone as well.

Among the three who have been resigned, I only consider Urwan reliable. We will need multiple good players here.


Midfield

MRC Patrick Adie(35, 1.3M) -- 14 app, 6.75, 2g
MLC Melianus Ningmabin(31, 1.6M) -- 20 app, 6.57, 1g/3a
MC Frans Yarangga(27, 2.75M) -- 20 app, 6.75, 1g/2a

Yarangga was very solid, despite being somewhat overaggressive. The other two are cheap and not complete embarassments, which is more than enough for me to keep them around. We have to find some kind of depth here, there are simply no options if one gets hurt.


Attackers

AMC/ST Fabian Yogi(29, 3.75M) -- 18 apps, 7.03, 8g/4a
AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka(28, 1.5M) -- 11 app, 6.53, 1g
AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(16, 150k) -- 12 app, 6.70, 4g
ST Engel Ewangin(37, 3.5M) -- 19 app, 7.04, 7g/9a
ST Decky Uropmabin(25, 1.4M) -- 17 app, 6.93, 6g/5a

Losing Yogi and Uropmabin will definitely hurt. Ewangin is our best returning and was our best overall last year, but significant decline is expected in his game. He's probably not quite worth the 3.5M we're paying to bring him back, and I think this will be his last season. Time catches up with everyone. Sutanto is insanely cheap for being a decent weapon and borderline-ready to take over as the starting AMC, but we will definitely need more quality up front.

[Izulde]

May you have better luck than me.

[Barkeep49]

Glad they brought you back.

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks both, and I'm glad to have a (temporary) reprieve as well. I reloaded to try some different options just to see what happened: I got fired as often as not and wouldn't have been likely to be able to find another job soon.

[Brian Swartz]

OFFSEASON

** Facilities: the board announces they are building ground for a new stadium at a cost of 5B(2.69B loan). July of '15 is the expected completion. With our 19 average attendance(second-worst in First Division), we haven't exactly outgrown our current run-down pitch ...

The Persigubin board is possessed. But they are still paying me, and I don't know that anyone else would be willing to. So ...

YOUTH PLAYERS

We haven't got the time or money to invest in youngsters who can't contribute right away. Fortunately, however, there are a couple who we think can.

DL Widodo Faizal -- Depth at the left side right now, and in terms of potential he becomes the new most-talented player at the club. We think he is capable of being a Super League(Indonesia's top tier) player eventually.
DC Jaenal Moefid -- Similar to Abidin, just good enough for a deal.
DC Endra Abidin -- Emergency backup at best, he's not quite ready for First Division but good enough that he's worth giving a youth deal.
DM Taufik Amzi -- We didn't use a DMC last year, but if we decide to go that route he could be a serviceable backup.

Each is given a 150k deal, expiring in three years(2017).

TRANSFER GOALS

Then began a critical moment in my career. Over the next few months, I needed to find players good enough to allow us to have a better team next year, and of course to get off to a decent start and save my job. This would be a major test of my ability to form a quality squad for the first time, and under considerable pressure. Fail here, and it could be the end of my career.

My primary goal was to increase depth and coverage of all positions. We need to have some form of remotely competent backups. Most matches last year we were forced to play guys in unfamiliar positions, creating huge weaknesses as they weren't capable of being effective without being familiar and trained in the needs of those positions. The aim to is to have 18-20 players and cut down dramatically on this issue.

**Note: It can be much easier to read a synopsis, but I find that sometimes -- and this offseason was an example -- the process of when things occurred is important and not just what happened. The struggle of the journey, the day to day process of fighting in matches, offseason signings, etc. is central to effectively telling the story IMO.

5.16 -- Landon Donovan is one of six who will miss the World Cup for Team USA.

5.19 -- Adding to the sting of his departure, Fabian Yogi was named in the First Division Team of the Year, and his goal against Persemalra in the season finale was named the second-place goal of the year.

5.23 -- DR D.T.Saragih(25, 2.2M) signs. He can actually play all three back-line positions but isn't nearly as good in the center or left. Also DRLC A.E.Prasetyo(1M). His Second-Division club had him transfer-listed, and we like him as cheap depth, the versatility to play all three spots and price were the key selling points.

5.24 -- MC Herlan(1.5M) signs, having been released by Premier Division side Perssin Sinjaj after not getting any time on the pitch for them.

5.25 -- MC Dodi Saputra(1.4M) signs today.

5.26 -- DC Iskandar Muda signs for 1.3M. We like him to be a new starter in the middle of the defense.

6.14 -- 1-1 draw with Brazil in the first group match of the World Cup.

6.21 -- US crushed 5-1 by England.

6.27 -- US beats Australia 2-1, but still fails to qualify. Everybody in the group had a win a loss and a draw, but a -3 goal differential sunk the USA to last while England and Brazil move on.


July

The transfer window begins officially, and we're down to about 4.5M in budget(including Yogi and Uropmabin, whose contracts don't expire until the end of August). I like what we have added, but it's notably that we couldn't find any attackers which are vitally needed, or any wing midfielders. The situation is still far from optimal. Meanwhile, I'm now on a month-to-month contract. The fans won't miss Fitriandi much(56% approval) but they're not as positive about losing Sutiono(41%). Neither am I, he was our most important defender last year. Of the first five signings, the fans have no particular opinion of them until they see them in action for us.

We still have work to do.

7.6 -- DL Ferry Kombo is potentially a big coup for us. He's got a reputation as an inconsistent player, but should have the ability to be a significant contributor and has Premier-division potential in the opinion of our staff. Kombo refused to resign with Second-Division club Persebi, and we get him for 2.75M plus our first transfer fee paid out ever, 74M+.

This leaves us with really the ability to only go after maybe one more quality player. As it is we now have 17 players, 2 more than last year.

7.7 -- Sutanto turns pro, and gets a raise to 900k.

A crisis is clearly becoming apparent in finding quality attacking players. With the relationship with Uropmabin unrepairable, it was decided that every effort should be made to change Yogi's mind and get him to stay. We started with a 4M offer, a small raise over his current pay, and a doubling of his current bonuses, also throwing in an additional 21M if he could get 10 goals this next year(he had 8 this season). However, he wasn't willing to even discuss anything less than 6.5M, which is simply more than we can afford.

This leaves us with a real problem. The only quality forward we have coming back is Ewangin and who knows how age is going to affect him.

While they were perhaps overpaid, the only two possible signings I could reasonably describe as quality were Imam Bayhaqi and Haris Tuharea. Tuharea wouldn't accept anything less than 13M a year, a laughable amount. Now, he's good(10 goals in 11 matches last year in our Group) but it really doesn't matter how good he is when he wants a third of our budget. It was a simple thing. Either Bayhaqi signed or we were going to be laughably short of talent up front(we'd still be short with him).

7.19 -- Ludovic Magnin(35), is the new coach of the US national team as Klinsmann is fired in the wake of failing to get past the qualifying stage of the World Cup.

7.23 -- Gresik Utd wants to sign Roni Setia. I tell them they can shove their offer(which is nothing but a sell-on fee). However, later in the day Bayhaqi signs. The 21-year-old can play both AMC and ST, and will give us at least something to put on the pitch.

7.30 -- Surprising absolutely no-one, Fabian Yogi was named the Player of the Year by our fans.

Meanwhile, we will remain in Group D. Some of our foes will be new: some familiar(Persemalra, Persebangga, Yahukimo FC, Persenga, PSKT, and Persipon). I'm really not sure how they decide who stays and who goes in each Group.

The board's minimum expectation has been lowered to staying clear of relegation. A mid-standing finish would give us no more room in the budget ... 2M more would be allotted for a top-half finish but that is probably unrealistic.

Avoiding relegation it is. I'm confident we can achieve that. I think.

8.2 -- Faced with the prospect of leaving, Yogi is ready to consider a reduced contract all of a sudden! It would keep us modestly over-budget(which I didn't intend, I try to be very careful about such things). However, I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Compare being less than 10% over budget to letting the fans player of the year go and our weakened state in attacking ... hmm ... yeah not a tough choice.

He initially wants a raise to 4.5M, but I get him down fairly easily to another year at present wage(3.75M) with an increase in his bonuses. Heck yeah!! I wish I knew what changed his mind, but far more important is the fact of having him back.

He's 'delighted to be staying due to a long-held passion for the club'. Really? Then why the heck did he refuse to discuss a contract/insist on an enormous raise for most of the last year?!

[Brian Swartz]

WORLD CUP SECOND ROUND

England 3, Uruguay 1
Brazil 2, France 1
Colombia 3, Serbia 2
Italy 1, Denmark 0
Holland 2(p), Argentina 2
Portugal 2, Nigeria 0
Germany 4, Iran 0
Spain 3, Switzerland 1

QUARTERFINALS

England 1(p), Italy 1
Brazil 2, Colombia 1
Spain 5, Holland 0
Germany 2, Portugal 1

SEMIFINALS

England 2, Germany 1
Spain 1, Brazil 0

FINAL

England 1, Spain 0 -- Defending champion Spain looked unbeateable until England beat them. Spain outshot England 18-8(9-5 on target) and in general looked a little better, but Wayne Rooney's 109th-minute goal from just left of the spot was the only shot that mattered.

[Brian Swartz]

2014/15 Preseason & Outlook

Rankings

US National Team -- 20th(-4)
Indonesian National Team -- 174th(-4)
Indonesian Super League -- 27th(-3)
Premier Division -- 36th(-8)
First Division -- 83rd(-3)
Second Division -- 105th(-2)

A horrible situation in Indonesian has managed to get worse. Super. Indonesia will be participating in the AFF this year.

CLUB FACTS

National Ranking: 137th(+7)
Season Tickets: 64(-1)
Profit/Loss -- 1.2B deficit, 17% of turnover
Value -- 0(5.25B loan debt) -- unchanged
Ticket prices -- 29,706(unchanged)
Media Prediction -- 11th(down from 9th)

So much for our new stadium 'generating excitement'. We are still dead-last in First Division, and 18 Second Division clubs are more well known than us. We still really suck, we just really suck slightly less than before.

The media doesn't even share that optimism, picking us to finish exactly where we did last season.

PERSONAL

Professional Approval: 15.1%(+0.1%)
Local Name Recognition -- 43.7%(+19.7%)
Global Name Recognition -- 0.5%(+0.5%)

The mere fact of having a job of any kind and(by the hair of my chin) not getting fired from it(yet) has improved my situation a bit. It was still a bad year, just not quite as bad as most thought I would have, those few who bothered to consider my situation at all that is.


ROSTER -- FIRST LOOK

First, it must be said that the evaluations by assistant PJ Bob indicate that we just basically didn't have as much talent as we thought we did last year. Most of the players just weren't as good as we thought they were. On a good First Division club, except for Yogi everybody would just be a backup -- referring to the returning players here. We will have to stake our claim on the proposition that having more coverage/depth will allow us to overcome those shortcomings. The simple fact of the matter is that better players didn't want to sign with us due in most cases to the fact that Persigubin is a club that doesn't have a reputation of being a solid First Division club. We need to scratch and claw to establish ourselves before we can do much of anything about that, and find a way to make it work.

Teamwork, Aggression, Work Rate are strengths: decisions, passing, strength weaknesses.


Keepers

Ferminus(30, 2.3M)
Roni Setia(17, 1M)

Progression: Both keepers should be marginally improved over last season. Other than that, nothing's changed. We still think Setia has significant potential.

Assessment: Overall credible but a little below average. Command and one-on-ones are still the biggest weaknesses, kicking and much-improved aerial ability the biggest strengths.

Defense

DR Dahrul Topansyah Saragih(25, 2.2M)
DC Iskandar Muda(28, 1.3M)
DCR Ben Onisius Benoni Patay(28, 1.7M)
DL Ignasius Kasipmabin(36, 1M)
DR Piterius Piter Urwan(31, 1.5M)
DRCL Adi Eko Prasetyo(25, 1M)
DL Ferry Kombo(19, 2.75M)

Progression: We have seven defenders instead of five. I don't think any of them are as good as Sutiono, so we lost some ground there but should have a much better chance at finding a solid group of four here. Last season we had to play guys out of position fairly often and were usually stuck with slumping players like Fitriandi. Young Kombo has the edge on Prasetyo for the starting spot on the left, Muda and Patay will likely go in the middle, and Saragih is probably the best of the punch on the right. We'll also be working on improving the vesatility of Prasetyo(learning the left spot) and Saragih(learning the center spot).

It looks like our top returning player(Urwan) is on the bench for now. That could be a strong indication if it stays that way.

Assessment: Marking is a strength now and much-improved, tackling and esp. acceleration where we are in the top quarter of First Division clubs are the biggest plusses. The defense is still very weak in the air, and on the whole still classifies as below average.


Midfield

MC Frans Yarangga(27, 2.75M)
MC Herlan(24, 1.3M)
MC Dodi Saputra(28, 1.2M)
MRC Patrick Adie(35, 1.3M)
MLC Melianus Ningmabin(31, 1.8M)

Progression: We're still really weak on the left where we no longer consider Ningmabin to even be worthy of playing at this level -- but he's the only option. Adie is passable on the right, and we'll be much better than before in the middle with Yarangga pushed by Herlan and Saputra, one of whom can play if we want to go four wide. Simply going with a narrow three in the middle is also an option, which would leave Adie/Ningmabin as our bench.

The overall talent here is much better than last year though, no doubt about it, five bodies instead of three as well.

Assessment: Good technique and long-range shooting ability to complement the scoring efforts of the attacking corps. We have one of the worst tackling midfields in all of First Division, but that's really the only big weakness with decision-making also not impressive -- overall this unit is average or better, a huge improvement. The two new additions appear to be major upgrades in that sense.


Attack

AMC/ST Imam Bayhaqi(21, 2M)
AMC/ST Fabian Yogi(30, 3.75M)
ST Engel Ewangin(37, 3.5M)
AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka(29, 1.5M)
AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(17, 900k)

Progression: The development of Sutanto will hopefully continue, and Bayhaqi should replace most of what we got from Uropmabin last year. An added benefit is he has a much higher ceiling. We have four AMC/ST combo players, three of which are better at the attacking midfield position and the fourth(Oropka) is equally bad at both.

Assessment: We're fast and decent in the air, but not great acceleration or movement off the ball. Anticipation and finishing both close and long-range are all very average, and that's how I view the group as a whole also.


Overall: We're much better on the attacking half than the defensive half, and once again will be a counterattacking club. With a larger and for the most part deeper squad, we will be able to be a bit more flexible than last year. The 4-3-1-2 will still feature as our most attacking variant, with a 4-4-1-1 and 5-4-1/5-3-1-1 also in the cards for more conservative play.

We have double the players who appear to have it what it takes to become stars in this league that we had last year. To GK Roni Setia and AMC Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto we have added AMC Imam Bayhaqi and DL Ferry Kombo. All are in the 17-21 range. Hopefully they can grow together and do some special things. But if we don't get six points from our first five matches, I won't get to concern myself with that.

Semi-Random Preseason Notes

** Ningmabin doesn't train well, apparently thinking he doesn't need to apply himself anymore. On the other hand, Kasipmabin and Ewangin do quite well. It appears the veteran striker wants to go out
with a bang. Among the youngsters, Sutanto and Bayhaqi also impress.
** Uropmabin is now officially gone. The fans do not approve and are saddened by his departure(35% approval). They're not wrong -- the way I mishandled his contract situation was my biggest screwup last year. I can only hope Bayhaqi makes people forget him.
** Low player bonuses assigned due to financial problems and the payroll being over-budget. Ningmabin, Kasipmabin, Sutanto, and Herlan did not react well, most of the squad is fine. We'll have to watch those guys.
** We adjust to a small, narrow pitch this year as our strategy depends heavily on playing through the middle: decreasing the impact of wide players can only help us.
** Adie continues to have injury problems. A late September torn calf muscle sidelines him for a majority of the year. He's been our most injury-prone player and his last chance to do anything of significance of Persibugin may have just ended: I don't expect him to be back. His 1.3M contract isn't much, but he'll be 36 next year and can't stay healthy.
** Errors in defense have continued during the friendlies so our ability to keep opponents off the board is a big question mark.
** Proving the accuracy of the thread title, a week before the start of the season a I realized I had the match training slider set wrong ... I was spending no time instead of max time on our tactics. I knew we should have been making faster progress .... **swears at self in disgust**

Well it's finally here. Six points in five games, or my butt is gone and possibly my career over. Adie is our only injury to concern ourselves with. We will have the first, third, and fifth of that set at home, which is a bit of a break. I feel very good about what happened with the squad over the off-season. We're deeper, more balanced, and have more talent for the future. Bayhaqi should ease the loss of Uropmabin, and I really like the athleticism and dynamic addition that Saragih looks like he can provide -- he's contributing nicely to our offense.

[Brian Swartz]

** For the start of the year, I'll mention that current game date is December 1, 2017. I'm just over three years behind but am starting to get a rhythm in putting the updates up and hoping to close the gap a little quicker **

10.11 vs. Persenga. An old friend from last year(1 win, 1 loss), when they finished 8th as a double-edged offensive-minded club that allowed more goals than anyone save relegated Persatu but had a moderately successful attack. We are tight 5-4 favorites, and obviously need a result here.

We go out in our 4-3-2-1, my tactic of choice unless the opponent forces us to go more defensive. They've got the standard 4-4-2.

1' -- Wasting no time in giving me a heart attack, they put a floating cross off the top of the bar, Ferminus jumps but doesn't get there, it bounces directly in front -- but Saragih gets to it and volleys a clearance. That's making an immediate impact ...

7' -- Yogi sets up Ewangin for the first decent chance, he's wide right from about 17 yards or so.

15' -- I like what I've seen from us so far, we're winning most of the battles and have a good handle on possession. They have yet to get off a shot. We'll stay with this approach.

17' -- Ewangin blasts one from the edge of the area, but it's right at the keeper and bounces off him.

18' -- Herlan with a decent attempt just outside, their keeper anticipated the cross-angle and grabs it.

21' -- Herlambang gets a hand on another long shot by Ewangin, a corner goes nowhere.

30' -- Yogi has a crack but tries to get too cute and set up a better one, they clear it out. Still probably a good idea as we are getting tons of shots but nothing on the board yet.

32' -- Warman leads Sunari, all alone in on Ferminus, a better chance than we've yet seen ... outstanding save by Ferminus who tips it wide for a corner! That had disaster written all over it. A tight-angle shot off the corner is blocked off the line by Kombo. Be still my beating heart, we almost fell behind there twice after dominating the first half-hour.


HT -- I tell them we've been unlucky so far, which apparently was the wrong thing to say as they walk out muttering and shaking their heads. Superb. 53% possession, outshooting them 12-3, I like everything but no goals.


49' -- Yarangga takes it away as he does so well, up the middle to Ewangin, lays it off right and Herlan is there, he's in alone and the keeper gets a piece but not enough! That bouncer is in for the score, and we take the lead 1-0!! He was actually looking for Yogi there, but Herlan had the better angle and cut inside to take the pass.

It took us into our fourth game last year to score -- this year just over a half.

57' -- A straight-on freekick by Ewangin is well high. We're still in control and they've not attempted a shot this half, so I make no changes.

64' -- Another turnover forced by Yarangga ends in a wrong-footed Ewangin attempt that's well wide. He had to rush that one.

69' -- Hideous coverage sends Sunari free on a freaking inbound throw from their side of midfield, thankfully he impatiently lobs one high and left.

70' -- Beautiful play! After some chaotic possession battles at midfield, Saragih finds Yogi in the right side of the area. He's in on the keeper with a fine chance ... but passes left to Bayhaqi who has a better chance at an open net!! 2-0, and I will take no chances. We switch to the 4-4-1-1 and tighten up at the back. Ningmabin on for Bayhaqi.

72' -- A long freekick is sent to Ferminus who bobbles and drops it ... bit of luck there that nobody was close enough to make us pay. The resulting corner goes to the far post where Ahman has a decent look but heads it wide.

75' -- Yarangga picks up a yellow and I tell him to back off, no point in risking any nonsense here.

77' -- Angled freekick just outside of the area, but they send it to another zip code.

81' -- Oropka for Ewangin just to get him some time on the pitch.

87' -- Ruminsir crosses for Warman, Ferminus guesses left and he heads right from 8 yards out, easy score! 2-1 now ... let's not blow this win boys!? It looked like Patay had him, then lost him and reacted too late.

89' -- Herlan to Oropka to Saputra who easily puts an angled shot past their keeper, and as they push for an equalizer we come back the other way to put this game away. It's 3-1!!


FT -- A fantastic way to start the year! We win 3-1, getting a score from each of our three new offensive acquisitions, with Herlan and Saputra the best of the bunch in this one. One more win from any of our next four matches, and the board's demands will be met(for now). Though he did give up a goal later, Ferminus's first-half save was really the biggest moment in the match from my perspective: it kept us even until we were finally to bang home some goals after the break.

And how about this: 225 attended this one! We never had more than 96 last year(for the Indonesian Cup), so it appears the new ground is making a difference after all.

[Tellistto]

Nice work, Brian. Following along!

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks!

11.17 -- The press(specifically the Oksibil Soccer Paper) comes out with a story that I'm about to get fired and a poor result tomorrow could seal my fate. Seriously? After starting the year with a win like that?

11.18 @ Jakarta Timur(1-0-0) We next visit a new foe, but they got our attention by beating last year's group champion Persemalra 2-1 in their opener. Prasetyo instead of Patay on the back line, Sutanto instead of Bayhaqi up front as I'm trying to develop something of a rotation. We're slight underdogs here.

I tell the team to go out and do just what they did last time(though we'll be looking to counter more on the road). Ewangin reacted particularly well to that.

4' -- They were the aggressors early, and Sosomar sucked our defense into the middle, then kicked right to Iyai. He dribbled into the area, went for a cross-angle shot which was off the post and rolled across the goal mouth, but they had no-one close and Muda cleared it. Inches away there, fellas. Clean it up.

5' -- Iswadi beat two of our defenders to a header, sharply struck but right at Ferminus. The early returns are that we are in trouble today. Less than a minute later, Ewangin found Yogi just inside the area for our first look, off-target with that try.

20' -- We've contested possession pretty well, but they're better in the air and at working the ball for better shots.

22' -- Weird play. Two JT players miss a goal kick from Ferminus, which goes all the way down, tracked down by Yogi who crosses but we can get nothing out of it.

24' -- Saputra intercepts a pass just their side of midfield, moves it up to Sutanto who delivers an absolute strike looping over their defense to Ewangin, he's in on the keeper and beats him up to the left corner! 1-0, we take the lead on his first goal of the year, but Sutanto really made that play with an exquisite pass of close to 30 yards.

33' -- Herlan sends a freekick that Yogi gets his head on, a long attempt there and wide right.

43' -- Absolutely incredible. Herlan's pass is taked by Irwansah, who literally just leaves the ball and runs away from it towards the sideline. He just left the ball there and ran away. Unfortunately for him, Yogi pounced on it and delivered a 25-yard strike! 2-0!!

That was probably the single stupidest play I've ever seen. But I'll take it.


HT -- Up 2-0, I pull Praestyo who is getting beat up physically and has made a number of mistakes. Not what we need in defense trying to protect a lead, and Patay will come on for him.

49' -- A straight-on freekick for Herlan from about 30 is easily handled.

54' -- Yogi up ahead on the right to Saragih, who doesn't control it very well and puts his angled shot into the side of the net.

59' -- Yarangga picks up his first hurt opponent of the year, and shortly after they are well off-target with a shot from just outside.

65' -- Kombo makes a sliding challenge and goes down hurt. It doesn't look good. Kasipmabin comes on.

69' -- Saragih crosses for Ewangin, but he had to lunge at that one a bit and it's wide left.

74' -- Fresh legs, [b]Ningmabin[b] on for Herlan. Before he can come on, Ewangin hits the left post on a long shot that almost gets him another score.

77' -- Blast it! Ferminus hurts himself a bit on a routine kick, don't know how serious it is, but I'm out of subs.

83' -- Veriyanto has a look courtesy of a bad clearance, almost like the one they gifted us earlier ... well off to the right.

85' -- An unreachable freekick by Iyai is just high, otherwhise very well placed.


FT -- Incredible, a 2-0 shutout on the road!! 5 goals to 1 through two games -- never in my wildest dreams did I imagine such a fantastic start to the year. Six points in five games ... how bout six points in two games!!

The Oksibil Soccer Paper was unavailable for comment.

Saragih is player of the match, though Yogi's delightful goal and Ewangin's shot to open the scoring made them worthy candidates as well. Of more concern to me was the condition of our two injured players. Ferminus has a twisted knee and will miss a little over a month -- Kombo appears to be just fine. Well, I'm glad we got our six points as it will obviously get more difficult with Setia in goal for a while. Let's just hope he doesn't injure himself and leave us without a keeper as happened last year ...

[Brian Swartz]

10.26 vs. Persip(1-1-0) We're slight favorites, but the prevailing winds suggest a likely defeat with Ferminus out.

1' -- Saragih beats his man and moves in for an angled shot, horribly off target.

5' -- We inbound from the right side, Saragih crosses in and they clear it ... straight to Yogi who blasts one into the left corner! That didn't take long, we're up 1-0!

10' -- They get a sharp-angle shot from the right, it's off the mark.

11' -- A nice patient counter follows shortly, and ends with Ewangin[b/] finding [b]Bayhaqi in the area -- he puts one just inside the right post, and we're up by 2!!

22' -- Tight-angle short shot for Yogi, who can't get it through traffic and they clear. We're totally dominating this match so far, not hard to see why Persip was dead last and relegated from the Premier last season.

31' -- Haryanto gets behind our defense, we converge but he slides it right to Adriyanto, I thought Kombo should have gotten to that but he reacted late. Adriyanto's angled shot from close in at the edge of the box beats the diving attempt of Setia, but it's off the right post! That was a gift, a fairly sharp angle but a lot of open net as we were out of position.

32' -- Saragihp centers, Ewangin is uncovered literally 4 yards away. A child could have scored that. 3-0!!

33' -- This is nuts. Lovely lead pass from Yarangga to Yogi, he dribbles left to get around the keeper just bunts it into the open net. 4-0! Shots stand at 11-2, possession at 60% ... I've never seen us control a game like this, we can do no wrong almost!!!

37' -- They get Hariyanto behind the defense but he weakly lobs on wide right. That's the second time we probably should have been scored on. I switch to counter and pull our defense back a bit.

39' -- Ewangin comes free to the right of the spot, nearly scores and should have, but it was too close to their keeper and blocked away.

40' -- Looks like something's wrong with Saragih. No point in tempting fate, Urwan comes on for him.


HT -- We miss poorly on a couple more attempts but are in complete control with a 4-0 edge. We've dodged a couple bullets to be sure, but have dominated even with those in account, and right now I just want to get through the second half without getting anyone hurt or giving much up.


47' -- A shot for Yogi just inside the box, not a bad attempt but plenty of time for their keeper to get it. We aren't getting as many shots but are intentionally being more conservative, so that doesn't worry me. They have gotten nothing for quite some time now, and that's exactly what I want.

68' -- Bayhaqi's freekick on the right goes high.

79' -- A tight-angled shot by Adriyanto is hit basically parallel to the goal and out of play. The way they are shooting, we almost don't even need to be out there.

84' -- Yogi centers for a long blast by Ewangin, just left.

88' -- A freekick straight on is over by Yogi.

91' -- Off-target angled blast by Ewangin, who had a chance to add to our tally there.


FT -- That's it, a crushing 4-0 win with Yogi's two goals earning him player of the match but everyone contributed. They had only six shots, none on target.

A new high of 247 attendance! Three games into the season, and we're the only team in the league to win all three, first both in goals scored and surrendered(9 and 1). Of course it's very early and we won't be this good all season, but a fabulous start to the year. We didn't have three multi-goal wins in all of my first season.

[Brian Swartz]

NOVEMBER REVIEW

No positives in training, Patay, Kasipmabin, and Urwan all have fitness issues. I talk to Patay and Urwan, the latter is humble, the former defiant.

The board is back up to being 'satisfied', happy with team atmosphere, disappointed at the loss of Uropmabin. The fans feel our style has been less than exciting. 9 goals in three matches, what on earth do they want??

If we put together another good month, I'm hopeful for more stability in the form of a new contract.

255M lost in October, putting us over 2B in debt(2.11)

[Brian Swartz]

11.1 @ Yahukimo FC(0-2-1) We had a draw and a win against them last season, and are slight underdogs on the road despite our recent form. They have a rash of injuries to contend with as well: we'll be without Ferminus again of course.

2' -- A freekick from the goalkeeper out wide is intercepted, but Sutanto can't put it on target from midfield against an open net. Gift refused.

3' -- They get a shot just inside the area, weak and right to Setia.

7' -- We lead Ewangin in at the corner of the box, but they block him off by the time he can control it. A corner gets us nothing, but we hold it in and an angled shot by Sutanto is just left, into the side.

14' -- Ewangin centers, two players open just inside the area but Sutanto takes it in rhythm and scores, top right corner! 1-0, and we look to be in control of the match once again. I pull our defense back a bit, don't want to give up anything cheap.

24' -- Saragih crosses, Yogi heads it to the middle where Ewangin is on the doorstep, and he bangs it in on the volley! Beautiful soft header on the assist, and we're up 2-0.

They disallow it though, calling Ewangin offside. I beg to differ, but they'll hear none of my objections. Back to 1-0.

37' -- We work it to Yogi, whose looper is wide right. We get it back, Yogi into the area, Ewangin looked clear but was tackled at the last moment. Sutanto retrieves it and we reset, a rare long attempt by Yarangga is nowhere close.

39' -- Cross by Ewangin, Muswanto goes to catch it but bats it up in the air, Sutanto gets there first and scores into the open net! Very similar to the one he scored against Penajam last year, they want another offside call but are turned down, and we go up a second goal for real on a gift.


HT -- Up 2-0, I change nothing and a second win on the road is within our grasp.


53' -- They get behind our defense but we converge in time and Yarangga eventually clears. They've been more aggressive trying to get back in it, and are controlling more of the play now.

We intercept a throw-in on their end, but get only a long blast by Yogi, well wide to the left.

60' -- Zyraifudin trips Sutanto, earning a yellow and a straight-on freekick for us, a little under 30 yards out. Yarangga hits a nice line drive just over the line, but it's wide right.

66' -- Bayhaqi on for Yogi. Before I can get him out though, a poor corner clearance gets him a shot from 16, right of the spot and he blasts it in the right corner of the net! 3-0!!

70' -- Muswanto kicks one from their end ... Haryanto's a little behind the defense, Setia comes out a bit, and an 18-y header is lobbed brilliantly over Setia for the score! Just a fantastic kick and header for the goal there, I can do nothing but applaud. 3-1 now.

72' -- Ningmabin on for Herlan. Once again a big play while we wait for the sub, Herlan into the area on the right side for Bayhaqi, a nice angled shot is just inside the left post and it's 4-1!!

75' -- A blast of a freekick by Yarangga nearly adds to our score, just off the mark.

85' -- A good chance for Ningmabin off a centering pass by Ewangin, just right and into the side of the net.

87' -- Muda to Sutanto who heads it middle for Ewangin, open at the edge of the area but just taps it to the keeper basically. Great passing play until an impotent finish.

90' -- Saputra feeds Sutanto who turns and blasts it in the left side from about 15y, they want offside but it clearly wasn't, their defense was late in reacting there. 5-1 for a new scoring record under my leadership here, and a hat-trick for young Sutanto!! We surrendered just 3 shots all day.

[Brian Swartz]

11.8 vs. Persisko(2-2-0) This promises to be a sterner test of our skills. Persisko is new to Group D this year and is one of only three(Perssin and ourselves are the other two) to be unbeaten through four games. They've scored 10 and conceded just 3, and with the way we've been playing something will have to give. We are slightly less favored than usual at home, going off as 6-4 favorites with 5-4 the typically standard line against most clubs. We expect Ferminus back in a few days time but we'll have only Setia again for this one.

The 'expert' opinion is that not having Adie(who wouldn't be starting anyway) is going to be a problem and that Persisko will win on the road here. Their logic leaves something to be desired.

Persisko's black and yellow kits certainly stand out against the much lower-key uniforms most clubs field(our blue and white is typical).

6' -- A long wide freekick is sent in front of goal, Novandito is there but can't control it. It bounces around and Saputra gets his foot on first to poke it away, Patay with the clearance. One wrong bounce there and it's a score, so I can breathe a bit easier now.

7' -- Yellow card for Saragih. This is not going well. I tell him to be careful for the rest of the day.

16' -- They're dominating the ball and I switch to a more conservative counter-attacking style. If we aren't going to win possession anyway we might as well not give them extra chances.

17' -- Yogi to Ewangin, angled shot in the right side of the area maybe 12 yards out, it's an absolute rocket but just right of the post and into the netting. Maybe 20 seconds later Bayhaqi to Yogi who fires a little high from just outside the area. Took us some time, but we are fighting back some here.

28' -- Freekick by Sunarya just outside our area, well placed but not enough on it and Setia shows sure hands to make the save.

31' -- We're consistently fighting for possession a lot more, I go back to our usual balanced approach.

32' -- Yogi has a crack just inside the area, but is well off. Looked like he wasn't sure whether to pass or shoot there.

33' -- An impatient long blast by Yogi, with the expected non-results.

34' -- Yogi sets up Ewangin just inside the area, bit of a look and it's high. We're missing dubious chances, but they're getting none right now so I'll take it.

43' -- We win a series of midfield battles, Ewangin to Yogi but Pasanbu tips it wide. Needed a little more oomph on that one and it was a score, only about 15 yards out. No result on the corner.

45' -- They hit us with numbers on a counter and a perfect cross allows Maslan Manyira to quite literally walk it into the goal ... but he's called offside and it's disallowed! He was behind the defense, but still a scary moment there.

46' -- One final long blast by Ewangin is well high.


HT -- After the poor start we've done fairly well, up 8-2 shots and possession is even right now. Overall we've been a bit better but with only one of those shots on-target, the guys are starting to get understandably frustrated. I tell them the result will come if they keeping playing well, but I don't think I got through.

For the first time this year, we're in a fight.


46' -- It takes exactly 16 seconds for that goal and the result to come. The visitors never touched the ball. Saragih took it up the right, moved it in to Herlan, to Ewangin and with the attention on him a lead pass to Yogi found him alone in the area. He beats their keeper easily to the short side as his defender had come up to take Ewangin and nobody filled in for him. It's the kind of goal we often give up, and we take a 1-0 lead!

55' -- Some crazy action after a corner, Saragih gets a key header and then Kombo eventually takes it away from one of their wide attackers.

58' -- A long angled shot from Ewangin is wide.

69' -- A corner bounces off one of their defenders and only a quick reaction from Parsanbu to tip it over the bar prevents us from benefiting.

72' -- I send Sutanto on for Yogi, Ningmabin on for Yarangga, and go back to a countering style. I'll take preserving the win at this point and they've been getting the better of things too much for my liking the last 10-15 minutes.

On cue, they get it into the box for Hidayatullah, fortunately Patay is on him and able to prevent a good angle, blocking the ball out for a corner. It's a bad effort and Bayhaqi clears.

80' -- A long freekick by Ewangin, way over. A minute later, Ningmabin sets him up in the middle but he has to left-foot it and it's over the right corner. We keep after it and Herlan puts it up the right side for Sutanto, who centers for Bayhaqi excellent chance but he doesn't do enough with it and a diving save parries it away. That should have been an insurance goal.

91' -- They take it up the left side, and the cross finds Patay too wide and too far upfield. Labudda puts it in, just four yards out with nothing Setia can do! Disgustingly, we give up the equalizer in injury time ... anybody see this movie before??


FT -- A 1-1 draw, we should have won and I tell the team that. We outshot them 16-5, edged them in possession, and Bayhaqi's chance late should have made that end-of-game goal irrelevant. We left two points out there, no doubt about it.

Other than Yogi's goal, nobody particularly impressed. Bayhaqi's poor finishing throughout was a lowlight. Still, I'm very pleased that we allowed just five shots to a club averaging two and a half goals per outing. All in all, there's a lot of positives to take away.

Attendance was 239.

[Brian Swartz]

11.16 @ Persemalra(0-1-4) Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Major injury problems coupled with the fact that some of their best stars last year were loanees that they haven't gotten back. Still, it's shocking to see what was the best team in First Division most of the year go winless to start the year. Our goal is that we don't become their first victim.

The fact that we appear to be going in opposite directions does not keep us from being slight underdogs. Of course, we did lose convincingly both meetings last year. The expert on the day opinions are for us to win due to their injury issues and bad form.

Ferminus is back in goal.

2' -- A long shot by Saputra is well off target, and we're underway.

3' -- Ewangin finds Saragih angling in from the right, missed badly wide to the short side.

8' -- Sutanto from Ewangin on the left, same result. Misses high.

14' -- Saragih finds Ewangin in the box, and he has time to make sure his aim is true. 1-0, we take the early lead. It deflected off a defender sliding for a desperation stop, but went in anyway. Impressive effort though.

He almost scored again a couple minutes later as a bad header gave him a good look, but just wide from the edge.

We switch to counter as their 5-wide midfield is controlling most of the possession anyway -- they just aren't doing anything with it.

We start settling for too many long shots, we can get those all day.

35' -- Yogi to Sutanto, tried to be careful on this one-on-one and Baskara blocked it away with a diving save. That one needed to have more on it, excellent opportunity missed.

37' -- Freekick by Yogi from right of the area, looks for Prasetyo on the far side but they get their first, Saputra is open for a header from about 12 yards and it's beautifully placed into the top corner of the net! He was too far out for anything but a near-perfect header, and puts it in for a 2-0 lead!!


HT -- A 2-0 lead, they control well with 56% possession but only attempt one 'shot' ... a weak header from the edge of the area at the end of the half, nowhere near the target. They can have the ball as much as they want, but have been able to do nothing to crack our defense.

I tell the team not to get complacent, which has mixed results.

46' -- A yellow for Yarangga who has been off his game all day. Ningmabin comes on. It's a pretty quiet game for a while except for a couple of low-percentage chances on our part.

57' -- A dangerous cross but Ferminus gets there first to punch it away. That's the first thing resembling a scoring chance we've allowed so far. Another cross a minute later, and Muda is called for a foul -- penalty!! They say he pushed Pabado in the box.

Waryono takes the kick and converts, our lead is down to 2-1. Still lots of time left ...

71' -- A weak shot from the edge and Ferminus gets to it, but we're getting a whole lot of nothing going for quite a while here and just trying to hang on.

73' -- Guess somebody heard me. Bizarre play, a bobbled cross and it comes down in a crowd in the box. Sutanto has a shot at it but they knock it away, then Yogi gets to it and taps it in. 3-1, and we restore the 2-goal edge.

75' -- Bayhaqi on for Yogi. Fresh legs. A freekick by Herlan is beautifully placed and bends in a bit ... but not quite enough. Into the side. Thing of beauty anyway, too bad he didn't get a goal for it.

80' -- Ewangin goes down just outside the area, and he's done for the day. Oropka will take his place.

84' -- Good passing sets up Herlan straight on -- he's having a heck of a 'just missed' day and here's another one.

86' -- They get a good freekick opportunity, but a routine save for Ferminus.


FT-- That's it, we extend Persemalra's misery with a strong 3-1 win. Saputra, Ewangin, Saragih, and Yogi all made major contributions to this one.

Our veteran striker is no worse for the wear after the match other than being extremely tired ... a hard collision at the end of a long day for a 38-year-old can do that. Hopefully he'll be able to recover in time for our game next weekend.

Our start to this season has now set a new club record -- six matches unbeaten. And counting, we hope. Yogi has a half-dozen goals, one per game so far on average, and the press is starting to take notice of his efforts.

[Brian Swartz]

11.22 -- Ferry Kombo bruised his head in training, and he'll miss about a week and a half, maybe two weeks at the most. This will force us to go with the veteran Ignasius Kasimabin at left-back until he returns.

11.23 @ Persebangga(2-3-1) We're actually tight favorites(4-5) here on the road, a recognition of how well we've been playing. After an iffy start, they've won their last two and have only one defeat so I'm definitely not expecting a cakewalk. Both teams are missing two regulars.

We did well against them last year, posting a win and a draw.

Expert opinion: this match 'has draw written all over it'

2' -- They get a weak header from the corner of the box, right to Ferminus.

12' -- Angled shot from Yogi has far too much angle.

13' -- Muda's clearance is blocked and Rahardian hits an excellent blast from just inside the area, excellent diving save by Ferminus to tip it wide. That's the kind of shot that would be a goal against Setia.

15' -- Yogi is wide from straight on. So far they look a little better than we do, we'll stay in the counter and try to weather the storm.

24' -- Corner kick, Herlan delivers it near post and Muda outjumps everyone there, banging it in easily! 1-0, and our first score on a corner in a long time.

26' -- Sutanto has a seat at midfield after hurting something on a header. Doesn't look serious but I get Bayhaqi in there anyway as we are already in the lead.

29' -- Arif open no more than ten yards out near the corner of the box, and he just sends it into orbit well high. We got lucky there, but are controlling the game much better overall. I risk a little more aggression.

32' -- Decent angled look for Herlan goes high.

33' -- Herlan to Ewangin open in the area, that one was a high bouncer and it took too long for him to control it, a better feed and it was a clear shot. They block it out for a corner, and defend it easily.

35' -- Yogi feeds Bayhaqi into the area, had the right angle but it just sailed on him.

40' -- Two-man game with Yogi and Saragih on the right, Yogi tries one and they just manage to tip it over. The corner goes to Muda again, his header is blocked but comes off to Prasetyo, who has an open net with Ibrahim still on the ground. He doesn't miss, and it's 2-0!


HT -- We're up two and Yogi's having an off day. I put in Oropka for him to work on keeping his conditioning up.


46' -- Oropka gets it ahead to Bayhaqi, they trip him just outside the area and earn themselves a yellow. Yarangga lines it up and goes cross-angle, which Ibrahim was expecting and it's tipped away nicely. Nothing doing on the corner kick.

We spend the next several minutes on their end, getting nothing for our troubles.

54' -- Wahyu's blast from 25 is deflected off Prasetyo ... and in! A fluke goal cuts our lead to 2-1, and he's now scored for both teams. I switch to counter, not wanting to risk losing our lead.

56' -- Good freekick chance for Bayhaqi, well right of the goal.

61' -- They've switched to a 4-2-4, going for the equalizer clearly. A nice retrieval by Ewangin nets a volley attempt for Herlan ... well high.

66' -- Saragih crosses, Oropka's there with a header but it was behind him and he can't get it on target.

73' -- Ewangin crosses, Bayhaqi gets there but a nice by Ibrahim on his soft header. Tried to sneak it in short-side but he was right on it.

75' -- A two-man game catches Kasipmabin too far upfield, Muda isn't fast enough to keep up and Karim has a gimme from five yards, banging it in to tie the score at 2-all! Ningmabin on for Herlan as our last sub and we'll go with a balanced approach again to give us chances to regain the lead, I hope.

77' -- Wow. Oropka will have none of it with a 20+-yard floater that's just under the bar, and Ibrahim can't reach it! We're back on top 3-2, switching back to counter. That was one heck of a shot by a guy that almost never gets on the pitch.

83' -- They get a corner, and Muda clears.

85' -- Chaos on the edge of the box, they are called for a foul and Bayhaqi takes the free kick. Wide and a bit high.

94' -- Saragih is caught upfield, Karim drops in behind him and puts a tight-angle shot just inside the near post. We were literally seconds away from this one being over.


FT -- That's it and that's all. Persebangga are never boring. We have 55% possession, outshoot them 20-6, and end up with a 3-3 draw. For the second time this year, we give up an injury-time equalizer. Mark my words, that's going to cost us.

Errors by Saragih and Kasipmabin in defense, and of course the fluke one off Prasetyo cost us. We still should have won, we dominated most of this match.

[Brian Swartz]

11.29 vs. Persibom(6-0-1) This will be another stern test, but at least we're back at home. Persibom has nearly twice our payroll, the second-largest in all of First Division. And they were just promoted from Second Divison ... I wish their board was my board! They've won their last four, but we are still even-money favorites. They are contending with several injuries, while we still have Kombo out and will have to run out Kasipmabin again.

Expert Opinion: Persibom to win.

They come out in bright yellow, apparently trying to blind us.

1' -- Herlan to Yogi to Ewangin to Bayhaqi, nice passing play but it leads him out to the right cutting down his angle. He tries to go upstairs and it's blocked away for a corner by Herdiyandi.

8' -- Yogi is free into the area, great chance but didn't get enough angle on it and blocked away again. Lots of up-and-down action so far, both teams clearly skilled, and we've had the better of it but really should have scored already. The corner is just ridiculous, Muda's header is off the crossbar, Patay's point-blank try is blocked by a sliding defender, out for another corner. That's at least twice we should have scored now. They clear it, we retain and Yogi has an open sharp-angle try. Saved again. A corner, again.

9' -- They come down and a long shot tries to bend into the far corner but Ferminus blocks it out. Now they get a corner. Open at the near post but Patay makes the clearance. Centered for Putra, he's got a blast from 16 but it's blocked by Muda! Back the other way ...

It's been 11 minutes, and already enough excitement, frustration, relief for an entire match.

15' -- Well-designed play, Yogi up the right side, crosses, Ewangin is the decoy as Bayhaqi gets his head to it ... and pushes it wide. Argh!!!

Now it starts raining.

20' -- Blast from Novianto angling from the left, Ferminus just gets a hand on it. I've had enough and go a little more conservative with a countering approach, pulling the line back a bit.

22' -- Long freekick from Yarangga is a good seven yards wide. On the other end a couple of challenges go begging and a diving save is required for Ferminus to prevent a score. The keepers have been absolutely fabulous, but somebody just needs to make a play. Preferably for us.

Most of the rest of the half was somewhat uneventful.

43' -- Ewangin in on the left side ... blocked. He tries again ... blocked out for a corner. Muda gets a head to it but nothing on it, easy pickup.


HT -- Still scoreless, but I like what I saw at the end as we are starting to even out possession more. Yogi and Patay are off for Sutanto and Prasetyo, due to the former pair being out to a poor start.


47' -- Interception by Saputra, who then launches an idiotic ... something from nearly 40 yards. Think!

56' -- Novianto gets it in the middle, just inside the area with Prasetyo wearing him, he wheels and fires anyway, off the left post!

59' -- Saragih up the right to Ewangin, crosses for Sutanto who can't get his header on target.

As the half goes on, offense is scarce and it's looking more and more like one goal will be all it takes today. Will anyone convert?

65' -- Yep. They get a corner and a sharp header by Abidin from about 12 yards out leaves us with no chance. For the first time this year, the other team strikes first. We've no choice but to get more aggressive. 0-1

He was Muda's man, and Muda has been virtually untouchable in headers the last couple games. This time, he was too far inside.

68' -- Sutanto to Saragih, in on the right side -- he nicely lobs the keeper but is called offside! That was close ... and it cost us an equalizer.

71' -- Yarangga picks up a yellow. He'll sit our our next game.

72' -- Saputra with it just inside the area. He goes down, no call. Scramble for the ball, Sutanto appears to come out of it and has it taken away, appeared to be a trip. No call. Saputra retrieves it, centers for Sutanto, tries to blast it inside the near post, but it's blocked with another nice save. Sutanto and one of their defenders go for it, it's knocked out and they call it a corner.

Punched by Heriyandi for ... another corner, opposite side. They clear, a desperation chip by Sutanto is easily grabbed. What do we have to do to score on these guys??

74' -- I may have never seen anything so ridiculous. Badly misjudged ball allows Mondow behind Muda, Ferminus comes way too far out and leaves an open angle behind him. 2-0, and that's pretty much the match. I go defensive to avoid any further embarassment and bring on Setia.

89' -- Herlan to Sutanto to Ewangin, who strikes from right of the spot and it's in the left corner! 1-2 now, and I quickly switch to Overload ... perhaps we can catch them and equalize??


FT -- Nope. 2-1 we lose it. Frustrating as we were their equal or better. We needed to convert one of our early chances -- might have been a completely different contest.

A record 295 watched it here.

[Brian Swartz]

DECEMBER REVIEW

Ewangin(Tactics) and Kasipmabin(Attacking) showed good progress with no training negatives. I'll take that. Oropka's should-have-been-winner against Persebangga is named third choice for goal of the month.

We continue to lose money hand-over-fist(305M), the board is up to 'satisfied' with the 4-0 win over Persip the biggest positive, the loss of Uropmabin the biggest negative.

I think I've done enough to earn a contract through at least the end of the year, and I discuss said concept with the board. They flatly refuse. Well, I'm as committed to them as they are to me(i.e., not very). If a decent opportunity comes up ...

STANDINGS

Persibom(21 pts, +12)
Perssin(20 pts, +12)
Persigubin(17 pts, +13)
Persipon(15 pts, +8)
Jakarta Timur(15 pts, +1)
Persisko(12 pts, +4)
PSKT(12 pts, -2)
Persebangga(10 pts, +3)
Yahukimo FC(4 pts, -11)
Persip(4 pts, -13)
Persenga(3 pts, -14)
Persemalra(1 pt, -13)

We ended every weekend tied for the lead or better through six games, but the last two have been less kind with the draw against Persebangga and loss to Persibom dropping us down to third(though we're still first on goal differential). I really think we're good enough to fight for one of the two Second Phase spots with the top clubs, but we're in a hole now and will have to stop giving up injury-time equalizers. Without the two we surrendered, we'd be first on goal differential right now even with the loss.

No question we're at least good enough to be a top-half team, and that would be a wildly successful year by any objective measure. But after the way we stormed out of the gate(5 wins in six tries) I'll be disappointed if we don't make a push to catch the top teams. We've got three quality foes(Persipon, Perssin, and PSKT), two of them on the road, coming up in December. How we fare in those contests will tell me a lot about how we handle adversity, and whether we really have any kind of shot at fighting for Second Phase/promotion.

AFF CHAMPIONSHIP 2014

Indonesia got off to a good start, with wins over Myanmar(3-0) and East Timor(1-0). After a 3-1 defeat to Malaysia and a 2-1 win over Laos, they needed just a draw against Singapore to qualify for the semifinals. Instead it was a 2-0 defeat as they couldn't finish off a few quality opportunities, and Singapore/Malysia qualified out of their group, Malaysia only on head-to-head as both had identical records and differential.

[Brian Swartz]

12.6 @ Persipon(5-0-3, 4th) A win today will keep us in the top three, a loss and we will have a ton of ground to make up. We lost one and drew one with Persipon last year, and they've won five of six after losing their first two of the year.

Yarangga is suspended and Adie still hurt, but we have Kombo back which will definitely help our defense. Probably not an accident that we gave up five goals in the two games he missed. Meanwhile, they are missing two players as well. Persipon are even-money favorites, with the pundits saying Yarangga's absence makes them favorites.

Hard to argue with that, we'll start conservatively. Both teams favor a direct style.

1' -- A quick shot from outside the area by Herlan, it's wide.

4' -- We get it ahead on the counter, but they converge on Bayhaqi and deflect his shot. Impressive recovery by their defense. We recycle and Yogi gets a crack, high and wide right.

6' -- Another try by Yogi but he couldn't get enough on it and it's saved.

12' -- Best look of the match so far, Ewangin into the area and blasts one that's blocked away. They've had more possession in the early going, but we've done more with ours. I'll stand pat.

15' -- Oh. my. goodness. Yogi. Bayhaqi. Saputra. All alone at the corner of the box. Misses the cross angle shot. We have to score those. We just have to.

20' -- Kombo misses an assignment and an angled chip goes just high.

22' -- Decent look for Ewangin from 17, blocked away. Shots are 8-1, 3-0 on target. Scoreboard doesn't care.

24' -- We finally convert on the weirdest one. Saputra launches one in the general direction of Yogi, and the race is on between him and Kurnia. Yogi gets their first, Kurnia almost stops, and he's in alone ... half-volley cross angle is well placed, and it's a 1-0 lead on the road!

32' -- We've taken good control of the possession battle and are playing well in midfield, I switch to a more balanced mentality.

37' -- Yogi tries to float one over the keeper and under the bar from almost 30. He was close too, it just bounced off the top.

41' -- A bad clearance, and smart positioning by Patay and Muda is required to block a shot out for a corner.

43' -- Ewangin up the middle for a wide open Yogi, but it takes too long to develop and Lukman comes out to cut down the angle. He blocks the shot and they recover it.


HT -- We're up 1-0 and in control of the match, halfway to what would be a very big win. Herlan is not looking good but we have no other reasonable option. Kombo as well, not totally unexpected in his first match back from injury, so Kasipmabin comes on and we're back to a more conservative countering approach.

46' -- Crucial tackle by Patay right away, Yasir was in the area and had a half-step on him. They are pushing harder to try and even it up, so far getting little for it but we aren't creating much either.

57' -- A double corner, nothing comes of it. We come back down, Saputra to Ewangin to Yogi, not a bad save by Kurwan but he should have scored that. Should have two goals, maybe three today with all his chances.

61' -- Weak freekick by Bayhaqi.

63' -- Bayhaqi to Yogi for a first-time shot, good play but lots of traffic and it's blocked out.

65' -- Ansori gets a header off a freekick, it's a long one and he hits it almost parallel. Thank you very much.

69' -- Saw it. Still don't believe it. Ansori gets behind Muda who misjudges the ball, waits WAAAAYYYY too long, shot is blocked by Ferminus ... squirts to Saprianto but Patay takes it away ... cleared by Saragih. Should have been a goal. If Ansori wasn't standing there taking pictures for like two seconds, it probably would have been.

72' -- Sutanto in for Yogi.

75' -- Herlan gets a blast from 16 off a corner, it's into a crowd and back out again.

80' -- Ewangin to Sutanto up the middle, hits one from the edge and not enough on it, saved by Lukwan.

81' -- How thoroughly disgusting. Mistake by Saragih leaves Mardianto open at the corner of the box on a cross, and Ferminus is out of position when the ball arrives. Easy goal, tied at 1-1, once again we blow a lead.

83' -- Sutanto for Ewangin, tough angle shot and he can't straighten it out.

90' -- A long header is easily grabbed by Ferminus.

FT -- Draw, 1-1. We set a record under my coaching with 24 shots. Probably should have been a 3-2 win or something, and ends 1-1. Meanwhile, Persebangga goes up 3-0 on Persibom ... and they come back for a draw there. Oh, what could have been today.

All of a sudden we who could do no wrong the first month and a half are winless in our last three.

[Brian Swartz]

12.13 vs. Perssin(6-3-0, 2nd) A win would put us ahead of them on goal differential. Problem is, nobody's beat them yet, which is why they are slight favorites today. They play the unusual 4-1-2-2-1.

This is as big a game as there can be at this point in the year. Highest-scoring team in the group(us) hosting the stingiest(them). Good stuff.

5' -- Long shot for Ewangin, easily saved by Orun.

9' -- Another one for Yogi, not a bad attempt but it needed to be perfect and was low enough for a leaping grab. We clearly established ourselves as the team in control early, but again it will come down to whether we can finish.

19' -- Sutanto gets free for a moment in the area, our first good chance but there's too much traffic and it's blocked. Saputra is called for diving and assessed a yellow in the aftermath.

20' -- Saragih's second good intervention leads to a corner ... where Ishak comes wide open at the near post for a gimme header. And just like that, they take the lead. 0-1

26' -- Nice run by Yogi to get free for a volley, just wide from about 17.

40' -- Saragih up to Herlan on the right on a counter, he squeezes it between the keeper and the converging defenders, and we're even! Heck of a play there, and one of the last people I would have expected to make it. 1-1!

43' -- Sutanto ahead of the field for Yogi, he hit that one a little soon I think and it's just deflected. We're going nuts with the long shots, so I try telling them to be a bit more patient and work it into the box.


HT -- Saputra and Saragih are not doing well, but as a team we're fine. I stick with them, only making a couple of minor changes.


48' -- Ferminus grabs it after a number of headers on a tense corner.

51' -- Asdar gets tangled up with Ewangin, and he's called for a penalty! Huge break here for us! Yogi plants it through in the left side with a line drive shot, and we take a 2-1 lead. I switch to counter immediately. He nearly missed that one, but got just enough on it.

54' -- A yellow for Yarangga. I tell him and Saputra to chill, we don't need anyone getting sent off here. The stakes are too high for anything cheap.

55' -- Ineffectual, wide, timid, all describe Yogi's latest attempt, open from the edge. Hit the ball!

59' -- A blast by Herlan might well have scored if Ewangin could have gotten out of the way in time.

64' -- Decent freekick by Ewangin, but Orun makes the save.

70' -- Ewangin's involved in a collision with Ishak, and we can't afford to have him out there banged up. Bayhaqi comes on and Yogi moves up to lead the line.

71' -- Good chance for Siegers, maybe 17 yards and a hard bouncer is right at Ferminus and blocked out.

74' -- Kombo takes the ball away, then loses it. They cross, Siegers first time to Praestya, angled shot just inside the left post! Well, an excellent play there, but once again we've blown a lead. It's 2-2. Back to the attack we go.

75' -- Sutanto sets up Bayhaqi, no more than 15 out, excellent look and well high. That should have put us back in front.

80' -- Angled header by Siegers, well hit but right at Ferminus. A bullet dodged at the other end.

85' -- Yogi ahead up the middle to Sutanto, too timid and it's blocked away. Doggone it!!!

87' -- Yogi to a trailing Yarangga, nice attempt from just inside the area, defenders occupied elsewhere, but it sailed a bit.


FT -- Twas the last bite. Yet an other disappointing draw, 2-2. Three draws and a loss in our last four. Outshot them 19-11, pretty good job in possession, still didn't win. Broken record.

[PilotMan]

Back to post #1, if you ever complete a game let me know. How do you know when you are done? I'm 600 hours into my first game where I wasn't going to get real serious and I can't seem to decide how or when I can walk away from it.

;)

Good luck with your effort though. :)

[Brian Swartz]

Well, ultimately I'd like to win at the highest level(probably England or Spain, highest domestic league in rep. whatever that is at the time). The perfect scenario would be to win the World Cup, Champions League, and that domestic league in the same year. But definitely working my way up to managing an elite club in a top domestic league at least would be required :).

[Brian Swartz]

12.13 -- Persemalra fire coach Aji Lestaluhu. I have a choice to make: do I apply for the job? Their financial outlook is better, they have the 8th-largest payroll in the First Division(we're 22nd), average attendance is 24th(we're 33rd, but it's a 7-fold difference, more than 1600 to 246). Chance for a fresh start when the board here won't give me a contract ...

No question we have a better team this year, and they are right in the middle of a relegation battle that I would have to win. But if I did, they have the bankroll and established standing for me to build a better squad than I can put together here.

Tempting, but too big of a risk. I stay and will keep trying to build on what we are doing here.

12.18 -- Ferminus broke a finger while catching the ball -- yes you read that right. He'll be out two months.

12.21 @ PSKT(4-4-2, 6th) Looking for a bit of payback after losing both times last year. They've got four players out hurt, but we're obviously going to be missing Ferminus. A low-scoring club but solid on defense, they are 6-4 favorites to take care of business at home. GK Fernando Pitoy was kryptonite to our finishers, and with us struggling to find the net lately that could be a bad combination.

Expert opinion picks a draw.

1' -- Freekick goes to Asso whose volley from the edge of the box easily beats Setia short-side. Disgustingly, we go down right away, 0-1. Muda will get the blame for that one.

3' -- Ewangin puts our first attempt high from outside the area.

8' -- Kombo finally clears the last of three straight corners.

13' -- Sutanto leads Ewangin into the right side, and a well-placed cross-angle shot ties the score! PSKT want an offside call but it clearly wasn't, we're tied 1-1 and have a new lease on life in this match. So much for the defensive struggle.

15' -- Good grief. Horrible coverage by Patay gives Alex too much room, and he plants one in the left corner from just inside the area. 1-2

16' -- Similar shot for Herlan to the one we scored on earlier, but it's not as good and saved by Pitoy.

27' -- Nice setup for Yogi, probably should have scored but didn't do anything with it and it's blocked out for a corner. Two corners go nowhere, though Muda should have gotten off a shot on the second one.

33' -- Ewangin crosses for Sutanto, nice play by Pitoy to tip that header out as it was well placed.

36' -- Hajiyanto should have scored a header at the other end, but puts it wide.

39' -- Ewangin goes down and he'll have to come out, Bayhaqi takes his place.


HT -- We're up 9-4 shots , 56% possession, and playing poorly in defense so we're trailing anyway. Praestyo on for Patay who has been the worst of the bunch.


47' -- Sutanto to Yogi, a lead pass that had to be right on the money. It is, and Yogi skips it past Pitoy and ties the score!! 2-2

52' -- Bayhaqi finds Sutanto all alone inside the box, but it's a sharp angle and blocked by Pitoy. If that pass was more to the middle it would have been impossible to stop him. He's called for offside anyway.

55' -- They're pushing harder at us so I switch to counter, but not before Anes comes free in the middle and puts one inside the left post. Right between Prasetyo and Muda, that was a near-perfect shot and we trail again, 2-3.

Nevermind about that guys, we need to keep trying to attack.

57' -- Herlan threads the needle between two defenders and Bayhaqi's got a step into the area, his turn to put one right where it needed to be in the left side, and we're tied up again! I do switch to counter now, our defense is far too loose to take any chances today. 3-3

58' -- Sutanto for Yogi up the left side, Pitoy comes out but he's beaten easily cross-angle! It's 4-3 now, and I can go full defensive!! Three goals in four minutes, the last two by us.

74' -- We're not giving them much of anything until Muda makes another mistake, but he gets back just in time for a sliding block, out for a corner. He also clears out a dangerous corner right in front by getting his head to it first, and we've got just 15 minutes left to kill.

79' -- Nice pass right up the seam, Sutanto to Herlan, good attempt but high. He could have put the match away right there.

84' -- Fresh legs, Oropka on for Yogi. Before he can come on ... they cross it in, deflects off Muda ... just freaking sits there in the box ... and Hajiyanto eventually hits the open net!! Disgusting, we should have cleared that ball twice. 4-4 Back to try to attack.

87' -- Herlan with a beautiful pass for Oropka, 12 yards away in tons of space, just mindlessly blasts it and a diving save by Pitoy, frustration foul to follow by Oropka. Damn it!! That should have put us back on top.

90' -- They get away with a dive and Saputra gets a yellow.

92' -- They get a corner. They get it to the short post, but we block it off and nothing is even attempted.


FT -- A wild 4-4 draw. We trail 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 on the road, rallying to take the lead and then giving up a lame late equalizer. Great fight, but it's hard not to be disappointed. Sutanto is player of the match. With our fifth match without a win(we've drawn four of them, including the last three), the fans are starting to get a bit edgy.

[Brian Swartz]

It's contract time again ...

Keepers

Ferminus -- Wants a raise to 3.25M, and I could only get him down to 3 flat. I pay it, as we need him.
Roni Setia -- A 300k raise to 1.3M. Stil a bargain at that price.


Defense

DR Saraigh -- 550k raise to 2.75M.
DC Patay -- Accepts a 200k pay cut to 1.5M. Bargain.
DR Urwan -- Just a backup and I was thinking of dumping him, but he'll take a 200k cut to 1.3M. Sold.
DRC Prasetyo -- Wants a small raise but accepts another year at 1M. Bargain.
DL Kasipmabin -- I don't want him back.
DL Ferry Kombo -- Tailed off after a good start. Solid but unspectacular with great potential, but wants 4.5M and he's not going to get that. Currently on 2.75M. I offer him 3. We settle at 3.5M, which is a little more than I want to pay him but won't break the bank.
DC Muda -- Wants a small raise but eventually signs for the same 1.3M he's getting. Another bargain.


Midfield

MRC Adie -- Old and injury-prone, will not be resigned.
MLC Ningmabin -- Virtually useless, not resigning.
MC Yarangga -- Not quite as good as he was last year, but still important. Wants a big raise to 4.25M which won't happen. I get him down to 3.5, he was making 2.75. That's a bit high for him, but I like the guy and am willing to overpay him just a bit.
MC Dodi Saputra -- Solid and I want him back, esp. since he's cheap. Very cheap, willing to resign for his current 1.2M. Thank you very much.
MC Herlan -- Sold me the last couple of game. After some haggling he'll take another year at 1.3M.


Attack

AMC Fabian Yogi -- Ah, the man himself. 10 goals in 11 league matches, not much else to say about that. Wants a 2M raise to 5.75. I can't pay anyone that much. He won't go below 4.75, which is a lot. He's our best player though, the fans love him -- tough call, but I give it to him.
AMC/ST Oropka -- Not good enough to tempt me to resign him.
AMC/ST Bayhaqi -- Has had his struggles, but the potential speaks for itself. Wants a big raise(3.5M from 2). Won't go below 3. He's worth it, barely.
AMC/ST Sutanto -- His progress this year has made him a decent attacker at this level. We'll nearly double his pay to 1.7M, and that's still a good deal.
ST Ewangin -- Making 3.5 and wants 3.75. He'll need to take a significant pay cut as age is not on his side. I love the guy, but he's not worth this much anymore. I offer 2. Much to my surprise, he eventually takes it after trying to get 3+ for a while. Clearly he wants to stay and can see the handwriting, he's probably a backup next year but I don't want to dump him completely unless he's useless.

The new contracts put us about 3M over budget, enough to make the board a bit edgy but not enough to bring out any outright complaints. We find an MC(39) who would give us good depth, but with the budgetary constraints I can't afford to go after him. A couple of other good players are also out there, but it doesn't do us any good to note that since we don't have the money. Annoying and frustrating, but the fact is that we've made major improvements to the squad this year. There'll be time to try and make further enhancements in the offseason.

[Brian Swartz]

12.30 -- The Indonesian Cup is drawn and we will take on Premier side PSM Makassar. It certainly could have been a kinder draw, I was hoping for a lower-division side and a chance to at least get through a round this year. They are 12th(out of 16) in Group B so at least not a particularly strong side, maybe we have a chance.

We'll play the away leg first.

January

Yogi's 10 goals tie him for 6th in First Division at the midway point, Engel Ewangin has 6 assists(T-4th) and Sutanto 5(T-9th). Frans Yarangga's 4 yellow card bookings put him in a tie for first with Uho Rohana(Persebangga, also in Group D), not exactly the kind of thing you want to stamp on a resume.

Overall, our Top 100 First Division players are Yogi(10th), Sutanto(27th), Herlan(35th), Ewangin(43rd), Saputra(53rd), Muda(77th), Saragih(82nd), and Yarangga(93rd). Of course, such evaluations are inevitably highly biased by the overall success level of the team, but it still speaks well of us to have eight players on the list.

The top player in our group is Franklin Siegers(Perssis), and having played them recently I find it difficult to disagree.

Training -- Saragih and Saputra did well(Tactics for each), fitness for Ningmabin/Kasipmabin/Urwan was a negative. Urwan is the only one I really care about, and he said he would prove that he could do better. Good answer.

The board upgrades their attitude to 'very pleased' and considers my job 'very secure' even though I'm still on a month-to-month deal. Last year's disappointments play only a small part now, they have described our performance this year(accurately) as 'fantastic'. Ferry Kombo is not as good as the fans would like, and we lost another 231M for a debt of 2.65B, 7.9B if you count the loan for the new ground which is now halfway completed.

Cristiano Ronaldo wins world player of the year, narrowly edging Messi(who claimed the World Golden Ball) and Leighton Baines.


JANUARY STANDINGS

Persibom(26 pts, +16)*
Persiss(23 pts, +12)

Persigubin(20 pts, +13)
PSKT(17 pts, -1)
Persisko(16 pts, +4)
Persipon(16 pts, +2)
Jakarta Timur(16 pts, +1)
Persebangga(14 pts, +4)
Persip(11 pts, -9)
Yahukimo(10 pts, -11)
Persenga(7 pts, -12)

Persemalra(3 pt, -16)

At the midway point we are the bottom rung on a pretty clearly delineated Top 3, we should be right up there with them based on goal differential but our inability to win the won game has cost us. We are the top-scoring team in Group D(29 scores, the same amount we had in the entire season last year), but have been distinctly average at best defensively after our brilliant start to the year.

Meanwhile, the mighty have truly fallen and Persemalra looks prime for demotion after being unfortunate to not make the Premier Division promotion last year. No wonder the coach got fired, how humiliating! There's a pack of 5 mid-table teams behind us waiting to catch us if we slip, and the bottom four are pretty much all in the same non-competitive boat. Right now the Group divides pretty well into theose three groups.

Aside from the two Indonesian Cup fixtures, we also have four league contests this month against Persenga(11th), Jakarta Timur(7th), Persip(9th), and Yahukimo(10th). We need a big month as once again we'll face the tougher teams towards the end of the cycle, and both Persibom and Persiss will be on the road. We need to have confidence and a better points situation than we have right now going into the final months of the year, and right now is our chance to get another strong run going. We have a puncher's chance of qualifying for Second Phase, we've been good enough to put ourselves in that conversation, but the margin for error is pretty small now.

With the tough draw in the Indonesian Cup, I'll be forming our squads in the congested next couple of weeks to focus on doing well in our league matches. If we get destroyed by PSM so be it -- we've got bigger fish to fry.

[Brian Swartz]

1.2 @ Persenga(2-1-8, 11th) We've won two out of three, including a 3-1 win to open this season. They are still slight favorites here due to our middling at best form recently. Sutanto gets the nod over Bayhaqi at AMC as he's been better lately, Patay and Prasetyo continue to platoon at the second DC spot but Prasetyo will go out there today.

One change I'm going to stick with for the time being is telling the guys to be more patient on the attack and work the ball in closer before shooting -- we'll get less shots but hopefully better ones.

1' -- 37 seconds. That's how long it took for Saragih to find Yogi on the right side, and he drew the defense and put a pass to Ewangin at the edge of the box and he placed it perfectly just inside the left post. 1-0

8' -- Quiah has a look from just inside the area, Setia just stares at it as it sails several yards high and wide.

9' -- Big tackle by Muda on Sunari who was angling in for a shot. I don't like what I'm seeing from us right now, we're getting beat to a lot of balls by one of the worst teams in our section of the league. We clear out a corner, a couple of long shots miss -- they're the aggressor right now and I'm steaming.

20' -- Sunari outduels both defenders, gets up and hits a 25-yarder well off target, he should never have had a chance to get that off. We've still got just the one shot.

26' -- Quiah to Sunari, he's got a step and bangs it into the upper left corner! Saw that coming the way this was going, and we're even at 1-1. Keep this up and we're gonna lose this.

Oh wow, they call him offside! He was too, looking at the replay. Still 1-0, a late call that was. I switch to a more conservative strategy, our defense is a freaking sieve and we're creating nothing at the other end.

30' -- Midfield turnover, Yogi to Sutanto up the gut to Ewangin, walks in alone, rolls it past the keeper ... JUST left of the goal. If we don't win this, I really going to be annoyed at that one ...

35' -- Bit of a crack on the right side for Herlan, they formed a decent wall to keep us from something better. He's wide right.


HT -- Still up by one, and we did a lot better fighting for possession the last ten minutes so I tell them to try to push forward a little more, our usual semi-conservative road approach. Everyone stays on.


They spend four minutes on the ball getting a corner -- I think the strategy here is keep-away, they're only one goal down so long as we don't touch it. Syahputra beats Muda to the header at the far post, but he had to back up to hit it and Setia makes one of the best saves I've seen from him to tip a good attempt there away. Second corner ... Muda's on that one.

Oh, and Persibom is losing 2-1 ...

52' -- Two-man game with Ewangin and Yogi, they disrupt it just enough to keep anything from happening. We recycle and they concede a corner, line drive surprises everyone as Sutanto delivers it to Muda nearside, diving stop blocks it but it's in front ... he's on the rebound and pokes it in! 2-0, there's our insurance goal, we should have this one now.

PSKT scores again, now up 3-1 on Persibom. Perssin is even 1-1 with Persipon ... it's a heck of a day so far.

54' -- I need a gun. Lax challenges on defense, a cross that Saragih should have cleared is just held on at the goalline, pass to Warman who first-times it inside the near post. 2-1, and we are down to a one-goal advantage without having had a chance to really relax at all.

Same song, different verse.

55' -- Persibom scores, within 3-2 now.

56' -- Cross into a crowd, Yogi can't get a look from 8 yards out through the traffic.

59' -- A couple more missed interventions, cross to Warman, beautiful header to Sunari all alone in front. Easy. 2-2. Shoot me now. Patay on for Prasetyo who had a hand in both those goals.

66' -- Herlan puts one straight up the gut to Yogi, perfect through ball there, he fires from just outside and puts it a little high.

70' -- Ewangin from the edge of the box ... it's over. We are attacking pretty well right now, but we need to convert. A draw isn't good enough here, I don't care what the pundits say.

71' -- More lax defense, Sunari rolls a weak try right to Setia. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we lost.

72' -- Yogi takes an errant header by their defense at midfield, and we're in business again. Sutanto to Ewangin, moves into the area, fires but it's blocked away, might have waited a bit too long there. We are absolutely horrid at converting one-on-ones and it's killing us. Sutanto finding Muda at the near post and him firing a header off the bottom of the crossbar and in for the second similar hookup between those two ... not killing us. 3-2.

We're playing good enough right now that I don't change our approach. I'll probably regret it.

77' -- It's now 4-3 PSKT over Persibom, eerily reminiscent of our high-scoring draw with the former team a couple of weeks ago. A minute later, an absolute prayer of a floater from Herlambang, no less than 35 yards out, is nearly answered as it squeaks over.

Patay finally doing something here, making three important clearances in a matter of minutes. Would have been nice if he'd showed up the rest of the match, but I'll take it now.

83' -- For goodness sakes. Amiri sends a header across as they are on the counter, Kombo goes for it ... does not even get remotely close ... and Sunari is in alone. Another gimme. 3-all. I need a lobotomy.

Less than a minute later, Herlan to Ewangin, Yogi, back to Ewangin, he's in on the right side and bounces one past on the cross-angle. Persenga furiously protests that it was offside. They are not listened to. 4-3, I go defensive and tell the guys to just stall and eat the clock.

The replay clearly showed Ewangin was a step or two upfield from Syahputra by the way, they haven't got a leg to stand on(though I'd be ticked too, as I was just a few moments ago).

89' -- A long one by Herlan is well left.

90' -- Yogi to Sutanto, passes up a good shot to try and get Ewangin a great shot, nice idea but he was the more open player and should have just gone for it. They block Ewangin's try out for a corner.

92' -- Yogi up to Ewangin, keeper blocks it, another corner. Not exactly stalling, but they're throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink which leaves openings.

One more tense cross is too deep, and that's it!


FT -- Phew! We win it 4-3, requiring more goals from corners(2) than we scored all of last year. Muda is player of the match, scoring two along with Ewangin. Prasetyo gets a deserved tongue-lashing and takes it like a man. Sutanto's two assists on corners show another aspect of his growing skills.

Elsewhere, PSKT holds on to beat Persibom 4-3, and Perssin stays at a draw. It was tense for sure, but we are now three points out of first(even on GD) and one out of second(+2).

[Brian Swartz]

1.5 @ PSM(Indonesian Cup First Round First Leg) With another league match in four days, we'll put only a token effort at this one. If we manage to not get slaughtered, we'll push harder in the return leg.

GK: Setia
D: Faizal*, Prasetyo, Abidin*, Urwan -- Abidin and Faizal are the best of the youth defenders, this will be their first competitive match with the first team. Faizal is actually probably better than Kasipmabin at this point according to my staff.
M: Ningmabin, Azmi*, Saputra -- I plan to give a half each to Saputra and Herlan, which should let them recover.
A: Bayhaqi, Priyono*, Oropka

Yeah it's basically one big sacrificial lamb, and we'll play defensively with this group for obvious reasons, but I'm trying to keep my eyes on the ball here and all that. They are 2-5 favorites even if we were going all out here. It's probably going to be ugly.

Rainy conditions gave me hope that they'd be slowed down by the elements. Astoundingly, it was Priyono who had the first shot, a blast from the edge of the area that was right at the keeper. Not bad, kid.

9'[b/] -- [b]Bayhaqi to Herlan, good look and its off the bar and over. You know, I would just laugh if we won this ...

14' -- Good clearance by Priyono breaks up a corner. He's actually playing like he belongs out there, the arrogant whelp!

27' -- First decent shot for them from the edge of the area, Setia saves it easily. I'm thrilled with the way this is going so far.

30' -- Sharp cross by their captain Iskandar, mishandled by Setia for a corner and it caught him enough by surprise that he almost fumbled it into the goal. It goes to Mandowen at the far post, easy header for the score.

Well, what did we expect. Took half an hour at least, 0-1.

45' -- A good look on a counter for Priyono, long shot headed for the left corner ... off the post! He's looked really good today and nearly tied it up right there.


HT-- We've done pretty well for who is out there. Saputra on for Herlan as intended.


68' -- Nice acrobatic clearance by Praestyo on a corner, it's out to Bayhaqi and we're headed the other way on a promising counter. Priyono hits Saputra, just wide right but he was offside anyway. I get Priyono out, he's played great but is quite tired, Sutanto on. Who knows, maybe lightning can strike here at the end, we've still got a puncher's chance at a draw ...

They really start pushing hard at us, obviously not content with winning by one at home. It's corner kick defense after corner kick defense at the end, and then a ridiculous counter off a intervention by Faizal ...

82' -- Sutanto, Bayhaqi, Oropka, nice execution of the triangle and Oropka's shot is off the bottom of the bar ... and it just bounces there in the goal mouth, leaking out to the right. Oropka gets to it first but it's almost a parallel shot he has to try ... off the near post! He hits the woodwork twice in less than ten seconds, and they clear it away.

88' -- Close freekick by Iskandar is high.

89' -- Bayhaqi gets an angled look from the left, nearly scores it but Perdana makes a nice fingertip save. The corner is out for another corner. Two contested headers in front of goal are popped straight up ... and it's a third corner. This one's cleared as regulation expires and they come back the other way. Bayhaqi makes a nice read, we run it back down but Saputra's return pass leads him too much.

A pair of booming clearances by Praestyo and we have a minute left, give or take. Sutanto runs down the ball, centers for Oropka, decent chance but it's well right.


FT -- We lose 0-1 in a match we played well enough to draw in. Fantastic effort though, I'm so proud of these young guys. We've given ourselves a reasonable shot at advancing if we do well in the home leg.

1.6 -- We'll be facing a new coach in that return, as Roberto Bianchi Pelliser has left the Super League to take the reigns at PSM, a big surprise move. It'll be interesting to see what he does.

[bbgunn]

Nice! Good position to take down PSM at home! I'm buying tickets! :)

[Brian Swartz]

Oh so you're the one who did? :P

1.9 vs. Jakarta Timur(6-1-5, 6th) Getting our best shot at another win in this game is the reason for resting our players in the Cup, so we need to take advantage of it. The visitors are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the group, yet have only one draw despite that(16 for, 14 against). They put just one shot on target against us in a solid 2-0 win the first time we met. Since a streak of three straight wins back in November, they have not been in good form. We are better than even-money favorites(4-5).

Persibbom hosts Persenga and should have little trouble winning that one, and Perssin visits Persebangga in what should be a more difficult challenge.

1' -- 20 seconds in, almost another quick strike but Yogi's roller to the left side was too close and it's blocked away by the keeper. Saragih centers for Saputra, who's off target from outside the area.

5' -- Yogi draws the defense right and the trailer is [/b]Herlan, he puts it off the keeper's hands and in, wasn't deflected enough there. 1-0, and just the kind of start I wanted.

9' -- Herlan again from the middle, brilliant move by Kombo to beat two men and set it up with a centering pass, but the shot's just weak enough for Wayhudi to tip it out.

12' -- A couple of good tackles by Ewangin of all people spring Yogi and his shot is blocked, expected better from him there. Herlan gets yet another decent look off the corner, wide right.

15' -- [b]Rahmat blasts a freekick over the bar, their first chance. They've controlled the midfield too easily. Let's not be foolish, I dial it back a bit, we've been great on the counter play so far anyway.

16' -- Another mindless blast is blocked away, this one by Ewangin.

23' -- Ewangin finds Muda for a freekick header, but we don't need to discuss how horrid that attempt was. Two minutes later, Ewangin tries another from closer, just over the goal.

36' -- After a period of quiet, we work it to Yogi as they pack the box, angled shot is a bit to the right. We're doing much better at controlling the ball, and I go back to our normal balanced approach. A couple minutes later, Ewangin just misses from a tight angle.

42' -- Open volley for Muda, horribly wide. Less than a minute later, a busted play and Sutanto is the first to see what was happening, scoops it up and finds Ewangin at the edge of the area. A nice shot into the left corner, and we're really in business, 2-0.


HT -- One of the more dominant halves I've seen, we could easily have 3-4 goals. As it is, my main concern is how long I should wait until pulling some key people to get them rest for our Cup match. Bayhaqi on for Ewangin right away.


48' -- A header into our area, Sinaga gets to it just before Kombo and blasts it in! 2-1, and not the way I wanted to start the half. Down to one goal ahead, and I pull the defenders back a bit now.

53' -- Another scramble play just outside their area, this time Sutanto will try it himself but he's wide with the attempt.

57' -- Herlan is called for a particularly hard trip as their player receives treatment, and he's given a yellow. I urge caution. It looks like we've taken a decent amount of control again, but there's still lots of time to blow this. We're good at it.

60' -- Irwansyah earns a yellow card for them. Guess they don't want us to beat them at anything ...

Praestyo on for Patay. Meanwhile, both of the other games are still scoreless, rather remarkable, that. PSKT is up 4-3 in another shootout(with Persipon). Their fans won't be bored ...

63' -- Nice intervention by Patay before he comes off, makes me wish I could change my mind as he pokes one away to break up a promising rush. Then absolutely horrid play by Wahjudi. Well two of them actually. A bad throw is taken by Bayhaqi, who crosses after a while and the second mistake is made with a boggled catch. Yogi heads it home from the doorstep, and it's 3-1! They absolutely handed us that goal on a silver platter.

68' -- Setia's turn to bobble one, but Praestyo gets to it and they'll have a corner. It's way overshot and we survive our mistake.

71' -- Sutanto appears to trip over his own feet, and we take him off for Oropka.

74' -- Oropka gets a good look from straight on after a number of passes, Herlan spotting him near the penalty spot, but he can't get it close.

A couple minutes later, Persibom finally scores to go up 1-0 on Persenga. You knew it was going to happen.

78' -- Good positioning for a freekick by Herlan, well wide. He's just not got the range for those, really we don't have anybody that's good at them.

We're playing like we basically don't give a crap all of a sudden, and shock of all shocks they get an angled try against passive defense. A nice diving block robs Sonomar of what looked like a probable goal.

81' -- Yellow for Yarangga. Just cut it out and finish the game guys, seriously. Nice try by Ginting on the freekick, but Setia is there.

84' -- Yellow for Nur Jati tripping Oropka. This is no longer a football match.

89' -- Freekick from 25-30 for Yarangga, and he drills it to the right corner! Haven't seen one from him in over a year's time, and that's the icing on the cake, 4-1.

Persibom adds another, and you can mark down the W for them.


FT -- Big win 4-1, we were complacent at times, at others downright brilliant. Herlan was player of the match, and it was probably his finest of the year.

Persiss had a scoreless draw, allowing us to move a point ahead of them and we're 5 up on them in goal differential. Persibom's win keeps them three up on us yet. They're the standard, but we're not going away like we did in the second half last year.

Had a conversation with Sutanto who's been slacking off in training lately ... didn't go well. Winning solves a lot of things so he's not upset, but it's unfortunate as he's really improving.

[Brian Swartz]

1.12 vs. PSM(Indonesian Cup, Second Leg) 15M plus whatever additional prize money we can scrounge up is on the line here. After a 1-0 defeat a week ago, we need to win here(by two unless we shut them out, otherwhise we'll lose on away goals). We'll start with a counterattack as our goal, safe but not too safe. A little tired still, but we can rest for the next two weeks after this one.

PSM are 4-6 favorites.

Good reaction from Saragih and Saputra as I tell the team to continue the good play from our last game.

2' -- Two-man game with Saragih and Herlan, then a nice cross from Saragih, Ewangin gets his head to it smoothly ... off the right post and out. Everything but the goal. As usual.

6' -- Herlan delivers a corner to Praestyo at the near post, but he can't control it.

13' -- Lazy coverage, and Saifulloh gets a close one but at a bad angle. Blocked by Setia, a corner is well hit but Yogi is there first and clears.

20' -- We're off to a good start, and though I'm hesitant to do so I tell the guys to push the attack more. Midfield has been strong, but I'll keep the back line deep. After all, a draw doesn't help us we need to win. A freekick from 30 goes high for them, though it was a noble attempt.

27' -- We stay on the attack, Ewangin gets a bit of a look in the right side, weak and right to the keeper. They're much better than most of our First Division foes at closing the gaps in their defense ... which is probably why they're a level up of course.

32' -- Turnovers back and forth, then Ewangin with a nice lead for Yogi, he runs on it in the middle of the area and scores to the right corner! No chance for a save on that one, and we take the lead 1-0.

And now the question, do we play for penalties(the decider if this score holds) or for the outright win? The way we're playing right now, controlling it well, it's not a real question.

33' -- Less than a minute later, Prasetyo challenges upfield, nobody fills his spot, and Mandowen's strike from just inside the area goes upstairs with nothing Setia can do. 1-1. Go figure.

Well, now we have to win by two. There's no choice, we've got to keep the pressure on. Two minutes later, Mandowen has a similar look but misses.


HT -- 1-1, we're getting a bit tired, so are they. Chances are hard to come by, shots are 5-6 and we've had possession for 54% so nothing wrong with how we're playing. What can I do but tell them to keep going?

We're practically living in their end, keeping the pressure on, and get nothing for it initially.

58' -- Only good positioning keeps them from getting a near-post score on a corner,.

62' -- Through ball to Mandowen, we converge and knock it away, Afriyanto is on it and fires, but Kombo is in the right place at the right time to block it! Not that it matters since two players come uncovered on the following corner, he's one of them and heads it in easily. 1-2, and you can stick a fork in us since we'd need three in less than 30 minutes to pull this one off.

67' -- Angled look for Afryianto, Setia with the save. I bring on fresh legs, Ningmabin for Herlan, Bayhaqi for Yogi. A freekick by Yarangga is horribly off.

81' -- Iskandar's wide with a long one. We're still controlling possession but not getting anything resembling a good shot.

82' -- There's one, Saragih with a cross to Ewangin in front, not quite enough on the header and a diving save.

84' -- Kombo centers for Bayhaqi, Aras gets his foot in at the last minute ... and it squirts into the area, Ewangin is there first and he scores! We're tied at 2, still down one on aggregate.

91' -- We get a corner. cleared easily but we hold it in. Can't get anything going.


FT -- A 2-2 draw that was somewhat fortuitous, 3-2 loss on aggregate. Much better than we did last year, and I won't apologize for a one-goal loss to a Premier side. 57% possession and shots were about even, their defense was just very sharp and disciplined. They showed us something on that score.

[Brian Swartz]

1.19 -- Our push for a strong second half took a major hit today. Engel Ewangin has achilles tendonitis and will miss 5-6 weeks, while Sutanto strained a groin muscle and we won't see him back for a little over a month either. We'll have to start Oropka now and will have no substitutes up front, leaving us quite limited in attack. It's been a largely charmed season injury-wise, but that all just changed.

I thought of bringing a player or two up from the youth team, but decide against it for now. Our strategy will be to try to get an early lead, then switch to a 5-3-1-1 to protect it.

1.24 @ Persip(4-2-7, 9th) Our best match of the year overall was probably a 4-0 shellacking we handed out in the first contest, so I'm hopefully we can extend our two-game winning streak in the league even with the injuries. We're slight favorites despite being on the road here. Persibom visits Jakarta Timur in what could be a tricky contest, and Perssin visits 4th-place PSKT who is just two points behind them. We're weakened, but it's still a chance to pick up more ground potentially.

We control the action well early, but don't get a lot in the way of shots.

11' -- Yarangga has a freekick straight on, hits it weakly to the keeper.

18' -- Perssin score to take a 1-0 lead on PSKT.

23' -- Nice passing play, Herlan to Oropka in the middle good look but it's blocked wide by Kertadnya. That's the kind of thing we need to capitalize on with this group.

Meanwhile, PSKT equalize for a 1-1 score.

31' -- Saragih finds Bayhaqi about 10 yards out, not enough angle on that and it's blocked away. These poor finishes are more of a problem now that we don't have our full group, we need to put them away. Corner comes to Muda at the near post but he can't get his shot through traffic.

37' -- Yellow for Yarangga and they're attacking more, I switch to counter for a bit.


HT -- We've held the ball for 59%, and have six shots to none, but we need to score. It will probably only take one.

Still 1-1 with Perssin and PSKT, and Persibom doesn't play until tomorrow.


We're still on the defensive more often than not and they get a couple of early corners to start the half, not what I wanted to see from us.

56' -- PSKT scores again, and they're up 2-1 on Perssin! Way to go, guys!

58' -- Oh wow. After our first corner of the half is cleared out, we inbound, work it around, Kombo fires a cross from deep -- it's too close to the goal ... it drops in just under the bar and that's going to count a score! An incredible and completely unintentional shot from close to 40 yards out at the near sideline, and we take a 1-0 lead. That's Kombo's first goal, and all I can say is I don't believe what I just saw.

I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. We switch to the 5-3-1-1 with three in middle defensively and look to hold on to this. Prasetyo on for Oropka.

67' - Dangerous cross but Setia punches it out. They have yet to attempt an actual shot. We come back the other way, nearly lose it, get it back, Yogi to Saputra up the left side, two man game with Herlan gets it back to him, awkward angled volley ... it's just inside the right post, very nice shot there and we're up 2-0! Big play there, and now we should be able to take it easy, I tell the team to really tighten up the back and run clock.

76' -- Freekick from out to the left, nice angled line drive by Yusuf and Setia has to make a diving stab to prevent a score. We don't have many fresh legs on that bench but Ningmabin is one, coming on for Herlan.

Meanwhile, Perssin is just 15 minutes away from what would be their first loss of the season.

79' -- Hermawan tries a blast from the edge of the area on a freekick, but it's right into our defensive wall and just bounces back.

81' -- You idiot .. I've already told Yarangga to back off but he didn't listen. Second yellow and he's sent off. That'll hurt us. Setia makes a routine save on the long freekick.

83' -- Their first shot that's not from a freekick, from Nugroho just inside the area, we've some traffic in front and he hits it right to Setia.

92' -- Muda almost heads it into our own goal off a corner. He then heads the next corner right across our goal mouth. I think he's on drugs or something right now. Good thing we aren't playing anybody good today.


FT -- We hold on for a 2-0 win! Kombo's freak accident of a goal makes him player of the match. We converted our non-chances and missed our clear shots at the goal. I don't know what to call that, but I like the fact that we only allowed three shots on the road, even against such a poor club.

Perssin did in fact lose 2-1 to PSKT, which moves PSKT up to third. We're three points up on them, four up on Perssin, and I'm thinking just now we might able to survive these injuries. Persibom, meanwhile, blitzed Jakarta Timur to a 3-0 lead midway through the first half, then held on to win 4-3, maintaining their three-point bulge over us.

Yarangga is of course suspended for our next match. Given the circumstances(match well in hand, I'd told him to back off his tackles, etc.) I have no choice but to fine one of my favorite players a week's salary. Such things simply can't be tolerated. He thinks it's unfair but fortunately we're in the in middle of a strong stretch of results and he's not raising a major stink about it. It's good timing for us to get Patrick Adie back -- he's not Yarangga obviously, who is our best midfielder, but it's better than having to go with a hodgepodge formation.

[Brian Swartz]

1.31 vs. Yahukimo FC(2-5-7, 10th) The only problems these guys have had this year are offense and defense, near the bottom in both. We flattened them 5-1 in a brilliant display earlier, and will look to take another victory here but with four key players out, it could be tough. If we can get through this one, we'll get not just Yarangga back but also Ferminus back in goal.

Persibom unsurprisingly flattened Persip 3-1, a game they should win by sleepwalking. PSKT is at Persebangga, who drew them earlier and is good enough to make things interesting. Perssin hasn't won since November, with five straight league draws before their loss last time out. If they don't turn that around, things could look pretty rosy for us. Hosting Persenga this time out is a great way to make that happen though.

Three of our last four matches are against the others currently in the yop four of Group D. A dramatic finish certainly appears to be in the offing. But first things first -- a great chance for another win today. We're prohibitive 1-6 favorites ... first time I've been able to say that in a competitive match ... which shows the difference between the two clubs. We're 2-1-0 against them, which is as well as we've done against just about anybody.

3' -- Haryanto angles in and Setia manages to block it out for a corner. We wanted an offside call but don't get one. It comes to Haryanto again in front but he can't get it through traffic. Not a great start, we could easily have given up a score there.

5' -- Saragih up to Yogi down the right side, he's got a bit of a crack here ... and it lands closer to the corner flag than the net. Not what I had in mind.

7' -- Terrible play by Saragih as he comes upfield and gambles, missing completely. Kotto gets a lead pass in the area but has to take a moment to control it, by which time Patay gets back in position and blocks him, good recovery there.

I switch to counter and a deeper line, perhaps a bit knee-jerk here but we look loose at the back and don't have the firepower to reliably rally if we get behind. An immediate rush gives Yogi a wild volley which he sends high.

8' -- Haryanto's free behind the defense, but called offside. We look bad today.

Meanwhile, Persebangga strikes first, up 1-0 on PSKT. Sweet!

15' -- Half volley from Saragih from almost 30 yards, what are you doing ... I mean great job almost scoring as he goes upstairs but it's just high. Shades of Kombo's goal in our last game there.

16' -- Maturbong gets behind Saragih, Setia manages to block it away. We'd be getting killed right now if they weren't even more inept finishers than we are. I'm already prepping a half-time screamfest, we're just lazy out there, lots of balls we should be picking off and taking the other way. Granted Adie is no Yarangga, but we should be better than this.

Oh my gosh. They center it back in, Maturbong in the middle with Patay and Saragih both wearing him. They both miss the ball, he rolls a slow one inside the left post. 0-1

Might as well go back to try and attack a little more, but this is ridiculous. Play was totally covered.

Shots are 8-4 them, possession 58% for them ... we're playing one of the worst teams in the league and getting killed by them, at home. Embarassing.

28' -- Another broken play that we used to win almost all of, they get it, Muda gets over just in time to block out a volley attempt.

33' -- PSKT has tied it up 1-1 with Persenbangga. Meanwhile, we're showing signs of life the last few minutes for the first time all day. A collision and Adie goes down. I have to take him off for Ningmabin. That guy is a walking medical ward, and now our midfield is on life support.

We proceed to yield a corner on an errant backpass by Muda, then Bayhaqi clears it out. Ay caramba.

43' -- We keep up the pressure, and then a brilliant play by the most unlikely people gets us to even. A long kick by Setia is headed well by Oropka over to Ningmabin, who hits a tough half-volley pass right on the money to Bayhaqi(Yogi was also in the vicinity). Imam Bayhaqi calmly controls it and puts an unstoppable blast into the right corner, and we're even at 1! Where did that come from??

44' -- Setia punches an aggressive cross ... straight up ... down right in front of the goal, but Patay who has been fine today gets their first.


HT -- Tied at 1, I still give the team a piece of my mind as that first half-hour was just horrible and I can't just pretend it didn't happen. It resonated with about half of them, while the others stood there with a blank look on their face.

Persebangga added another and are up 2-1 on PSKT just before the half, while Perssin and Persenga are still scoreless, much to my surprise.


46' -- Yogi in the area to Bayhaqi, but he leads him too far right. Doesn't matter. Angled shot from the edge of the box, perfectly placed again!! What on earth happened to him today, this is just brilliant stuff and it's 2-1. I hold off on going to 5 at the back, we're playing so well right now I feel we might be able to get another one. Tough angle there, that was just a sublime finish, almost hit the inside of the post.

50' -- We keep up the pressure, eventually retaining the ball after a scramble in front of the area. It's worked around, Saputra comes free from just outside, had the right idea but sends it high over the right corner of the goal.

58' -- Still in complete control. Saputra leads Bayhaqi, he has a look from just inside the area but it's the off foot, weak and right to the keeper.

69' -- Perssin finally scores to go up 1-0 on Persenga. Surprised it took that long. Meanwhile they're putting up a fight more in midfield, I put in Prasetyo for Oropka again and go with our five at the back group to try and get us home with the win.

At about the same time, Saragih centers for Bayhaqi, our first look in a while but it's wide from outside the area.

72' -- A clearance by Prasetyo hits Muda in the back, and we're lucky all we give up here is a corner. Patay heads it clear. Bad-angle shot by Kogoya is well wide and into the side.

75' -- Perfect lead by Yogi for Saputra, one defender to beat, he's tripped ... no call! I thought that should have been a penalty. Out for a corner and they clear it.

78' -- Bayhaqi goes down at midfield, his brilliant day is over. I have to put Urwan in for him as we've nobody at the appropriate positions, so now we'll have the ridiculous 6-3-1 in place with Urwan moving back to sweeper position behind the line.

It's the most defensive formation I've ever put out there or seen, but we're a bit limited right now and have only a little time to kill.

85' -- Persebangga scores again, 3-1 over PSKT!

87' -- Kogoya with a decent look at angled blast, but it's high. Pretty good opportunity given the number of defenders we have out there.

93' -- Nabu crosses, but Setia is there. That should do it.


FT -- They get one more desperation header but it's nowhere close, and we win 2-1. Tougher than it should have been, but missing almost half our regulars we still get a fourth straight league win to echo our four straight to start the year against the same competition. Bayhaqi was the obvious player of the match with both goals, and I tell them we got away with one today. Most agreed, some didn't like the pressure I was putting on them.

Tough. We have a chance to promote here. Get with the program.

A couple got ticked off that I singled out Yogi and Ningmabin for having done well. But they did ... grow up. No long-term injuries for Bayhaqi and Adie either.

PSKT lost 3-1 as that score held up, and Perssin added another for a 2-0 win over Persenga.

[Brian Swartz]

FEBRUARY

Twas a banner month, four league wins, a loss and a draw in the Indonesian cup with a close aggregate loss against a Premier side, all with injuries clouding the picture. Couldn't have asked for more, that's certain. And now we get two weeks to try to get healthy as the schedule relaxes.

STANDINGS

Persibom(35 pts, +19)
Persigubin(32 pts, +20)

Perssin(28 pts, +13)
Persisko(26 pts, +10)
PSKT(26 pts, --)
Persipon(23 pts, +3)
Persebangga(20 pts, +6)
Jakarta Timur(19 pts, -3)
Persip(14 pts, -13)
Yahukimo(11 pts, -15)
Persenga(7 pts, -18)
Persemalra(6 pts, -22)

It's looking like a two-horse race for the relegation spot as Persemalra tries to catch Persenga. I'd like to see Persemalra stay up. As for us, the second qualifying spot is now ours to lose. 4 points up with 7 matches to go, we're getting healthy again and have a fairly massive edge in goal differential on the rest of the field. We've only got two fixtures this month, the first of which is a televised visit to 4th-place Persisko that is fairly crucial. The other should be our last easy one, as we get Persemalra at home. Everybody after that is mid-table or better.

TRAINING

Positives: Adie(Fitness), Herlan(Tactics), Bayhaqi(Fitness)
Negatives: Ferminus(GK Handling), Kasipmabin(Fitness), Ningmabin(Fitness)

Ferminus didn't have any kind of a month training-wise inasmuch as he was injured, and the other two negatives I don't care about as they are gone at the end of the year. So three up and three down, but still a good month.

I've been named First Division coach of the month!

And still no new contract. I'm really annoyed by this. The board says they are 'delighted' with my leadership, and label my job as 'Very Secure'. Well, there's nothing secure, very or otherwhise, about a month-to-month deal ... but if do manage to push on for promotion, I'll be in a much better negotiating position. I decide to pick my battles and focus on finishing strong for now.

They still haven't completely forgotten last year but it's not a big factor. They've labeled our performance in the First Division 'fantastic', and mild disappointment over the loss of Uropmabin over the offseason is the biggest factor. I'd love to see what he'd be doing here(though it would mean we wouldn't have Bayhaqi, and given his potential it really probably was for the best).

Financially, it was another 303M down the drain.

Injury-wise, we have Ferminus back now and will have a couple of friendlies before our next match to get him totally ready. We're expecting Sutanto to be back, possibly with a friendly under his belt, but Ewangin will probably miss one more game. Still, we'll be almost completely healthy again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Financially, it was another 303M down the drain.

I know the currency is different but I see this and can't help but think "gee, losing 60k doesn't seem so bad now" ;)

[Brian Swartz]

2.6 -- Herlan has a viral infection and he's sent home to keep everyone else(hopefully) healthy. He'll be gone for three weeks. I can only hope that Patrick Adie doesn't get injured again until he comes back.

2.13 -- Adie has announced that he intends to retire at the end of the year. He won't be back here and he's 36, so it's an eminently sensible decision. It's been a tough last couple years for him with the injuries, and I'm hoping he manages to make himself one last big memory before it's out.

2.15 @ Persisko(7-5-3, 4th) The first blemish on our record was a 1-1 draw as they equalized in injury time. Neither goal was in regulation as first-half injury time was the occasion for our score by Yogi, so ... Big match here, they are slight favorites at home and after getting nothing for outshooting them 16-5 we'd like a better result.

Before the match, we learn that Kasipmabin intends to retire as well at the end of the year, which makes sense for the same reasons. Ewangin is still a couple days away and Herlan is out but we have Ferminus ready in goal and Sutanto's first game back is today as well, so we should be better than our last couple outings.

11' -- A super tackle by Muda keeps them from getting off a shot during their first rush. We're off to a better than expected start and controlling the action well overall.

14' -- Patay pokes it away at the edge of our area, but Makatindu is there and chips it into the right corner. They take the early lead on us, 0-1.

17' -- Yahukimo FC scores to go up 1-0 on Persibom. Both of us have an opportunity, if we can rally on the road.

20' -- Lovely cross from Yogi, Saputra's at the edge of the box. He waits, adjusts his camera, takes a picture ... and then it's knocked out for a corner. That should be a goal every time, he doesn't score much, but he just needed to fire it already.

We're behind and dominating possession(60% so far), so I tell them to push forward more and not be as cautious, though the line will stay deep.

25' -- Three straight corners for them are tense, but come to nothing despite being well placed.

34' -- Persibom's drawn even at 1.

37' -- They get a header in the area off a through ball, but can't control it.

39' -- Bad passes both ways on this lousy pitch, looks like ours did last year. Yogi sets up Bayhaqi for a long blast, he's been good lately but this one's just a little wide. We're more errant in midfield now so I dial back the aggression some.


HT -- One of those days so far, we've been overall better and probably a draw is the most accurate result, but they finished one of their chances and lead because of it.


51' -- More turnovers, a horribly missed header by Muda, and Makatindu has a similar look to the one he scored on before. He scores again, and we've no choice but to push forward more down 0-2.

Ningmabin comes on for Adie who isn't yet in match condition.

61' -- Fantastic header by Yogi gives Bayhaqi a chance, his shot from just inside the area is a good try but tipped wide. The corner comes to Patay at the near post but he can't get anything through traffic. Our best sequence of the match, but we get nothing from it.

69' -- We work it around for a while, almost losing it several times. Ningmabin leads Bayhaqi into the right side of the area, too far and away from the goal. He just manages to track it down, centers, and Yogi's there in front for the putaway! 1-2 now, and we're still alive though time is becoming critical.

72' -- Makatindu tracks the ball down and crosses it ... Kombo is there ... and puts it into our net!! 1-3!! You ... you moron!!! That's not what we paid the transfer fee for, pal.

I yank him on principle, Muda as well who has been a disaster.

75' -- Ningmabin to Sutanto to Bayhaqi, the triangle's executed to perfection and the first time shot leaves no time to react. Easy goal. 2-3 now, and without Kombo being a walking cluster, we'd been even.

Still, that's a great way to respond.

77' -- Novandito has a decent look at a volley, way off right. A minute later, we hear that Yahukimo has gone up on Persibom, 2-1.

84' -- Novandito gets behind us and is wide open, one-on-one with Ferminus and he's way right again. That was an absolute gift.

We come back down, possession changes hands in a midfield scramble but we get it back. Kasipmabin to Saputra up the left side, they take it away from him but he gets it back, centers to the trailer Yarangga with a blast from 25 ... blocked by somebody in the area. A scramble for it, both clubs have shots at it, then it goes to Bayhaqi about 8 yards out in front and he punches it through the bodies somehow for the score!

What an incredible game, and I'd be spitting tacks right now if I were on their sideline. We're tied at 3, less than a minute after they should have extended their lead again.

85' -- Labudda picks up a yellow. They seem to be self-destructing, I wish there was more time for us to take advantage of it.

90' -- Nice lead pass for them, Makatindu, Ferminus, and about three of our outfield players all arrive at the ball at the same time. Makatindu stops and doesn't move, he's worse for that collision. There's no call, maybe the ref didn't know what to make of it either.

93' -- We move it on but they clear out a cross and that's it.


FT -- 3-3 draw here, not what I wanted but after going down 2-0 and 3-1 we showed a lot of fight to come back. I let Muda and Kombo have it, Muda takes it well and Kombo does not.

All in all we are still in second by four points and with Persibom picking up an unusual loss to Yahukimo we're now just two behind them.

[Brian Swartz]

2.20 -- A few days after getting Ewangin back, [/b]Bayhaqi[/b] who has been on a roll lately is sidelined now with a groin strain for a little over a month. It's all we can do right now to put a rotating group of decent attackers out there.

2.21 -- Herlan is back much earlier as expected, leaving us once again with only one man out. However, I'm quite comfortable with Sutanto/Yogi/Ewangin as our front trio, it might be our best pairing. Depth is what we miss with Bayhaqi.

Waiting in the wings to present itself is the fact that our two best midfielders, Saputra and Yarangga, have been one yellow away from suspension for weeks now. the other shoe is going to drop at some point, I'm really hoping not at the same time.

2.22 vs. Persemalra(1-3-12, 12th) We beat them 3-1 at their place and are strong favorites to repeat the treatment here. That only upped us to 1-2 lifetime after getting drilled by them twice last year, but that was a different squad. Completely different.

Incredibly, Persibom lost yesterday for the second straight defeat. To Persisko, but they were home, first home loss on the year. Which means, if we don't lay an egg here and not win, we'll be in first place again!!

3' -- Ewangin on a freekick just outside the area, an absolute rocket cross-angle into the corner of the net. That's how to come back! 1-0.

5' -- Bayu comes free at the edge of the box, we recover just in time and block the shot out for a corner. Let's not go to the no-defense zone again fellas. They get a long header cleared off the line easily by Kombo.

10' -- Good look at a header off a corner kick, nodded well wide by Kombo.

13' -- Saputra to Saragih angling in on the right, just tipped out by the keeper.

22'-- We've looked quite good but not great, not quite as much in control as I'd like. It's still a bit nervy.

26' -- Ewangin drives a shot just outside the area, close but left.

29' -- Yogi steps around a defender but can't get much on the shot, easy save for Baskara. Herlan is still working his way into shape, and Adie comes on for him -- he's done for today.

36' -- Freekick for Lestalhu, loops it over.

41' -- They make a bad throw-in, Adie finds Sutanto for a fairly clear shot from 17, driven but wide right by a bit. That was a darn good opportunity missed. After a turnover we bring it back down, Sutanto to Ewangin and he tries to chip it over but Baskara blocks it. We're giving him a workout. After the inbounds, Sutanto puts one off the left post. Another turnover ... another counter ... Yogi to Saragih, fires from just inside ... wide right. We've missed a lot of close shots, had a lot more saved, but we're still only on one score.


HT -- 12 shots and 6 corners, but only one goal to show for it.


47' -- Long blast from Ewangin. Save by Beskara. Corner for us. Cleared easily. Lather, rinse, repeat.

49' -- Freekick from the left side, Yogi gets a volley on the right, blocked by Beskara into the post ... rolls along the goal mouth literally inches away from a score ... they clear it out. I do declare there's a lid on that net.

53' -- Ewangin up the gut to Yogi, fires from 25 even though he could have walked it in several more yards, it's a looper right at the keeper. Yogi is the man, but I have no clue what he was thinking there. They come back the other way and Patay clears out a cross attempt.

It still would only take them one play to tie this ... we come back down with numbers and Yogi blows it with a horrible backpass. Something wrong with him today.

55' -- A yellow for them fouling Ewangin. Saragih misses a chip to the right.

61' -- Terrible pass on their end gives Saputra an angled look, easily saved. Oropka on for Ewangin, good first game back for him with the early goal.

72' -- Alfian gets their most dangerous shot yet from about 15, Muda in position to block it but they've been building a bit of pressure the last few. I tell the guys to pull back a bit and head for the hopefully safe waters of a one-goal victory.

74' -- Corner comes out to Oropka at the edge, his volley is hard but high.

79' -- They miss high on a 30-yd freekick.

82' -- Again Saragih on the right angles in, again he misses wide right.

Saputra creates a turnover, Yogi to Sutanto but he led him too far, near-impossible angle, blocked out for a corner.

84' -- Yet another turnover in their end, Sutanto to Yogi in the clear on the right side, bangs it past from about 15 yards out. Finally. 2-0, and I can relax. Took bloody long enough.

86' -- Complete non-defense leaves them open for a hoist just inside the area, good save by Ferminus to leap and tip it away, but my goodness. Absolutely horrible judgement by Kombo there.

Two corners and there's a mad scramble for the second one, we eventually win it and clear.


FT -- It's finally over. This one took forever it seemed, we were constantly pressuring them but rarely getting anything for it. A 2-0 win though, and we re-take first place!

[Brian Swartz]

MARCH

Training -- Good month for Adie, Kasipmabin, and Sutanto, all on tactics. Ewangin had a bad month fitness-wise, but as he was injured most of it there's no surprise there.

Board remains delighted, I'm still at very secure, Kombo's struggles are bothering them and the fans want more exciting football.

We are the top scoring team in all of First Division by a considerable margin, what the heck do they want?? Aside from that, all very expected.

Standings

Persigubin(36 pts, +22)
Persibom(35 pts, +16)

Perssin(32 pts, +15)
Persisko(30 pts, +12)
PSKT(29 pts, +1)
Persebangga(26 pts, +8)
Persipon(24 pts, +1)
Jakarta Timur(23 pts, -2)
Yahukimo(17 pts, -12)
Persip(15 pts, -15)
Persenga(7 pts, -21)

Persemalra(6 pts, -25)

Five matches to go. The first six of the year and the first six of the second half I've done exactly the same(5 wins, 1 draw). We'll see if the lead can be held this time around at the end. Our top rivals have faded recently, but there is still time for that to reverse itself.

[Brian Swartz]

3.2 -- It's turning out to be a crappy end to the year for Ewangin. He'll miss another month-plus now as he injured his foot today in practice.

3.7 vs. Persebangga(6-8-3, 6th) They play the role of spoilers well, and we'll have to try to avoid that here as even-money favorites. A 3-3 draw first time out as they equalized in injury time, and we're short up front with Oropka/Sutanto/Yogi as our trio and no backups, so the goal again will be to grab a quick lead and then go to 5 at the back and defend it.

Their top striker, Fajar Ariyanto has 14 goals in 17 matches -- we'll pay special attention to him.

6' -- Close freekick from Prayitno, a little wide but dangerous.

8' -- Yogi leads into the area, Sutanto and Oropka both in the vicinity but it's knocked out for a corner before we can get a look.

10' -- Off a side inbounds, Yogi[b/] to [b]Saputra to Oropka, his volley from about 13 yards is well placed upstairs, and we go in front early! 1-0!

17' -- Freekick for Yarangga driven wide. They had more than their share of possession early but we've done more with ours, and we're starting to control it better now.

35' -- A looping long try by Yogi almost drops in but stays over. Both sides are sloppy, we're close to getting some better chances but can't quite make that final play or two to get a clear look.

40' -- Nughro gets free for a moderate-range look and puts it perfectly in the left corner. Saragih was in position to block off most of the angle, but that was just a fine shot, and we're tied at 1.

54' -- We go a little more conservative as they're controlling the ball too much here at the start of the half.

62' -- We've turned it around now so I tell them to push forward more. We've only given up two shots all day ... but we need another goal to win this. They get an angled look for Ariyanto, good save by Ferminus who got his hands up just in time. Prayitno's header off the corner should have scored, but is off the bar. Another corner, Sutanto tries to clear but it squirts right to Nugroho for a gimme. His second goal, only two of the year, and now we're up against it trailing 1-2!

66' -- Here's a score I'm not sure I believe ... Persemalra has gone up 2-0 on Persibom!!

72' -- Blast for Oropka at the edge, Ibrahim is just close enough to tip it out. Who'd have thought he'd be our best offensive option today? Corner goes to [b]Muda[b/] at the far post, who volleys it a little too slowly and Ibrahim's foot gets to it ... I thought that was a goal and it should have been.

76' -- Oropka at the edge ... this time he finds a better option as Sutanto is open from 16 in front, and he blows it by on the left side!! There it is, we tie it up at 2-all!!

84' -- Herlan to Saragih, slides it over to Yogi but leads him a little too much and it's knocked out for a corner. If that ball had a hair less on it there was an open net ... Sutanto takes the kick to Patay, but they head it off the line.

92' -- Patay clears out a dangerous cross.


FT -- We had our chances to win this one, but at least managed to rally for another entertaining draw. A shocking 3-1 loss by Persibom gives us a two-point edge on them, and Perssin lost as well so they picked up no ground. We've really gotten fortunate lately with the way our rivals seem to be self-destructing.

[Brian Swartz]

2.15 @ Persibom(11-2-5, 2nd) I'm hoping this is the match where we stop copying the results from the first half of the schedule, as Persibom handed us our only loss of the year(2-1). With their recent form, or lack thereof I should say, it's a distinct possibility. Once the favorites to run away with the group, our hosts have lost four of five and we are now 4-7 favorites to win today.

Yesterday, their coach Achmad Sukisno asserted that we aren't really playing that well, it's just a lack of effort on the part of our opponents that allowed us to take the lead. The Oksibil Soccer Paper asked me for my comment on the matter, and I tell them he's being ridiculous in disrespecting both what we've done but also our First Division opponents. Incidentally, the Indonesian Soccer Review is now referring to me as 'talented' in their preview summaries, which I find rather hilarious.

As if this game wasn't important enough, now there's more for them to write about. Frankly I think Sukisno would be better served finding a way to get his squad playing like they were earlier in the year(only 1 loss in their first 13 contests) than criticizing our run of success. So it seems I've got my first little coaching rivalry brewing here.

On our end of things, Ewangin is out and while we expected Bayhaqi back, he's taken longer than expected and it will be another couple of days or so before he's ready. Persibom has three players down as well, but we'll have to go with our makeshift attacking unit(Oropka/Sutanto/Yogi) and the usual plan of stealing an early lead, defending it late with a five-wide line if needed.

Saragih and Saputra responded well to the revenge angle sounded before the match.

8' -- Saragih up the right side of the area to Herlan, he tracks it down, has time and room to wait, and centers ... Yogiis there and an easy score into the right side of the net! 1-0, we jump on them right away.

We continue to control the action in midfield more often than not, but I don't turn up the pressure as we have the lead on the road -- no point in giving them a chance to attack when playing on the counter is working for us.

17' -- Putra gets a bit of room just outside the area, Ferminus goes up and gets it easily.

A few minutes later, something lit a fire under them and they stepped up the pace dramatically, playing more like the club I remember from earlier in the year. I'm glad we got on the board when we did, because all of a sudden they are living in our third.

32' -- Another shot from outside, this one's way off by Mondow.

37' -- Yogi to Oropka, looks clear for a one-on-one but it's tackled away at the last instant! Thought we had a great chance there, but that was a heck of play by their defense it must be said. We bring it back out, [/b]Yogi[/b] has two men on him at the edge. He wheels right around them for a look and places a shot just under the bar!! Incredible goal, maybe the best I've seen from him and he's had some good ones!! It's 2-0 now even though they've controlled the last 15+ minutes of this match.


FT -- After another freekick is way off, we head to the break with a comfortable two-goal lead. Oropka's out for Patay and we go to five at the back to protect it.

They continue to dictate but not as one-sided as it was, and we're giving them nothing cheap which is the main thing.

54' -- One desperation extreme angle shot hits the left post, then they get it to the corner of the box but we block it out for a corner. That's the most dangerous they've looked, but we had enough bodies packed in there that nothing was able to get through. Header at the edge of the box off the corner, Ferminus leaps to the ball and is able to knock it away, that could easily have scored. Muda misjudges the next one, they head it from the far post and Ferminus is there but Yani pounces on the rebound before anyone can react. 2-1, they just punished us on those corners.

56' -- Yogi has a chance just inside the area, but he can't quite float it over the arms of Saka who makes a nice play to deny our star the hat trick.

61' -- We've held it in most of the last few minutes, and a seemingly innocent play ends strangely. Saragih crosses from the right, there's a crowd in the box and Saka can't get there, it bounces in for a goal! It's quickly disallowed though as Yogi is called for pushing Saka, he wasn't close enough to the ball for it to matter in my opinion -- that was a total fluke but it should still count. I can't get the officials to see my side of the case though, and it won't stand.

63' -- Yogi from just outside the area, well defended but he turns and absolutely rifles a line drive, Saka just barely gets there with a nice diving save -- I don't know if I've seen Yogi this sharp in terms of finishing for a whole match, he would have three goals, maybe four against most sides. That ball was just a frozen rope less than a foot off the ground, and it looked like a sure thing.

65' -- Jarot has a shot from the right side, but it's an extreme angle, Ferminus is right there ... and he misses it!! It's in, and we're tied up again at 2!! I can't believe and neither can he ... that's an automatic save for a poor keeper, it was well hit but almost right at him, he just needed to grab it and he missed the ball.

Worst part about this might be that Yani and Jarot had one goal combined on the year coming in.

67' -- They work it around, we nearly take it away a couple times but never get control of it. Yoku goes around two of our defenders on the right, Prasetyo goes out to cut him off and the pass is to Putra at the edge of the box. Patay is a half step late, Ferminus gets his hands to the ball but doesn't get quite enough of it and it's in! Two goals in three minutes, and all of a sudden we trail 2-3!

Well, we'll have to try and fight for possession and attack more, we've shown great fight all year long and now we need to rally again. We get nowhere with it though.

76' -- Looks like we have a good run up the seam by Sutanto but they cut him off. Yogi trails and tries to float one in from 35 ... not a bad try but from that distance it needs to be perfect and it's left of the goal. Adie's on for Herlan to give us fresh legs.

85' -- Mondow to Putra who is a step ahead of Prasetyo, and he angles it nicely from 12 out for another score. Well, they are just carving us up, no two ways about it. 2-4]/b].

[b]90' -- Putra gets another crack, Ferminus with the save this time.


FT -- A couple guys seemed not to appreciate me singling out Muda, who was responsible for a couple of the goals. It was true and necessary though. Once Persibom turned it on about midway through the first half, nothing we did was able to stop them. Yogi and Herlan were fabulous but as a team, they were just better and that's the plain truth.

Interestingly, Sukisno stated that we were fantastic and admitted he got it wrong, saying I'm doing a great job at Persigubin. So that little brouhaha should go away.

Persibom retakes the top spot now, and we are four points clear of Persisko in the runner-up position. We definitely still firmly control our own destiny, and none of closest competitors have been on a particularly fine run lately, but as a result of losing today we've still got work to do in order to wrap up qualifying.

[Brian Swartz]

3.27 vs. Persipon(8-3-8, 7th) An early goal from Yogi held up until a late equalizer, and we could only get the one despite 24 shots in a draw for our first meeting. Overall we are 0-2-1 against Persipon, but are solid 4-5 favorites here today. We've got everyone ready to go except for Oropka who has a cold but shouldn't even be needed, so it's just as important for me to keep everyone healthy and get a couple guys back in shape as it is for us to get a result.

Persipon was recently knocked out of qualification contention, there are mathematically still six teams in the race for the two spots.

4' -- Each side has had a tight-angle shot go off-target, and now they miss a good try at a freekick. We're not off to a particularly good start.

9' -- Sutanto leads Yogi behind the defense, he hits it right at Lukman and it's blocked out. Should have done better with that, it was a clear opening.

Meanwhile, Persisko, our closest rival at the moment four points back, takes an early lead on PSKT.

We didn't score, but that sequence seemed to spark us to some better play and we were able to stay on the attack for a while.

14' -- Nearly a goal for Yarangga as he's just a hair high on a freekick try.

24' -- They've had very little play for a while now, and off a turnover Yarangga threads the needle up the right side for Saragih, he's in close for an angled shot ... off the right post ... off Lukman's leg ... out for a corner. So very close . ..

The corner bounces around but is eventually cleared, we hold it in and try to attack again, Ewangin goes down in the area no call and we get nothing.

27' -- Some nice passing gets it to Yogi mid-area, he tries to get a shot through traffic but it hits Ewangin who is offside.

After about twenty minutes of being shut down, they are producing a bit more counterplay.

34' -- Ewangin is high on a close freekick. A couple minutes later he's high again on an angled shot from distance. Definitely having trouble finding the range today, and it looks like he's about had as much as he can handle fatigue-wise. I put in Bayhaqi and Yogi takes the lead position.

40' -- We've got numbers on the right side, but try to get too cute. Herlan passes up a good shot to get it to Bayhaqi, but he should have just fired. They knock it out before we can get anything.


HT -- We controlled the last several minutes well and enter the break having played well enough to win but nothing to show for it yet. We have 58% possession, 10-3 in shots and all of theirs came early(3-0 on target), 5-0 in corners, two good chances neither of which we converted, but the bottom line is it's still 0-0. We need to convert our advantage.

The rest of the remaining qualification contenders:

Perssin is rather shockingly still tied at home 0-0 with Persemalra(who has been coming on lately and looks likely to avoid relegation, but still).

Persisko still leads PSKT 1-0.

Persebangga and Persibom have their games tomorrow.


47' -- A long freekick by Bayhaqi almost goes in accidentally. As it is we get corner number six out of it.

For a while, nobody gets anything going, but at the one-hour mark Persemalra goes up by a goal on Perssin.

61' -- Yarangga with a takeaway just over midfield, Sutanto brings it on the left side and hits one forward ... looks like it's to Yogi but Bayhaqi is there open on the right side, he'll have to volley it and beats Lukman easily inside the near post! We finally get our goal, and take the lead 1-0!!

62' -- Meanwhile, three goals in three minutes now as Perssin is up 2-1 on Persemalra. Looks like they just needed waking up.

69' -- Their first shot in about an hour is a 35-yard freekick that's simply sent into orbit.

72' -- Patay's hurt a bit and we put on Prasetyo, no reason to take any chances here. He's had himself a very solid game.

77' -- Persemalra shows fight and evens it up at 2-all.

80' -- A snap half-volley by Yogi tries to catch them by surprise, just outside the area, it's a decent try but wide left. His effort has been good day, execution not so much.

82' -- We have a corner and then a following inbounds, both lead to the ball bouncing around in the box, but we don't get the one lucky bounce to put it in.

88' -- Sutanto to Yogi to Bayhaqi, unselfish passing up the middle on a counter, Bayhaqi had what I thought was a gimme but Siswanto got his hands up to block it away. He's one of the best keepers in the league and showed why there.

91' -- Muda clears out a cross on their most dangerous rush of the game -- I'd be so ticked if we ended up with a draw now.


FT -- Tenser than it should have been, we survive for a 1-0 victory with Sutanto and Bayhaqi stealing the show. I get on perfectionist Yogi for an all-around subpar day and he gets fired up to do better. That guy, I swear criticism is mother's milk to him.

For the first time in my career, we do not surrender an on-target shot. We also go over 300 attendance for the first time, a whopping 353! That's more than we had last year in it's entirety ...

Patay is diagnosed with a thigh strain, and will be out a month-plus. We couldn't just stay healthy, that'd be too much. Prasetyo can fill in for him, he's not as good but not far off.

[korme]

How many leagues are active in your game?

[Brian Swartz]

How many leagues are active in your game?

Um ... all of 'em(yes I know, I'm a sadist)

MARCH REVIEW

Yogi's second goal against Persibom is named First Division Goal of the Month.

Training -- Negatives in fitness for Kasipmabin, Oropka, and Ningmabin, none of whom will be with us next year. Positives are Setia(Shot Stopping), Sutanto(Tactics), and Saragih(Tactics). Good stuff.

STANDINGS

Persigubin(40 pts, +21)
Persibom(39 pts, +16)

Persisko(36 pts, +14)
Perssin(33 pts, +10)
Persebangga(31 pts, +9)
PSKT(30 pts, -1)
Persipon(27 pts, +1)
Jakarta Timur(23 pts, -7)
Yahukimo(22 pts, -10)
Persip(22 pts, -12)
Persemalra(13 pts, -22)

Persenga(12 pts, -19)

Persibom had a draw in their last game, and we move back up to first. Looks like the race for the top spot will go right down to the wire. We haven't technically qualified yet, but the only way we can fail to make it is if Persisko wins their last two and we get at best a draw and a loss. Perssin are technically still in it but need a miracle.

At the other end, I'm rooting pretty hard for Persemalra who has climbed out of the cellar. They've got work to do and will be hosting Persenga in their finale which will almost certainly decide the fate of both clubs.

We visit Perssin and assuming we don't win there, will have the finale at home against dangerous PSKT to clinch. I don't just want to qualify, we're in position to take first and I want to take that spot.

Board confidence remains delighted, very secure job, performance in First Division is positive. Iskandar Muda is starting to tick off the fans with poor performances, along with the complaints about style which I will continue to ignore.

Another 276M lost, what else is new.

[Brian Swartz]

3.4 @ Perssin(4th) We had a 2-2 draw earlier at home, a game which was played while they were still in good form as the 'refuse to lose' crew. In that one though I felt we were fortunate not to lose it. They've been very drawish lately, slipping down the table a bit as a result(though still much better than predicted) as they've won only two of their last dozen contests. They have a couple of key injuries and as we are basically healthy and in better form, we're favored 4-5 here.

8' -- It's a pretty even battle early, and they're called for offsides on a through ball to Siegers, was an almost certain goal for one of the best players in the league if that call wasn't made. Still, I'm not happy with how we're defending and go a bit more conservative earlier than usual.

11' -- Sutanto gets an angled look and tries to go upstairs on the short side, deflected out but that was a fine effort. Corner goes to Prasetyo at the near post, where he's completely blocked off by at least three defenders.

It's a quality-of-possession deal so far, we're at least as good as they are when we have the ball, but they have it more.

21' -- We work it around, they block us off, and a long shot by Herlan goes wide. Very few chances either way so far.

24' -- Persibom takes a 1-0 lead on Persipon, dropping us back to 2nd place at least for the moment.

25' -- Corner for them and it goes to the far post, Irdan gets a head to it but he's drifting away as he does. Ferminus dives, but it's off the post, Saragih clears it ... off Ferminus and in!! An own goal charged to Ferminus though it was Saragih's fault, and that's not exactly what I had in mind. 0-1

31' -- Persipon ties it up 1-1 with Persibom, putting us back in first by differential. It's going to be a yo-yo the next couple of matches I think.

33' -- Sharp angled shot for Yogi but Bahar is in perfect position and it's blocked. Near post for Prasetyo on the corner, he outjumps two for the header but it's off the post! We needed that, worked on set pieces all week to get in position and miss ...

36' -- Syam misses a long shot, while Persisko has shockingly fallen behind at home to Persenga 1-0. If that holds up, we'll clinch even if we lose. Saragih sets up Yogi with a header, he had two defenders all over him though and it's wide.

40' -- Competing a little better now as we close in on the half. They cross it over and Yusalamony has a header and then a short shot on the rebound both blocked by Muda. If the header was closer to the post that was money, we got more than a little lucky there.

Just before the break, Persipon goes up 2-1 on Persibom. None of the top teams doing well today.


HT -- Even game but they've converted better, probably had a bit better quality chances overall too though it's been close. We're going to need to up our game.


47' -- A couple exchanges of possession and then they trip Saputra, freekick for us left of the area. Prasetyo's header is weak and cleared off the line, but he was far enough out that was a tough ask. Corner goes to him again at the near post and this time his soft header is just good enough to make it in!! Maybe that work did pay off, we tie it up at 1-all.

Pretty even battle for possession for a while, then they assert themselves again just past the hour mark.

64' -- Big play here as Siegers goes down in the area but is called for a dive and hit with a yellow. Persipon now up 3-1 on Persibom

69' -- Saragih to Yogi, that one drew him out wide and once again Bahar leaves no angle to shoot from. Corner is out for a repeat, then that is cleared. Time for fresh legs, Bayhaqi and Adie come on, Ewangin and Yarangga sit. Persibom pulls one back to make it 3-2, they're still in it.

We've started to get the upper hand a bit here, and I'm feeling good about our chances to at least hold the draw.

75' -- Adie to Saputra, chips one through traffic somehow just inside, but misses left by maybe a foot.

79' -- Freekick for Adie, quality save by Bahar who has done well the last bit here to keep us from scoring on a few different occasions.

82' -- Hendambo from a sharp angle is well off, that's their first shot of any kind since half.

85' -- Persenga(2-0 over Persisko) and Persipon(4-2 over Persibom) add insurance goals. By my count we are minutes away from qualifying ...


FT -- Good rally in the second half, we defended very well just couldn't get the winning score. Still, a road draw against a quality side. We outshot them 13-6 and didn't allow a shot on target for the second straight game.

It is indeed official, we have qualified for Second Phase and need just a draw at home in the finale to clinch first in Group D! What a year and achievement for this bunch!!

[Brian Swartz]

4.14 -- A bruised head will keep Prasetyo out a week and a half, leaving us pretty bare right now in the defensive line.

4.16 Youth Candidate Day. We'll keep DM/MC Yusuf Yusuf, fresh in from the Department of Redundancy Dept. apparently, and DR Wawan Firmansyah. Both have good potential with the ability to serve in absolute emergency circumstances without completely embarrassing themselves at present.

4.17 -- Herlan suffered fractured ribs in training today, and will miss 2-3 months(in other words, he's done for the year). Adie will get one last shot now to do something memorable.

4.18 -- Voting begins for the player of the year awards. For Young Player of the year, Sutanto is considered one of the frontrunners ...

4.19 vs. PSKT(5th) Neutral site for this one. We had a crazy 4-4 draw the first time out, coming from behind three times, then losing a 4-3 lead at the end. We're 2-5 favorites for this one. Their coach Roland Khoibur refused to comment about our 'overachievement' with limited resources here, choosing to focus on his own club. Smart man.

We're the very last fixture of the year for Group D First Phase, and as it ends up we have nothing to play for. Persibom lost 2-0 at home to Perssin in their finale to make us tops in the group no matter what happens. At the bottom of the table, Persemalra needed a win but were only able to draw Persenga 1-1, and their failure is complete ... they should have been in Premier Division this year, and now they'll fall to Second Division.

As a result of this, I treat this as what it is -- a glorified friendly, and run out extra reserves with a goal only of maintaining fitness. PSKT is without multiple players, including keeper Fernando Pitoy who is well known to us.

GK: Setia
D: Urwan/Muda/Saragih/Kasipmabin
M: Ningmabin/Saputra/Adie
A: Bayhaqi/Oropka/Ewangin

I tell them to just go enjoy themselves, yet Saragih still fidgets nervously. He's a real basketcase that one -- and Bob thinks he's also become our best player. Not most important player, but best relative to his position.

2' -- Oropka up the right side of the area, goes near corner and hits the crossbar. A minute later, they complete misjudge a ball and Adie goes free into the same part of the pitch. Wide left.

That was his chance for one last moment of glory right there.

9' -- Lots of scramble in midfield, then Bayhaqi with a fine pass to Oropka streaking up the gut, took him too long to control it and then Ari blocked the shot away. He's done everything but score in the early going.

11' -- Adie with a very nice lead pass to Ewangin, we're really countering well today despite the limited squad, and he hits a very nice strike inside the left post! 1-0, and they've not threatened yet.

29' -- They've done a lot better at controlling midfield against us, neither side getting any serious threats for quite a while. Bayhaqi goes down left of the area, not what I needed to see. Sutanto comes on.

42' -- Freekick for Adie, good shot but Ari guess cross-angle correctly and tips it out for a corner.

45' -- They can't control a cross right at the edge of the box, and then Sutanto misses badly open at the edge of the area. Missed opportunities both ways.


HT -- Technically they have yet to attempt a shot(8 for us), even though we're getting beat up in possession(58% for PSKT). I wouldn't bet on that strange set of facts repeating itself.


60' -- Ewangin to Oropka, open in the area, should have scored but Ari blocks it away. It's to Sutanto angling in from the left and he's looking at an open net, puts it away with authority! 2-0!!

Adie is tired and starting to get banged up, Yarangga's on for him. The shot itself was nothing special but that goal was about anticipation, Sutanto saw where it was going before Muchtar did, got their first and the rest was paperwork. Should give him an extra shot in the arm for his Young Player of the Year campaign.

68' -- Setia is bracketed by two attackers on a cross, but punches it out safely, a good decision. Afandi fouls Ewangin in frustration.

The flow of this match is all going our way now.

80' -- Oropka up the right side for Urwan, fairly sharp-angle shot and he tries to outsmart Ari by floating it to the far corner, but he retreats and makes the save easily.

88' -- They suck us into the middle on a counter and then Suntoro waltzes in practically to the box, Setia didn't come out much in fear of a centering pass as they were all over us. Easy score, and it's 2-1 now.

Muda breaks up three rushes in a row with some solid plays, and it's over.


FT -- Could have done without another late concession, but a solid 2-1 win and more than I expected from the side we put out there. Defensively we were good up till the end, and nobody really had a poor day.

Suntoro steals away player of the match for that score, which I would beg to differ with. Imam Bayhaqi has a bruised thigh and will miss two weeks.

[Brian Swartz]

4.22 -- Second Phase Draw was today: we find out who we are playing in the battle for promotion. We are in Group A along with Persid(2nd in Group C), Persikad(2nd in Group B), and Persmin(1st in Group A). The view from the pundits is that this is a tough group.

Three days from now we visit Persmin, followed by a game each of the following two Saturdays as well. We'll know our fate by mid-May. I don't know what the criteria are, but we will have two of three away which won't help either.

We need only to not finish last to promote to Premier Division; if we finish first, we will also make it the First Division Final against the winner of Group B with significant prize money on the line. Merely making it here will help our financial situation though, with at least 820M coming our way for the trouble.

We're the top-scoring team but have conceded more goals than most and have made our way here mostly be being very consistent. Against top opposition we've been less impressive, so I think we will have our work cut out for us. Stylistically, we excel at the midfield turnover with a quick attack coming out of it, but the better sides don't hand us the ball as much and a large part of our game disappears. With only three games to decide the result, each will be crucial. There is simply no margin for error, but our chances are still good with only one of four failing to go up.

I order a rescouting of Indonesia talent, as we'll have some choices to make one way or the other as soon as this is over.

** Note: Since I'm a heartless jerk, I'll wait until until tomorrow to put up the Second Phase results ... **

[Brian Swartz]

4.25 @ Persmin(first match for both). They are 6-4 favorites at home, and the experts on the day are picking them as well.

My strategy here is to play semi-conservative with a countering style, looking for at least a draw here. A draw here and a win at home in the second game would put us in strong position for the away finale. We saw what happened to Persemalra when they won Group D and failed to advance, and I certainly don't want to put Persigubin in that position.

Persmin plays the 4-1-2-2-1 'V' formation, which we've seen a bit of already this year. They have five players out injured, while we will go without two(Bayhaqi and Herlan) important ones.

Here we go!! I tell the boys they know what to do, time for the talking to be over and the doing to begin.

2' -- Fireworks right away. Their left-back Gapura breaks up a couple of attacking moves, Yarangga has a nice to play to intercept and we hold it back in. Ewangin gets it in the area but he's doubled and can't get anything off. Saputra to Sutanto just left of the spot from 16, he first-times it to the near post ... but a diving save by Perwira, he showed good range and athleticism there to push it out, I thought that was a goal and it nearly was.

A good start though.

5' -- A corner goes near post, a crowd is there and Kombo makes the clearance. Big play.

After about the ten-minute mark they seem to have adjusted to us and are controlling the ball much better, we're on the back foot most of the time.

18' -- Sharp-angle shot by Usmanto is into the side.

19' -- Usmanto with a cross this time, they get a header to it in the box and that's gotta be a score ... no, Ferminus is close enough to block it somehow! Muda clears ... Wayega couldn't have been more than 2 yards for the goal, and Ferminus just reached out has hand and batted it away. They hold it in and Affandi puts one wide from 17 yards ... if they keep going like this they will score and it probably won't take them long. We need to find a way to go back on the attack.

They continue to dominate the ball, we're really up against it the last 20 minutes or so but we do better at staying tight and not allowing any good looks.

31' -- They center it and Muda comes too far forward, he misjudged that one and Wayega has it behind him! one-on-one all alone in on Ferminus, beats him to the left side ... but it hits the post and bounces straight back! Wayega tackles it away from Saragih, it sits there rolling a bit inside the box ... Saragih recovers and clears it. Oh my, we are just dodging bullets right and left here.

They inbound and center, close header for Nugroho just outside the box -- diving save by Ferminus and it rolls wide of the goal. Muda pushes it out for a corner, and you can just tell everyone is waiting for them to finally break through.

Finally we start to fight back a little. They're still the superior team, but we have our moments with the ball.


HT -- We're very fortunate to still be in this. They have a 7-3 edge in shots and 59% possession. All we can do is try to hang in.


Second starts with a two-man game on the right with Ewangin and Saragih. Their defense is disciplined though and we get only a corner which they clear out.

61' -- Back and forth it goes, sometimes Persmin looks like they're about to put the hammer down, sometimes we gain equality for a bit. Saputra to Saragih on the counter, centers for Ewangin who is into the area, tackled from behind, goes down no call, and we have a corner. Out for another one. Cleared.

Prasetyo comes on for Patay, who was solid though unspectacular.

65' -- An absolute gift as Nugroho is carded for tripping Adie. We have had three occasions where we could have reasonably been booked and they've been lenient, so I'd be mighty ticked were I on the opposite side.

It's looking like we might be able to hold them off, but I know how good we are at the late concession.

76' -- A crack for Yogi just inside the right of the area, well wide. Adie is done, Ningmabin on for him as I try to keep us as fresh as possible.

77' -- Yellow for Yarangga as the intensity is picking up on both sides. Well, that means he won't be around for our next match. Fantastic.

Two minutes later, he gets another and he's gone. We have ten minutes left plus injury time, and will have to do it without the heart of our midfield. I use our last sub and bring on Urwan for Sutanto, going to five at the back(5-2-1-1). We need to hold them out, and will only attack if there's a clear opening.

Ten freaking minutes.

85' -- They bobble a cross by Kombo, and we get a corner. Sure, I'll take it. Prasetyo sends it in, easily cleared.

We contest well and give them nothing, excellent defense.


FT -- We almost certainly should have lost this one, even though we had our moments early. A scoreless draw isn't exactly our game, but it's a gift here. They outshot us 9-6(3-1 on target) and had 55% possession, and we were very fortunate more than once they did not score.

Saragih is player of the match and he had one of his best matches of the year, effective up and down the pitch. Yarangga was playing hard in high-intensity situations at the end of a long game -- I decide not to fine him for this one.

Meanwhile, Persibom loses 3-2 in their first game and will now have ground to make up. In our group, Persid lost 1-0 to Persikad.

13,560 attended -- which is several times the capacity of our stadium. Perhaps that's one reason why we only get to host one ...

[Brian Swartz]

May Training -- Adie(Tactics) is a positive but we have negatives with Kasipmabin, Urwan, and Ewangin on fitness. Second time in three months for Ewangin so we have a chat about it.

5.2 vs. Persid(0-0-1, 4th) Win and we're in. It's that simple. We'd be four points up on Persid with one to play, an insurmountable lead. A draw and they could still catch us on the final weekend. Victory would also guarantee us a chance of catching Perskid for the top spot and final placement in the last game.

We feel we have better chances to attack against them, so we won't start out conservatively as we did last time though I'll adjust things based on how it goes like usual. With Herlan and Yarangga both sitting this one out(though Bayhaqi is now available again but limited), we'll be weak in midfield.

In the prematch presser they ask if Imam Bayhaqi will play(touch and go), nervousness about our biggest match of the year(of course), and my pick for Young Player of the Year(gotta be Sutanto right?)

We've been made solid 4-5 favorites. This, today, is our chance. We won't get another one like it. Somebody's going to be a hero or a goat(or both): whose day will it be?? The whole team's in excellent spirits -- we're as ready as we're gonna get. I tell t hem I expect them to go out and win promotion today -- Ewangin got fired up about that.

4' -- Yogi to Ewangin in the area, thought sure he was going to shoot but he hits the trailer Adie as he's cut off. Adie's looper from just inside the area was saved easily ... another chance missed.

5' -- We get a corner and Adie delivers it far post, headed out for a second try. He delivers it far post again, Muda gets to it among several players but heads high from about 8 yards out. Not a bad try.

7' -- Cross by Permana on their first rush, tipped over by Ferminus and they'll get a corner now. It goes to the near post, Yogi and their attacker Arufin get there at the same time, it bounces in! Well, that's about as bad a start as we could have gotten today, we trail 0-1

13' -- They hand us a corner with an errant routine backpass. It's cleared and we hold it in, then turn it over before we can get anything working. We're doing a solid job with possession but they're fighting us fairly hard for it. Not sure which way that battle will go yet.

18' -- Permana beats Kombo up the right like he's standing still, but Ferminus blocks out the angled shot. Still, I've seen enough of that, we're going to watch him closely and play a deeper line. Ferminus grabs the corner, and we repeat our earlier miss by Muda on the other end.

22' -- Another corner as they get in the way of a blast by Ewangin. Nothing.

24' -- Sutanto gets a crack from just outside, blasts one at the left corner ... off the crossbar! They call a foul on Persid in the aftermath, but it's outside the area so Adie will take a freekick. One time. High and wide. Not this time I guess. That shot by Sutanto was as close as we can get without scoring.

36' -- We've continued to control the action and get nothing for it. Adie gets another freekick, perfect position straight on maybe two yards outside. Blocked by the wall, swings it left to Ningmabin who has a look but right at Kusuma for the easy save.

39' -- Turnover as Saragih makes the interception on a lazy cross. Sutanto a through ball up the gut to Yogi, he draws two and leads Ewangin into the area with one man to beat. He's got a half-step, fires it on the bounce from just inside and that's over the diving arms of Kusuma on the right side! We tie it up at 1, and we're very much alive here!!

41' -- Great chance to add another one, Saragih passes up a good shot to give Yogi a better one but the pass is behind him and we get no shot. Smart play, just needed that one last pass to be better and he would have had a great look.

They trip Yogi and Adie has a freekick from 30+. He loops it in and Kusuma is right there.


HT -- Even at 1-1, but we're playing well enough to win(10-2 shots, 58% possession). I tell them to keep it up and the result will come. With more confidence than I actually possess. Over time, the law of averages says yes that will happen, but we don't have a big sample size -- we have this one half to stake our claim.


They move it on right away and Permana's speed gets an opening for a cross -- Patay is there with a big header to clear it.

47' -- Another freekick, well hit line-drive by Adie and Kusuma is there.

48' -- Transitions are sloppy with both sides throwing it around. A scramble in the area ends up in a weak shot by Saragih that's easily taken.

They're battling harder and more effectively for the ball this half.

55' -- Yogi just outside the area, nice lead pass for Sutanto who breaks at the right time and he's free at the edge of the box, first-time shot is by Kusuma before he can dive for it! 2-1, and we're now less than 40 minutes from the Premier Division!! Yogi made both plays happen, he's picked one heck of a match to bring top-notch trigger man skills.

57' -- Permana's loose for a bit on the left side, but Saragih tackles it out for a corner. It goes to Maliki at the far corner of the box, he heads it across ... Sutanto and Sandi collide and neither controls it ... Kombo gets to the clearance!! Phew.

60' -- Bad throw-in on their end but we give it right back, we defend just well enough and Saputra finally intercepts one in the area and we're back the other way. Bad cross by Saragih ... the cycle repeats. Arifin's cross has to be tipped out by Ferminus, and another corner.

I'm going to have heart attack before this one is over. I know it. We clear it though.

65' -- Long header by Sutanto, nice try but it really had no chance.

67' -- Adie puts one right at Kusuma on a 35 free. We hold it in and Saragih crosses from the right side ... Kusuma tips it, jump ball at the far post ... Sutanto's scored twice on similar plays but he can't get this one.

75' -- We have another corner and it's time to play keepaway and protect the lead. Adie comes out for Prasetyo, we'll go 5-2-2-1. Bayhaqi's on for Ewangin as well. A third decent shot at a header for Muda, a third goes high. He's consistent.

80' -- They have a corner. Less than 15 minutes. Less than 15 minutes. Less than 15 ... Muda clears. Miss more headers if you can defend now.

85' -- We pass it around forever, looking for an opening, Saragih crosses, Sutanto heads it from right in front, perfect angle but Kusuma dives to make the save just before it can go in. Gotta applaud that, I thought we had an insurance score there.

We hear it from the fans though who love the patience and execution on the attacking move.

86' -- They're getting desperate now and Rofiq fires high from at least 30.

88' -- They head it toward goal from the edge of the area ... Muda is there to head it away to Saputra who nods it on ... and a bad pass by Yogi gives it right back.

ARGHZORZ!!

Chaos reigns in midfield for a few stressful minutes as neither club can gain control for long.

92' -- Ningmabin launches one into orbit from the edge, just because he felt the need to I guess.

93' -- Bayhaqi with a corner, Sutanto comes flying in and is just beat out to the ball. Later, Yogi gets a header in front but puts it just wide.

A final clearance by Prasetyo, and it's over!


FT -- We win 2-1, a solid victory after the initial disaster and it's now official: Persigubin are going up to the Indonesian Premier Division in 2015/16!! Yogi is the unequivocal player of the day, with Sutanto definitely more than worthy of an honorable mention. Another fine day by Saragih in defense, he has really come on espescially as a crosser in the attacking phase.

The board declares getting promotion to be a 'quite unbelievable achievement' and calls my performance 'remarkable', hoping I'll stick around for many years.

Really?? Then OFFER ME A FREAKING NEW CONTRACT ALREADY!!!!

Ewangin also directed credit my way.

Ironically, this was not even our biggest attendance of the year(329).

All of this is not lost on the press who begin by asking if I'll be here next year, pointing out the uncertainty of my contract. I'm tempted to take the high road here, but I've always been a straight shooter. I decide there's nothing wrong with putting pressure on the board, and point out they've had all the time in world to give me a new deal and time is running out. They went on to blather on about how we don't foul much(except for Yarangga), our comeback, Sutanto's goal and other matters.

Persibom wins as well, 3-1, and they have all but clinched promotion. They would have to lose and have Persidago win big on the final game to not make it.

[Brian Swartz]

5.6 -- Yarangga will be out again now after straining a wrist(2 weeks). That will hurt.

5.9 @ Persikad(1-1-0) There's still the matter of who represents Group A in the finale to be decided. The winner of this game will be that club ... but if we draw I don't know what will happen. That would keep goal differential the same(+1), and if Persim beats Persid by a goal, they would be tied with us both in points and differential as well for a three-way chaotic finish that is quite possible.

Of course, my goal is simply to win today(a big ask on the road to be sure): if we can manage it, none of that matters, we'd be the unquestioned top of the table club. We'll start off with our usual counter-attacking road strategy, particularly since they like to jump out early in the first half of play. With a weakened midfield, we will need to finish well any chances we have.

Persikad are narrowly favored here(6-4). Their star striker(Suheri Purwasih, 18 goals in 27) will receive major attention from the outset from our defense.

Both sides pass the ball like they can't tell the difference between their uniforms and those of the opponent -- yeah, I think the players are nervous too.

2' -- Long angled shot by Sasongko, well over.

3' -- Decent setup from Sutanto-Yogi-Ewangin with a shot just outside, had a good look at it but it's high and wide.

4' -- Purwasihp tries a long one but Patay stays right with him and blocks it back.

5' -- They get another long shot, off-target. Both teams are impatient right now.

7' -- Supriyadi with a cross from fairly deep ... it dips down and comes in under the bar for a freak score! I could really have done without that, pure luck there and once again we give up an early tally. 0-1

20' -- The last few minutes they've taken control of the possession struggle pretty solidly after an even start. This is definitely going to be an uphill fight for us.

21' -- Patay called for a trip on Purwasih, and he gets handed a yellow. Sasongko is wide with the freekick. I don't think I can afford to pull Patay, so I have to hope he is smart now.

24' -- Mixup between their defensemen, and Sutanto pounces on the loose ball with a chip from about 20 .... just skims high. That was almost the break we needed.

We take it back and Ewangin threads the needle to Yogi, poor ball control there unusual for him, and they concede only a corner. They clear it out, but that was still a nice sequence that we need to see more of.

31' -- We get another corner kick. Nothing.

33' -- Albana wheels middle to the edge of the area, shoots it well wide. As we've been playing better I switch up to a more balanced approach, risky as we could give up an easy one but a close loss will do us no good. It lasts about ten minutes as we don't get much, they adjust, and I pull back.


HT -- I tell the team they need to step up their game, most react well, Sutanto does not.


46' -- Nice passing gets them Susongko at the left corner of the box. Ferminus waits patiently and cuts of the angle, blocking the shot away and we clear. That's the best opportunity we've given.

52' -- Ewangin makes mincemeat out of one of their defenders, then sprays it right to Saragih. He's in on the angle, tries to go across but Sriyanto makes a nice save and we get a corner. Good play there, keeper was just better than the shot.

Adie with the kick, Patay goes up in a crowd feet in front of the goal. ... and they call a foul! Supriyadi is whistled for a penalty!! Karma, perhaps??

It's Yogi Time. He steps to the spot knowing that this shot could well mean the difference between making the First Division Final and not making it. Sriyanto awaits ... dives left ... Yogi's shot went right and he probably wouldn't have gotten it anyway, we're tied at 1!!

40 minutes to go.

55' -- Persmin is up 2-0 on Persid. If both scores hold, they will make the final on goal differential. We need to win, and I go for the jugular by going back to a less conservative approach.

56' -- Corner. Can't get it to Patay, Yogi heads it back in, Sriyanto snags it.

58' -- Ewangin leads Saragih who is behind them on the right side ... oh, he had a good chance there but just didn't get much on it, a relatively easy save. A little more mustard and we would have the lead. Another corner. Similar to the one we got a penalty from, but Sriyanto is there.

59' -- Long angled shot by Yogi is way off.

62' -- I don't believe what I just saw!!! We inbound from the left side, Kombo throws it right up the endline into the area. Ningmabin has it between two defenders, but he can't shoot from there ... dribbles past them like they aren't even there to a better angle a bit inside the box, and easily beats Sriyanto for the score! That is the best individual move I've seen this year. By Melianus Ninmabin. Maligned by our fans. Retiring at the end of the year. Scoreless this year with just five shots attempted. And he just put us half an hour from the First Division final!!!!!

Naturally it's time to go defensive with the 5-2-2-1. Normally it'd be Ningmabin I pull, but not on your life now. Adie sits. He's earned the right to stay out there. If Yarangga hadn't gotten hurt, he never would have even been on the pitch. Just incredible.

71' -- They pass to Jaelani just outside the corner of the box ... we're on him tight ... and get it cleared for a corner. Jaelani takes the kick ... Supriyandi is open at the far post but Muda sees him just in time and clears with a header. They hold it in, Jaelani crosses a jump ball mid-area ... Sutanto heads it clear. Again they pass it in, Prasetyo is there and booms a clearance downfield.

Twenty minutes.

75' -- Albana moves across from the right and lets one go, 25+ deep and well right of the goal. It's a well-struck one with a great angle though and Ferminus barely gets a hand to it ... enough to deflect so it hits the left(far) post, bounces back across the goal mouth ... and Ferminus gets there first to the rebound.

I was right last game. I'm going to have a heart attack. Almost a second fluke goal.

We come back the other way. Saragih. To Yogi. To Sutanto, one man to be t and he's clear, but it's poked away by Rivelino[, bounces off Sutanto. Right to the man of the hour in the middle, Ningmabin. Volleys it from 18 ... easily beats Sriyanto to the left side!! Two goals for him, and it's 3-1!!!

Un-freaking-believable!!!!

78' -- Persikad go to a 4-2-4, it's desperation time.

79' -- Weak header by Sasongko, Sutanto moves to intercept ... but it bounces off him back towards the goal .... and right to Ferminus.

Just make this end.

82' -- Sutanto to Ewangin behind the field on the counter, tries to loop one into the right side as Sriyanto comes out but misses. Golden opportunity there, but we're ten minutes away.

84' -- Sasongko gets a close freekick, tries to go upstairs and Ferminus tips it over. Corner. Out of play. Fans starting to hit the exits.


FT --- That's it!!! Yet another come-from-behind win, 3-1, and we're eaded to the First Division Final!!! And how about Melianus Ningmabin -- you absolutely could not make this stuff up if you tried. If it was a movie I'd dismiss it as hyper-sentimental hogwash, but truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. What an amazing performance!!!!

Almost 4500 showed up for this one. Twice the size of our stadium.
'
We've got a week and a half now before the final, and Yarangga might be back for it. Even if he is, Ningmabin's getting the start. He's earned it and then some.

[Brian Swartz]

5.20 vs. Perserang. Well we're 1-2 favorites to take the title against semi-pro Perserang, but there are some picking them., It's a weird line, but it's a title game and lots of opinions out there. It's the first First Division final for either club. Both have made history already: one is about to make some more. They play the 4-1-2-2-1 'V'.

Most importantly for the club: we're about to take in over 1b to work on the financial side, no matter who wins. An extra 80m if we do take it.

We'll try to win the possession battle and attack from the outset.

4' -- Nice counter, we were back but Gunawan got a header from inside the box but tough angle, off the side.

8' -- Ewangin draws the defense wide, crosses and Sutanto has a good look at a header but way too much angle on that.

11' -- Same drill Saputra has an angled try that's right at the keeper.

13' -- Corner ... Sutanto floats it over and their keeper has it.

15' -- They look for Rastawan up the gut, excellent pass but Patay's close enough for a sliding tackle to intercept at the last second. Corner. Kombo and Yogi clear it.

So far we're losing the battle at midfield pretty badly like last game, so counter-attack it is.

17' -- Corner for us. Yeah it's a broken record right now as both clubs are keeping a lot of the attackers to the perimeter. Out of play by Sutanto ...

22' -- Yogi wheels right, fires and it's not high enough, easy save.

23' -- They try to pull us out wide and cross but we don't bite.

25' -- Long-range header by Sutanto is wide and not much on it. We aren't getting quality shots but are looking better and better overall, I think we've got a good shot if we keep pushing.

28' -- Wide shot from the right, we had that one blocked off well. Our defending is top-notch so far today except for that early header they had.

33' -- They have another corner, Ningmabin is there to clear.

38' -- Absolutely beautiful touch passing play. Saputra - Sutanto - Yogi - leads Ewangin into the area, perfect ball there and between three defenders to the open man. Caught the keeper leaning left and placed the shot into the right side, and we take a 1-0 lead!

40' -- Rifled angled shot by Gunawan, just high.

41' -- Rastiawan wheels around Kombo, but can't get the shot on target.

46' -- Probably 30 seconds before the half, after they work it around awhile similar play to their first threat. Rastiawan finds Gunawan with a close header, and this time he buries it. Lead gone, 1-1 at the break.


HT -- Hopefully we contain those two now, they are playing well together. We still can take this I think, we were better most of the first half.


46' -- They try it again, Saputra's there to clear. One thing about these guys, they know where their bread is buttered and how to get it there.

47' -- they have a corner.

50' -- Ferminus grabs a dangerous deep freekick. We come back down and get our first ... anything ... of the half. Saputra, Sutanto, first time pass leads Ewangin. Couldn't have been set up better and an easy score! 2-1 now, how about we keep the lead this time??

56' -- Adie on for the tiring Yarangga. Bad turnover for them, ends up with a good look at the goal by a trailing Yogi who is wide.

67' -- They're controlling play too much for my liking now. Prasetyo on for Ewangin who has done his job and then some. Time to go five at the back and preserve the title! Corner, cleared to Sutanto who rifles a half-volley that looked in at first. Just wide.

69' -- Prasetyo clears out a cross, and Putra absolutely unloads a line drive from 25 yards that Ferminus just manages to parry. That was a cannon shot there. They can't keep the corner in play.

71' -- Saragih goes up the right side to Adie, two defenders are with him but they can't stop him -- they can trip him -- and a penalty is called!!

Again Yogi buries it. 3-1 now, and that's a bit of a final moment for Adie there even though he didn't get to make the conversion.

That's 18 goals this year for the guy who didn't want to come back.

72' -- They keep attacking and get a decent look just inside, not quite enough to test Ferminus though.

78' -- They get a corner. Caught by Fermie. He sends it downfield ... and crumples to the ground! Doesn't look too serious, but on comes Setia.

82' -- Setia grabs another corner. Some incredible headers start a counter, which ends with a nice move by Adie to get a shot from just outside the area, which he hits well but high.

FT -- The rest passes uneventfully and Persigubin win the First Division crown 3-1!! There are no words for such a season ... magical? Ewangin and Yogi steal the show today.

9,090 came to watch.

There is no-one left to play! We'll enjoy this for a while, and it's hard to imagine what could top it. The fans celebrate, and suggest I be given freedom of the city for 'performing miracles' with the club. The board called this win a 'truly momentous' thing and said 'anything was possible' with me at the helm.

Thank you very much. Now about that contract ...

The press's second question is a little ridiculous, saying everybody's gonna want even more and how will I respond to the added pressure. I say they're being ridiculous and suggest they let us enjoy today first. They want a 'proper answer', to which my response is to get up and leave. I don't have time for their nonsense.

1.11b is our reward for the title.

[Tellistto]

Nice work. Hope you parlayed this into a bigger club to manage!

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

14/15 SEASON REVIEW

Getting more depth and balance in the squad proved more valuable than I had imagined in my wildest dreams. Only a couple occasions did we have to play someone at an unfamiliar position. Some of the new players performed quite well, but most of the success came down to having that depth to plug in where it was needed. While we had injury issues like everybody does, we were not plagued by anything like the rash that started us off in the gutter my first season.

Another key was consistency. In the second half of the year we were actually a little better than the first if anything, while all of our main rivals declined. This squad also showed tremendous fight and determination, rallying from behind time and time again, sometimes twice in the same game. This was clearly on display in our last two contests, where we allowed the first goal both times yet went on to victory. The 0-0 draw away at Persmin in the first Second Phase contest was huge, and a bit underserved. They had immense pressure on us for a while, and had they converted they would likely have made the final instead of us.

Tactically we were at our best creating midfield turnovers and then going on the attack with six, seven guys all able to contribute to creating a shot at the goal. Because of this we excelled at taking advantadge of errant passes by our weaker opponents, but better teams were usually able to keep us out of possession and limit our chances. Clearly we'll need to get better to compete at the next level, where almost everyone we play will fit into the latter group. We were sounder defensively than last year(espescially at the end of the year), but there is still improvement to be made in that.

AWARDS

I was named First Division Coach of the Year, and Sutanto finished Runner-up in the Young Player of the Year voting. Also worth noting is that Sutanto and Yogi were named in the First Division Team of the Year!

BOARD REVIEW

They are absolutely delighted, consider my job untouchable, and won't discuss a new contract.

Annual Training Postives -- Saragih(Defending), Saputra(Tactics), Kombo(Fitness), and Muda(Defending)
Negatives -- Oropka, Ningmabin, Urwan. Two of them won't be back, so who really cares?

Team Meeting: I congratulate them on an amazing year and tell them we plan to stay in Premier Division. Ewangin leads the charge in agreeing, everybody's on cloud nine right now so I think I could have told them they were a bunch of stupid sorry parasitic sacks of entrails and they would have cheered.

[Brian Swartz]

Fast Facts

** Scored: 62(54 reg. season). 7 more than anyone else in First Division, a new record!
** Allowed: 35. Five fewer than last year, a little above average but not spectacular. It was our offense that was the strength of the club.
** Attendance: 270 average. 15 times last year's average of 19, but still only 9.4% of our capacity(2875). 33rd in First Division, and even that masks the fact that the top 31 clubs had close to 1k or more. That's sort of a tipping point that we didn't even approach.

PLAYERS

GK Ferminus(23 conc in 17 app, 4 shutouts)
GK Setia(15 conc in 13 app, 4 shutouts)

Ferminus the better of the two clearly despite the numbers, but we think he may have lost something with the two injuries this year.

DR Saragih(27 app, 4 a)
DCR Patay(20 app, 1 a)
DR Urwan(5 app)
DRLC Prasetyo(21 app, 2 g) -- 2 goals on 4 shots!
DL Kasipmabin(6 app)
DL Ferry Kombo(24 app, 1 g, 2 a)
DC Iskandar Muda(27 app, 3 g, 1 a)

Saragih was the most important overall, largely because he can contribute in all areas. He and Prasetyo can now play any of the back line positions which gives us more flexibility and coverage. We need to get Saragih into the scoring column next year, he did not score despite taking 16 shots. On the other wing, Kombo was somewhat mistake-prone but overall very solid.

Overall though we were better, but it's mixed. While Muda was a much better central defenders than anyone last year or his partners this year, he also cost us six goals. Patay/Prasetyo were not as good, didn't contribute as much on either end(if we needed a key header on a set piece, Muda was the go-to guy, last year there was nobody), but they didn't have the downside of going for balls and misjuding them either.

MRC Patrick Adie(10 app, 2 a)
MLC Melianus Ningmabin(17 app, 2g/1a)
MC Frans Yarangga(23 app, 1g/1a)
MC Dodi Saputra(28 app, 3g/5a)
MC Herlan(22 app, 3g/6a)

The big change here was the contributions newcomers Saputra and Herlan made as far superior midfield contributors in all aspects to anyone we had last year. The way they supported the attacking players and recycled possession was vital to our offensive explosion.

AMC/ST Fabian Yogi(26 app, 18g/8a)
AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka(12 app, 2g/5a)
AMC/ST Imam Bayhaqi(20 app, 9g/2a)
AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(24 app, 6g/12a)
ST Engel Ewangin(22 app, 14g/7a)

With better support from the back, our attacking corps blew up this year, esp. Yogi, Ewangin, and Sutanto who led the team in assists -- not bad for a guy who's only 17! A solid debut year for Bayhaqi as well.

[Brian Swartz]

Nice work. Hope you parlayed this into a bigger club to manage!

Thanks, and well ... I did try ...

OFFSEASON

The big question is of course this: with our finances, how in the world do we compete in Premier Division? We don't even have a respectable First Division fanbase ... It didn't help that a local planning commission blocked the move to a larger ground for a new stadium a couple days after the season ended, so we're in limbo on that. One change in the Premier is that three foreigners are allowed, so some out-of-country scouting was authorized.

Meanwhile, we retained a total of seven youth players, the most notable of which are three DMCs -- we don't use a DMC, but that could always change if these guys pan out -- and AMC Muhammad Triyono who my reports list as having more raw talent than anyone currently on the senior roster. They say he could someday not just play at the Premier level but be a legitimate star there.

Beginning on June 7, the US participated in the Gold Cup. They started with a 1-0 win over Honduras, early optimism tempered by a shocking 2-1 defeat to Surinam despite conrolling most of the match and a draw against El Salvador as a late concession led to a 1-1 final. A disappointing win, loss and draw in group play but it was just enough to make the quarterfinals ... where Mexico drilled them 3-0, all the goals coming in the first half hour. Embarassing, and Garza got himself sent off later in the match just to round off the digusting display. Mexico would later win the Gold Cup for the third consecutive time, while Arema flattned Persija 4-0 to take their second Indonsian Cup in three years.

BUDGETS

We'll take in another 100M from sponsorships this year as opposed to last, a nice boost, but I was still surprised to see a 67.5M payroll baselilne(well up from 41M last year). A good part of this will be eaten up in automatic promotion raises, but there will be room to improve the squad as well. Interestingly, Persinab(who I was impressed with last year and promoted from our First Division group) was relegated back down which shows the difficultly of making it at the higher competition. They had 26 pts ... safety required just 28 so it was a tight battle all the way but they couldn't stay up.

We must find a way to succeed where they failed. The salary we've been given works out to 3.5B a year, which would have been exactly at the midpoint of Premier Division clubs this year. Persinab spent 3.1B not making it, with the top spenders at over 11.5B.
The board has done their part, it's a respectable financial commitment they are making. It's up to me now.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Two interesting options came up, big Premier club Persidafon who has been yo-yoing between the Super League and Premier and just missed out on going back up last year. When that didn't work out, I try at PSBL(First Division) whose coach they hired. Both laugh off my interest as absurd. It's pretty obvious what is going on here -- the Persigubin board are refusing to negotiate as they have a position of strength: despite our fantastic year, I've not yet earned enough respect to convince anyone else I'm worth taking a chance on. Therefore, why should they give me any security and limit their options -- I'm not going anywhere else, because there's nowhere to go, nobody who will take me.

So I'm here for, in all likelihood, at least another couple of years. Time to focus in on staying up in the Premier Division. The board releases a statement of disappointment that I continue to look for other jobs. You could always offer me a contract ... which I suggested, again, before I started to apply. So basically, shut up guys.

JULY

Back to trying to make Persigubin better. I estimate we have about 10M/wk. available. Board hasn't told me I can't hire any new staff: what they have done is limit contracts to between half and a third of what any decent candidates will accept. Which is basically the same thing. However, I am left wondering what would happen if any of my current staff left ... I don't see how I'd be able to replace them.

Either way, I see our biggest need as clearly being a better keeper. Neither of ours have Premier potential, and we definitely need a player or two in midfield and/or attack as well with the departing players(Oropka, Ningmabin, Adie). I don't find anyone who is a quantam leap, but do manage to sign T.M. Syarif, a moderate improvement with the potential to grow into a good Premier-level keeper, for 2.75M. Of the next round of offers, we got only one commitment, Cambodian MC Chhun Kirivutharo for 2.2M -- but he wouldn't be able to join us until his current contract ends in January. This is the club's first foreign signing, and as such a historic moment. We don't have the money to significantly remake the roster, and so I spring for just one more .. 3M for youing striker Iwan Akbar after a number of other options fall through for various reasons. Akbar came up through the youth program at none less than Persib, then was eventually released. One man's trash ...

July 11 -- We announce a loss of 1.7B, a shocking 47% of turnover, by far our worst yet. The board is optimistic that increased 'commercial opportunities' from being in the Premier will improve this number for the coming season.

August

We are named Overachievers of the Year for the First Division last season, with Yogi's performances named a key and Imam Bayhaqi considered one of the year's top signings. A nice shot in the arm for us, and it's hard to disagree. Yogi is named Fan Player of the Year for the second year in a row, no surprise there. Ningmabin moved on to Persiss in the First Division, the other three released players are still out there.

I'm listed as the only name now under Favored Personnel, ditto for Yogi under Legends.

The board says in order to increase our payroll we'd need a top-half guarantee, which is a laugh so we'll stay at 'Consolidate', i.e. 'be competitive'. I'm not sure what they mean by that. We also receive 872M in TV Rights. There's a new one.

Interestingly enough the Premier Division has split into four groups this year instead of three. We'll once again be in Group D. Top team makes the Second Phase, bottom two are relegated. They have also shrunk the season from 30 to 22 games, so it will be the same length as last year as they seem to have just copied the First Division format. Oh, and we've been picked dead last -- but after being taken 9th(finished 11th) and 11th(1st) the last two years I'm not sure how much that really means.

With the automatic promotion raises we are now up to about 63M in payroll, 4M left in the kitty. I'd like to keep as much of that there as I can as a hedge against raises when we do our contract renewals in a few months, but I also am going to try to bring in two people: an inexpensive emergency backup in midfield, and some kind of coach for the U21s to help with training. We can't develop those players without someone, even if they completely suck, to work with them. I couldn't find a midfielder for the price I wanted that would be useful enough, so I just decided that we'd give one of the youngsters a pro contract if it comes to that -- which it will if we have any midfield injuries before the end of the year.

He may not know any more about it than I do, but Bob is of the opinion that some of our players can hang at this level to some degree. It's about a 50-50 split, which isn't that bad. My hope will be to not embarass ourselves, stay up, and then next year to try and bring in a few more players to upgrade what we have to work with.

Also new this year is that a couple of clubs were willing to accept friendlies, meaning we can play against actual opposition not our U21s. The real benefit here is financial, as we can start to get some appearance fees to supplement club income. Long-term we need to start moving the club towards solvency: that's the only way I'm ever going to get a real staff, better facilities, all the things we will need to improve.

On that front, I ask the board to work on a parent club again. They tried a couple of years ago and got nowhere, but maybe someone would be willing be our affiliate now that we are in the Premier. Later in the month, I find out that -- nope, not gonna happen.

Indonesia beat Malaysia on penalties after a 2-1 home win followed a defeat on the road by the same score. 4-3 in the shootout to narrowly advance to the second round, where a strong win at home in the second leg made it 7-4 over Kryzgstan. They've been drawn in Group 4 of the Third Round, with the top two nations qualifying for Final Stage. Australia(55), Kuwait(113), and Bahrain(130) are the others: this is already further than Indonesia made it last time around. Australia you can pretty much pencil in with the other three fighting for the second spot.

[Brian Swartz]

SEPTEMBER

We give up on hiring a youth coach as the money required just isn't there. We've now got 12 players making 350k a week for a total of 4.2M a week that is basically wasted, so it's an expensive lesson ... Sutanto continues to improve and took another significant step this offseason. At 18 years old, he isn't far behind the top players at the club now.

I also decided to give out a couple of pro contracts to our younger players. Obviously this won't help the finances any, but if we want to get anything out of these guys we need them training. AMC/MC Bangun Priyono, who was so impressive last year in our Indonesian Cup game and has consistently been a threat in intra-squad friendlies, will be our emergency midfield backup. He'll take 750k with a 5% annual raise. The second one is DL Widodo Faizal. He's our most polished young player and is actually a serviceable backup right now, and left back is one of our weakest depth positions. But the real kicker here is that his evaluation has been upgraded this year to the point where Bob thinks he has Super League potential: this is the first time he's said that about any of our players. He'll take 600k and a 5% annual raise, which makes me wonder if I should have lowballed him even more.Regardless, these two signings will cost up less than 1M combined, a bargain I would say.

We lost another 560M last month. The financial situation is getting worse not better, at least for now. A few weeks I suspended all scouting except for upcoming opposition, as I don't plan on adding any new players until next year anyway.

9.4 -- Indonesia puts up a good fight against Australia before falling 2-1 on a late score.

9.11 -- While I'm sure it will be an unpopular choice with the players as always, we select minimal competition bonuses. Anything we can do to reduce costs simply has to be done. Sutanto and Herlan were the most disappointed as was the case last year. The former is of course the biggest concern, but hopefully we'll be able to keep him in the fold as we have the last couple years. If not, well ... no player is bigger than the club. After all, does anybody even really care or remember what happened to Uropmabin? We brought in Bayhaqi and time marches on.

9.13 -- We'll keep our field narrow as that plays to our strength through the middle.

9.15 -- A consortium of businessmen is planning a takeover and will soon approach Wahyu Fadii with an offer, according to the Indonesian Soccer Gazette. I'm thinking just now this is karmic retribution for a very charmed pre-season so far: not a single major injury to anyone on the senior squad.

9.30 -- Lots of bids for Sutanto so far this year, but this time we have an offer on the table for 145M plus a loan-back clause at the end of the year. We could use the money of course, but I'm not letting him go -- he's a huge part of our future. There are now nine clubs interested in him overall, but he shows no interest in wanting to leave.

OCTOBER

We haven't heard anything the last couple of weeks on the bid one way or the other. The board asks for my 'continued patience while they deal with the speculation'. Like I have a choice. We lose another 199M, at least it's not as much as we were losing. That's with another 60M in appearance fees coming in. Debt stands at 4.25B.

10.1 -- We start off the month with our first injury of significance. Iwan Akbar's competitive debut will wait now as a strained wrist during training will cost us him for two weeks, meaning he'll miss at least our first match.

10.4 -- We announce season ticket sales of 84, up from 64 last year so a healthy increase in our fan base is expected.

10.8 -- Another Sutanto offer, this one with 42M up front, and another 142 spread over the next two years. No. He's not leaving. Deal with it.

I got asked a bunch of dumb questions(the only kind the media knows, really) in a pre-season presser, and we are now under transfer embargo until the takeover bid is resolved.

My favorite Q/A: Do you have a favored side of eleven prepared for the coming season? I mean what the heck am I supposed to say? No, I've had most of these guys for a year or two and just spent two months working with them in training and friendlies, so naturally I haven't the foggiest notion who I'm going to play?? Get a clue.

They also thought Ewangin was the top key to our season. Um, no. Yogi is the man here, to the extent there is one. He did just score 18 goals last year you know.

And with that, another season is upon us. Tactically we'll remain with the 4-3-2-1 Narrow that worked well for us later year. The overall balance of talent in the squad is quite similar as we mostly replaced the departing with upgrades and that's about it.

RANKINGS

Indonesian Super League -- 22nd(+5)
Premier Division -- 32nd(+4)
First Division -- 79th(+4)
Second Division -- 105th(no change)

Indonesia -- 152nd(+22)
United States -- 37th(-17)

Persigubin -- 81st(+56!!)

Professional Approval -- 19.5%(+4.4)
Local Name Recognition -- 53.1%(+9.4)
Global Name Recognition -- 5.6%(+5.1)

Persipura remains the top club in Indonesia in the new rankings. The biggest rises and falls are clubs well known to us. Persemalra fell like a rock with their relegation after nearly promoting disaster ... and we are the biggest risers! There aren't any lower-division clubs above us now. There are still 13 First Division clubs ranked higher, and are only second-to-last(a bit above Persebo) in the Premier Division. Meanwhile, Indonesia seems to be improving across the board.

[Brian Swartz]

** I haven't played much recently for various reasons, current game date is the middle of December 2017, so we're just over two years behind now. I wanted to get things more caught up anyway.

10.11 @ PS Biak Numfor. And we're off. Lots of questions. Are we good enough to compete, or was last year's magical run a one-off? Can we create enough turnovers at this level to effectively counterattack? Is the club about to be sold and, if so, will they even keep me around?

Am I ever going to stop asking stupid questions and just get to the game already?

We start with what I think will be our top lineup this year:

GK: T.M. Syarif
D: Kombo/Patay/Muda/Saragih(unchanged from last year)
M: Herlan/Yarangga/Saputra(also unchanged)
A: Sutanto/Bayhaqi/Yogi(Ewangin coming off the bench now, and probably Akbar as well once he's back).

Bayhaqi's first year as a regular starter, and our new keeper Syarif are the biggest things that are different.

We're as ready as we can be, looked good at the end of preseason in the friendlies, and are better prepared tactically than either of the previous two seasons. Time to get it on. This is the first of four games to start us off in October. Since we're picked dead last, I imagine we'll be underdogs against everybody: today PSBN are only slight 5-4 favorites though.

3' -- Didn't take us long to concede a fairly dangerous attacking move and a corner, with Muda making the key header to defend it. Still, we're definitely on the back foot here.

4' -- Two more corners, no shots yet but I'm already nervous.

5' -- Angled shot from Prasetyo, Syarif pushes it away fairly easily.

8' -- We've had precious little possession so far, but work the triangle to perfection. Yogi leads into the area, Bayhaqi runs onto it at the edge of the box, the keeper has no chance from that range. We take the lead on the road 1-0!

10' -- Wow. They push it up the left and we take it away, Sutanto goes up the gut to Yogi who outmaneuvers two defenders and their keeper to get an angled shot on an open net. 2-0, and I'm rubbing my eyes to make sure I'm really seeing this. 2-0

13' -- They try the same thing again, Saragih takes it away again. Sutanto feeds it to him on the right side, he's in for a one-on-one ... blocked away! You can't have em all, but he's the quickest to the rebound and easily puts it in the half-open net!

3-0!!! Is this really happening??

15' -- I'm convinced that these guys really suck. Another counter and we almost get a great shot about three times as their defense nearly hands Sutanto the ball at the edge of the box before clearing it. Less than a minute later, cross by Saragih, batted up in the air by the keeper, Sutanto nudges it in. 4-0. What a joke this match is!!! I think that one would have gone in by itself actually after seeing the replay, so really he stole a goal from Saragih in a sense.

19' -- Great pass from Kombo sets up Sutanto angled on the left, into the side. That was a very makeable shot too. They still have more possession than we do, but that's been a moot point for a while now.

25' -- Syarif's turn to bobble a ball but Muda is there to put it out for a corner. Either they have started playing better or we are on autopilot.

31' -- Sutendro blasts one after a poor clearance, defense was still in good position and a solid job by Syarif to block it wide.

45' -- A long kick by Syarif gets all the way through to Bayhaqi who has his shot blocked away. We retain it, but cant get clear for another look.


HT -- They actually were the better team the majority of the time, but for those 10-15 minutes when they weren't, we utterly eviscerated them. I tell them they've done a great job and then put in Faizal and Priyono, since we are hardly going to have a better chance to put them on the pitch than when up by four at the half.


53' -- We're starting to assert ourselves more after spending the beginning of the half on defense again. Priyono gets a look straight on, tries a deft lob but Santoso just gets a hand to it.

57' -- Sutanto to Yogi to Priyono on the counter, has to pause to set himself as the pass was a bit off target, then puts it well wide. He's young.

60' -- Oh wow. Long kick from Syarif, goes all the way down to Santoso who bobbles it. Nobody is close except Yogi and a defender, Yogi gets to it with a header ... and isn't even close to the goal. That was a freaking gift, and he blew it, which would really tick me off if we weren't ruling this match.

69' -- Saragih with a ridiculous header that sets up Priyono, but he can't control it well enough and it's only a corner for us.

78' -- Prasetyo on for Muda. A couple minutes later, Herlan's free kick bounces of the keeper, and Prasetyo gets there first. 5-0

84' -- It's a shooting gallery. Priyono is blocked no less than three times in succession, each one closer to the goal, then Herlan from the other side misses just wide.


FT -- A 5-0 shellacking on the road, easily the most impressive single win of my coaching career, though obviously not as important as the Second Phase stuff last season. Sutanto takes player of the match, with Yogi and Saragih putting in strong arguments as well. Only disappointing thing was Priyono who should have added another couple of goals to the count, frankly. We outshot them 19-3 despite losing possession(56-44). Strange one.

I'm definitely feeling much better about our chances of staying up just now. Press asked about Sutanto leaving(not going to happen) and the transfer embargo(not in my control) among other things.

[Brian Swartz]

10.12 -- It's official: Persigubin are under new ownership. Dutch businessman Jonathan Klijn heads the group taking over: he's in effect my new boss. There are rumors that this means I'm gone soon: the [I]Indonesian Soccer Review[/b] is reporting Klijn wants to replace me with Dadang Cahyat, who has been head coach at Persikab('10-'12) and more recently with Persikad last year.

In my meeting, Klijn tells me that the financial bottom line of the club is his top concern, a 5.67B loan had to be taken out as part of the takeover. He says he was intending to replace me but is willing to consider letting me keep my job(I'm assuming our recent win didn't hurt), and will let me know soon what his decision is.

So for now, I have the sword of Damocles hanging over my head despite the recent successes.

PSIR make a bid for Sutanto, total value of which is 237M. That would make it the largest transfer fee they've ever paid. My answer is still no, though it's starting to get tempting. If the offers for him get much higher, I may have to reconsider.

10.13 -- Akbar is back for training. Indonesia suffered a damaging 2-0 defeat to Kuwait, and are now up against it in the Asian Qualifying Group.

[Brian Swartz]

10.17 vs. Perseba Super(0-1-0) We're favored here a bit, 6-4. The press conference was mostly about the takeover, and I just said it like it is: everybody's a little unsure because we don't know what direction things are going to go.

The only thing I could do is try to go get us another win against one of the few semi-pro clubs in the Premier. We'll run the same lineup out there, and try to get Akbar some second-half time if we can.

4' -- Nice try at an angled volley by Saputra, but he couldn't get enough on that one and it's saved. They are clearly trying to put a lot of bodies between us and the goal in order to avoid the kind of open looks we got in our first game.

12' -- Well, it worked for a bit. Yogi led Sutanto, he wasn't wide open but made a nice move to the middle to free himself and get a better angle, putting it in easily from about 12 yards out. 1-0

24' -- After a good start we're losing the possession battle again, so we tighten up a bit and go with a counter.

25' -- Long header by Saragih is wide and high.

37' -- Tough angled shot by Sutanto, tipped out for a corner. A minute later, a close freekick by Yogi is hideously off-target.

44' -- Saputra to Bayhaqi, heads it across to Yogi whose volley had the right idea but is high.


HT -- Well, I'm being reminded again why we couldnt' care less about possession. 7-0 in shots, defense is tight as a drum so far. It's only a one-goal lead though. I challenge them and note I know they can play even better ... get a lot of indifference.


50' -- Saputra up the right side to Saragih, didn't control it too well and had a horrid angle, blocked out for a corner.

54' -- Volley try in front about 15 out for Umam, but Saragih is right there and blocks it. Another similar play a minute later, they are at least trying to attack us now.

65' -- Freekick for Bachri from about 27, loops one just high. I'm reminded that it only takes one for us to not win this.

70'-- -- Nice header by Muda breaks up an attack, we come back the other way. Yogi and Sutanto 2-on-1, Yogi tries it himself, high and wide. We had to have a way to get a better shot there, I'm not too impressed with Yogi today even though he did have the key assist on our goal earlier.

Akbar for Yogi, Prasetyo for Saragih, fresh legs to finish it off.

85' -- Bad throw-in by Kombo, we take turns giving it away in midfield, then we're up on the counter but Herlan's lead pass for Akbar is too strong, and we get a corner. From which we get another corner, from which we get a wildly flying header by Prasetyo, right general direction but too far off balance and it's into the side.

87' -- Two-man game with Sutanto and Bayhaqi, long shot by Sutanto is just wide left. I notice that he's almost never way off these days. It's either a good on-target attempt or just off.

91' -- What do we do in injury-time? What class?? That's right, we concede equalizers. After having them barely defend a cross well enough, we move it back on, Herlan into the area up the left side, congestion in the middle ... and Perseba are called for a penalty! Ok, maybe we get ourselves an insurance goal. That's new, but I could get used to it.

Sutanto drills it, a manifestation of the fact that he's become our go-to scorer with his play early this year. 2-0, two for him, a brilliant start to the year. It's Pamungkas Yuli's world, I just live in it.


FT -- Another shutout win. Another three shots only surrendered, another game where we lose possession. But when we have it, we're doing good things with it. 2-0, and Sutanto is the obvious player of the match.

[Brian Swartz]

10.22 -- Klijn has notified me that he'll let me stay, says the club leadership is strongly behind me and he's been persuaded to let me keep my job.

Thanks. Since you're showing yourself reasonable, about that contract ...

Oh, go piss up a rope? Thank you ever so much, the feeling is mutual. *Sigh*.

10.25 @ Madiun Putra(2-0-0) This is as big as it gets this early in the year. They've won their games 4-1 and 4-0, so nobody has challenged them yet. It's a chance to see if our dramatically improved defense is really all it's cracked up to be. They are even-money favorites to take this clash.

Naturally we'll start with a semi-conservative countering strategy and see how things unfold.

3' -- A weak long shot by Yogi is the first look of the day. Good start for us.

6' -- Hambali is called for a foul as we try to get free for a shot edge of the area. Free kick from Bayhaqi is high, a yellow is assessed.

13' -- Two defenders converge on Kotto, and Talaha is open just inside the area, blasts it but wide. Best chance for either side so far.

23' -- Pretty even so far, though they are starting to look more dangerous. A pass up to Sutanto is blocked, Bayhaqi goes for it again but all we get is a long volley well off target.

26' -- Oh. My. Goodness. Sutanto has it 12 yards out after a ball squirts free, but Hariyanto goes flat and he's too close, can't get the ball around him. Bayhaqi fires the rebound, deflected away by one of their defenders, and they clear. Two shots there, all we needed to do was get one through the traffic and we couldn't do it.

32' -- Great patience in moving it around, finally Bayhaqi gets a look from just outside, high and wide.

38' -- Saputra to Sutanto, heads it to Yogi over the middle. His volley from the edge is floated over the keeper's head and into the right side, fantastic control on that, and we're in the lead again, 1-0!!

41' -- Kotto gets loose at the edge of the box, they find him ... wide left!! Oh man, we just handed them a goal and they refused to take it!


HT -- That near-goal was Patay, so Prasetyo comes on for him. Otherwhise, we just need to keep doing what we are doing.


47' -- We work it for an angled shot for Yogi from the right side, keeper in position and defender right on him, he's just wide with that.

49' -- Quick counter from one end to the other, Bayhaqi moves in edge of the area, he's got Yogi ahead on the left and they converge ... chips it over the keeper and in! I thought for sure he was going to hit Yogi, but he just lofted that one over, and it's 2-0!!

51' -- Muda goes down at midfield. Urwan comes on, he'll take the right and Saragih will move inside.

55' -- Race for a free ball in the area, Bayhaqi goes for it, tripped by Arfan at the edge ... and he's not going to get away with it! Red card, he's sent off and we're now up two goals, an extra man, and Bayhaqi will get a freekick as close as they can get. Line drive, but somewhat high.

58' -- Wicaksono from an extreme angle on the right, Syarif blocks it. Big header by Kombo clears the corner, Wijaya tries to fire one through traffic but misses right.

60' -- They lead ahead to Wicaksono behind the defense, he takes too long to gather himself and Kombo makes a saving tackle. I pull the line back even further, there's no need to risk anything here. It's too late in this case, the corner goes to Wicaksono, on the doorstep at the near corner and he outjumps everyone to put it home. 2-1 now, they may be a man down but we have to kill another half-hour.

64' -- Wicaksono open in the area, inexplicably pauses and Prasetyo takes it away. Still, they are cutting us up pretty good right now.

Counter the other way. Herlan, to Sutanto, to Yogi. He's up the left side, no angle he'll center it ... no he fires it on goal, I don't know how Hanibowo missed that one but it sneaks in! He was 15 yards away, sharp angle, and it looked like the keeper was leaning near-post and Yogi went the other way, but still a shocker. 3-1 now!!

68' -- Dangerous cross, lucky that Syarif was able to scoop that one up.

71' -- Good long freekick by Arii, Syarif just got that one with a diving grab.

72' -- Horrible defense, Wicaksowo from just inside the area, misses wide. Very unimpressed with how we've played this second half.

75' -- Dangerous possession but we can't get a clear look, Bayhaqi has a shot blocked and Yogi goes down no call. Easily could have had another there.

83' -- Another long freekick by Arey, not close.


FT -- Huge road win, we take it 3-1!! Sutanto assisted on all three goals, making him narrowly player of the game over Yogi and his two scores. No question we were a bit fortunate in this one, but we were also good and still the better team. Madiun Putra coach Uut Kuswendi stated there is no way that red card should have been awarded and that we are regularly getting the benefit of controversial calls, suggesting there is bias in our favor.

He can suggest whatever he wants. For now, I just want to keep this run going as long as we can. At the moment, we are the surprise team to beat in Group D, and I intend to keep it that way. Going back to last year, we have now set a new club record for consecutive wins at six straight!

[Brian Swartz]

10.31 vs. Persebar(1-1-1) We're tight 6-4 favorites here. Right now I'm making no changes, going with what's working.

3' -- Long shot for Bayhaqi, taken easily by Cahyadi

7' -- Muda's day ends early for the second game in a row, he goes down after a challenge in our end. Prasetyo on.

11' -- Yogi to Sutanto in on the left, pulled the trigger too early and right at the keeper. We're too tentative so far.

12' -- Saragih caught upfield, they get it in behind him and Sujabir's shot from 18 is deflected by Syarif, but he didn't get a good handle on it and it goes in! For the first time this year, we trail 0-1 here.

14' -- Bayhaqi freekick just outside the area, high and wide right.

22' -- Long freekick goes to Sutanto but they head it out for a corner. Bayhaqi finds Patay at the near post, gimme header there for the score, and we're tied up at 1!

They really start contesting possession better: we're in a fight here, that's certain.

32' -- Sujabir, who scored for them earlier, injures himself fouling Yarangga. Saputra eventually slides on to Herlan, his shot from just outside is well wide.

35' -- Another corner, this one comes deep to Herlan who heads it across to the near post, Patay's first time shot is clearedf of the line Hidayatullah, nearly a second one there as our corners look potent today. We hold it in but can't get a clear look.

40' -- We've stayed on the attack pretty much non-stop, Saragih angles in from the right but they deflect it out for a corner. This time it's from the other side, but once again Bayhaqi delivers to Patay open near post, it's not quite the opening it was before but he powers it home again! 2-1, we take the lead!!

44' -- Bayhaqi gets a crack, Saragih on the pass, he hits the right post.

HT -- We're up 2-1, but it should be more as they scored on their only shot while we missed some opportunities. I tell them not to let up and we're back at it.


49' -- They get a decent looking header that hits the bar and goes over. Faizal comes on for Kombo who has just not been good.

51' -- Absolutely atrocious header by Prasetyo sets up a one-on-one, Hidayatullah goes left and Syarif manages to block it away. He partially atones by clearing out the corner, but that was just awful, singlehandedly giving them a great shot to tie it. They cross it in again and another header is well struck but right at Syarif.

We still have a lot of work to do.

53' -- Nice interception by Faizal leads to our first shot of the game, they close in on Yogi before he can get it off cleanly. A corner is headed out, Yogi goes up for it and is fouled, they call a penalty!!

Patay takes it and drills it, and that's the hat trick for him!! Incredible game, 3-1!

They get a nice pass to Hidayatullah in between us up the seam, he tries to chip it over but it's just wide and high.

56' -- We keep pressing. Bayhaqi has a shot blocked, then a corner goes nowhere. Same thing repeats, this time Patay's header is over. That could have been a remarkable fourth ...

65' -- Nice play by Bayhaqi hitting the trailer Saputra who has a shot tipped over. We're living on their end right now.

73' -- Herlan from deep, off the left post and in! Just a great shot, nothing to do about it. 4-1.

84' -- Patay goes down just outside our area ... crummy end to a great day for him. Urwan comes on, Saragih moves inside.

89' -- Absolute gimme header in front, but they clang it off the bar.


FT -- Incredible 4-1 win, hattrick for Patay, all of them off corners which we usually are crap at. We're doing it every which way this year. There was still some looseness on defense, they should have scored another goal or two, but overall it's a great start to the year.

[Brian Swartz]

NOVEMBER

Training -- no positives and fitness is an issue for Ferminus and Ewangin. Both are probably in their final year, but still. Both say they will prove to me they can do better.

Sutanto wins Premier Division player of the month, Bayhaqi is second in Young Player of the Month, and I won Coach of the Month.

We already have a huge differential lead on the rest of the group and 2-5 points lead depending on what happens in games later today. Either way, clearly I need to adjust my expectations: we're going to be pushing for back-to-back promotions, incredibly as that may seem. The way we've come out this year allows no other goal, as early as it is in the year.

Interestingly, our foe in last year's First Division final, Perserang, is also undefeated in Group A. That will bear watching.

1B Cash injection by the board, and an overall 5.28B profit but that's because of the loan agreement which will now be paid off at 50M a month. Job security is a bit down due to the new president but still very secure.

It's a quiet month upcoming, only two matches for us.

[Brian Swartz]

11.7 @ Persitema(1-2-1, 6th) They are even-money favorites. Prasetyo starts in place of Muda in defense, Akbar in place of Bayhaqi up front as I want to start doing a rotation where I can to keep everyone fresh.

3' -- Bad pass by Patay, Endratno tries a long shot that's not within the proper zip code.

7' -- Kombo misjudges a ball, Alaita gets an angled shot behind him that's off. We look pretty poor to start here.

23' -- We've not gotten anything going, but we make our first shot count. Saragih draws two men wide right, centers for Yogi who is open just inside the box and his shot is well placed with no chance for the keeper. 1-0


HT -- They continued to control the action but there were no more shots either way. It's 4-1 in attempts on goal, they've had the ball 54%, but we had the one good look of the match and the lead because of it. Really a boring one so far.


47' -- Saragih fires one from the right, bit of a poor angle and it's blocked out for a corner. Prasetyo can't get to a header and they clear it out, long shot by Yogi is off the right post but there wasn't much room for that one to get through.

51' -- Free kick by Herlan is high. We're playing a lot better to start this half.

54' -- Absolutely beautiful passing play. Yogi to Herlan to Sutanto who leads Akbar nearly perfectly, he's on the doorstep and it's a gimme goal. 2-0. The last three passes all had to be right on the money with the right amount of pace and touch, and all of them were.

Yogi's gotten pretty beat up out there today and is tired, no point in keeping him on now. Bayhaqi comes in.

57' -- Terrible clearance by Herlan over the middle, good tackle by Patay prevents a shot, then a header a bit later clears it. Bayhaqi sends a long pass right up the middle, thought he was just hoofing it out of dodge but Akbar is there as a defender is caught just a couple steps too far upfield. He chips one from the edge of the area, and that's good in the right side of the net! Two for Akbar in this second half, and we're rolling 3-0!!

59' -- A shot from the edge is tipped over by Syarif. They hold the corner in and get a close shot but it's an impossible angle, blocked away and Kombo clears it.

67' -- Corner and Patay is open near post similar to the attempts last match, this one is a bit wider and he puts it into the side.

71' -- Ewangin gets his first action of the year, on for Akbar who is tired.

84' -- Pratama gets behind Kombo at the right corner of the box, shot was a bit too far inside of the post and Syarif somehow makes a diving deflection. Not a great finish but a big opening there.

86' -- Freekick by Ewangin is just deflected enough by Hamdani. We get another free from the side, it's cleared away.

89' -- Angled shot by Setiawan, sharply hit upstairs and they finally get on the board. 3-1 it's too late, but they've put us under a lot of pressure here at the end and break through.

91' -- Trailing shot by Saputra, saved easily.

FT -- This was a back-and-forth match but overall pretty evenly played. It was a case of making the chances count, and we were much better on that score for a 3-1 win. We have not lost in 12 outings going back to last year, a new club record.

[Brian Swartz]

11.13 -- Indonesia manage only 3 shots in a 2-0 loss to Bahrain. Four matches four losses, and with two left they have been eliminated in World Cup qualifying. After a good start in the first two rounds, the group stage was a total disaster.

11.17 -- Another loss for Indonesia in their qualifying group, 3-1 to Australia. North American World Cup Qualifying groups are drawn, with the US going up against Jamaica, El Salvador, and Trinidad & Tobago starting next summer.

11.21 vs. Persida(2-3-0, 5th) 5-4 favorites. Prasetyo and Patay at DC, Yogi/Bayhaqi/Akbar up front as Sutanto/Muda will have the day off.

2' -- A bit overeager, Akbar has a long shot blocked away.

9' -- Two good angled shots are saved by their keeper, by Saputra first and then Bayhaqi.

16' -- A soft shot by Akbar is taken easily. So far they've had a decent amount of possession, but nothing dangerous.

18' -- Saputra has an angled look into the side.

21' -- Same thing for Akbar.

30' -- Akbar leads for Bayhaqi on the counter, pass is a little off but excellent touch on a cross-angle shot and they have no chance. 1-0! Persida wants an offside call, but none comes.

35' -- Saragih is wide on a shot from the right.

40' -- Miss by Bayhaqi, same spot.


HT -- We haven't surrendered a shot yet, looking very good.


52' -- A bad throw-in results in a shot by Bayhaqi, saved. Another one, and Akbar tries to put it over the keeper but it's off the bar, free ball in front, they get there first and clear.

60' -- Clear shot from about 25 for Adriyanto, their best look, well wide. Deflected jump ball right in front a minute later, but Syarif is there.

66' -- Corner for them, they've been attacking well the last several minutes and it's looking tense. Kombo clears.

73' -- Patay goes down trying to win the ball back, Muda comes in. Sutanto on for Yogi a couple minutes later as he was involved in a collision. Definitely getting physical out there.

84' -- Tough angled shot by Akbar, well hit but Sahar cuts it off with an excellent diving save.

88' -- On the counter, Yarangga is the trailer from just outside, but he drives it high.


FT-- Persida played well in the second half, and good stuff from Sahar in goal. We get 16, 8 on target but only one score. We defend well enough to make it hold up though, 1-0 victory. Patay has a bruised shin(two weeks at most).

[Brian Swartz]

DECEMBER REPORT

Training -- Yogi(Tactics), Ewangin(Tactics), and Sutanto(Ball Control) are positives, Urwan(Fitness) the only negative.

Iwan Akbar is second in Young Player of the Month(Premier Division). His goal against Persitema was third in the Goals of the Month.

The board remains delighted with me, yet my job security continues to decline, barely perceptibly but it's happening. We made a 525M profit, but that's only half of the money the board invested so really we lost a good amount once again.

We are six points clear of the rest of Group D and have a massive 10-goal edge in differential. We'll meet the two closest clubs in the standings this month on the road with four total fixtures, and get a lot better handle on whether we are as good as we've looked so far.

Perserang have been the second-most dominant club in the division over in Group A. Could we be headed for dual back-to-back promotions with another clash in the Premier Division Final? Much will happen before that can be close to a reality, but it could be a great story ...

Meanwhile Persibom has done middlingly well, three wins and three losses in Group C.

[Brian Swartz]

12.6 @ Perseta(3-2-1, 4th) We're even-money favorites on the road as the oddsmakers are starting to shift our way. Patay is back, and Perseta have four players out injured which certainly doesn't help their cause. The young trio will go up front, Sutanto/Bayhaqi/Akbar with Yogi taking a rare day off(at least from starting).

3' -- Sharply contested balls in midfield early going both ways. Akbar leads Bayhaqi into the area but Guntur tackles it out before anything can come of it. We worked on set pieces all week and Bayhaqi goes near post, Muda is open with just enough of an angle to poke it in!! Well worth the effort it seems, as we score early to go up 1-0! We've been monsters on corners lately after getting jack from them the last couple of years, a lot of that is on Bayhaqi who excels at them.

6' -- We can't get anything good and a long shot by Akbar isn't close.

7' -- Sutanto to Bayhaqi who is close but tough angle and it's blocked out. So far we are totally dominating this match.

Just as I say that, they start putting the pressure on us a lot more and our chances dry up.

18' -- Yellow on Rifai for impeding Saragih. A wide freekick, comes back to Bayhaqi and they foul again, almost getting carded again. Nothing comes of it, they are playing sound positionally and making it difficult for us to find space.

They come down, Antariska draws Patay wide and crosses, Muda is there with Galuh but misjudges it and he's got an easy volley from just outside the box. Tie match, 1-all!

Muda is a good DC, but he makes a frustrating amount of mistakes like that one. Syarif didn't react well to that either and looked to be out of position.

20' -- We come right back down, Bayhaqi to Saragih in from the right, tackled away but it's to the foot of Sutanto, blocked by a defender and out. He was right at the edge of the box, that was a score if he could have hit it a split-second earlier.

A couple of impatient blasts by Akbar achieve nothing. He's getting an early seat if he keeps this up.

34' -- They've had more than their share of possession, we're in for a fight today and no doubt about it. Saragih to Bayhaqi to Akbar, excellent patient play as both of them could have shot, his cross-angle try is pretty well placed but didn't have enough on it and Tanujaya makes the save.

41' -- Galuh comes free up the right side of the area, excellent patience and positioning there by Syarif to block any angle off and make the save. Corner, Kombo makes the header in traffic but Saputro is there with a volley from 15 ... that hit somebody in the box traffic and doesn't get through, Patay with a nice tackle to get it out.


HT -- Both sides pressing and getting sloppy, but they've had the better of it the last twenty minutes or so. A few players don't look like they are really having their best day but Sutanto probably the worst, I slot Yogi in to try and shake things up.


48' -- They get a quick corner, Saragih and [/b]Yogi[/b] combine to get rid of it.

57' -- After a rough first ten minutes it looks like we are ready to start getting back into the game again. Then an amazing play, Ariawan with a wicked curling cross that had some serious velocity, Yuli with a half-volley just inside the area, bangs off the crossbar. That didn't score but had some serious wow factor, I've never seen a play like that in First Division and we didn't even have time to react.

60' -- Ariawan is carded for fouling Yarangga, that looked like a blatant dive to me.

61' -- We get a corner, can't get near it but it's out for a second try. A couple headers near the box are contested but we get nothing substantive.

We hold it in, Yogi from an angle on the right, rifles it but it's off the post. Akbar is first to it, about ten yards out and hits the open net! 2-1, and we're back in front!!

64' -- Setiawan comes clear in the area, taking way too much time to seemingly set, take out his camera, adjust the lens, and Herlan tackles it away, Kombo getting to it first for the clearance. Dodged one there.

They hold it in, pretty long try from the left side is wide by Afandi.

69' -- Another corner, Yogi will try this one, swings it out deep and Saputra misses from an angle. For a guy who basically never scores, Saputra's taken a lot of shots with mean intention behind them for us.

72' -- Some good passing results in a long shot by Bayhaqi but he's wide left.

73' -- They come down and get a header from the edge of the box, good reflexes by Syarif to get a hand on it and it's a corner. Setiawan with a header just yards from the goal, somehow Syarif blocks that one and Saragih heads it off the line! They should have tied it there.

I go to our five at the back defensive strategy, which I haven't yet used this year. Prasetyo is on and Akbar takes a shot. Galuh gets one off before the change, long shot that hooks well left. They are really throwing it at us right now.

76' -- Yogi up the middle for Bayhaqi, up the right side of the area but not even close with that try, should have at least made them stop the shot.

77' -- Long shot by Seriawan, pushed away by Syarif.

82' -- Cross by Hartono, Ariawan open from an angle on the right and Syarif can't get over, easy score! It's 2-all ... frustrating, but they've played well enough to earn a draw so it's hard for me to get too upset about it.

I switch to counter, wanting to take any chances that might present themselves.

84' -- Long freekick for Herlan, about a mile wide and high.

85' -- Umbas trips Bayhaqi, another yellow.

89' -- We hit them on the break, Saragih heads a long pass to Saputra, angles to Yogi, right up the gut to Bayhaqi. He pauses, looks like he's about to do something stupid, then quickly chips it over the keeper's left shoulder before he can get his hands to it! It's in there, and we're back in front 3-2!!

Don't blow it again. Please don't blow it again, we've already lost two leads today.

90' -- Excellent recovery by Herlan to head out a ball and break up their first push, then Saputra gives it back but they can't do anything with it. Another nice header by Herlan ... Saputra with another ... Yogi is flying up the middle ... and puts it about a foot wide left. Great chance to put this one away there.

93' -- Angled shot by Bayhaqi is out for a corner, great way to waste time at least. It's scrambled around and cleared, and they never get it back.


FT -- We win 3-2 in a match we probably shouldn't have, definitely the best of the year so far and really a hard-fought contest. I have a few words for Kombo who wasn't good today, he doesn't react well to that sort of thing. Our lead is now eight points, which is pretty significant at this point.

[Brian Swartz]

12.12 vs. Persipur(0-4-3, 12th) Big favorites(1-6) at home against the last-place side in our group, but they're better than the record looks and they're going to beat somebody eventually: a differential of only -4 is better than the other clubs at the bottom of the table. There's a logjam at the bottom of the table and a lot of clubs getting desperate right now.

They play a direct 4-1-2-2-1, so it'll be a case of who handles the midfield turnover situation best. That's what we're good at.

4' -- Herlan to Sutanto up the left side, very good cross in to Yogi with an open volley just outside the box. Should have been automatic but Susanto managed to block it away as he didn't angle it enough. Saragih eventually ran on the rebound, tipped wide. Impressive display by Susanto, but Yogi should have put that first one away and usually does.

A half-volley from Herlan off the corner was wildly off-target.

12' -- Bayhaqi to Sutanto a bit inside, he's got room and turns to fire ... off the right post! That was probably good enough to score a few inches to the left. A bad throw-in is taken by Bayhaqi, we work it around and a deep cross gives Yogi a header, which loops just over.

15' -- Oh. My. Goodness. Saragih comes up to far, recovers but they center for Septian who's right on top of the near post, easy score. We're down 0-1 at home! That was on Patay who got caught sleeping.

21' -- Saputra puts one upfield, Bayhaqi's behind the defense but can't control it quickly enough and Susanto cuts down the angle and blocks his attempt.

We can't keep getting chances like this and not win ... right??

23' -- Off a corner, Sutanto tries to thread one through traffic but it's blocked out.

27' -- Close freekick for Herlan, doesn't put a lot on it but it's perfectly places in the right corner, Susanto leaps but can't get it! Ok, tied up again. I can start breathing a bit. A bit.

31' -- Some loose passing turns it over, they come down and Septian tries one from distance after the traffic clears. Routine save for Syarif.

33' -- Angled shot by Saragih goes high. We're not passing well enough right now to take advantage of the fact that we are dominating the ball.

44' -- Widyatmoko misses from well outside.


HT -- I tell them to keep playing and the result will come. A draw is not acceptable here. Saragih's made a lot of mistakes but also won a lot of headers and done some good things ... I save all my subs for now and see how the next bit shakes out.

46' -- Yogi is wide with a quick shot.

Turnover, Bayhaqi up to Yogi, floats it over the keeper ... it worked, but floated a bit too much.

[b]52'[b/] -- Saputra is wide with a sharp-angle look. A lot of sloppy passing right now, we're just not executing.

56' -- Easy save by Syarif on a long shot.

62' -- Muda in for Patay, Ewangin on for Bayhaqi. Mostly I'm just trying to shake things up, but fresh legs never hurt. We've got half an hour and we need a score. I tell them both to get out there and make a difference, and they bring a lot of energy immediately.

Septian crosses for Widyatmoko, blasts one into the corner of the net from 18, and we're down 1-2. That's not the kind of energy I had in mind, it's his first score of the year.

66' -- Long, and stupid, shot by Yogi goes into orbit.

70' -- Deep cross, bobbled by Susanto and it almost goes in for Saragih. We get a corner, headed out for a second. Sutanto to Prasetyo near post, he's close but can't get it through the bodies.

78' -- Saragih crosses, deflected off some people, Yogi's half-volley is deflected off someone for another corner. Nothing.

79' -- Another corner. Muda goes up in a crowd, close at the far post ... he can't get it. Out for another corner. Long header by Sutanto is cleared off the line. A scrum, and Prasetyo is called for a foul.

We are running out of time.

85' -- Saputra to Ewangin, lays it off to Sutanto for a shot ... blocked out for a corner by Susanto.

Nothing.

87' -- A bad header gives us a possibilty, then bad pass by Ewangin gives it back. Moments later, a chip by Yarangga that came out of nowhere is well wide. We're playing like a team that can't believe we are losing.

90' -- Freekick from deep by Ewangin, Sutanto is there in front for the easy score ... no, it's disallowed!! They call him offside ... that was a bang bang play he broke at the right time I thought ... we go nuts with our protestations and get nowhere.

92' -- Last chance. Long ball by Saputra into the area, but nobody's home.


FT -- After 10 straight wins, seven to start this year, we fall at home to winless Persipur by a 1-2 count. Nobody in the post-game team huddle was having any fun, and Saragih was singled out for an extra helping of my rage.

A record 401 fans came ... and left angry.

[Brian Swartz]

12.17 -- Engel Ewangin has announced he will retire at the end of the season. Makes sense as he's been relegated to a reserve role and frankly hasn't been that effective when he's in there. He's still capable of the timely score but far less likely to be able to get in position for it. I'd love for him to go out strong but it definitely takes the honus off me having to tell him we don't want him back next year.

He's definitely a significant part of why we are in the Premier Division to begin with.

12.20 @ Pro Duta FC(3-4-1, 5th) We're 5-4 favorites in a matchup of clubs that weren't supposed to be doing as well as they are. Pro Duta have just two draws and a loss in their last three after looking like one of our top challengers early on. Until a wild 5-3 defeat last time out(at Persipro), they were the stingiest club in the league(apart from us, that is).

A recent injury to Ferminus(hernia) puts him out for almost two months, so I had to activate Setia from the youth team for this one. Hopefully he won't have to play. Right now we just need a win to get back on track. In other news, the board put up another 400M cash injection earlier today ...

Muda over Patay and Akbar over Sutanto today as the latter pair have not been good recently, perhaps they could use a day off.

They had the better of the action in a quiet start, neither team able to put together any kind of an attacking rhythm.

13' -- Bayhaqi with a sharp pass, a little too sharp, into the area for Yogi who stops, pauses, fires cross-angle and it wasn't quite good enough, pushed away.

20' -- Same idea from outside the area this time, not close.

23' -- Herlan crosses, lots of traffic but Yogi feeds to Bayhaqi mid-area, he's pressured and can't get much on it, easy save.

26' -- Bayhaqi with a close freekick, but it's right at Kurniawan.

They are tackling very well and have most of the possession, but haven't been close to a shot yet.

29' -- Yogi's shot from just inside is deflected out for a corner, if he keeps finding space I like his chances to score today. We hold it in for a while, but can't quite find an opening.

31' -- Corner from the right, Kurniawan just beats a leaping Prasetyo to the ball.

33' -- Yogi evades one of their defenders and has an angled look, curling ball is high.

They finally get something going the other way, a sliding tackle out left by Saragih and it's a corner. Line-drive near post, deflects to Ginting with a close angled shot, Syarif flattens out to stop anything at the ground and he's guessed right, a longer volley and he saves it. That could have been it.

37' -- Dangerous floating cross, Syarif just gets there in time. They are definitely the aggressors now.

Kombo picks one off and we go the other way, an idiotic shot by Saputra 30 yards out with three men around him ... seriously??

41' -- Soft coverage by Saragih, shot by Haay at the edge is wide.


HT -- They controlled the last 20 almost as much as we owned the first 20. After it's all said and done, very even so far and we've gotten jack for a long time now. We could really end up paying for not converting those early opportunities.


55' -- After very little happening, Yogi to Akbar who finds Bayhaqi with a great lead, alone at the corner of the box ... misses wide!!! Oh my goodness, you can't miss that. You just can't. Argh!!!!

Cannot ask for a better scoring opportunity. We deserve to not win today.

60' -- Another scary cross taken by Syarif. Saragih starts up the right, to Bayhaqi over the middle, up to Akbar who has some daylight ... waits too long and his shot is deflected out for a corner. Sigh.

Volley for Prasetyo at the near post, deflected wide. Haay clears the next try off the line, and we're half an hour from being shut out.

64' -- After trying to probe their defense and failing, a first-time chip by Bayhaqi floats high.

69' -- Angled shot from the corner of the box by Ginting, good positioning by Syarif and his body blocks it out for a corner. Everybody and their mother gets a shot at it three times right in front of the goal ... and it's another corner. We'll do it again. Half-volley from the edge of the box by Prasetya, an absolute rocket but Saragih got his body in the way. Saputra with a tackle but it's not cleared, Utomo gets blocked by traffic, and finally we get it out, Herlan chases it down.

Phew. That was nerve-wracking.

Herlan up to Yogi, then Akbar, who draws the defense and kicks it wide to Saputra. A couple of crosses go nowhere and they clear it.

20 minutes.

Sutanto on for Yogi.

74' -- They get a long freekick, rifled but a mile wide. Patay replaces Muda.

76' -- Yarangga with the turnover, Bayhaqi to Akbar who has a look, blocked away by Kurniawan, awkward bounce as Sutanto is looking at a completely open net and he can't control it. Blast it all anyway!!!!!


FT -- The last 15 minutes are a whole lot of nothing and we end in a scoreless draw. We should have won, but we just couldn't find the net on some ridiculously good opportunities. Meanwhile, our lead has shrunk considerably with one match left in the calendar year.

[Brian Swartz]

12.22 -- Urwan has strained some knee ligaments in training and will miss 2-3 months, a good part of the rest of the year. That won't hurt us much unless we lose another body back there.

12.26 vs. PSBK(1-6-2, 8th) Priyono gets the start for Saputra, which will limit our midfield but he's recovering from an illness and just isn't ready to go yet. We're 6-4 favorites despite the recent struggles. I tell the guys we need to end the slide here and get back to the dominating form we showed for most of the first couple of months.

6' -- A corner gets us nothing and a tight-angle shot by Yogi is wide. Then two defenders converge, leave the ball behind, and Sutanto's long half-volley is also wide.

14' -- Long shot by Yogi, he can't control it and it's wide. That movie is getting old very quickly.

18' -- We're playing better after a poor start in midfield ... but after losing a tough battle in the middle, Putra comes free down the left side, hits a screamer cross-angle and we're down 0-1. Saragih was left in the dust and didn't even react.

Bloody ...

Another quick turnover, and it's only thanks to a heady play by Kombo that we don't concede again immediately.

21' -- Putra takes it away from Priyono, they come down and get a good shot straight on from 17, Syarif just manages to get a leg on it.

28' -- Priyono up to Sutanto, leaves it for Yogi ... blocked! He gets it back and has a crack, wide left.

Same song, different verse. All of a sudden we just can't score.

35' -- Long shot by Hadi is just wide from way outside.

39' -- They are really packing it in now, plenty willing to take their lead to the bank. Bayhaqi gets a half-volley that's wide, we're having to try and send shots through traffic and it's not working.

45' -- They gift wrap us a corner, Muda the far edge of the box puts one off the post, and they clear out the rebound. Figures.


HT -- We're just not playing well enough, it's that simple. It's a real slump now and we have to work our way out of it after getting everything so easy at the start. Saputra on for Priyono who made some mistakes but also some nice passes. Didn't embarass himself. I think Saputra can give us a half. Prasetyo on for Patay who hasn't looked good at all.

A dumb turnover, a dumber foul, and a moronic clearance straight at the sideline. That was the first 30 seconds.

Not encouraging.

46' -- Arifin has a header just outside the box, just left and into the side. Looked like a goal at first, probably should have been one.

A few minute later, they get a corner, we head it out, a volleyed shot is off the crossbar and Syarif grabs it. Minor miracle we aren't down more.

58' -- Maybe our best chance of the day, Bayhaqi's half-volley goes closer to the corner cone than the goal. We couldn't hit the broadside of ...

63' -- Wow. Yogi with a touch cross to Bayhaqi, clear header 5 yards away. Softly places it right to the keeper. Seriously?!?

65' -- Herlan's freekick from 30 had the right idea, but missed close.

69' -- Yogi open from 25 after a bunch of passing ... misses the left upper corner.

72' -- Scary corner with a couple of contested headers, then Hamka misses badly from distance.

74' -- Almost a freak goal from a bobbled cross, but it's a corner as it went over. Cleared without incident.

77' -- Yogi gets in the way of Saputra's shot, rebound to Sutanto, shot from just inside doesn't have enough mustard and Hadinsyah's diving save gets to it.

81' -- Bayhaqi sets up Yogi at the edge, cross-angle shot is just wide.

84' -- Mardinsyah's header is right at Syarif, otherwhise we were fried as he got to it 7 yards out right in front.

89' -- Long kick by Syarif, they let Bayhaqi free, he's alone into the right side of the area ... blocked away. Again he can't finish under the best of circumstances. Corner. We get nothing.

That's the match.


FT -- We lose 0-1, and now do not even resemble the club that started off the year. We can't score to save our lives. 18 shots, only 4 on target and none of them worth a darn. Iskandar Muda decided to tell the press just exactly how I blew up the dressing room. Like I care what they think.

[bbgunn]

Yikes, what happened? Keep the faith, my man.

[Brian Swartz]

At this point I wasn't really sure and thought it was a bad month, as every club goes through ups and downs ...

[Brian Swartz]

12.29 Indonesian Cup Draw.

If it weren't for bad luck ... we draw Super League side Persepam. They are dead last right now and have never finished higher than 8th, but still.

CONTRACT RENEWALS

We know Ewangin isn't coming back, so that's one down ...

GK Ferminus(31, 3.75M) -- Out of his depth at this level, he was the man my first couple of years but his time has passed. I've got no intentions of resigning him.
GK T.M. Syarif(23, 2.75M) -- Our keeper now and of the future so long as we stay at this level. Wants 4.25, we split the difference at 3.5 with 5% raises.
GK Roni Setia(19, 1.8M) -- Back in the role of backup keeper possibly as Ferminus moves on. He'll take a slight raise to 1.9M.

DR Saragih(3.5M) -- Willing to take a cut to 2.5M, easy choice.
DCR Patay(30, 1.9M) -- A tough call here but I don't mind keeping a guy like him on so long as it remains cheap. He's had his moments, like the incredible hat trick earlier this season. He'll take 1.6M, and we save a bit more.
DR Urwan(32, 1.7M) -- Won't even discuss a new contract, which is fine because he's another guy who has outlived his usefulness.
DRLC Prasetyo(27, 1.3M) -- Cheap, versatile, and solid. I'll take another year of that at 1.2M.
DL Ferry Kombo(20, 4.75M) -- We still think he can be a star at this level. He's good now. He'll take a cut to 3.75M, though with 5% annual raise so it'll really be almost 4. Still, I'll take it.
DCR Iskandar Muda(30, 1.7M) -- The regular bouts of stupidity notwithstanding, he's a relative rock in the middle and worth a lot more. Wanted 3M but I got him to bite at 2.5.

MC Frans Yarangga(28, 4.5M) -- We think he's a bit overmatched here, and the 'loose cannon' element has ceased to be as romantic as it once was. We're thin in midfield though. He's willing to take a significant cut to 2.75M.
MC Dodi Saputra(30, 1.5M) -- Worth more than he's getting paid, and he knows it. Still, he'll take a small increase to 1.7M, at which he is a bargain still.
MC Herlan(26, 1.7M) -- I see him as a backup now, if cheap. He wants to remain a key player on the squad and he's just not good enough for that -- we may be parting ways.

AM/ST Fabian Yogi(31, 6.25M) -- He's also willing to take a cut for once. The staff thinks he's just a bit over the hill so we get him down to 4.5M. So far so good!
AMC/ST Imam Bayhaqi(22, 4.25M) -- A key part of the future. Wants more than I'm willing to give him at the moment, hopefully he'll change his mind.
ST/AMC Iwan Akbar(18, 3M) -- Took him some time to fit in but it looks like things are going better now. Right now he's our long-term solution up front and it's hard to overpay for that. He'll get 3.75 +5%, and I've got a feeling he's going to be expensive in the years to come.
AMC/ST Sutanto(18, 2.5M) -- Our pride and joy has really struggled lately. It takes some work to limit him to 3.25M. Like Akbar, he's getting expensive.

[Brian Swartz]

JANUARY

Training -- Sutanto(Attacking) is our positive, Yarangga(fitness) is the negative. That's unusual. Messi wins the World Golden Ball, while Juan Mata is the World Player of the Year. We get nowhere near any of the monthly awards, and shouldn't.

A loss of 114M, 400M more hid by board injections. Our income didn't grow as much as our expenses with the leap to the Premier, that much is certain.

The board is as always delighted. For some reason I'm back up to 'untouchable', even higher than before the takeover ... I guess the honeymoon period is over and J. Klijn has decided I'm a keeper. Ironic that's it's now after our crap showings the last few times out.

Our new midfielder has arrived from Cambodia, 25-year-old Chhun Kirivutharo. We think he should be better than Yarangga and Saputra right away, our new best player in midfield. However, we can't register him until February according to Premier Division rules, so he'll get his first action in Cup play. It's a historic moment -- our first foreign signing ever for Persigubin!

We've made a lot of progress this year, espescially in defense, with player development according to Bob. I did however have a bad conversation with Akbar who hasn't done well in training and thinks he's done enough.

STANDINGS

Persigubin(22 pts, +14)
Perspar(22 pts, +8)
Madiun Putra(18 pts, +8)
Perseta(14 pts, +4)
Pro Duta FC(14 pts, --)
Persipur(13 pts, +2)
PSBK(12 pts, -1)
Perseba Super(11 pts, -5)
Persipro(11 pts, -6)
Persida(10 pts, -3)
Persitema(9 pts, -7)
PS Biak Numfor(7 pts, -14)

We've lost a lead that was once eight points. Tied for the lead after ten matches, first on goal differential, that's nothing to sneeze at of course. I need to make an important strategic decision here in terms of focusing on the Cup or the Premier. We need the exposure and we need the money -- I'd like to promote again as much as anyone would but we don't have a sustainable Premier following much less one that would support a Super League roster. So as long as we have a bunch of congested fixtures and are in the Cup, I'm going to sandbag our league contests and see what happens with that.

[Brian Swartz]

1.2 @ Persipro(3-2-5, 9th) This is the end of the first half of the year, and as mentioned we'll go with a weakened lineup:

GK: Setia
D: Faizal/Patay/Prasetyo/Saragih
M: Herlan/Yarangga/Priyono
A: Sutanto/Akbar/Ewangin

We aren't deep enough to run a full second unit out there, but this way we can have half of our squad fully rested for a try at a result in the first leg of the Cup.

They are 4-6 favorites at home. I tell the team I expect a much better performance, and the defense especially looks up for it.

4' -- Amiruddin draws two wide, crosses and Hermawan hits a laser of a header just inside the post. Setia didn't know what had happened until it was over. 0-1

10' -- Similar play for us, Ewangin tracks one down and crosses for Sutanto, they've got him covered better and a weak header is way off.

13' -- They work to Oliveira at the spot, turns and hits one that's saved by Setia, didn't do enough with it. I tell the guys they need to stop giving their forwards so much space.

14' -- They work it to Kuswaha, he's actually just inside the box but manages to miss a cross-angle shot by maybe a foot or two. Gift.

We've had a couple counters but haven't been able to get anything from them.

17' -- There's one, nice look for Priyono a little inside the area, but he's wide right.

26' -- Ewangin up the middle to Akbar, wide left. A minute later, Faizal clears a dangerous corner off the line.

28' -- Long freekick for Ewangin is high.

31' -- Patient passing and Herlan has a look straight on, he floats it and it's pushed over.

We start fighting for the ball a little more.

38' -- Setia is asleep and Oliveira gets behind Prasetyo, he would have had to try to miss the header on that cross. 0-2


HT -- Not as bad as the score indicates, but they've been better. Bayhaqi in for Sutantop, Muda in for Patay, that's just to keep as many bodies reasonably fresh as possible for our Cup contest.


46' -- Long shot from Akbar, miles wide.

We're pushing hard out of the break but sometimes making poor decisions and others trying to force something through a horde of defenders as they are just trying to turn turtle.

54' -- Decent long shot for Akbar, again it's wide.

61' -- Bayhaqi from the edge, well high. We're the scoreless wonders, don't ya know?

68' -- Pretty good look for Ewangin maybe 16 yards out, well high. Then a blatant foul from behind as they pull down Bayhaqi, get a yellow for their troubles, and we've got a pretty good freekick. Yarangga fires it in from 30, close but high.

70' -- Bayhaqi up the middle for Ewangin, best chance of the day, waits forever, and his blast is blocked by the keeper.

It really doesn't matter what else we do if we can't finish anything.

72' -- Yellow for Prasetyo. Super.

74' -- Priyono to Akbar in on the right, weak effort and it's out for a corner. You know, even when we play badly Priyono makes a lot of good smart plays. Solid passer.

Can't finish if his life depends on it.

75' -- Long header by Bayhaqi is saved easily.

81' -- Corner, dangerous header by Oliveira near post but Setia is there.

88' -- Akbar nearly floats one over the keeper, but it's just high.

90' -- Freekick by Ewangin saved easily. Good night.


FT -- Another shutout loss, 0-2. Bayhaqi had a solid second half, but I have words with Faizal and less polite ones with Akbar, who was bad in every phase. He's pissed that I called him out. He can learn to deal with it, or play better. His choice.

Persepar lost as well, so we're still in first on differential.

[Brian Swartz]

1.2 -- We get some good news as Bob thinks Ferry Kombo has been doing remarkably well in training. And some bad news, with Yarangga fracturing ribs in training. 2-3 months out. Takes a bit of the luster off our new signing, and for the next month we'll be seeing a lot more of Priyono in Premier fixtures.

1.4 vs. Persepam(Indonesian Cup First Round First Leg) We need to break out of our scoring slump today and make some magic happen. 15M plus whatever we make later on in the Cup is on the line if we advance. We've got some good fortune here, and the fans are hopeful. Persepam has 2 losses and three draws in their last five, due largely to a horrid run of injuries(currently they are missing seven players -- I remember what that's like).

They play a 4-1-2-2-1 V. We worked a lot on defending set pieces to avoid any more cheap corner concessions. Saragih and Herlan come in a little fatigued and Kirivutharo is not in match shape, but other than that I like the fitness situation. We're as ready as we can be: this is an important match. They are even-money favorites. It's drizzling as we get under way, which isn't going to do our direct style any favors.

12' -- Santoso fires a tough 30-yarder wide for them. The first shot of the match, and neither team is taking many chances.

14' -- Freekick at the left corner of the area as Saragih got a little too aggressive trying to win the ball. It's sent high.

20' -- Santoso again from way out, sails over.

30' -- Still nothing, but we're looking a lot better on the ball and I tell the guys to stay back on defense, but try to hang on to it and press forward more.

39' -- Sutanto to Bayhaqi to [/b]Yogi[/b], he launches a prayer from 30 yards, and it floats in under the bar! That is what we needed today, pure magic. I'd be so ticked if I was on the other sideline, but we take the lead 1-0!!

43' -- We stay on the attack, a left-footed try by Sutanto from distance is easily saved.

44' -- Nice throw-in and Kusuma is open for a long header, but it's not close.


HT -- Shots are 5-2 against, they've had the better of possession especially early. Neither side is giving much away, but we're now in the position of strength in that tug of war having the one goal. I don't change anything.


46' -- Nice cross and Kurniawan heads a long one wide.

This game is evolving the opposite of the way I normally play: we are doing solidly in possession since the switch in the first half but they have the better quality of possession. With our quality at zilch though anyway, it's better to at least not let them have the ball as often as they were.

60' -- Kurniawan from the edge, wide right. I'm not comfortable with the space our defense is giving and hesitantly tell them to tighten it up.

63' -- Saragih makes a nice play to get the ball back at midfield, then his cross almost scores but instead we get a corner out of it. Pure luck that. Bayhaqi sends it deep for Herlan, deflected.

70' -- They get another ineffectual long shot.

75' -- Skip pass by Kirivutharo across to Saragih, good look at an angled shot from range but it curls just a bit too far cross-angle there. Priyono comes in for Saputra who was involved in a collision, precautionary as he's not moving that well.

84' -- Corner, only their second of the day. They try to play it deep and Herlan is there. Held in, wild cross and they have an open volley on the far side at extreme angle. It's into the side.

88' -- We get a corner. Nothing comes of it but we use some time, which is just as valuable right now. They try to counter, Muda breaks it up and we come back down with numbers. Pretty passing from Herlan up the left to Sutanto centers for Yogi, alone in front 12 yards out and it's easily in the right side of the net! 2-0, we caught them pressing too far upfield!!

91' -- Almost a hat trick as [/b]Syarif[/b] went straight up top, Yogi got onto it but didn't get the right angle and they make the save. Rebound is deflected as Kirivutharo tried to put in his two cents.


FT -- A little fortunate as this could easily have been a draw, but we needed it and I'm not arguing. Yogi was the man today, but Saragih was fantastic also in probably his best match for us. It seemed like everything they tried to get going down the left he would get it back, then play a part in our push.

Getting that second goal was huge, up 2-0 we have a strong chance of finally advancing despite the poor 'luck of the draw'. Only 190 attended, far below our usual. Our first win in quite a while, this did wonders for our morale and hopefully it will spark a run of better play.

[Brian Swartz]

1.7 -- Officially the dumbest news story I have ever seen. First of all, they think we are up against it at home against last-place PS Biak Numfor(who we beat, on the road, 5-0 in our opener). Then they go on to talk about how they are playing above expectations. How are you last and playing above expectations? They could win and still be in the relegation zone.

Journalism fail.

1.8 vs. PS Biak Numfor(1-4-5, 12th) Hopefully I'm right about this one. Once again I'm going with the backup crew but I'll end up looking pretty stupid if we blow this. They are indeed 4-6 favorites though I can't figure why, even with our bad form of late.

4' -- Sutanto gets a long header off a corner, easily saved.

6' -- Brilliant header by Akbar as Sutanto splits two defenders for a good angled shot, saved again.

11' -- Pretty counter, Akbar, Ewangin, Herlan who absolutely threads the needle and Akbar gets it back exploding up the middle, then punches it inside the left post! 1-0, some very nice stuff so far. Granted, these guys make it easy, but still.

13' -- They get a step on Prasetyo up the middle, poor shot from the edge and Setia saves.

26' -- A long shot is well wide for them. We're struggling to control the ball with this group, so I tell them to back off -- we are ahead after all. Snap shot by Ewangin from outside just misses wide.

35' -- From the angle on the right, Akbar beats the keeper and hits the crossbar, nearly a second one there.

37' -- Ewangin goes down, and his day is finished. Pity. Yogi comes on.

43' -- Nice centering pass through traffic by Saragih, Yogi's volley from 18 is a little left.

45' -- Yellow for a blatant trip as they bring down Sutanto.


HT -- Only up one with Setia in goal, there's still a lot to be played here. Muda on for Patay, I'd rather have a fresh defense in the return leg than anything with a two-goal advantadge.


47' -- First corner for them right away, Khamid gets a near-post header ... skims the bar and goes over! That should have been a goal, we dodged it and need to not screw up again.

50' -- Yogi nods one on for Akbar, it's a race with one man to beat ... the defender stops. I swear he just stopped. Maybe he thought the keeper would get it, but Akbar was there a couple steps first and had a wide freaking open net. 2-0!!

He almost missed it, but the important thing is he didn't.

55' -- Saragih crosses for Akbar, on the doorstep but no direction on that header and it's deflected by the keeper. Should have been the hat trick, right there.

58' -- Terrible turnover as Sutanto takes it and we've got a free run up the middle. Akbar in alone, fakes out the keeper and there's number three!!!

59' -- Arfayan gets behind the defense, Setia comes out and manages to cut it down, blocking the shot away. Rebound to Prasetyo from distance, but he can't find the net.

Against a competent foe that was a goal.

63' -- 10th corner of the day for us, routine one over the middle ... but Santoso completely misses the ball, and Muda volleys it in from the far post!! Ok, not routine. 4-0

65' -- Akbar to Herlan on a freekick, his header from the edge of the box is a hair wide, had the right idea though. Nearly another one.

Down the other end, Arfayan gets free at the corner of the box, and angles one past Setia. They get one back, 4-1 now.

74' -- Short freekick for Akbar is just high.


FT -- We hold on for a good win at a final of 4-1. Akbar's hat trick steals the show, but this might have been Herlan's best match for us. Yogi was also excellent.

[EagleFan]

Well done.

[Brian Swartz]

1.10 -- Former player Melianus Ningmabin did an interview in which he talked about what a fine player Akbar is and how he's a huge fan. He'll be disappointed to see the fatigued Akbar sitting this one out ... The board also injected another 400M.

1.11 @ Persepam(Indonesian Cup, Second Leg, 2-0) So here we are. We'll play a deep defensive line and fairly conservatively to make it difficult for them to score: we could lose by one and still advance. Once again we worked on defending set pieces ahead of this.

If we can get through a clean first half and put a couple subs on, we should be ok. Saragih and Herlan might struggle in this one, they need another day of rest that we don't have. Persepam are 5-4 favorites.

6' -- Fabulous pass from Yogi in to Sutanto, but he can't get it off with two men draped all over him. Corner.

11' -- Jump ball after a bobbled cross, they head it off the line. They are being very physical with us as the fresher team, but we're handling it fine so far.

12' -- Yogi sets up Sutanto, nice save to keep him out. Would be really nice to see him score one, it's been way too long. Another nothing corner.

Fachrurrozi turns our defense into a pretzel, but eventually has to shoot and is way off.

20' -- Kurniawan goes halfway between shot and cross, in position for both, and it's just out.

29' -- Yogi sets up Bayhaqi, blocked by traffic. Sharp-angle shot by Yogi is saved by Tesar, and we do nothing with the corner.

35' -- Tough angled header and Fachrurrozi misses it.

36' -- Saragih inbounds it, up the line for Yogi, he draws the defense up and then Sutanto in the middle ... hits the post! That was our chance, right there.

39' -- First corner for them, dangerous but Herlan gets to it and clears.

41' -- Bayhaqi has an extreme-angle shot saved, we hold it in but can't get anything else.

46' -- A couple of key clearances, one by Muda and one by Patay, but they get it back. Running out of time, Santoso just launches one ... and it's good! Inside the left post, that either took a funny bounce or deflected off someone but it was a heck of a strike regardless. 0-1, and we're now in scary territory.

We were less than a minute away from the clean half I wanted. Call it karma for Yogi's shot in the first one I guess.


HT -- I tell them we need to hold the aggregate lead, Yogi is stressed for the first time I can ever recall. It's been nearly even except for that blast.


46' -- Oh ... my ... goodness. Freekick from ... well, it had to be at least 45-50 yards. Almost to midfield. And Fachrurrozi scores it. Just underneath the bar, Syarif couldn't get there. An absolutely ridiculous shot.

It's 0-2, and we're in trouble, the aggregate score is now dead-even. We've got to find a way to score now.

50' -- Muda blocks a shot, and a foolish header by Herlan gives them a corner. We're trying to push forward on the attack more now, but nothing doing so far. Patay with the header, they hold it in and almost score on a fluke cross. I would have gone nuts if they did.

55' -- First chance in a while, close freekick by Saragih is well wide right. Bayhaqi goes down at midfield winning the ball back, and he's done. Well, I guess we get to see Akbar as it is.

65' - - It's been quiet for a while, but Fachrurrozi turns Kombo into swiss cheese, not for the first time, and just misses with a blast from the right side. I can't do anything with him, he's just tearing us up.

71' -- Salinas with a freekick right on the edge. This could be it if we can't stop it. A rifle shot into the left corner! 0-3, and we're screwed. Priyono on for Herlan, who is tired, just to try to shake things up.

81' -- Sutanto a return pass to Akbar, first time shot from the edge ... he missed it wide right. That was probably our last chance to get back to even.

87' -- Hidayatullah draws half the team as he's in close on the left, somehow gets a pass through to Fachrurrozi who drills it from the right angle. 0-4, and we may consider our butts fully stomped here.


FT -- Well, when a team shoots the way they shot today, not much we can do other than make ours which we didn't. They showed us what Super League quality is, at least in the finishing department, and got some luck as well. Very frustrating to be up two, put everything into this, and still come up short. It was there for the taking, but I can't fault our defense for any but the last goal.

I tell them we were just unlucky, except for Kombo and Muda who were just bad and I let them have it. Three times we lose in the first round of the Cup in three attempts. Excuses for that are starting to wear thin.

Bayhaqi landed badly on his wrist and there's a fracture, he'll miss two months. We'll need to rely more on Akbar now, and the injuries are starting to mount.

[mrtourette]

Great read and congrats on the excellent league performances!

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks! It's been a bit of a charmed existence the last year or so I think.

1.16 @ Perseba Super(4-3-5, 6th) I don't know why, but they are big favorites(1-6).

19' -- They pick up a yellow, it's been a very drab start. That's on Obure their keeper, first time I've seen that kind of foul. He beat Akbar to a long ball but picked it up a couple steps outside of the area.

20' -- Our first look at the goal is horribly off, Saragih on the right side.

22' -- That one wasn't. Saragih crosses in to Akbar who is free on the edge of the box, he pokes it by and we take the lead! 1-0

Or not. Late whistle but they call Akbar offside. Close, but arguable.

23' -- Wow. Saputra leads Sutanto but it's too far, they cut off the pass ... but don't control it and Sutanto doesn't give up the play, hits the free ball from 17 and puts it past Obure at the left post! There's our score, and that shot was just literally handed to us.

Sutanto finally gets on the board!

28' -- Pretty good looking long shot, but Syarif is right on it and makes the play.

30' -- Yogi plays it up the right side to Akbar, draws the D and centers to Herlan the trailer, opening on the left side and his shot is in! 2-0!!

Less than a minute later, nearly identical play but this time Herlan is well off with his try.


HT -- Nothing much the rest of the way and we haven't gotten many shots but taken the ones we have. Still gotta like solid defense and a two-goal bulge on the road.


52' -- Lazy pass over the middle on our end, Saputra picks it off and we're off the races. Akbar sets up Yogi, pretty good look but he could have moved in more, Obure gets a hand to it. Two corners yield zilch.

54' -- Bachri gets free in the area, Muda tries to block it off but he fits one in a narrow window between him and Syarif, and our lead is down to 2-1. That wasn't that bad of defense, mostly just a great shot there.

Angled try for Yogi down the other end is high.

60' -- Bachri gets a look in front, maybe 13 yards, blasts it but Syarif just gets there. He should have scored, and our defense is looking shaky all of a sudden.

65' -- Long shot off a corner for them, but it's wide. Crazy corner for us, headed around a few times, Muda gets a shot at it near corner, and Obure deflects it off the bar.

Saragih goes off with Yogi, Prasetyo and Ewangin replace them. We're getting tired, and I'm hoping fresh legs will help us hold the lead.

72' -- Big intervention and clearance by Patay prevents any nonsense. They hold it in for a corner, Muda gets his head there but it's out for a second try. Syarif snags that one.

81' -- We block another shot out for a corner. Really getting tired now. Goes far post and Hadi has a header from about 8 yards, puts it just high.

Sutanto up the left side for Akbar, waits a little too long and it's a sharp angle, into the side.

84' -- Rizal from at least 25 yards ... rifle shot into the roof of the net, and they tie it up!! Of all the horsecrap ...

89' -- Long pass hits Bachri up the middle, he's into the area ... and a fine tackle from behind by Muda saves the day. Corner ... close to the goal and Syarif has it.

92' -- We try to get one last shot, Ewangin crosses for Sutanto, his volley is knocked out for a corner. Akbar puts it in, Ewangin heads toward the goal ... Obure has it.


FT -- That's all. A 2-2 draw on the road, but we led almost the whole way and just ran out of gas plus a couple of fantastic finishes for them. Pretty close match all things considered, but still disappointing after the early lead. If we don't win the group, this will be one we look back on as an opportunity squandered.

Persepar won today, knocking us out of the top spot for the first time all year ...

[Brian Swartz]

1.22 -- Saragih has the flu and will be out for a week.

1.24 vs. Madiun Putra(7-1-5, 3rd) They are 4-5 favorites to come in here and beat us on our own turf. The war of words continues with Uut Kuswendi, who referenced my 'astonishing lack of professionalism' in acknowledging that our personal rivalry adds a bit of edge to the contest. He stated that 'we can rest assured that we'll know we've been in a match come full-time.'

Aside from all of that, we have Ferminus back but Saragih, Bayhaqi, and Yarangga are still out, three important starters for us making this the weakest we've been all year. Of course Urwan is still out as well, and Kirivutharo can't be registered until next month. It's a bad time for it as the next two matches are crucial. If we are to make a serious push for promotion then everyone else will have to rise to the occasion. A win today would essentially make it a two-team race, as we would have a six-point lead on the rest of the field. A week from now we visit Persepar which would give us a chance to regain the top spot potentially. These two contests will shape how the last few months of the year shape up, and we must do well to maintain a realistic shot at the group title.

Many are expecting a record turnout for us ...

It's no secret that their key is striker Safri Kotto, who has 13 goals already(nobody has more than Akbar's six for us, by comparison). He got a lot of the attention in the pregame press and we will be watching him closely wherever he goes.

3' -- Yogi-Akbar-Prasetyo, we attack up the right side and a defender gets a piece, out for a corner. Twice we head it back in, but they clear it each time.

7' -- I like what I've seen so far. Strike that, I want to shoot Ferry Kombo. Routine pass to him but he doesn't control it, just bounces off him and Kurniawan pounces for Madiun Putra. He moves in and places a shot in the left corner of the net, nothing Syarif could do there and we go down immediately! 0-1

Just an absolutely inexcusable error. If I had anyone competent to pull Kombo for I'd do it.

12' -- Sutanto gets a look from the edge, good looking shot but it's off the bar. Herlan with the corner, Muda goes down at the near post, and I'm livid about the lack of a call! A second corner also looks good but nothing.

15' -- Nice tackle by Patay prevents Kotto from getting anything off after another bad turnover. He gets a decent header from the corner, sharply hit but right at Syarif.

20' -- A slew of turnovers, then Akbar to Herlan right up the middle, keeper's a bit out of position .. he hits it too close to the middle and a diving save by Haribowo! Wow, that was a fine play but also a poor shot, Herlan really should have scored there.

We're simultaneously firmly in control of this match and losing it. Deflections on the corner, Kombo blasts one from just inside that's well wide.

22' -- They get it to Kotto twice, first one we take it away, second one he has a look from 15 yards and should have scored, but Syarif got his body just enough in the way.

34' -- Save by Syarif on another dangerous shot. Our dominance of possession has ended, and I have to tell them to pull back. We are in trouble here.

41' -- Herlan up the right to Yogi, he takes two with him, rolling cross to Akbar in front, he's in close but can't get anything off. Our fifth corner of the half is the least profitable.

46' -- Yogi's hurt, and he'll have to go off. This day is getting worse and worse. Ewangin is in, Akbar back to AMC which is not his best position.


HT -- Even match overall, their individual attacking skill makes them maybe a bit better. They made their good chance, Herlan missed ours, both sides have had solid looks that didn't go. Down 0-1, we need to finish better, it's as simple as that.


49' -- Akbar gets it to Sutanto just outside the area, one shot is blocked, a second partially. Corner goes to Patay far post, nice try at a header that's cleared off the line, then eventually we get another corner try. Muda at the near post, way off target with that one.

Just not good enough.

53' -- Freekick from the side, Firzada beats Muda to the ball at the far post and there's nobody even close. 0-2. Stick a fork in us.

A minute later, it takes another fine save to keep their lead from growing, They are just ripping us apart and I don't know that we can do anything to stop them.

60' -- Ewangin leads Sutanto, just squeezed between two defenders but he's got a look ... score inside the right post! 1-2, and we are still in this! That pass had to be perfect, defense wasn't bad at all -- it was perfect and the finish nearly was as well.

Kotto drifts free quickly, but a huge header by Muda prevents him from getting it.

62' -- Angled shot from the left for Ewangin, just wide. We're back to that position where all we need is one.

68' -- They run up the left, Kuswanto from a bit of an angle .... blocked by Syarif and Saputra clears. We control most of the play but don't get much of an actual attack going. Time is not on our side.

81' -- Prasetyo clears out a corner. Desperation time.

93' -- One last push, Herlan at the edge, can't get anything off, and we eventually turn it over.


FT -- Revenge is served. We beat them 2-1 at their place, they return the favor today. We couldn't match their skill on the attack, in most aspects we outplayed them but not where it counts. As expected, a record 518 show up. I wish we could have given them a better result.

An elbow injury will sideline Yogi for 3 weeks. Oh well.

[Brian Swartz]

1.30 @ Perspar(10-1-3, 1st) We're really up against it here, but any decent shot at winning the group has to start with a win today. We're down five as it is, anything else would leave them with a sizable lead. Beating the hottest team and group leaders on the road with a depleted squad ... it's a mammoth challenge for us to be sure.

We focused on defense ahead of this one, as with our attackers espescially decimated we need to stay in it and hope for that one moment of brilliance in a tight game. the oddsmakers have them as 1-6 favorites to beat us and I find it hard to disagree.

Patay is out with a cold. This leaves us with six injured players, not counting Kirivutharo who still isnt' registered. This is almost on the scale of what we had going on at the start of my first year.

I'm forced to bring up Endra Abidin from the youth team, which will cost us some money once his contract kicks in. That's just so we can have a proper defensive line. We still only have three subs, two of them keepers. Oh, I do hope those of you watching at home enjoy carnage.

I tell them to ignore the odds and just go play -- what else can I say? Akbar[ looks fired up. And who stops the first attack of the day? That's right, it's Abidin with a nice header. Go figure.

11' -- Ewangin goes down hurt. Well, that's just fantastic.

Introducing our new striker, Roni Setia!! No, I'm not joking. Haven't got anyone else to run out there.

14' -- Kim Dang-Suk swings in a cross from outer Slobovia, and just misses scoring when it hits the post.

20' -- We haven't surrendered a shot. No, we aren't getting jack either, but I'll take it under the circumstances.

We almost get something on a counter but we have too many invalids out there. Corner. Sutanto doesn't even put it in play. ...

23' -- Long pass by Kombo to Akbar, he's in with a decent look, not a great shot and blocked away by Cayhaqi. That's the kind of thing we need to score on, we're not going to get much.

They get a yellow card. Frustration boiling over perhaps?

26' -- Close free for Sang-Duk, high. I can breathe a bit now. That was their first shot against four for us.

29' -- Abidin goes for a header ... misjudges ... then recovers and tackles Arman before he can get a shot off. Corner. Impressive recovery though.

Kombo clears it. They have a ridiculous 67% possession and can't get shots. I've never seen anything like it.

34' -- Dangerous counter to ... Setia? Don't laugh, he almost got a clear run on goal there. Every time I turn around Kombo is making a big header to get possession back. Yeah we don't keep it long, but he's breaking up a lot of stuff today.

45' -- Deep corner cleared by Abidin. Our best player on the pitch today is either him or Kombo, it's ridiculous what he's doing out there.


HT -- I tell them how well they're doing and to keep going, spirits look extremely high and we're ready to go out there and kick some arse!! Except that they are, you know, way better than us. Don't tell us that though.


51' -- We've inconcievably been fighting for possession, but Muda gets what I think is a harsh yellow at midfield. We need him.

57' -- Second corner of the day. We're playing great right now. Akbar steps up and ... can't keep it in play. Seriously??

59' -- Corner for them, jump ball right in front ... Syarif gets a hand but can't grab it, someone knocks it off the crossbar ... and it's cleared . by . Abidin. The kid is everyhwere!!

61' -- Header upfield, Budiansyah is behind our defense, doesn't control it well and he's too far out left, Syarif is in position and there's no angle, shot blocked for another corner. Dangerous one in front, header missed by Muda, it's on the ground ... Prasetyo takes it away! We're still alive!! I have no idea how!!!!

Hard fouls both ways but no offense to speak of. They are starting to assert themselves again, but our defense is holding -- fatigue is playing a huge part but we don't crack as the minutes slowly tick by tensely.

82' -- They get another corner. Sutanto is there to cut it off at the near post, Saputra runs it down. Wheeee!!

89' -- Bad throw-in, intercepted, a chip from just inside the area ... please no ... and it's high! Thank you! Thank you very much!!!

93' -- Kombo gambles and loses, cross for Budiansyah, header inside the right corner of the box ... looks good but it's into the side, just right of the post! We survive!!


FT -- I don't think I've ever been so thrilled with a scoreless draw. 10 shots combined. Abidin is player of the freaking match. Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.

He's not willing to compromise much, 750k with 10% raises. He's earned it though.

[Brian Swartz]

FEBRUARY

Training -- Patay(defending), Kombo(tactics), Syarif(Shot Stopping) are all positives, but a number of negatives as well. Ferminus(tactics -- injured), Saputra(fitness), and Muda(fitness). Usually those guys do ok so it's a surprise. Bob continues to be impressed by Kombo's progress -- perhaps he's on his way to fulfilling his potential.

STANDINGS

Persepar(32 pts, +13)

Madiun Putra(28 pts, +12)
Persigubin(27 pts, +14)
Persipur(26 pts, +8)
Perseta(23 pts, +6)
Perseba Super(19 pts, -3)
Pro Duta FC(18 pts, -3)
PSBK(17 pts, --)*
Persipro(17 pts, -10)
Persitema(16 pts, -9)

Persida(14 pts, -2)*
PS Biak Numfor(7 pts, -26)

*Only 14 played, one in hand

With seven to play, we aren't out of this yet but will need a lot of luck and some help. Down to third now, and we could easily slip further. The injuries have reached the point where the team we can put out there isn't nearly as good, nearly as explosive, as the one that started the year. A 13-point turnaround, we led by eight points and now trail by five. But we must look forward.

February has three fixtures and two are against Persida and Persitema, a couple of bottom-feeders. Perseta is a quality foe but we get them at home, so we really have a chance to make some noise and put a bit of pressure on it if we can find any kind of form with the players we have. If we don't, the meaningful part of this year will be over quickly.

We agree to terms with Bayhaqi, same 4.25M he's making now with a 5% annual raise and moderate bonus increases. Herlan I decide to punt on ... I may bring him back, may not, and Sukma gets out there to take a look at who might be available in the offseason for us to sign. In order to save on costs, we're only looking in Indonesia this year: there were plenty of quality players last year, and we didn't run into the 'too small club stature' problem as much. The limiting factor is money, and I don't see that changing or any good reason to cast a wider net right now. The good news is we think Agung Sukma has gotten a little better this year: he's about twice as good as he was when I started here(still incompetent mind you, but now far less so). So we'll see what shakes out. And with the second transfer window starting today, I'm not totally adverse to bringing someone in if it looks like they could make a major difference.

The board makes a major change and is now merely 'satisfied' with what I've done, also downgrading my job security to only stable. Our fall from the top of the table is the entirely predictable reason, but they are still being a bit finicky if you ask me. Another 233M(actually 633M) lost last month.

[Brian Swartz]

2.6 vs. Persitema(4-4-7, 10th) We have Kirivutharo registered now, and Patay is back. Persitema are still 4-5 favorites to come in here and beat us, which I don't really understand. They've had mixed but solid results lately, but we did thrash them 3-1 on the road earlier in the year, the first of four straight defeats for Persitema at the time. Whatever ... the oddsmakers have clearly decided we aren't worth a crap lately. Both sides have a lot to play for, we're trying to stay relevant in the promotion race and they are trying to stay out of the relegation zone, which they are only two points clear of coming in.

We're weakest up front where once again we have Akbar out of his best position at AMC, Ewangin as our striker, along with Sutanto. In defense and midfield though we can at least put a quality group out there, so I really think we should generate enough to get a win.

2' -- Horrible start. Herlan makes a nice clearance to stop an attack right away, then Mambrasar gets behind Patay and they cross it to him, excellent chance eight yards out and only a weak shot allows Syarif to parry it. We need to wake up, fast.

12' -- They hit a long freekick, just high. No shots for us yet but we're doing much better at controlling the action.

Freekick down the other end, Akbar sends it in from deep and Kombo wants a foul given, he's furious about the ref swallowing his whistle.

18' -- They get a couple of long angled shots from the left, one's blocked and the other was horrid. Our complete lack of chances is starting to bother me.

25' -- Turnovers galore, but Akbar eventually outduels two defenders, centers for Herlan who fires one from the edge, high. Well at least we got a shot. I've seen enough to pull back to a countering approach though, I'd rather be a bit safer on the other end if we aren't going to produce anything.

26' -- Long volley for them just wide. Our defense sucks today, we'll be lucky if we don't lose this. We should already be losing it.

35' -- Mambrasar mid-area, Syarif cheated to the right which is where the shot went, defenders had the other side blocked off pretty good. He makes the save, but they are getting too many and we're getting nothing.

Ewangin gets a very sharp angle down the other end and fires it anyway, a rocket but there was no way that's getting through. Only benefit is a corner, they clear easily, come down and get one shot blocked and a long header that's no danger.

41' -- After more dodgy defense they make a bad pass, eventually Akbar leads Ewangin into the area, he goes down no call and they knock it out for a corner. Goes to Patay at the near post but a bit too close to the goal and he can't get to it.

45' -- Decent passing play, Ewangin - Akbar - Sutanto gets a look between defenders just outside, it's a fair bit wide right.

HT -- We're just plain sloppy and very fortunate to still be tied, although the last ten minutes or so have been better. That doesn't save the team one hell of a tonguelashing though. We should be better than this. Ewangin, Saputra, Kombo, Muda, none of them have looked very good at there. I can't take them all off, but I put in Prasetyo for Muda hoping to solidify our defense.


58' -- Absolutely idiotic move by Kirivutharo, loses the ball and a blatant trip in frustration gets him an immediate red card! Now we're down a man, and he and I will have words, that was just stupid and we don't play that kind of football here. Abidin on for Ewangin, we'll play a 5-2-1-1 and hope we can survive now.

60' -- Pramono rifles a cross right along the goal mouth, we all stare at it stupidly and Alaita is there at the far post with nobody near him. 0-1. Good ... we deserve it. This game has been a bloody catastrophe and anything other than a loss would be unjust.

Two minutes later, Mambrasar just misses a chip from the edge that would have added another for them.

63' -- Herlan up the right for Saragih, Suherman comes out to take it ... but Saragih tackles it away! There's no keeper now, can we get a shot? Saragih tries one from wide on the right, it's a significant angle but his aim is true and we tie it up on a ridiculous error, 1-all! I'm not sure whether I'm glad or disappointed.

They continue to get shots, thankfully missing most of the time.

73'-- I don't believe what I just saw. Nice interception by Kombo, we move ahead on the counter, Saragih gets behind them on the right, he's into the area and a fine strike inside the left post! We take the lead 2-1, man shortage be damned!!

76' -- Alaita from the right, screams one just over the bar. They get a corner a minute later, Sutanto heads it out but only for another try. Kombo gets to it first and we eventually clear. They're throwing everything at us right now.

80' -- Prasetyo clears another corner.


FT -- We hold on to win 2-1 despite being outshot 19-5 and outplayed virtually throughout. Saragih saved us almost singlehandedly, and of course it was a disastrous error by Suherman that gave him the chance. I'm actually annoyed we won though, we absolutely didn't deserve anything but a three-goal loss. I have nothing to say afterwards, I just let them stew, though I do commend Saragih. He tripled his goals on the year from 1 to 3 today.

Kirivutharo gets a 2-week fine. To his credit, he accepts both the fine and the criticism he gets from me in the post-game press conference. At least he's taking it like a man, it's going to hurt not having him out there for our next match. Priyono will have to take his place.

We gain two points on Persepar who has only a draw, so against all odds we are now down just three with six to play. With a nine-day break, we may be able to get another player or two back as well. Madiun Putra blasted our resident doormats 6-3 in a wild one, they not only stay a point in front of us but also drew even on differential.

I'm also told we have a new problem: many players are unhappy with the standard of the fitness coaching, feeling we have enough players that another coach is required. Well, if they'd give me enough money for the position to sign one ... but I head on over to the job center and post another advertisement for a coach, don't let it be said that I didn't listed to what the players have to say.

[Izulde]

Hoping you can close out with a win of the league after that swoon.

[Brian Swartz]

So you're tellin' me there's a chance ...

2.11 -- It took only a week and a half for Sukma to compile his reports on potential players. Nobody stands out as a 'must-have' for this year though there are definitely some good players in there. We'll take a closer look a little later on but I don't see us making any moves until the offseason.

2.13 -- The disciplinary committee reviewed the red on Kirivutharo and decided that it was worth suspending him for an additional two games. Freaking awesome!!! Great start to your career here buddy.

2.14 @ Persida(3-5-7, 11th) The crackhead oddsmakers can't decide if we're any good: today they say we are, 1-3 favorites on the road. Go figure. We had a 1-0 win earlier in the year at home in a game we controlled but struggled to score in. Don't imagine it'll be any easier this time around. The biggest news is that we get Yogi back today, the question is whether he's ready to start. Close call in this case but I'll run Ewangin out there and probably get Yogi in at the half.

In unrelated news, the board injected another 400M today.

12' -- We've controlled the early going well, but they get the first shot, half-volley from the left which is a little wide.

16' -- Saputra plays a long one up to Saragih in on the right, a striker's control skills he doesn't have and it bounces around and out for a corner.

23' -- Dangerous looking counter, Adriyanti gets only a long shot from the right and nothing. A quarter of the day is gone, there are two shots, none by us. Where oh where has our offense gone?

28' -- Oh, there it is. Ewangin leads Akbar, open from 16 and slides it inside the right post. 1-0! First shot, best shot of the day by either side. Thank you very much ... now keep it going.

Back the other way, Nawawi in on the right, nice cross to the far post where Basuki's header is off the hands of Syarif and in. We led for a solid 45 seconds. Tied again. Saputra thinks the initial pass was offside, but I don't think we have much of a case, we were just loose on the edges defensively and paid the price.

33' -- We stop a freekick and counter, Ewangin crosses and Saputra's long header is easily saved. I go a little more conservative as we are losing the ball too often now.


HT -- They push hard until the last few minutes, but nobody gets anything. As planned, Yogi comes on for Ewangin with Akbar moving up front to his natural position. Hopefully we can create more than two shots ...


52' -- Freekick for Yogi, straight on from 25 and he misses right. He's shown he can make magic happen from out there, but not this time.

54' -- Corner to the near post, Prasetyo and a defender go down there but nobody gets to the ball, loose in the box and they clear it. Almost a chance there.

57' -- An absolutely idiotic clearance and we get another corner. Nothing, we hold it in, can't quite get a look for a decent shot, and then a turnover by Priyono. He's showing his true colors now, not ready for this level but we don't have better.

I tell the team to push forward more as we are the aggressors at the moment.

61' -- We take it away from Basuki as they attack, could have been a penalty call there as he's hurt, but they don't get the call.

65' -- They just leave the ball for Herlan and he fires from just inside, it's high. A gift, and we refused it.

66' -- Nawawi up the right, nice play there by Priyono to prevent a shot. Kombo clears out the corner twice. Patay on for Prasetyo who has been pretty bad today.

76' -- I switch back to counter as once again they are surging a bit ... nothing cheap here at the end.

78' -- A cross from way out wide deflects off the crossbar ... don't need the heart attack guys.

79' -- Two guys miss the ball, Basuki slides to Adriyanto, mid-area shot beats Syarif in the right side! 1-2!! Good grief we suck. We have to push for an equalizer now ...

83' -- Basuki shoots from the right, weak and Syarif has it.

90' -- Dubious yellow called on them for impeding Yogi.


FT -- Well, we were bad in defense and this was Syarif's worst game this year, normally he'd stop at least one of those goals and maybe both. Also, four shots?? That was just sad. We still shouldn't have lost, but we shouldn't have won last time out either, so justice perhaps. I tell Herlan he played well(he did), which ticks off three other guys since I let the team have it as a whole. Shut up and play fellas.

Persepar loses as well but Madiun Putra wins again .. they're up to first now and we trail by four.

[Brian Swartz]

2.15 Urwan announces he will 'retire' at the end of the year, though he's thinking of still playing in the lower leagues.

2.20 vs. Perseta(7-3-7, 5th) They're pretty much top of the middle of the pack right now, and 5-4 favorites at our house. Neither club is burning it up lately. Yogi gets his first start since coming back. My primary concern isn't who we are playing, but how. Namely, that we are generating nothing but yawns. We miss Yarangga I think, but he's not walking through that door for a bit yet.

3' -- Well, this wasn't what I had in mind. Foul near midfield, Priyono takes the freekick, bounces in the box and over the keeper's diving arms for a score! How does he not get over there when it's hit from 5 yards this side of the midline? Complete accident farce absurdity of a cheap goal. And I love it!! It's his first score at this level. 1-0

4' -- That's more like it, complete defensive breakdown, Galuh is in alone, just barely getting his fingers on it is Syarif but that's enough to deflect it wide. Good grief, drop deeper guys if you aren't going to pay freaking attention.

16' -- Possession is not good. Switching to counter. I think we're going to need that cheap one if this keeps up.

19' -- Bad pass by Patay, Saragih bails him out. We move it on, should have lost it twice, then Sutanto leads Akbar, fakes out the keeper, left side open and fires ... just misses the corner! He didn't need to be that cute there, that is a gimme that should be money every single time. Heavens ... that's our leading scorer, but he looked 18 on that shot.

20' -- Oh my goodness. We attack again, they clear it after a bad pass but it's off Priyono and right to Sutanto, great looking volley just inside, keeper doesn't even give a token effort ... just high. That's two in two minutes that were a foot away from scoring. Karma biting us after the early shot perhaps?

25' -- This match is going to give me a heart attack. They push up the right, then swing left to Yuli. Nobody's over there. He moves in, shoots ... off the post, rebounds back, he's got it, Syarif on the ground after diving for the first shot, no way he doesn't score here ... but it's a high bounce and he can't control it immediately, Saragih knocks it away a second later.

There should be goals all over the place, and the only tally is Priyono's prayer.

31' -- Yogi unloads a rocket from 25 on a freekick, close but high. Nice passing on the counter, Nurcahya's volley from about 12 is pushed wide right.

33' -- The reign of stupidity is now complete. Yes, I know it's the first half, but still. Saragih finds Akbar, sharp angle right of the box, he fires and Tanujaya deflects ... off the bar ... and out. Yogi goes for the header on the open net but they beat him to it ... right back over to Akbar. His volley is off Tanujaya's legs ... off the right post ... and out. Loose in the box, Ritai hurriedly clears it ... off Sukirman his teammate, and into the net. That took maybe 10 seconds in total. We miss two must-convert chances only to see them bumble into an own goal.

We gave up an own goal at one point last year I think but this is the first we've benefited from. Whatever. We're winning 2-0. Nothing's going in but the crap that should be cleared six times. Wide freaking open one-on-ones with skilled players in position and on tempo? Nah, both sides are blowing those. Broken-arse plays with ridiculous bounces? Yep, that's the ticket today.

We're controlling possession well which at least limits the number of defensive breakdowns we can have. I think about telling the team to push forward more, but decide against it. We're up two. If it ain't broke, I don't wanna fix it.

41' -- Corner, ball bounces around, a shot through traffic is bobbled by Syarif and bounces right to Ferdinsyah, at the right post and not two yards out. Money. 2-1. Why not.


HT -- 55% possession, they've had only five shots but they've been good ones. No changes, we just need to defend better.


46' -- Or we could just score again and put it out of reach. Priyono nice pass over the middle to Yogi, too big a hole between their centerbacks. He times it well and easy score into the right side, no chance. 3-1!! Everything about that play was textbook, which is certainly something you can't say about the other goals today.

54' -- They are attacking more now. Galuh free mid-area, Muda gets close enough to block his shot out for a corner. Nobody's home on the corner.

56' -- Breakdown on the other end, Kombo finds Saragih shortly after an inbounds, left-footed angled shot is into the side but he was wide open mid-area there. A Herlan 30-yd freekick goes high.

60' -- Long shot by Ferdiansyah straight on, but a good one and Syarif does well to tip it over. I put in Faizal for a rare stint in place of Kombo. We come down, Saputra-Priyono-Akbar, left-footed floater doesn't have enough on it, easy save.

70' -- Abidin on for Akbar, we'll go with five at the back and get more time for our youngsters.

72' -- 30yd freekick for Yogi, pushed away, Muda is there on the rebound blocked by the keeper laying on the ground. He needed to do more, hit it at an angle but just get a little air under the ball and they were helpless.

87' -- Diving header by Haryanto, at least ten yards out and it's placed perfectly in the right corner of the net. Well, gotta just applaud that, defensive positioning was pretty good, he hit that one off balance and just hit it exquisitely. 3-2, glad we had a goal to give.

89' -- A corner bounces around and a long volley by Priyono is put wide.

90' -- We let Haryanto free. Up the middle. Behind the defense. Beats Syarif easily, right side. Tied at 3. I need a gun.

How the heck do you give up a lead like that? We flat-out lost track of the guy who just scored three minutes before. I mean ...

92' -- Priyono has Saragih free up the right side but leads him too far.

Goalkick. Three players miss it. Ferdiansyah is free at the edge, Syarif tips his shot. Corner for them. Good header for Ferdiansyah, but he misses it wide.

We should have lost this.


FT -- Well, blowing this match probably sealed our fate for the year. A crazy 3-3 draw that we absolutely should have won before we should have lost it with the late collapse. Yogi and what's-his-face, Priyono, did well. The rest of the team doesn't like me saying so. Mixed messages seem to annoy them. Deal.

[Brian Swartz]

2.28 -- It has been noted that Syarif is improving significantly by assistant PJ Bob.

MARCH

Training -- Saragih(Tactics) and Kombo(Defending) are positives, retiring players Ewangin and Urwan are irrelevant negatives.

The board continues to be satisfied, down a hair from last month they are almost neutral on me now. Lost just over 7M(400M injection though so it wasn't that good). Bayhaqi returns to training and Yarangga will do so imminently, which makes us 100% healthy for our next match -- a few too late to do any good though most likely.

STANDINGS

Madiun Putra(37 pts, +19)

Persepar(36 pts, +14)
Persigubin(31 pts, +14)
Persipur(30 pts, +8)
Perseta(25 pts, +5)
Pro Duta FC(24 pts, -2)
PSBK(23 pts, +2)
Persipro(22 pts, -9)
Perseba Super(21 pts, -5)
Persitema(19 pts, -10)

Persida(18 pts, -2)
PS Biak Numfor(7 pts, -34)

The hideous PS Biak Numfor have already clinched relegation. At the top, there is two-team race for the qualification spot. Technically three more are still mathematically in it including us, but six points down with four to go means it's just a matter of time until our fate is sealed.

Kombo's development has continued to be good, to the point where Bob thinks he's at least as good as anyone on the team now. And then ...

[Brian Swartz]

3.2 -- Sutanto has a fractured skull. Ouch. Out 3-4 months. So in other words, say goodbye to him until next year. It's been a relatively disappointing season for him, but 5 goals, 6 assists in 18 games is still a solid contribution.

In other news, another disastrous game for Indonesia who loses 3-0 to Kuwait in their World Cup Qualifying finale. 6 games, 2 goals, 14 conceded, all losses. Yikes.

3.5 @ Persipur(4th) They've already beaten us once this year, but haven't been great lately which is why we are still a point ahead of them. Essentially this is a match for third place. With Sutanto out Ewangin gets the start as Bayhaqi needs to be eased back in, same thing for Yarangga with Priyono still starting in midfield. This is the last match of Kirivutharo's suspension.

They are strong favorites(1-3), and it's going to be tough on us here.

2' -- Quick shot for Akbar edge of the area, fairly easy save for Susanto.

6' -- Bad throw-in by Kombo on our end, they get a mid-area shot crossangle that is just wide.

11' -- Another shot from the edge and another easy save, this one from Saragih.

19' -- Long kick by Syarif, Ewangin has miles of space, moves right around the keeper and hits to the open net. A shockingly easy goal as he broke perfectly and the defense just didn't go with him, he's not exactly a speed demon but was 10 yards at least in the clear. Fantastic not only to give us the lead, but to give a veteran who has been a big part of our success a score as his first goal on the year. 1-0

Persipur got a lot more aggressive after the score but it didn't translate into any immediate shots for them.

28' -- Saragih up the right to Akbar, cross for Ewangin whose header from just outside the box is saved. Good play, he just didn't put it away.

This is a lot like we looked early in the year, turning small amounts of possession into good shots and defending the rest of the time.

31' -- Looping freekick, pretty close one from Ewangin there.

36' -- Syarif is having an amazing day. Or was. Until he botched an easy catch, and Akman got to the ball first for a header on an empty net. 1-all. Somebody shoot me now. That wasn't even a hard ball to handle. He just didn't get control of it.

46' -- Cross for Akman who outjumps us at the far post and puts a strong header easily home! It's offsides though, thankfully, because we did everything we could to stop that and he just beat us on the play.


HT -- Bayhaqi and Yarangga come on after a 1-1 half to open it, hopefully they're ready enough to help us push on. We've been good enough to win, but it only takes one mistake to lose a lead.


48' -- Akbar with a fine header at midfield flicks one on to Saputra who has a full head of steam and runs past their defense, moves in ... and puts it high. They come down and Septian puts one into orbit from just outside. So nothing either way, but that was a great opportunity to take the lead again.

51' -- Herlan goes down at midfield and his day is done. I'm out of midfielders, so Patay comes on and we'll go with a 5-2-2-1. I've tried just about everything else, why not this?

64' -- Another how did we not score there moment. Bayhaqi is led into the area, but stands there to adjust his camera and take an album of photos, naturally it's tackled away, Akbar[ gets a shot and deflected out. Both shots should have scored, and of course they clear the corner kick.

78' -- Long shot by Akman is way off. Nobody is getting any play.

81' -- Another long shot nets them nothing.

88' -- Freekick from 25, Syarif leaps but can't get it, off the bar! It rebounds harmlessly out of the area. After a cross Annas has it in front, but he's totally bracketed and can't get anything through. They are pushing hard for another score, we may have an opportunity here ...


FT -- Nothing. A 1-1 draw, and we gave away two points today. Better than we were expected to do, not as good as we should have done. That's really become a rather fitting microcosm of our entire season.

Syarif is the completely undeserving player of the game. Now, he was fantastic almost the whole way, great passes, assist on the Ewangin goal ... but he singlehandledly handed away the one they scored. Not what I would have done.

Herlan sprained an ankle and will be out two months, which means he's done for the year.

[Brian Swartz]

Due to a power outage I lost the last few match write-ups of the season. It was not a particularly dramatic finish, so I didn't really sweat it a whole lot and just moved on. Here's how things concluded:

3.13 vs. Pro Duta -- W 2-1. We outshot them 16-3, spending almost twice as much time in their third as they did in ours. Still we trailed 1-0 at the hour mark, with Yogi converting a penalty kick in the 69th minute and Bayhaqi adding the winner in the 73rd on a simple pass from Yogi after a slow build-up. The defender simply missed the ball and he placed one in the left side from mid-area to give us the win.

4.2 @ PSBK -- W 4-0. A competitive match except for the fact that their attackers were no threat at all -- they generated only one shot despite decent possession numbers. We got a pair late in the first half by Ewangin who had one last hurrah here, another early in the second by Bayhaqi, and an own goal rounded out the disastrous match for PSBK in injury time. A great road win kept our momentum going, but it was already too late.

4.17 vs. Persipro -- D 2-2. A lot of action early on. A quick goal by Bayhaqi in the 9th minute was answered almost immediately, and then Akbar put us up again on a perfectly placed shot in traffic from a Bayhaqi header. That was in the 27th, and we held the lead until midway through the second half. They equalized by Rosadi on a corner, their second score via that route.

FINAL STANDINGS, PREMIER DIVISON GROUP D FIRST PHASE 2015-16

Persepar(48 pts, +22)
Madiun Putra(44 pts, +20)

Persigubin(39 pts, +19)
Perspipur(35 pts, +7)
Perseba Super(29 pts, -3)
Persipro(28 pts, -8)
Perseta(26 pts, --)
Persida(25 pts, +4)
Pro Duta FC(25 pts, -5)
PSBK(25 pts, -9)

Persitema(22 pts, -12)
PS Biak Numfor(12 pts, -34)

The best two second-place teams move on to Second Phase as well as the four champions, Perserang finished second but lost out on goal differential for the final spot ... Persibom finished third behind a dominant youngster(24 goals in 21 matches), so all of us did well but none could turn the back-to-back promotion feat. Maybe next year.

[Tellistto]

Hard to believe just how small that club you got the job with was/is. Solid work so far. Hopefully you found some good replacements for your retirees!

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

It was definitely a busy offseason, thanks for reading!

The May review revealed that Bayhaqi was named young player of the month, and Kombo continues to progress.

SEASON REVIEW

We burst out of the gate with an eight-point lead early, which we lost in a decidedly subpar middle of the year. A fairly strong finish, but combined with an early exit from the Indonesian Cup again, it was a disappointing second half.

Overall it's hard not to be pleased though. Third place in our first season in the Premier Division is far better than anyone expected. Saragih and Yogi are named in Premier Team of the Year, Yogi's contract means this adds 11M to his paycheck.

We were only 41st in average attendance(408), yet were given the 33rd-highest salary and managed to be 8th-best overall. I'd call that excellent work given the financial situation. The question is, how much more can we do?

May 8 -- End of season business. Team meeting ... I tell them we're aiming for a top-half finish next year. After this season, nothing less should be acceptable for us. Syarif agrees, Sutanto thinks it's too ambitious. I don't back off, and we have mixed reactions. Six up a little, Five down a lot. Setia, Herlan(leaving), Bayhaqi, Sutanto, and Patay think I'm reaching too high. That's some key guys there, so we'll see what they think when we come back.

Board Review -- They are content with the season, labeling our performance in competititons 'satisfactory', new signings 'adequate', and showing particulary good marks on our player performances.

Annual Training Report -- Syarif(Shot Stopping) and Kombo(Tactics) are the biggest positives. We have four negatives, Herlan, Ewangin, Yarangga, and Ferminus. Well, only Yarangga is coming back, so overall that's still ok but not as good as we would like obviously.

5.12 -- Players go on vacation, and the local planning commission once again blocks the stadium move. Based on last year, it'll be another six weeks before we get a preliminary budget.

[Brian Swartz]

May 31 -- DM/MC Yusuf Yusuf, good enough to be an emergency midfield backup, turns 17 and signs a 750k contract through the end of the 18-19 season.

SQUAD EVALUATION

KEEPER

GK T.M. Syarif(23) -- He wasn't as sure-handed as I'd like, but a good part of the credit for us being one of the stingiest teams in the Premier Division on our debut goes to him. A solid keeper and one that can continue to get better, definitely was a big acquisition.

GK Roni Setia(19) -- Hasn't gotten a lot of playing time and hasn't progressed much as a result. He's here for another year but if we can find a better backup we'll take it and dump him.

DEFENSE

DC Endra Abidin(18) -- Cheap and has a lot of time, development has been decent but not great. Definitely had his moments plus and minus as you'd expect of a young player. Right now I want to keep him around but the jury's still out.

DRC Dahrul Topansyah Saragih(27) -- One of our most complete players, important up and down the field. Had a strong year overall and scored three goals. It looks like he's basically peaked, but barring the acquisition of a real start what we get from him is enough.

DRC Ben Onisius Benoni Patay(30) -- 3 goals all in one match, solid but unspectacular. He's still here because he's cheap and has the right attitude, but definitely a guy I wouldn't mind upgrading if I can find a way. Could be his last year, if not it won't be long until we move on.

DRLC Adi Eko Prasetyo(27) -- Very cheap at 1.2M, plays all three positions, but doesn't do any of them particularly well. Another guy who is here only because of limited finances and because I can't find another option yet.

DL Ferry Kombo(21) -- What can I say, he's proving to be one of my best pickups and I certainly don't regret putting the money out for the transfer fee(only one I've paid to date). Still very young, far from his prime and he's become the best player at the club. Only drawback is he's strictly a defensive player and doesn't contribute to other phases, but what he does he does very well.

DL Widodo Faizal(17) -- Fairly raw, but we have a glut of young talented left-backs right now. Development has been ok but it looks like he's about to be superceded by the recently signed youngster Imam Hermawan(16), same position, more polished and similar potential. There's not room here for both. Faizal is on contract for two years and it won't be renewed unless he ups his game.

DC Iskandar Muda(30) -- Gave us some real size(194 cm/6-4+) in the middle of the defense when he replaced Fitriandi, but was a temporary and imperfect fix. Judgement errors are a flaw but not common enough to make us desperate. Two goals this year and still our best central defender overall by a significant margin.

Upgrading depth or middle positions is my main concern here, the wings are set for years with Saragih/Kombo.


MIDFIELD

DM/MC Chhun Kirivutharo(25) -- Only was here half the year, and only played half of that with the three-game suspension for the infamous red card and the one (bad) match with the Cambodian national team. He's fairly cheap and still probably our best overall midfielder, a quality player but more of a support one than a direct offensive threat. How he does next year will determine much of his future here, as the jury is still out a bit but he did enough at the end of the season to inspire some confidence.

MC Frans Yarangga(29) -- Long our defensive pit bull in midfield, Yarangga is showing signs that his best years are behind him now. He appears to now be lagging behind our better midfielders significantly(Saputra/Kirivutharo) and we can begin to number his days.

MC Dodi Saputra(30) -- The glue of our midfield, Saputra is always solid, occasionally spectacular, and usually disappoints when it comes time to contribute directly to our goal count. This year he was 0-for-17 shooting. He's a solid member of the 'good-enough-for-now' club, but father time is starting to sneak up on him as well.

MC/AMC Bangun Priyono(18) -- Still in the talented, unproven, and cheap camp. We learned this year that we need to not be relying upon him as a regular. He should probably be playing First Division ball at best, maybe Second Division, and that would be better for his development. He's on contract for two years, but will need to step up considerably.

We need at least two quality bodies here after deciding to let Herlan go. Add in the fact that there's some degree of uncertainty with every player and this is definitely my biggest priority this offseason.


ATTACKERS

AMC/ST Fabian Yogi(31) -- He's lost a step, but he's still our best and the fans love him. 8 goals/9 assists this year, well down from the 18 he put in last year during our promotion but still a productive season. For the first time though, it is possible we may not want him back beyond the coming campaign.

AMC/ST Imam Bayhaqi(23) -- Needs to produce at what we're paying him, and had 7 goals/6 assists while missing significant time with injuries, just 17 appearances. A 45% on-target rate is pretty darn good by our standards. I expect him to be a key part of our attack for a long time, and the injury really held him back from taking the next step. Hopefully next year he can do that.

ST/AMC Iwan Akbar(18) -- Almost 4M is a lot to pay a teenager, but this year it looked like he might be worth it. A higher ceiling than anyone else on the senior team, he could take over from Yogi within a year or two as my preferred striker. 8 goals, 7 assists in 18 appearances, and a 50% on target rate though the end of the year that wasn't nearly as good as the start. If we do get out of the Premier and into the SL, he's going to have a lot to do with it most likely.

AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(18) -- Right now we're all just hoping he can recover from the skull fracture, that's not a minor injury esp. for a young player. This was a disappointing year, with 5 goals/7 assists in 20 appearances. 40% on target wasn't that bad, but some days he just disappeared out there. Still pretty solid, and we still think he's going to get better and be a force at this level.

The Bayhaqi/Sutanto/Akbar trio is the future of our attack, no doubt about it. We need to add depth though, with Ewangin retiring they need someone behind them. On the youth team, AMC Muhammad Triyono has shown flashes but is still a long way from being a major contributor.

NEW SIGNINGS

Most of our moves would wait for the budget to be released and see how much money there is available. I knew I wanted at least two midfielders and one player up front, so I did splurge on a premium mid. One player stood above the rest, Efbrik Pradana, presently playing for Persipasi. He has the best professional attititude and the lowest salary demands of the bunch and was as good as any of them. He's gotten only sporadic appearances for a club that's about to go down to First Division, so he hasn't had a chance to really show much. At 23, there was time for him to improve and the information I was looking at showed he should be about the same level as our best current players, Kirivutharo and Saputra, with room to get somewhat better. He wanted 3.75 but I got him down to 3M, he didn't want any annual raise or promotion raise clauses.

It only took him two days to sign, he was excited about getting to stay in the Premier Division and not get relegated down to First with the rest of his club. With this signing we had basic coverage everywhere, and it was just a case now of waiting for the budget and seeing how much was left to improve our depth and balance.

[Brian Swartz]

JUNE

6.10 -- US beats Jamaica 1-0 with Julian Green the scorer in the first NAM Qualifying game for the 2018 World Cup.

6.14 -- Another win for the US, 4-1 over Trinidad & Tobago.

6.19 -- Sponsorship deals worth 500M announced, almost exactly the same as the 498M last year.

We also get our initial budgets, and I'm shocked. They suggest 100M, 333M transfer budget. Clearly they aren't interested in resting on their laurels and slowly growing out of this, it's more than a 50% increase.

My direction is clear: I'll try again for better coaches and see if they've loosened up those at all, and I'm also going to go for any upgrades to our roster I can find. For the first time, it's really at the point where the limiting factor probably won't be money -- it'll be the fact that players significantly better than the ones we have aren't interested in playing for a club of Persigubin's stature.

It's fantastic to have a board that is behind me like this -- gives me a great sense of excitement about the season to come. I call PJ Bob in and give him the great news: it's time to get to work!!

Keeper -- the best we can do are guys basically at the same level as Syarif, but adding another solid keeper as a backup will give us cover no doubt about it. We like Dikri Afafa, who is not as good but a little better potential and at 21 a little younger as well. He allowed 22 goals in 21 appearances for Persikubar, a bad First Division club, last year. Decent personality, not really a pro or con. 2.75M proposed.

Defense. This is where most of the quality available to me is. We wanted to get deeper at DR and there's only one player: Belly Syawindra(24), currently unemployed. Evaluation puts here as an equal to Kombo and a bit better than Saragih, who we could move inside to DC if we wanted to where he's almost as good. Syawindra is ambitious and a bit expensive, but we don't care about that now. 3.5M proposed.

At DL Kombo is of course a premium talent already, I'm never opposed to getting somebody better and the new youngster should be a capable backup. Hendriko Kiwak(22) is nearly as good and is almost ready to play all three back positions ... a Prasetyo only a much better version of the idea. 3.5 offered.

To really finish it off we'd also need a DC upgrade. If we get the first two signings we've got good players in the middle with Saragih/Muda and Patay/Prasetyo as backups. But there's tons of DCs available, if there's a top-quality one we could still improve. Nobody that really shakes the trees here, but well-rounded Hagi Permana soon-to-be-relegated Premier side PSAP is worth acquiring. 3.25M offered.

Midfield: We've already thrown 15M into the kitty ... in reality that's not even half of what we have to spend and we can't even go after players that require a transfer fee. Not because we don't have the money, but because none of them are interested. A pair of 23-year-olds here could give us the flexibility of going with a normal wide midfield if we so choose, but I honestly see no reason to do that. We haven't suffered that I can tell from playing the narrow formation, and might as well continue to play to our strengths. That means our man is MC Wahyono, a good performer with PSCS(First Division). He'll consider 4M.

Attackers: ST Burhanuddin Bayu(also of Persikoba) is the only player that really makes sense. He's about equal to our top players up front now and would ensure that we can play a quality scorer at any time. He's 24 and there's the potential to get better. Good strikers don't come cheap: we have to pony up 4.5 to get him, he'll be one of our highest-paid players.

I also put out advertisements for several different coaching positions. I feel dizzy and a bit scared having thrown this much money out there, but if they're giving it to me I might as well spend it. I expect they'll have expectations to go with all this cash. Based on last year's figures, I have the authority to move us up from about the one-third mark in terms of total payrolls to a very average mark right at the median. These players I've offered for are the very best in terms of initial impact that will consider coming to play here, so I'm not pulling any punches. It's an all-out assault on assembling the best team money can buy for the 16-17 season.

All of our targets signed, the last coming in on my 39th birthday, June 24. The opportunity to play in the Premier Division, or stay there for some players with relegated clubs, was our biggest draw it seems. To the extent you can have one at this level, my 'dream team' was complete. All I needed was to hear back about the staff and see how the salaries shook out. Four out, seven in when the dust settles in a week's time: and the board can keep their transfer budget, since we won't be needing one.

June 26 -- Indonesian Cup is over. Defending champions Arema went out in the first round shockingly to Premier side PSIR, a good Premier side but still. Persib won both the Cup and the Super League(the last one for the third straight year). Their coach Widodo, just 45, is already considered the greatest Indonesian coach ever. He's been there just under three years and won 65% of his games(99-26-26), by an average of more than a goal per game. Persib are up to #2 in the national club rankings, with the top spot seemingly only a matter of time. Simply put, they and he are the standard.

[Brian Swartz]

Before moving on, I thought it appropriate to take a moment and recognize the contributions of retiring ST Engel Ewangin. His career spanned 14 years, with 66 appearances and 23 goals, most of those at Persigubin. He joined us in 2008, five years before I got here, and for my first two seasons was a focal point of our attack. In his prime perhaps he could have been a consistently effective player at the Premier level, but certainly not anymore. He was vital in getting us to this point however, and will be missed.

RANKINGS

Indonesian Super League -- 19th(+3)
Premier Division -- 26th(+6)
First Division -- 72nd(+7)
Second Division -- 105th(no change)

Indonesia -- 179th(-27)
United States -- 67th(-30)

Persigubin -- 74th(+7)

Professional Approval -- 20.5%(+1.0)
Local Name Recognition -- 54.9%(+1.8)
Global Name Recognition -- 5.7%(+0.6)

It was a good year for Indonesia domestically, a catastrophic one for both nations internationally. As for my personal situation, both club and I as its manager saw marginal gains. To really make a splash, we need to promote again.

[Tellistto]

Go new Board of Directors! Way to step up with the money with such a crap stadium and crap fan base!

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

JULY

July 6 -- US loses 1-0 to Peru in the first game of the 2016 Copa America(Chile and Ecuador are also in their group). Not the kind of play to propel them back up to the Top 20 where they were at the World Cup before crashing out.

July 8 -- DL Faizal is out on loan to Bank Sumsel(lower division side), where he will be able to get some first-team experience.

July 9 -- 6B profit last year is reported, but it's a mirage. Loans + over 4B investment by the board, it was actually about a 2 or 3B loss.

July 10 -- U.S. drops an early lead to lose 4-2 to Chile in the Copa America.

July 13 -- Roni Setia is now moving on loan to Persitoli(lower-division).

July 14 -- The struggles continue at Copa America as the US loses 3-1 to Ecuador. With three losses they finish last in Group A and will not advance, a miserable result.

July 16 -- Tempting offer from Persikasi(Second Division) for Frans Yarangga. They don't want to pay a transfer fee, quite understandable for clubs of that level, but I'm not letting him go without it. No deal.

July 18 -- Offer in for Iwan Akbar, but I'm not interested in letting last year's leading scorer go. There isn't anybody out there right now that we can really replace him with.

July 28 -- Perserang are named overacheivers of the year in the Premier Division, and it's hard to fault the choice. It could have been us, but we faltered.

July 29 -- Persepar turn full professional as they join the Super League.

Fabian Yogi is named player of the year. Again. Third straight time. Others could have been named this time, but he probably still deserved it.

I'm a bit surprised by our official board expectations, Consolidate is still their minimum, top half the maximum. It's only worth another 10M per week which we will almost certainly not need, but I still spring for the top half finish. We really should be able to do that sleepwalking.

PREMIER DIVISION GROUPS

We remain in Group D, but about two-thirds of our competition are different from who we faced last year. Our finances have been upgraded to Okay(I beg to differ). Sutanto is now listed along with me among our favored personnel, Yogi is still the only Legend, and we have no icons. We also now have an estimated value(a whopping 4B, but hey its something). 20B in debt. We've been picked 9th in the group, so they are giving us a bit more respect after last year but not as much as we deserve. Same as always, we need to go out and earn it.

My goal is to win the Division. With the new players we have and a third-place finish that could have been better last year, anything less will be a disappointment. The excitement of having a full, balanced, and deep squad brings with it also pressure -- it will be hard to overachieve(compared to my expectations, those of the fans/board are much lower).

There is a moderate amount of disappointment at the departures of Urwan and especially Herlan, who the board thinks of as the biggest negative right now.

July 31 -- After Magnin was a fired a few days ago in the wake of the embarassing Copa de America beatdown, the USMNT hires Frank Klopas as the new head man. A 49-year-old American and veteran of club football in Greece and the US, he coached in the MLS at Houston, Chicago, and Montreal before taking the national team job.

[Brian Swartz]

August

My job is still described as stable, with the board satisfied with what I've done. I talk to the board about staff salaries, a matter of utmost importance. I still can't hire anyone, they are about half what they need to be in most cases. Half the squad is now upset about the standard of fitness coaching and the youth team has no coaching at all. I do what I can to bring in players who can contribute right away, but for Persigubin to build a solid future we must do a better job with training them and have some semblance of a program for the youth.

To my surprise, they agree! I take another crack at the job center, coaches for both squads.

We've appointed Ferry Kombo as captain. Half the squad thinks it's great, and only one person objects -- Kombo, who thinks he's being put under too much pressure with that role at a young age. Hopefully he'll grow into it. Ewangin was captain and Urwan vice-captain last year, and of course they can't do it anymore inasmuch as they've retired.

We begin the preseason with 23 players, not counting Setia and Faizal who are out on loan. Preseason playing time is strictly on a need-to-play basis, based on fitness. Based on the initial reports from PJ Bob, we've got a lot of work to do to get these guys ready.

I had to keep reminding myself 'it's only a friendly' as we looked pretty darn impressive in beating SL side PSMS 3-0 on the road to open the preseason. Ten weeks till opening day ...

TEAM COMPARISON

Overall we have a team which is among the Premier Division elite in terms of being a hard-working club(5th), something I always emphasize. We are near the bottom in leadership and aggression though, which won't help.

Keepers -- You can really see the upgrades here. We have the best reflexes in the league, though we're still near the bottom in one-on-ones. The defense will have to keep working to limit those kinds of opportunities.

Defense -- A mixed bag here. Heading, Marking, and Positioning are still subpar. A disciplined defense is key to the way I want to play, but we just haven't been able to get there. We do have strong players with excellent acceleration and decent pace/tackling, so we will attempt to make up athletically what we lack in preparation. Ironically this is the opposite of my priorities, but we saw last year that rapid recovery can often make the difference in preventing a scoring chance.

Midfield -- Also mixed. Tackling and Long Shots are our biggest weaknesses, so I don't expect to see a lot of goals from the group. Teamwork and technique are strengths, and we're reasonably good passers/decision makers as well which will be crucial. We rely more on the midfield interception via heading or cutting off a pass as opposed to tackling, though it'd be better to be good at everything obviously.

Attackers -- We don't do much at an elite level, but what we do have are athletes. Few teams are faster, none have better acceleration -- which means we will continue to try to counterattack, play direct football and beat the other team to the business end of the pitch. Finishing, heading, anticipation are all weaknesses. Athletic but young and not particularly technically skilled. Hopefully we'll grow a bit in those areas.

We aren't bad in any one area, and have always been a club that is more than the sum of its parts: by playing to our counterattacking strengths and controlling the middle of the pitch, I think I've gotten the most out of our talent for the most part. I'll aim to do so again this year, you won't see any major tactical changes.

Over the last two years, we have dominated teams at or below our reputation level(nearly 3:1 goal scoring) while slightly outscoring higher rated teams. Can't ask to do better than that.

Interesting fact: we are slightly younger than the rest of the league, and Fabian Yogi at just over 32 is now the 'wise old man' of the squad, a role that was the sole province of Ewangin up till now.

Aug 11 -- The first crop of GK Coaches shows that we've made progress wage-wise but aren't quite there yet. The cheapest won't settle for less than 1.7M, with the board maxing out our offers at 1.6M. I keep that one running for a while longer as we may get someone who will take it.

Aug 13 -- Herlan signs at Persis Solo, in the First Division. The fact that nobody in the Premier picked him up is validation of my decision not to retain his services from where I sit.

Aug 15 -- Big news today as we have signed a fitness coach! 43-year-old Indonesian national Eka Raka Galih will make our new board max(1.5M) to whip our guys into shape. PJ Bob has virtually no skill at fitness, while Galih is only a bit subpar. In terms of his skill with the players he's not nearly as good, quite adaptable but poor in terms of determination and motivating ability. But a poor coach is far superior to no coach. I'm hopefully he'll make those complaints about our fitness training go away.

As it turns out, Galih will only moderately improve our effectiveness in fitness training. It is an improvement though, we're now as good at fitness as any other category(which again doesn't say much).

I had a player decision to make which seemed at first to be quite difficult. A new MC recommended ... but not cheap. At all. From Malysia, Muhd Hanif Mat Dzahir can play right or center in the midfield or attacking midfield, which would give us coverage at two positions. Right now probably AMC is his best position. He's 22, personality is balanced which is a neutral pro/con consideration ... but he wants anywhere from almost 8M to 13M. I normally wouldn't consider it, but we are 31M plus under budget.

He'd make us much better at AMC and slightly better at MC according to what I see. To heck with it. A quite sizable transfer fee of anywhere from 150 to 300M was expected(we spent 70-some on Kombo, our only fee so far), but his club was willing to forgo any transfer fee. He refused to talk to us, stating that we don't have the resources to get close to his financial demands(the same thing I've gotten when trying to sign some lesser stars in the Super League).

Well, it was worth a try. Right now our top salary limit is at 7.75M set by the board, though we don't actually have anyone above 4.75 at the moment(Yogi made 6.25 for the first part of last year before taking a pay cut to make his extension).

Aug. 18 -- A new low for the Indonesian national team, 180th out of the 209 teams in the world rankings. Just how bad can things get??

Aug. 19 -- AMC Muhammad Triyono turns 17 and is offered a pro contract. He's not quite ready for the senior team yet but maybe we can loan him out. His potential is reportedly higher than the current ability of anyone at any position of our senior squad and few have higher ceilings, so he's worth a bit of extra money to invest in.

He wants 850k and won't budge from it. Whatever, it's not that much, though a little more than most of the new youth players get.

Aug. 25 -- A twisted knee during a friendly will sideline Ferry Kombo for about a month. He should still be able to be ready for the start of the season if that's accurate.

[Brian Swartz]

SEPTEMBER

Training Positives: Priyono(Ball Control), Kiwak(Fitness), Bayu(Defending)
Training Negatives: Patay(Defending), Permana(Tactics)

The keepers are unhappy with the standard of goalkeeper coaching -- good point but I can't get anybody to sign on even for the(slightly) increased wages I'm authorized to offer. About half the players state they are unhappy with the training schedule for unspecified reasons(just says they are unhappy, not what they want changed). None are complaining about fitness training standard so at least we are past that issue.

Sep. 2 -- The US loses 3-2 to El Salvador in the first match for their new coach. Still tied for first in the NAM Qualifying, so it's not a disaster if they can right the ship.

Also, Indonesian Trial Day brought a couple of interesting new players to my attention. A few days earlier, I'd put out an offer for a player found by the staff, MC Paulo Oktavianus Sitanngang(20, 3.25M). He's only a decent backup quality for us right now, about the quality of Saputra, but has Super League potential. Trial Day was similar in the players that we found. DR/WBR Garry Rosadi(18, 3.25M), a youth player released by none other than Persib, would give us a premium talent at that position in terms of SL-level potential but isn't nearly as good as Syawindra or Saragih are right now. ST Victory Yendra(26, 6M) scored four goals for Persibom last year, and in his case we view him as a slight upgrade over Bayu and the rest of our attackers right away. The price tag made me balk for a bit, but I reminded myself that the money is there to spend, not sit idle. Even if all three sign, we'll still have at least 15M in the pot.

Sep. 3 -- Sitanngang agrees to terms, saying he's looking forward to working with such a talented group of players. So am I!

Sep. 5 -- Yendra signs, and becomes our highest-paid player by a significant margin. Rosadi signs later in the day, and that's that. Our squad is positively enormous now. I offer Rosadi out on loan, the other two I expect to significant time for here.

With a little over a month to go in the preseason, this year is getting crazy already. Can I balance all the playing time needs in a sensible rotation for this group? Are they all going to go nuts without enough coaches to go around? Will all the new players gel soon enough to keep us from imploding? Or will everyone work together with the result that we will treat the Premier Division as our personal whipping boy??

We now have a staggering 29 players, two of whom are out on loan leaving still 27 here. Depth won't be a problem, but as mentioned other problems are expected to supplant that.

Sep. 7 -- US loses 2-1 to Jamaica. With two left to play they are now in serious danger of failing to qualify ...

Sep. 20 -- Ferry Kombo returns to full training, he should be able to get in two games before the start of the season. We've got a couple other injuries but they are just youth players or end-of-the-bench guys.

Sep. 22 -- So much for that. Hendriko Kiwak has pulled a hamstring and will be out probably close to a month and a half. Kombo's health just got a lot more important.

Sep. 25 -- Iwan Akbar is out for a month, maybe more following a twisted knee during a friendly.

Sep. 26 -- Hagi Permana has suffered a broken ankle in training and will miss 3-4 months, basically at least half the season if not more. I'm not feeling like I signed too many players just about now.

New offers come in for Saputra(free) and Akbar(75M up front, 172M more over the next year, 16M if promoted). Saputra is just depth for us now but at only 1.7m I don't see any reason to give him away. Akbar is this year's Sutanto ... everyone wants him but we think he can hang at the Super League level. Not giving him up people.

Both are rejected.

Sep. 30 -- Persiba Bantul ups their offer for Akbar to 90M, 197M over the course of the next year. 300M is a serious haul for an Indonesian player(the top players tend to go for a little under 1B in the Super League). It was enough for me to think about it ... briefly. Not giving away SL-quality talent, we don't have enough of it yet. Rejected.

Also interesting is the players recommended by our staff are not even worth considering the last month or so. The reason for this basically boils down to how our talent level has increased -- only the best of those we can afford would even crack our rotation. The only way we're going to get better is for the club to grow in stature and income, the quickest path being to join the Super League. The evidence just keeps mounting.

[bbgunn]

What the hell happened to the US? How can they be on the cusp of not qualifying for the World Cup? Who was that new coach again?

[Brian Swartz]

It seemed to me that the decline began under previous coach Magnin, and that Klopas has mostly just failed to reverse it at this point. Other than that, I really don't have an answer for the why.

Frank Klopas is, at this point in our story, just recently turned 50 years old. As a player he made most of his noteworthy achievements at AEK Athens from 1988-1995, also playing at Apollon and then later at Kansas City and Chicago in the MLS.

Coach-wise, he held the head job at Montreal(1999), then for a long time at the Chicago Fire(2000-2015) and then at Houston the first half of this past year before taking the national team job in July.

The US now has a streak of five straight competitive international defeats, so it really hasn't seemed to matter who the coach was or who they played.

[Brian Swartz]

OCTOBER

Training Positives: Sutanto(Fitness)
Training Negatives: Bayu(Attacking)

I take another run through the players to see how they're feeling, as we've transitioned from preseason fitness training to work on teamwork. We only have a few unhappy players now on the senior team(who think they are overworked), most are satisfied what what is being asked of them. My main concerns are Sutanto who seems to have stalled(though he was our standout last month so maybe he'll start moving forward again) and Kiwak who, aside from being injured, is the one guy on the team who just really isn't putting forward that much effort. Combination of those things and he's lost the top spot at DL to Kombo for sure at the moment.

Chemistry was a major concern as well with so many new faces, but I see no signs of any significant problems. It's also noteworthy that Sutanto is still enthusiastic about his future. Maybe last year was a blip and he can keep moving on.

Board is still satisfied, but with a loss of another almost half-billion last month they are making noises about selling players. You gave me this budget guys. Can't make the SL on the price of a subway ticket now can we?

10.1 -- We defeat PSMS away again, this time 1-0, in our final friendly. And now it's on to the season, where we'll be under significant pressure to produce. I thought it would be useful to summarize who our first choice players will be, especially since I'm going to be going with more of a rotation system this time around.

GK -- Syarif/Afafa

Syarif will see most of the starts, but I play to use Afafa every third or fourth game to get him some experience out there, and in general I'll have him on the bench for the toughest opponents or most critical fixtures.

Defense -- Kombo/Kiwak/Saragih/Muda/Permana/Syawindra

Kombo and Kiwak are basically interchangeable on the left though we'll give Kombo the majority of the time until I have a good reason not to. Syawindra is the man on the right with Saragih a good backup as we've seen, Muda and Permana in the middle. With Permana and Kiwak out this complicates things, Saragih is the best choice to sub there but it will definitely leave the second center back position as the weak link. To really have a high-quality defensive line we need Permana back out there. Patay is the next-best thing if somebody else gets hurt, but right now he's purely emergency depth.

Midfield -- Kirivutharo/Pradana/Wahyono

These three are our 'A' team in midfield, all about the same quality and I'll go with this trio whenever I can. When I can't(such as when Kirivutharo decides to get suspended for a freaking month or when he's called up to the Cambodian national team), young phenom Sitanggang followed by the cheap dependable vet Saputra are our best options. Yarangga has been relegated to emergency depth, he's really fallen off the last year or so and of course we've just gotten better players.

Attackers -- Yogi/Bayhaqi/Akbar/Sutanto/Bayu/Yendra

Six players in a rotation of sorts at three positions. The rest of our roster has improved to the point of sort of leaving the attackers behind(same deal at keeper really as well). Yendra and Bayu are going to be platooning at striker until someone distinguishes himself, we evaluate Yendra as being better but Bayu did more in preseason(admittedly staying healthy helped). At AMC the trio of Sutanto/Bayhaqi/Yogi will rotate, which leaves Akbar as sort of the odd man out. My plan at the moment is to go with a 4-3-1-2 on occasion with him as the second striker to get him some time, depending on the injury situation.

October 2 -- We announce season ticket sales of 86, just 2 up from last year's 84. I have to admit I'm pretty disappointed by this, I would think our strong showing would have generated a little more interest in the team, even if they aren't ready to get behind the new players yet.

October 3 -- A bruised head will cost us Afafa for a week and a half, maybe two weeks. That takes care of who starts the season in goal. Of course, with Setia out on loan we now have no backup.

October 7 -- CJ Sapong lights up El Salvador with a hat trick as the US trounces El Salvador 5-1 to break the losing streak. They still need a win in their finale against Trinidad & Tobago -- shouldn't be a challenge really -- to make it to the Fourth Phase.

Kirvithuaro played his second poor friendly in three tries for Cambodia, as Bahrain defeated them 4-1.

[Brian Swartz]

2016-17 SEASON

Preseason is over.

10.8 @ Persipro They're narrow 5-4 favorites, we had a loss and a draw last year so we're hoping for better in this one.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Muda/Saragih/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Sitanggang/Pradana
A: Yogi/Sutanto/Yendra

Kirivutharo is still with the Cambodian team and Yarangga is serving a yellow-card suspension from the end of last year, so we have only Saputra to sub with quality in the midfield and no backup keeper. So much for extolling our depth. Also new this year is having to put thought into who my subs are. Rarely before has there even been a choice, just whoever is available. Now, I have to take several players that won't even dress.

And we're off!

11' -- Syarif knocks out a floating cross that looked a bit dangerous for a corner. Easy clearance for Kombo, pretty even start so far.

18' -- Weird seeing Saragih in the middle of the defense instead of doing his thing out on the right. Very weird. Anyway, Fadii fouls him and injures himself in the process. Be as stupid as you want, fellas.

19' -- An impatient frustration shot from Sutanto at 30y accomplishes nothing of course. First shot either way in a highly uneventful start.

23' -- Long freekick for Sutanto, goes wide.

25' -- Couple of nice plays by Wahyono in midfield, we bring it down and get a corner. Goes to Saragih at the far corner, he's doubled and outjumped for that one, and Sutanto tries to head one back towards the goal but that's cleared as well. We've started to take control of the possession battle, now we need to get some quality chances.

33' -- Or we could go back to losing the possession battle, that works too. Wahyono-Sutanto-Yendra up the middle on a string except Sutanto's pass led him too far right. He hits a perfectly placed shot cross-angle shot, and it doesn't matter -- we take the lead 1-0!

Until, that is they call him offside, which is really a fairly obvious call looking at the replay. Annoying though, when I want to get the year off to a flying start. Still scoreless.

34' -- They'll try another corner. Kombo is there again. Did I ever mention he's like, really good? We give them another crack at it almost immediately and Syarif grabs the ball himself.

A few minutes later, they get a yellow for fouling Yendra, though I don't think it was deserved.

40' -- Header from close to the spot, their first shot of the day, bounces slowly and Syarif is there.

43' -- Fadii leads Prastowo into the area, not bad defense by Muda but he just got beat, angled shot from in close is open and Syarif tips it wide. Best scoring opportunity of the day either way, and we're fortunate there. Two corners and a couple more crosses follow which go nowhere.


HT-- This is one for the defenses, two shots apiece either way, Syarif saved the day on one and Yendra was offside on the other, so no scoring. Might not be any either. No changes.


51' -- Corner for them. They are gradually looking the better team. Dangerous right in front, and I'm grateful for Muda's size as he heads it clear.

54' -- Oh wow. Sutanto up the middle for Yendra, outduels a defender for the ball, gets some space from a little outside the area, and makes their keeper look stupid on a well-placed shot into the right side, a looping shot and he just couldn't get that high and far to the side. Second time's the charm, and this was more impressive. 1-0!

55' -- Corner. We really need to stop giving these up so much. Seventh today. Saragih is the first of several at the near corner. They try to center but Muda is there. Back into the area and Sitanggang gets rid of it.

57' -- Cross from deep is up the middle, Fadii just outjumps Saragih who was right on the play, heads it on to Prastowo, stops and pops from mid-area ... went for the left upper corner and missed. Another gift, and our lead remains. For now.

60' -- We get sucked too far up, Prastowo is free at the edge, Syarif turns it aside ... we scream offside which it was close, no call, and the corner is to Fadii at the far post, powers it well high. Heavens. They are going to score eventually if we don't stop giving them chances.

65' -- Bad throw in intercepted by Sutanto, to Yendra who draws the defense wide then hits the trailing Yogi from the edge ... floats it just high.

69' -- Muda just absolutely drops the ball ... literally ... and Prastowo gets an open angled shot, well wide.

72' -- Another turnover, Syawindra from the edge is easily saved by their keeper. Bayhaqi on for Yogi, Saputra on for Wahyono in a couple of fresh-legs moves.

78' -- Three times we make a nice play on the ball only to have them recover it. Muda loses Effendy for a moment, he's clear from maybe ten yards out, fairly weak shot and Syarif gets a hand on it. He's partly standing on his head today, but that should have been a goal anyway.

80' -- Bayhaqi gets free up the right but procrastinates and it's tackled away, Sitanggang with a clear shot from the edge, not bad but needed more juice and it's saved. Corner ... Saragih had a shot at a wide-open, in front header but misjudged it and they clear. Ay caramba.

81' -- Ball richocets around in front of their goal maybe a half-dozen times, our entire attacking half got at least one shot at it, nobody gets anything clear. Corner. Nothing, though I love the way Bayhaqi hits them, he's so much better than anyone else at it. Might earn him more time this year.

83' -- Bad throw in, Saputra up for Yendra who waits for company. He's got it in Sutanto, hits Bayhaqi on the run for perfect triangle execution, open from the edge and floats one in the top left corner, no chance! 2-0!

86' -- Bayhaqi's freekick from 25, straight on, way too much air under that one.

89' -- Two man game with Yendra and Pradana, Yendra chips from a bit inside the area and that's in there on the right side! Smoke em if you got em boys, it's 3-0!! Oh wow, they're calling him offsides again, disallowed!! No way that was offsides. No freaking way. That's one of the worst calls I've ever seen ... he's played a fantastic match and only one goal to show for it now.

90' -- Jump ball corner in front, ends up with Syawindra from the edge who just puts it wide.

FT -- Wahyono was ok, Yogi was poor, everyone else was good or better. The entire defense was just superb, some mistakes but more than made up for it. I've never seen our back contribute so much in all phases. We could easily have drawn or even with some bad luck lost this match, also could have been a runaway without the disallowed goals, but overall it was evenly played so a 2-0 win is fortunate. Definitely saw some good things though, and Yendra sold me. His ability to physically overpower defenders is something we've never had here.

[Brian Swartz]

10.9 -- The board injects another 800M. We'll be seeing a lot of that this year I would think.

10.11 -- It took a late goal by Jozy Altidore, but the US beats Trinidad & Tobago 2-1, and will move on to Fourth Phase World Cup Qualifying(NAM), the final and most lengthy phase. If they play like this, and they may not even qualify, but they are still alive.

10.14 v. Perseta(0-1-0) -- Slight favorites(6-4) against a club we've never played before. In the last three years, they've had a goal differential of 0 or -1 every time, mired in mediocrity.

GK: Afafa
D: Kombo/Muda/Saragih/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Kirivutharo/Pradana
A: Sutanto/Bayhaqi/Bayu

Afafa gets a run in goal in an early home game just to get him out there, Kirivutharo is back from international duties so we'll have our A team together in midfield, and Bayhaqi/Bayu get their first starts of the year on the attack.

5' -- A pretty good start, then they come at us on the counter. Isnaini stops and pops from just inside the area, and rockets a shot crossangle into the right corner. Nobody would have stopped that, it was just a fantastic strike and we trail 0-1 at home.

I do tell them to give him special attention though. We're behind for the first time this year ...

8' -- Bayu is offside, scores but it was obvious that one wouldn't count.

10' -- Bayu lays it off to Bayhaqi, he centers and there's a scramble in front, nothing gets through, deflections are out for a corner. We almost get a shot at a header and a follow-up, but the defense is just good enough.

A couple minutes later, a decent freekick by Bayhaqi is saved. Despite being behind, we look pretty darn good so far.

16' -- Corner for them, a bit too far and out of play.

24' -- We block them off at the edge well and another corner. It's to Hakim who is ridiculously open 10 yards out in front, doesn't control it immediately and Muda cleans up the trash.

26' -- Long shot high and wide from Bayhaqi. We're not getting many chances at all the last bit here ... of course they aren't either, but they're winning.

28' -- Decent delayed counter after a freekick, wide angled shot by Syawindra is nowhere close.

38' -- Sutanto from the edge after a fairly slow build, he scores and is called offside. That's two, and that one was close but he might have been too far upfield.

I know we're better, but we have nothing to show for it. And then, 30 seconds later ... Wahyono has two men on him, crosses, Bayu and two defenders at the corner of the box, he outjumps for a header that should have been stopped but sneaks inside the near post and a score! That play was the definition of making something out of nothing, they doubled the passer and the scorer and the keeper was in great position to make the play, header was on target but other than that not that great.

Whatever. I'll take it, we're even at 1-all. Perseta laughably appeal for another offside call. Go away.

41' -- Open chip from the edge by Bayhaqi, over the keepers head and off the bottom of the crossbar, bounces inches from the goal and they clear it. Can't get any closer without scoring.

46' -- Freekick by Wahyono from 25 is wide right ... but not by much.


HT -- 58% possession, we're winning the small battles and outshooting them 8-2. Another half like this and we should be able to take this despite giving up the early lead. We're getting not great play at all overall from the AMCS -- Yogi in for Sutanto to shake it up. Fairly subpar match by the defense also but we're getting away with it.


48' -- Yuli dribbles by Syawindra who goes for a sliding tackle and misses, Isnaini loses Saragih and puts it in from just ten yards out! 1-2! I want to scream!!

53' -- Syawindra and Pradana take turns losing it, then getting it back as we move it down the right. Eventually a shot mid-area by Bayu is blocked as they are tight on him, cleared out for a corner. Pretty good look at a header near-post for Muda at the edge of the box, he didn't hit that one well at all and it's wide right. Usually does better with those.

54' -- Isnaini is called for a dive, and they hand him a yellow.

58' -- Bayhaqi for Syawindra in from the right side, good shot but right at the keeper. Another corner, nothing.

63' -- We lose Isnaini again. Open from the spot, places it in the left side. That's the first I think Syarif would probably have made a play on. 1-3. Saragih again, and I pull him for Prasetyo just because.

Shortly afterwards, Yogi sets up Bayhaqi open from 10 in on the left side, but Kurniawan tackles it away at the last instant. We need those breaks now.

66' -- Two corners. Second one is headed out by their defense but Bayu heads it back towards goal, a deflection and Kombo is open in front, right side is clear and he pounds it in!! 2-3, and we're still alive!!

77' -- Wahyono and Yogi two man-game in midfield, then an opening for Bayhaqi down the right, they lead him in but too far and a near-impossible angle prevents a score.

83' -- Yogi floats in a cross, Bayu from the corner of the box with a tough header, crossangle and he almost does it again but misses wide. That man knows how to use his noggin.

85' -- Then there's Yogi. Wahyono's beautiful floating cross sets him up inside the box, in front, he heads it ... softly to the keeper. Gah!!!!!! That was the equalizer right there. You're not playing like a legend right now Yogi. You're not.

88' -- Bayu crosses for Bayhaqi, another edge of the box header, and this one's high. It ain't for lack of opportunities, fellas.

90' -- Wild shot from distance nearly scores for Wahyono, but wide right. I'm sold on his play if today is all I have to look at.


FT -- Horribly disappointing 2-3 loss. Looking at the core numbers it was the most dominant game we've ever played. 61% possession, 20-4 shots, no less than half a dozen great scoring opportunities ... and we lose. I tell them I'm pissed and most of them agree ... so are they. We simply cannot afford results like this, even early in the year. The margin for error in a short season with 12 clubs is just too small.

Bayhaqi, Syawindra, and Saragih all stunk it up.

[Brian Swartz]

10.16 -- Endra Abidin(young emergency DC) strained a muscle and will miss two weeks. Few will notice.

10.23 @ Persipur(1-0-1) -- An old friend here, and one up and one down for each of us this year. We had one draw and one defeat against them last year, and they are slight 5-4 favorites.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Saragih/Muda/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Kirvutharo/Pradana
A: Sutanto/Yogi/Yendra

We have Akbar and Kiwak back from injury, and I want to try to work them in for the second half especially if we're doing ok.

5' -- We start on the defensive, but get a great counter with a header by Sutanto setting up Yendra[. He couldn't control it soon enough, and his shot is blocked out for a corner. Pradana set up Muda near post but he was pushed fairly far out and a decent attempt was saved.

9' -- Long freekick by Wahyono, yards wide.

13' -- Yendra makes a great hustle interception at midfield, we work it in to attack and Wahyono gets a running look at a shot mid-area after a while, but traffic blocks it away.

They have more possession, but we've been far more dangerous. No shots surrendered yet and they've made some amazingly bad passes that we haven't been in quite the right position to capitalize on.

16'[ -- A cross off the bar for them, stays in play on the left side. Apriliyanto gets there first, heads to the near post, Aditya is there for them but so are Kombo and Syarif ... somehow the ball squirts in, and they strike first on their first 'shot' of the game. It's going to be charged to Saragih as an own goal, apparently it richocheted in off him somehow. What I said before is not valid, they technically have not shot yet. But still scored.

I'm starting to get the feeling we are cursed this year. 0-1

19' -- Kombo's cross is mishandled, another jump ball in front with Sutanto going for it but they had two defenders there and one of them made the header.

20' -- They try to lead into the area but Saragih clears it, corner. Nobody home, somebody should have gotten that in front at the edge of the box.

25' -- Rifle shot by Yogi, didn't have much of a window from the edge to get it through traffic, good reflexes by Adrian to turn it away. We're nowhere near making a play on the corner.

We're gradually taking more and more control, but have nothing for it.

33' -- Why do I always say that right before something happens? Lead centering pass on a counter, three players probably could have gotten a shot off but Pradana is the guy on the run and in rhythm, beats Adrian easily on the right side and we're even! 1-1!


HT -- Even score, but we've been better for the majority. Akbar on for Yogi and we'll go with the slightly more aggressive 4-3-1-2. Sitanggang on for Kirivutharo who has made a lot of mistakes and is definitely looking the weak link an otherwhise strong midfield.


46' -- They counter right away but a key header by Saragih breaks it up. Definitely they are looking sharper than us out of the intermission. They move it on again, Aditya is in on the left and Muda can't quite cut him off, Syarif stays with it nicely and makes the save on a pretty good chance. That's their first official shot of the game.

50' -- Scramble play just outside their area, bodies everywhere, and Sutanto steps into a shot that beats Adrian but is off the bar. Who will get to the rebound first? It's Pradana, open net but he just takes too much time!! Shoot the ball! Volley it! Stick out your gut!! Whatever, get it moving towards the goal!! Sutanto blasts the rebound from 12 yards, that's blocked by traffic and they clear.

We should have scored twice there. We get nothing. It's still even.

53' -- Nice passing, Akbar loose at the edge is the result and he goes high, Adrian's reflexes are good and it's a skyball out for a corner. We hold it in, decent opportunity for Muda who turns and fires from mid-area, off the left post! Cleared for a corner. Adrian grabs it.

Hey, I have an idea ... let's hit everything but the back of the net! Oh wait ...

62' -- Point blank header for Muda on a corner, they are right with him and block it away. Sitanggang gets a bold header high from further out on the second attempt.

64' -- Angled shot by Sutanto, blocked by Adrian, he gets another from close but the angle was too much, he was almost out of bounds for that one. I don't know if there are more ways we can find to fail to score. Shots are now 18-1.

71' -- A prayer from 35 is almost answered for them as the crossangle shot is off the post and we're fortunate to merely surrender a corner. They start to push forward and attack more, and we're not getting any play for a while

93' -- Pradana gets a good look from just inside the area, high and wide left. That was probably our last chance.


FT -- Yep. We outshoot them 20-2, control most of the match, and draw 1-1. I don't know what we have to do to get back in the win column, but we'd better figure it out soon.

I give Saragih a large piece of my mind, after which he sulks. The own goal was just unlucky, but he really went in the tank the last 20 minutes or so.

[Brian Swartz]

10.30 vs. Persida(1-0-2) Narrow 5-4 favorites at home, the standard line once again. This is really a must-win for us if we want to attain my lofty goals for the year. We've split our two meetings, one up and one down.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Muda/Saragih/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Kirivutharo/Pradana
A: Bayhaqi/Akbar/Bayu

I really need to get Kiwak in this game if at all possible.

3' -- Misjudged header by Muda, [/b]Drajad[/b]'s mid-area shot is a bit open but enough of a crowd to cut down the angle and Syarif blocks it. The start could hardly have gone worse outside of a goal.

10' -- Wahyono takes a bad inbounds, Bayhaqi's shot from well out is far wide.

11' -- One of the most ridiculous curling long-range shots I've ever seen from Akbar. Almost hit the corner cone with it.

13' -- Pradana's close freekick goes just over.

23' -- Corner for us, I switch to counter as they are dominating the ball. Bayhaqi delivers to Saragih, deep at the far post, he gets his head to it but puts it away from the goal. That really didn't help. A minute later, Pradana is hurt in a three-player collision. I didn't need that. Truly I didnt. Sitanggang comes on.

31' -- They stop Syawindra's run down the right side by running into him, yellow and a freekick just outside the area. Not a bad shot by Wahyono except their keeper didn't have to move an inch.

36' -- We're finally fighting back in midfield, more than a half-hour late. Bayhaqi to Bayu on the counter, left-footed chip from the edge is way right.

42' -- Akbar pounces on a clearance and puts an angled volley off the bar.

44' -- Bayhaqi leads Bayu in on the left, angled shot that should score but not the right direction on that, blocked out for a corner. Two corners, no love, and a ridiculous shot by them from almost out of bounds that troubles nobody.

47' -- Turnover at midfield, that's Wahyono again, Akbar from a bit outside, sliding tackle blocks it. Corner.


HT -- 10-2 shots, 5-0 corners, nothing. Same movie, different day. Kiwak in for Kombo who has been unimpressive, so why not. Back to a neutral stance for us.


48' -- Three defenders follow Achmad at the edge, leaving Drajad alone behind them. First-time shot inside the left post. 0-1. I'm so frustrated at this team right now.

49' -- Bayu goes wide, centers for Sitanggang, open from the spot and a weak shot easily saved. Better chance there than they just scored on. Just sayin' He gets another decent look within the minute, volley from inside is high.

50' -- Kiwak up the left to Wahyono, centers for Bayu, mid-area look and he blasts it into the roof with his left! 1-1! I thought he was taking too long there, then it looked like the shot was high. He knew what he was doing, thankfully.

51' -- Achmad to Drajad again, in alone just outside the box on the right. Should have scored, blocked by Syarif as it was drilled into his body.

We start a good run of controlling the ball and putting pressure on them.

64' -- A couple of dangerous plays that we just barely clear. Doesn't appear we'll get anything out of that run of strong play.

68' -- Bayhaqi from 30 ... rifles it but high.

77' -- Corner for them, they head it in to Achmad at the corner of the box, he's covered there ... and calmly kicks it out for a goal kick. Thank you for not even trying to score less than ten yards from the goal. We'll pay you later ... you do accept fluke, right?

84' -- Long, impulsive, STUPID shot by Akbar. Didn't even keep it within the box, what a surprise.

86' -- Bayhaqi leads for Akbar, complete horseradish offsides call but it doesn't matter as he just grounded it into the keeper's body. You don't score by hitting it the one place where they are.

90' -- They miss an angled rocket.

92' -- Last rush, Bayu fires a perfect pass to their leftback. We had three players in the vicinity.

FT -- We outplay them and don't win. Again. 1-1 draw.

[Brian Swartz]

NOVEMBER

Disappointing opening month. It's very simple -- we aren't putting the ball in the net. 5 goals allowed from four matches isn't terrible, especially when three came in one of them. 6 goals scored isn't enough though, we're barely on the positive side and have just five points. The frustrating part about it is nobody's come out and kicked our butts. We've kicked other teams most of the time and not gotten the results, and we're in the middle of the pack to start, three points back of the leaders.

Training Positives -- Sitanggang(Attacking), Rosadi(fitness)
Negatives -- Muda(fitness), Hermawan(Attacking)

Board is satisfied, due to their investments a negligible profit(5.7M) last month. As usual we have only two matches this month, but we need to get back in the winning column and start scoring more.

[Brian Swartz]

11.6 @ Perseba Super(1-3-0) PS are even-money favorites, and last year we did pretty well with a win and draw that should have been a win. We've had plenty of experience with the latter, and I'm hoping for better today.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Muda/Saragih/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Sitanggang/Pradana
A: Yogi/Sutanto/Yendra

The youngster Sitanggang has been a bright spot and Kirivutharo has been disappointing. They are going to platoon now until I am confident in one or the other.

7' -- Yendra gets a crack but is called offside. We look good early.

17' -- Wicked low curling freekick for Ahmad, but Syarif anticipated it and blocks easily. Perseba Super has been a lot better the last ten minutes.

18' -- They get a shot we should have never allowed, Saputra from mid-area, a lot of traffic and Syarif makes the save.

23' -- Volley by Pradana is way right.

36' -- Floater from 30, they put it just over.

45' -- Saputra angles in on the right, Kombo recovers just enough to get a piece of it at the corner of the box. As it starts to rain, they put in the corner, Saputra at the short post, it's cleared off the line by Kombo ... no, it's off him and in! 0-1

We worked all week on defending set pieces. Fat lot of good it did.


HT -- Well, they've been in control since about ten minutes in. We can't do anything, and now we're behind. I tell them they need to do better. Everybody responds well except for the sulking Kombo. Oh go grow up, mr. Captain.

Kiwak in for him.


51' -- Jump ball cross, cleared by Saragih, Rizal is on it and shoots to the open goal. 0-2

66' -- I told them to push forward more but got nothing out of it as expected. Another scramble in front of our goal and we're lucky we didn't give up another.

72' -- Yendra up on the right to Yogi, a bit of pressure but an open shot and it's ... almost right at the keeper. Sticks out his hand and deflects.

74' -- Syawindra centers ahead to Sutanto a bit wide right, he picks his nose, takes a few pictures, and has it tackled out for a corner. What in the world is wrong with us??

89' -- What the hell?? Angle chip by Ahmad, Syarif is right there and just plain misses it. I've never seen him give up that ... heck, I never saw Ferminus give up that kind of goal. 0-3


FT -- Ok then. We generated nothing. Two shots. I scream at the team, then take the time to go on another tirade with each and every individual as well. Anything worth doing .... Mixed results, but more negative than positive. Like I give a crap right now. We got our butts handed to us 0-3, and right now I'm not concerned about promotion, that ship is quickly sailing. I'm worried about not getting relegated.

[Brian Swartz]

11.13 -- Fabian Yogi suffers a thigh strain during a friendly as we have a two-week break. A month for him.

11.20 vs. PSBK(2-1-2, 5th) Tight 6-4 favorites, but my confidence is shot and the team's morale is doing well to stay decent. We did make one change, putting more training time into match preparation on the advice of Sitanggang We have been doing less of that than past years ... but other than our last match I don't think it's been an issue, the issue is we haven't put the ball in the net. Last year we split the meetings with PSBK, one win and one loss.

GK: Syarif
D: Kiwak/Muda/Saragih/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Pradana/Saputra ** First start of the year for Saputra
A: Bayhaqi/Yendra/Bayu

4' -- Very sloppy start, an angled shot is rolled in to Syarif and I'm glad that's all we gave up. Back the other way, Wahyono finds an open Bayu in the area and I expect an offside call ... none comes and he left-foots it just inside the post, we take the lead 1-0! They don't complain but I still think he was offside ... oh wait there's the call. Wow that was a late one.

Disallowed. Too good to be true.

10' -- Bayhaqi's kick from 30 is just high. He's looking frustrated already.

18' -- Two misjudged balls and Muda has to clear one off the line, barely getting it out.

21' -- I switch to counter, they're on the ball too much. They gift Muda a header with a bad clearance, he puts it into traffic with the left side of the goal temptingly open, and it doesn't work.

25' -- After an overpassing clinic Bayu is clear from about 17 just inside, places it but wide right.

27' -- They make a couple bad clearances and we get a couple of shots right in front, Saragih the best but too many bodies in the way.

29' -- Long shot for Bayu is off the bar, they get to it first.

30' -- Bayhaqi from just inside, saved by Junianto, decent attempt there.

31' -- They push it down the right, reverse, and Umam floats one from just inside the area. Perfect placed into the top crossangle horsecrap what the heck score. Of course. 0-1

33' -- Hideously off-target long shot for Bayu.

34' -- Interception by Saragih starts another break, Bayhaqi floats a pass over their defense to Yendra, soft header has the perfect angle into the left side! One of the better-looking scoring plays I've seen, probably our best this year. We tie it up, 1-1!

35' -- Long shot by Bayu, just saved. Nice attempt. Apparently we're the threat-a-minute crew now.

44'[b/] -- Long secondary header by [b]Saputra on a corner, saved.


HT -- 10-2 shots, 4-2 on target. We need another one though. We need to win. Akbar for Bayu, Kombo for Kiwak.


46' -- Arifin catches Muda sleeping ... the one defender who's been good today, then hits a criminally soft shot from just inside that's easily saved.

49' -- Second corner of the half, sixth of the day(we've surrendered none). Zilch.

51' -- Bayhaqi just misses right on a good freekick chance.

55' -- They feed it into the area, absolute crowd, Rama somehow uncorks a rocket from 16, Syarif deflects it but not enough. How do we DO these things??? 1-2

59' -- Whole team is frustrated, which might be why Akbar the Airhead launches one from 35. No. Don't. Just don't. Don't think about ... just no. Stop. Please?!?

62' -- Umam crosses for Arfani, quick cross strong header just wide left. Nearly got us again there.

64' -- Bayhaqi to Yendra, don't know how that pass got through, he has a crack just inside the area ... but waits and slides it left to Akbar, who chips it just inside the left post! He had a better one, and we tie it up at 2-all!

66' -- Bayhaqi finds Akbar for a long-ish angled volley on the left, it's high.

68' -- Heck of a long shot by Sobari, just a bit too far inside and Syarif dives to make the play.

69' -- Completely moronic header by Saragih trying to clear, gives Arifin a wide-open volley from inside the area with Syarif out of position. 2-3

I think that's the single dumbest thing I've ever seen a defender of mine do. Against stiff competition, I might add.

72' -- Syawindra crosses for Bayhaqi, his ten-yard header never even makes it to the goal, nearly parallel to it.

74' -- Decent chance for Bayhaqi, gets nothing on it. Saved.

81' -- Sliding interception by Saragih beats out two men, Yendra has lots of options but goes full retard, long left-footed shot that still almost scores but is just high. What happened to getting a better shot on that one?

86' -- This match is ridiculous. Wahyono to Akbar on the left side, he crosses to Yendra who is double-teamed but still manages a shot ... off the post. Beats both defenders to the rebound and scores to the open net. 3-3. I need a sedative.

93' -- Syawindra to the trailingSaputra, crack at a shot from a bit of an angle ... wide left.


FT -- Yep, that's it. Do I compliment the team on their fight-back, or be pissed that we outshot them 21-7 and won most of the small battles yet barely managed a draw at home? I go with the unlucky speech, it's true and seemed fairly effective.

Only 294 watched -- attendance going in the wrong direction.

Kiwak wants to know why he was taken out, Bob is recommending caution. I tell Kiwak he needs to respect that I need to make decisions like that from time to time, and it ends with him wanting out. We will see how much he likes sitting on the bench personally, I'm not putting up with this crap from a guy who has been either injured or done nothing in the limited time at the club.

If he hasn't changed his tune(which I don't expect him to), he'll be transfer listed for the February window. But that's a couple of months out, so he's here whether I want him to be or not for a while. He'll only get time when it suits me.

[Brian Swartz]

11.21 -- Indonesia starts of the AFF Championship with a 2-2 draw with Myanmar.

11.23 -- A 2-0 win over Brunei gives Indonesia a good chance of making the semis.

11.25 -- Indonesia is flying after beating Laos 2-0. With one match left to go, they have all but clinched their spot. They'd have to lose against the Phillipines, Myanmar would have to win, and a total difference of at least four goals in order to lose qualification.

11.27 -- Another 1.1B invested by the board. Their deep pockets apparently have no end, which is at least one blessing.

A 1-0 loss to the Phillipines is disappointing, but Indonesia still qualifies from Group B and will make the AFF semifinal.

DECEMBER

Training Positives: Wahyono(Tactics)
Negatives: Prasetyo(Fitness)

The board is satisfied, saying they are convinced the team has tried their best so far this year. I'm not, on either count. They also like the signing of Wahyono, who I would agree has been our bright spot, and everyone's upset at how Saragih is performing.

We are winless in our last five, 1-3-2 overall on the year which puts us in 10th place. We're only one point clear of relegation, six behind the pace of qualifying for Second Phase. It's pretty obvious at this point that it's time to adjust our goals. We've got four to play in December, and right now it'd be a successful month if we can move up to the middle of the pack.

[Brian Swartz]

12.3 @ PS KSB(1-2-3, 11th) Even-money favorites on the road, this is a big match for this early in the year, giving us a chance to put some distance between ourselves and a relegation competitor. They are interesting in that they sport a 3-4-3, a more aggressive formation than we've ever faced(Persemalra back in my first-division days had a 3-5-2, the only other team to go with three at the back).

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Muda/Saragih/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Kirivutharo/Pradana
A: Sutanto/Bayhaqi/Bayu

On the road against such an attacking formation, a countering strategy suggests itself even more than usual.

6' -- Paragaye fires away from 35, nowhere near. It's been an up-and-down the pitch start but no real chances either way.

8' -- Syawindra takes an errant pass, brings it up the right, to Bayhaqi, into the area for Bayu who scores! And is called offsides. Disallowed. Again. I think we've had more goals disallowed this year than let stand. This one was too close to call.

13' -- After an exchange of turnovers Kombo brings it up the left, a few passes later Sutanto finds Pradana who hits Bayu and this one won't be waved off, went near post on an angled shot from the right close in. Good lead pass and Bayu was between defenders, not behind them this time. 1-0!

15' -- So they pressure us and we've got them defended pretty well. Then Lestalhu goes around Kombo, centering pass and Muda is there but it just rolls off him, we all stand around saying a collective 'duh' while Tantan steps up and smacks it in from just four yards away.

Silver platter. 1-1. Facepalm.

18' -- Hussain misses wildly from just outside.

19' -- We lose possession on the ensuing kick and they come back down on a well-executed counter, Paragaye open mid-area and easily scores in the right side. 1-2. Double facepalm. Scream. Swear. Useless.

They call him offside! Late call, and frankly a ridiculous one I don't think he was offside. But hey, we're still tied! Somehow. One disallowed each way, so ...

Nice interception by Kombo, better pass up ahead to Bayu but they force him wide and it's only a corner. Far post, they get to it first, we head back in but nothing doing.

20' -- Kombo crosses, Bayhaqi just inside the area with a defender on him but he wins the ball and fires one into the roof, right side! 2-1!! Crazy game already and it's not even at the quarter pole yet.

And we haven't taken a shot yet that didn't score. When was the last time we said that??

23' -- Great play by Bayhaqi to come upfield to get a loose ball as we nearly lose possession. Kirivutharo plays it back up, first-time pass by Pradana to Sutanto who fires from outside ... Firmansyah dives but misjudges it, over his arms and scores! 3-1!! What nonsense, and I'm loving it!!!

That's Sutanto's first goal of the year, hopefully it'll jumpstart him.

25' -- Paragaye with a crack as he crosses into the area, high and wide right.

27' -- They are throwing everything they have at us now, Husain close-in shot but a sharp angle from the right, and it's into the side.

31' -- Sutanto to Bayu, clear over the middle but fires from outside, probably a bit early. Saved and pushed wide. Heck of a corner, they clear initially, Pradana heads to Saragih at the far corner, he puts it towards the goal, crossangle, then Paragaye clears off the line for them. Great effort there though.

33' -- Paragaye angles into the area, some pressure from Syawindra but he shoots upstairs and Syarif has to block it.

34' -- Nice passing the other way, Bayu is wide and centers one to Pradana, beautiful touch shot that is crossangle, soft but no chance to get there as it's inside the left post. 4-1!!

They're bad on defense(12 goals allowed in 6 outings) but not THIS bad.

39' -- Absolutely stupid play. They go by Kombo who basically stands still, he's crossing with authority and defending like a turnstile today, the opposite of the usual. Hussain gets it at the corner of the area, doubled, center pass goes between defenders where there was just the tiniest crack. Syawindra can't quite get over to cover Tantan, goes crossangle, deflected by Syarif and behind ... off the bar ... loose rebound ... banged into the open net by Paragaye.

sigh. 4-2.


HT -- I'm tempted to do some get-experience subs but I wait, a three-goal lead maybe but it's only two now and they're dangerous with that many men forward as we've seen.


48' -- 30yd free is just high by Handoko.

58' -- Angled freekick is high by Bayhaqi.

59' -- Syawindra in on the right for a decent angled shot, just wide and into the side.

64' -- Clinical overpassing, than a shot from the edge by Sutanto is well off. Afafa in for Syarif, Sitanggang in for Kirivutharo, experience time.

68' -- Ridiculously open and horribly off shot by Bayu, mid-area on the right. That's more like what I expect from us.

75' -- After a number of undistinguished shots and offsides, they trip Bayu as Sutanto had him set up with a good run for what looked like a on-on-one, Erwin trips him as he's going into the area, blatant foul and it's called, red card! Freekick for Wahyono, it's a fair bit high.

79' -- Corner goes to Muda at the near post, a bit wide though and two men block him off.

85' -- Horrid kick by Afafa, Paragaye just has to put it over his head to the open goal, but the try is wide. That's why I can't keep him out there, he's just an idiot sometimes.

86' -- Paragaye again, just wide from 30.


FT -- Nothing in the second half, but not for lack of opportunities. They outshoot us 16-15 but we had better chances overall and finished better. Lots of corners too, just a very offensive game as expected. We win 4-2 on the strength of great early finishing while we were being outplayed. It's a win. I'd take a road win over preschoolers right now.

Pradana(goal, 2 ass) and Bayu(one of each) were particularly excellent. Meanwhile, Pro Duta FC and Perseba Super, the top two clubs in the table, both lost for the first time.

[Brian Swartz]

12.4 -- Indonesia loses 2-0 to Thailand in the AFF semis, getting just four shots on goal against the 134th-ranked side.

12.8 -- A 2-2 draw for Indonesia in the return leg against Thailand, a charitable result given a 13-3 shot disparity. 4-2 on aggregate, and Thailand moves on to the final.

12.10 vs. Pro Duta FC(4-2-1, 1st) The group leaders are even-money favorites, and are a repeat foe from last year when they started well also but finished middle of the table after a poor second half. We won and drew one last year, and I'd take either result on the road today.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Muda/Prasetyo/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Sitanggang/Pradana
A: Sutanto/Akbar/Yendra

Yogi is back from injury, so I'll sub him in if I can. Prasetyo starts over Saragih in defense just to shake things up as he's been very poor lately.

5' -- Kombo and Sutanto make key clearances on a dangerous corner.

6' -- Long freekick by Juanidi is well hit and dangerous, a leaping save by Syarif gets it though.

11' -- Wahyono up the middle to Akbar, he hits it too far ahead and the keeper comes out, little room to get it by and blocked by the body.

19' -- Long shot by Pradana, angled wide left and high. A few decent chances either way, pretty even match so far. Could definitely be worse.

20' -- Yellow card on Juanidi for diving.

26' -- We're on the attack but can't get through their defense, they counter to perfection and Masran hits one just inside the area, off the bar and in left corner. No chance there, and one has to admire that attack as a work of art. No blame, they just made a great play. 0-1

29' -- Another yellow on them(Anang, tripping us on the attack). Pradana shoots from 35, missing but not by much.

44' -- They've been in full control the last 15 minutes, Pradana chips from the edge, high. Would have liked to see us try for a better shot there.

45' -- Dangerous centering pass rolls through the box, Kombo clears. They hold it in and get a shot from 10 under some pressure, saved by Syarif.


HT -- Lots of players struggling, not sure how much of it is the quality of the opponent. Yogi on for Sutanto.


53' -- Long shot by Sitanggang, not enough on it to threaten and saved easily. Pro Duta has been in near-total control here since midway through the first half.

55' -- Similar to the play at the beginning, Akbar is loose in the area but doesn't control the ball well enough, tackled out for a corner. Pradana overshoots and it's out of play.

59' -- Pradana well wide on a long free. He's just been horrid today and Kirivutharo comes on.

62' -- Yogi up the middle to Akbar, defense is just good enough to block it as he couldn't quite get a clear look.

69' -- Yogi is hurt. That lasted long. Bayhaqi is in as our last sub.

72' -- Akbar has an ok shot, but finds Yendra at the left corner of the box ... blocked by Ibrahim! He's usually money with that kind of chance, and we needed this one.

They're closing up shop and just want to get out with their three points now.

77' -- Sitanggang centers for Bayhaqi, couldn't control the volley from the edge and it's way high.

80' -- Similar chance for Yendra, close but wide left.

86' -- Bayhaqi tripped and has to come off, we're now short a man.

89' -- Wahyono is hurt. What the heck is going on today??

91' -- Juanda volleys from the left side, scores but disallowed -- offside.


FT -- We lose 0-1, but had at least as many and as good of chances as they did, probably better despite losing possession 60-40 ... and it was worse than that most of the day. Not a bad match for us, they just made the one fine play and we didn't finish quality chances.

I tell them I'm pleased despite the score, and the whole team is now pissed at me. Fantastic. I do have words with Pradana over his performance. Everybody will be fine for the next match, a pleasing surprise after the way it looked like we couldn't run down the pitch without someone coming up lame there at the end.

[Brian Swartz]

12.13 vs. Persidago(3-1-4, 7th) Even-money favorites in a rare second home contest in a row. Persidago broke a three-game skid by beating PS KSB(granted, no great feat there) last time out. Important that we get a result at home against a team like this.

GK: Afafa
D: Kombo/Muda/Saragih/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Sitanggang/Pradana
A: Yendra/Bayu/Bayhaqi

2' -- Goalkick, Yendra heads one on to Bayu, he's a step ahead of their defense but crowded and is forced to take it out wide right. Pass to the trailer Pradana for an angled shot, off the bar and Yendra is there to put it in the open net! 1-0, now that's the way to start off boys!!

Saragih comes too far upfield and Tolinggi chips from just inside the area, Afafa just gets his fingers to it and knocks it away. Nearly an immediate equalizer.

12' -- Nice through ball by Syawindra, Bayu loses the battle with the defender for it in the area, and we get a corner. Cleared, Yendra with an angled try out left, left-footed and not much on it, saved.

24' -- I switch to counter, we're up and they're spending too much time on the attack.

25' -- Critical header by Syawindra at the far post to clear out a corner.

As so often happens with this group, we start playing better once we switch to counter. I don't really know why I ever try anything else.

35' -- Decent rush but all we get is a mid-area try by Bayu with a ton of traffic, no chance anything was getting through that. They try to come right back at us but a big header by Muda ends that thought.

39' -- Two man rush with one defender back, Bayu ... selfishly shoots and it's blocked. Pass the ball! Could have slid it left to Yendra who would have had a partially open net and much clearer look. Frustrating.

45' -- They form a wall at the edge as we attack. Yendra is blocked, we put it back in, cleared, again we push and Bayhaqi's 30-yarder comes tantalizingly close but high, looking for the left corner.

46' -- Long shot by Bayu, easily saved.

Freekick by Solikhin ends the half, dangerous but missed.


HT -- I like what I've seen the last 20 minutes, though an insurance goal would be really nice. Shots are 8-4 in our favor. Yogi in for Bayhaqi.


48' -- Great sliding tackle in defense by Sitanggang, beginning a fine rush in which we were repeatedly just one pass ahead of the defense. Yogi to [/b]Yendra[/b] on the last one, and he puts it past on the left side! 2-0, there's that goal I wanted!

50' -- Nice save on a shot from just outside by Afafa, one of the best plays I've seen from him. That's two today that he's kept out.

54' -- Shot by Bayu from outside, easy save.

65' -- Another pretty passing play, Yogi to Yendra to Bayu off a throw in, Bayuis free from 17 and scores easily. 3-0, and this is the best I've seen us look in terms of teamwork on the attack. We're playing the way I hoped we would at the beginning of the year today.

67' -- Angled shot by Yogi, well placed up high and almost scores, but they tip it. We nearly score on the corner, mad scramble in front but everything is deflected away.

76' -- A rare lost header as Solikhin beats Muda to a cross, Tolinggi has it inside the box but good patient and composed defense as Kombo and Saragih don't gamble on a penalty, they just slide in front of him and block the shot away.

80' -- Sutaji gets behind our defense with a near-perfect pass, fires just inside the area and misses wide left and high. That was their best chance yet.

86' -- Long shot by Bayu, a rocket but wide. Akbar's on for him.

90' -- Pradana threads the needle up the gut into the area, Akbar is covered pretty well by two defenders but takes the ball between them and blasts it into the right side! 4-0!!


FT -- 4-0, this game wasn't that one-sided but it was unquestionably our best of the year. 17-7 in shots, they missed their chances and we took more than enough of ours, and we got unexpectedly fine play from almost everywhere on the pitch.

Yendra's two goals and an assist make him the obvious player of the match. A subpar first half by Bayhaqi was the only negative today.

[Brian Swartz]

12.13 -- Another 1.3B injected by the board.

CONTRACT RENEWALS

We have another match on New Year's Eve, but before we get to that it's time to stress myself out again.

Keepers

Dikri Afafa(21, 2.75M) -- I still like him as our backup keeper. Wants 3.25 but I manage to get him to sign off on another year at the same base, with a 5% raise next year.
TM Syarif(24, 3.75M) -- Unquestionably our best. Surprisingly, I'm able to talk him into a small reduction to 3.5M.
Roni Setia(20, 1.9M) -- I see no reason to bring him back at this point, with Afafa here he's redundant and not quite as good IMO. Time for Roni to seek other opportunities.

We'll save about 2M here.

Defense

Saragih(27, 2.5M) -- It's been a horrible year for him. I'd like him back but his role has been reduced, so the question is whether he's ready to accept that. He takes a slight pay reduction to 2.4M and is, deal.
Patay(31, 1.6M) -- He's been solid through four years here, but is purely an emergency player at this point and I'd like to see a younger guy in that role. We don't offer.
Prasetyo(28, 1.2M) -- Cheap as heck and versatile. He has no problem staying on in a purely backup role. I don't see us finding a better deal on an emergency player, and he takes another year at the same rate.
Syawindra(25, 3.5M) -- The new man at DR, he's pretty much all he's going to be but for this level that's pretty good. He's the best we have there by a fair margin. He's not totally sold on playing here yet though and wants some serious money. We settle at 4.5M, a considerable raise that makes him one of our highest-paid players. He's probably not quite worth it but it's not my money, and there's room in the budget.
Kiwak(22, 3.5M) -- The prima donna doesn't want a new offer and I wouldn't give him one if he did. He'll be joining the transfer list soon.
Kombo(21, 4M) -- Occasionally frustrating, sometimes brilliant, usually solid. With Kiwak flaking out this isn't a question. He'll get 4.25 and another 5% at the start of next year.
Permana(24, 3.25M) -- Hard to tell, since he hasn't played yet. So I go with what Bob says, which is that he's a little better than Muda, a lot better than anyone else. Sold. Another year at the same pay.
Muda(31, 2.5M) -- He's been lazy in training this year, and is at the end of his prime playing days. He wants the key player designation and I'm not ready to give him that yet, I really don't think he'll be worth it next year. We punt and decide to re-open negotations further on down the line. Don't know what'll happen with him, depends on how Permana plays to some extent.

3.5M saved.

Midfield

Kirivutharo(26, 2.2M) -- Very unimpressed so far. I see him as a sub going forward if we even keep him around. He wants key player status. Not happening, we'll talk more in the spring.
Yarangga(29, 2.75M) -- Declining quickly, and Bob wants me to terminate his contract. I'm not doing that, but I'm also not inviting him back. He was our pit bull for a few years, a solid possession midfielder when he wasn't being an idiot. That was then though, his time has passed.
Saputra(31, 1.7M) -- The only potential saving grace here is that Saputra is cheap. If he's willing to stay on in an emergency role, fine. If not ... He doesn't want to stay, saying he hates the club. Ok then, have fun buddy. He was an important part of the team for a couple of years.
Pradana(24, 3M) -- Good, and capable of getting a little better. Another year at the same wage, sign me up for that.
Sitanggang(20, 3.25M) -- Solid now, great future. Not sure if he wants to stay, if he does it'll be for a sizable raise to 4.25M. His ceiling and decent play so far say he's worth it.
Wahyono(24, 4M) -- The best piece of our young midfield. He's the biggest positive I've seen so far this year. 4.75M and a 10% raise at the end of the year will put him over 5M. Looks like he knows how much he's worth.

About 2.25M saved if we don't bring Kirivutharo back in.

Attackers

Yogi(32, 4.5M) -- It's the end of the road. He wants to stay but wants to be a key player. If he won't accept a lesser role I can't keep him around -- not worth it to do it even then but I would for the fans. We'll talk more later, but right now it looks like this era is over.
Bayhaqi(23, 4.5M) -- Our best corner taker and seems to overachieve fairly often, but isn't developing as well as we'd hoped. He hates it here and wants to leave. Ok, problem solved then.
Akbar(19, 4M) -- He's been decent when healthy, and is still enthusiastic about his future. So are we for the most part, but we need him to step up his game. He'll take another year at 4M, that works for me.
Sutanto(19, 3.5M) -- One goal this year in six appearances, but I'm starting to wonder if he's ever going to take the next step. Still a teenager though. He'll take a slight cut to 3.25M, getting some back with a 5% raise over the summer. Sure thing.
Bayu(24, 4.75M) -- Our top earner has 4 goals in 5 matches. Worth it. He'll take 4.5, a small pay cut. Deal.
Yendra(27, 6M) -- 5 goals in 6, yep I love this guy. No longer spazzing about the price. I'll spaz a little more now, after it takes 7.25M to get him to resign. That's the most I've ever paid anyone. He better keep putting the ball in the net ...

12.18 -- Agustibus Ainaga(PSS Sleman, promoted from First Division). Thought about him a year and a half ago, but needed to get multiple coverage players not one star. He's equal to Pradana/Wahyono, wants about 6-7M. Maybe over the summer as an upgrade ...

12.28 -- Sitanggang will have to sit ... pun intended ... our last contest of the calendar year out as he has the flu.

[Brian Swartz]

12.31 @ Persepam(4-3-2, 2nd) -- Persepam are strong 2-5 favorites, and part of a group of five clubs that have been left in the dust by Pro Duta. Definitely will be a test to see if our recent resurgence is worth a darn. They play the 'V', which we have generally struggled against, and have won three straight.

Last year we each won one.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Saragih/Muda/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Kirivutharo/Pradana
A: Sutanto/Yogi/Bayu

Permana isn't ready to start yet but I'll get him out there for some significant time if at all possible.

12' -- Close freekick by Yogi, nearly hit the right corner but a bit high and wide. They've controlled most of the action early but no shots.

17' -- 30-yd try by Irawan, doesn't even keep it in the box.

20' -- Freekick from the side and a corner go nowhere. Neither side is generating anything.

21' -- Horrible pass by Yogi, they intercept it and have a man open on the left, Syawindra had gone forward with the attack but we turned it over. Salinas is in the area on the left, goes cross-angle and the shot is too good, no chance for Syarif. 0-1

Bayhaqi replaces Yogi.

27' -- Lots of passing around, Bayu from 25 rifles one that's tipped by the keeper.

32' -- Hidayatullah hits a long one for them, high and wide.

39' -- Oh wow. Nice header at midfield, Bayhaqi holds it, then lofts a perfect pass into the area. Sutanto is there all alone, places a shot a foot left of the net. You simply cannot ask for a better chance, we needed the equalizer there.


HT -- Even match. Two good chances, the one they scored on which we handed them, and the one we didn't score on. Both created by us, and we trail 0-1 Permana in for Saragih.


49' -- Sutanto up the right side for Syawindra, centering pass is nice for Bayhaqi, he takes his time and puts it in, right side! 1-1, thought we were going to blow that but well done and we're even!

53' -- Long freekick by Salinas is wicked, dips after it passes the line but Syarif is there with the save.

55' -- Deep freekick by Pradana, Sutanto on a run to the far post, the keeper just tips it away, great attempt there.

57' -- Maliki fouls Bayhaqi and gets a yellow for his trouble just outside the area. Freekick chance ... and that's in the right corner!! Two for Bayhaqi, and we lead it 2-1!!!

64' -- They pass well on the counter, long angled by Hidayatullah had a chance but wide.

66' -- Similar shot for Kusuma on the right, also wide. They aren't getting great looks but are definitely pressing right now, dangerous time.

68' -- Corner goes to Johnson far post, a little far and his header is pushed wide. Another one dodged.

70' -- Another yellow card, this time they trip Pradana, which they've been doing all day but this time it's called.

74' -- Bayhaqi up the right, crosses for Bayu but two are right with him and we get only a corner out of it. Far post for Muda, but they get to it first.

76' -- Two huge tackles in as many minutes by Permana to break up attacks. This one comes back down, Bayhaqi splits the defenders who went too far wide, and he beats the keeper again over the right shoulder! 3-1, and that's a hat trick!!!

81' -- Salinas gets a lead pass behind Kombo, a great sliding tackle at the last second by ... Permana again. Yeah, I think I like this guy.

85' -- Prasetyo on for Bayu, we'll go 5-3-2 defensive and try to lock this down. A bad backpass by Pradana sets them up, but Fachrurrozi on the right has his angled shot blocked by Syarif.

92' -- Good look for Syawindra, far left.


FT -- This is a huge, huge 3-1 win on the road today. Makes me sad that Bayhaqi will be leaving us.

[Brian Swartz]

JANUARY

An outstanding December with three wins and a loss may well have turned our season around.

Training Positives: Pradana, Permana(Tactics for each)
Negatives: Kiwak(Ball control)

Messi wins the World Golden Ball, while Eden Hazard is Player of the Year.

The board wishes to discuss contract renewal for me ... a new step in my job security as they have enough trust that it doesn't matter what happens second half of the year. I accept. They put forward a 1-year extension with a 750k raise, to 5.25M. 35% pay cut if relegated, 15% raise if promoted. I suggest making those 25% each, and they 'are happy to agree'.

The rest of the footballing world may still I think I suck, relatively speaking, but I've won over Persigubin. I sign the deal.

The board is absolutely delighted, but the fans don't like style of play or Yogi's performances. Deal.

Huge January upcoming, we have four league matches, three at home ... and five of eight will be away after that so we need to do well. Not to mention the Indonesian Cup Draw and two games for that.

STANDINGS

Pro Duta FC(20 pts, +5)
Persida(18 pts, +6)
PSBK(17 pts, +6)
Perseba Super(16 pts, +4)
Perseta(16 pts, -2)
Persigubin(15 pts, +5)
Persepam(15 pts, +4)
Persidago(13 pts, +3)
Persipro(12 pts, -2)
Persik Kendal(10 pts, -3)
PS KSB(6 pts, -10)
Persipur(5 pts, -16)

We're five points down from where I wanted to be at this stage, but we're right in the chaotic middle of the table. Ours is the most competitive group in the Premier so far this year: right now 21 points are needed to guarantee a spot in Second Phase, so we're six points off that pace. Not impossible if we keep playing well, but we certainly can't afford any blips. More realistic is that staying in the top half and a finish much like last years is quite doable. Our matches in January are not against any of the top clubs, another reason why we need to use this month to make up some ground.

[Brian Swartz]

1.3 -- Indonesian Cup Draw. A bit later than usual, it's been at the end of December the previous three years. Whatever.

Before we get to that, Hendriko Kiwak wants to talk about why he hasn't been starting. Because you're a freaking drama queen! What I actually tell him though, is that I'm willing to give him a chance but he needs to work hard to stay there. He appreciates that and says he hopes I keep my word. Well, if he's willing to stop being a whiny brat, I can play him -- he has talent. It appears that after this meeting he no longer views me as the devil incarnate and might be willing to hang around after all. We'll see.

Back to the draw, we have our best shot at advancing yet with First-Division side PS Musi Banyuasin, currently 10th in their group, as our first-round opponent. We'll host them first in just under a week's time.

1.6 vs. Persik Kendal(2-4-4, 10th) We're comfortable 4-7 favorites in the first meeting between these two clubs. They're headed in the opposite direction we are, winless in their last four. Here's hoping inertia holds.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Saragih/Muda/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Kirivutharo/Pradana
A: Bayhaqi/Akbar/Yendra

If we get up early, I'll get some key guys out quickly so they're ready for the Cup game in three days time.

2' -- We're on the attack a lot early, Syawindra puts a close shot, extreme angle into the side.

9' -- Cross by Kombo, nice header attempt by Akbar but saved.

13' -- Half volley by Akbar after a busted counter, angled shot is a little wide left.

20' -- They attack for once, Sehawan goes high on an angled shot, tipped over by Syarif. This is a tricky match, we're totally dominating but need to get on the board.

They get two corners out of it. Second one is headed out, back in, up in the air twice as a jump ball in front, and finally it's Pratama putting it in! I could just sense it coming. 0-1

27' -- Pratama is free in between defenders, good look from the edge but misses left. I pull the line back, we are too loose.

36' -- Long shot by Akbar is wide. We are not sharp in our passing on the counter, and it's costing us repeatedly.

39' -- Freekick by Wahyono is just wide left on a crossangle attempt.

43' -- Loose ball in the box, scramble for it, we can't get anything through.


HT -- The last ten minutes weren't great, but we controlled the rest except for that corner. 8-4 shots, 52% possession, yet we are still losing. Bayu on for Yendra, Patay for Syawindra, both have sucked. I tell them I expect a much better second half.


54' -- A chance to counter, Bayhaqi loose just inside the area, bad shot deflects off a couple bodies and goes nowhere. Sheesh.

59' -- Bad throw-in on their end, after a bit Wahyono lifts a pass into the area behind comatose defenders, Bayu rolls it in the right side of the net, and we're even at 1-1! That's not enough, but it's a start.

67' -- Long freekick by Syaputra, saved by Syarif. Their first shot in about 45 minutes.

70' -- Pratama from the edge, blocked by our defense, they feed it back into him in between players, free from maybe nine yards at most and he misses wide right. Heavens, that was a better look than we've had all day. Fortunate.

We're still controlling play but getting quite tired and it shows.

76' -- Wahyono takes the ball away from one player ... then another ... bounces off a third, dribbles past a fourth, free now into the area, fires a shot ... just wide right! That was the most amazing play I've seen until he didn't score.


FT -- That's it, we get nothing. A 1-1 draw at home against a cellar-dwelling team, that's just not good enough and I let em have it. 55% possession, 14-8 shots, and most of the day it wasn't that close.

[Brian Swartz]

1.9 vs. PS Musi Banyuasin(Indonesian Cup, First Leg)

GK: Afafa
D: Kiwak/Saragih/Permana/Syawindra
M: Yarangga/Sitanggang/Saputra
A: Sutanto/Yogi/Yendra

The real question mark here is midfield, where the regular starters really went through the ringer in our last game and will rest. We're huge 1-4 favorites, and the fans expect a big win.

Physical play right out of the gate, as Sutanto(twice) and Syawindra both hit the deck in the opening minutes.

2' -- Long shot by Sutanto, floats it wide left.

7' -- Freekick from 30+, Yarangga puts it high.

12' -- Syawindra throws it in to Yendra, centers for Sutanto who fires from the edge ... diving save keeps it out, needed a little more mustard on that but not a bad shot.

36' -- Yogi gets a look just inside, doesn't fool anyone near post and saved. They are packing it in, and so far it's working.

45' -- Saputra with an angled shot, just high and wide.


HT -- 7-0 shots, they are getting no offense but that's not enough ... we need to score. I tell them to keep it up and we'll get the result. Wahyono on for Yarangga, Bayu for the struggling Yendra.


50' -- Syawindra crosses, bobbled by the keeper, Yogi is there but so is a defender. Half a step from a shot to an open goal, as it is we have a corner. Short post delivery by Yogi, perfectly timed run by Saragih is completely wide open, heads it in and that's just as good. 1-0, we finally get on the board!

54' -- A pair of long shots by Saputra, first one's blocked, second one on the volley saved.

62' -- Bayu puts a cross in front, Sutanto from inside the box, gimme here ... no it's saved! Great diving stop but he should have scored that, keeper guessed right.

We keep it in. Sutanto centers for Saputra, drives one just over.

73' -- Looping pass to Efendi, just behind the defense and in on the right side, goes high and Afafa tips it over. Close.

74' -- Nice pass across the field Yogi to Syawindra, he's in on the right and scores with a cross-angle shot! There's a 2-0 lead, which feels better.

75' -- Kameni goes by Syawindra, then drives it well high.

80' -- They miss a long header. Almost home.

88' -- Effendi up the left, somehow finds space between three defenders, diving save by Afafa!

90' -- Long shot by Yogi, blocked wide by the keeper.

91' -- Interception and immediate pass ahead by Wahyono, Bayu dribbles by the keeper on the left, but too sharp of an angle for the shot and off the post.

92' -- Long shot by Sutanto, good try but another diving save.


FT -- That's it. 22 shots, we score 2 with another 6 saved. Could have been better than 2-0, but that should be more than enough. We said that last year with the same score, but this is no SL side we'll be visiting to finish it off in a week's time.

Yogi's two assists make him the man of the hour. A whole 80 fans came out for this -- way to support the team people ...

[Brian Swartz]

1.13 vs. Persipro(9th) -- We are big 1-3 favorites, but that didn't work so well in our last league match. All the more reason why we need a win today. We're 1-1-1 against them.

GK: Syarif
D: Kombo/Saragih/Muda/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Kirivutharo/Pradana
A: Bayhaqi/Akbar/Bayu

1' -- Cross by Syawindra for Akbar in the box is just a bit too far and grabbed by the keeper. Almost an early score.

4' -- Bayhaqi freekick curls into the right side, just beating a diving save attempt, and he does a handstand in celebration! 1-0

8'-- Bayhaqi up the middle for Bayu, tries to lob but it's too low and easily caught.

10' -- Another Bayhaqi freekick, this one's high.

12' -- Wahyono's turn from 30+, just over.

17' -- Kirivutharo feeds Bayhaqi mid-area, diving save keeps it out. Domination so far.

20' -- Akbar feeds a pass into the area, keeper and defender both hit it, neither grab it. A couple shots are blocked by traffic in the ensuing scramble before they clear. Complete luck that we didn't score again.

29' -- They clear a corner ... right to Saragih at the near post, and he bounces it off the keeper and in. 2-0 Patay in for Syawindra who's getting beat up today, we'll need him in the next one.


HT -- A whole lot of nothing the rest of the way, which is just fine by me. They've had nothing dangerous. I tell them they're doing great, and put Saputra in for Wahyono so he'll be fresher for the Cup.


48' -- Riyadi floats a close freekick, just over. Best chance they've had.

51' -- Near-post header for Ruda on a corner, should have scored but hits the bar. Kombo takes away the rebound and clears. Lucky there.

54' -- They hand it over at midfield, Akbar to Bayu to Bayhaqi and his shot from the edge is wide right.

64' -- 30 free by Bayhaqi, rainbow that comes down a bit too late, over.

70' -- We hold the ball on the attack for nearly a minute, longest buildup I've seen from us. At the end, Kirivutharo to Bayhaqi to Bayu free about ten yards out, easy score and it's 3-0!!

71' -- We fall completely asleep, Nurcahyo is free behind Muda, lead pass finds him and puts the shot just inside the right post, no chance. 3-1. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Offsides called and it won't count. It was still lazy.

73' -- Long shot by Akbar, a hair high.

81' -- Close free by Akbar, rocketed high.

84' -- Kombo's tripped and hurt at midfield, Kiwak on for him.,

Bad shots both ways ensue.

91' -- Fading header by Susanto off a corner is no good. I don't like the way we've finished this off.


FT -- We were dowright sloppy after the third goal, but they don't capitalize and it's a 3-0 win. Only Iwan 'I like Bad Shots and I Cannot Lie' Akbar disappointed.

Our highest attendance of the year, 425. I can't figure out what makes them want to come.

[Brian Swartz]

1.16 @ PS Musi Banyuasin(Indonesian Cup, Second Leg) 2-0 going in, we just need to not be horrible today. 2-5 favorites.

GK: Afafa
D: Kiwak/Permana/Muda/Syawindra
M: Wahyono/Sitanggang/Saputra
A: Yogi/Sutanto/Yendra

Rainy today, which I don't expect to help us.

3' -- Corner for them, and Ismail outjumps everyone including Kiwak right in the middle of the box for the header. 0-1 I am so pissed. Just like that, we're one goal from being tied on the aggregate.

5' -- Sopian up the left side for Wijaya, angled shot, Afafa is there, deflects off him and in!! 0-2! This isn't happening. Somebody tell me this isn't happening.

By the way, neither of those players had even scored before this entire season.

11' -- Sitanggang hits a long shot as the trailer, high.

16' -- Muda is a statue and Sopian behind him, into the area all alone, misses high and wide but should have scored another one. I'm disgusted, and switch to counter.

22' -- Yendra fires from just outside, man on him. Sukirawata has this one ... but it goes right through his hands! He just plain missed it as the ball went right directly above his head! 1-2 now on that gift.

27' -- Another fine Wahyono header, Yendra centers for Sutanto who shoots mid-area ... looks good but off the bar!

28' -- Nice interception by Syawindra, eventually a shot by Yendra from just outside results. Easily saved looper.

34' -- They try a 30yd prayer, not close.

37' -- Yendra in on the right side to Yogi, decent try but the angled shot is saved. Corner is floated to the far side where they punch it out.

40' -- Close shot from a sharp angle, Yogi gives it just a bit too much angle and it's wide left.

42' -- Sopian just dribbles by Muda, shot from the edge is high.


HT -- We're fortunate it isn't worse. Down 1-2, up 3-2 aggregate, we need a solid second half to barely advance. I tell t hem they need to do better. Afafa is stressed out so I put in Syarif. The whole defense is stinking it up, I wait and see on them.


47' -- Wahyono with a shot of his own from 25, puts it high.

49' -- They push it up the right and cross to Mahumudi at the corner of the box, angled shot is inside the left post and it's 1-3! Looked like that one was on Permana who was standing there taking pictures, but I'm so disgusted with the whole team right now.

Bob puts the blame on Kiwak for allowing such an easy cross in the first place. That's all I need, Kombo in.

66' -- Ball tackled loose in front, point-blank shot from an angle can't get around the keeper, and they clear.

70' -- Angled shot by Yogi, deflects off Yendra in front or it might have scored.

72' -- Nice interception by Kombo, Sutanto into Wahyono on the left side, chip shot ... just wide left.

80' -- Yendra slides one across to Yogi mid-area, scores just inside the right post! 2-3!. Pradana on for the exhausted Wahyono.

82' -- Yellow card for Rizal, who tripped Sutanto to stop us from building another counter.

Long chip by Saputra had the right idea, but wide left.

89' -- Turnovers both ways, then we get free with a counter, Yendra the final pass to Sutanto, alone in front mid-area ... horribly soft effort easily saved. That should have tied it up.


FT -- That's it! Extremely disappointing match here as we lose it 2-3, but that is enough to move on with a 4-3 aggregate. I manage to fire up half the team and piss off the other half in post-match. Mission accomplished I'd say.

Yendra is the player of the day with a goal and an assist. 49.4M is our prize money for the round, 20M more than the loser's money.

[bbgunn]

Our highest attendance of the year, 425. I can't figure out what makes them want to come.
The dancers?