A World of Opportunity (FM2010)

[dfisher]

I have played the Football Manager series since CM 01/02. I probably go a little overboard with the setup, causing gameplay to be a little slow, but that's how I like to play. My computer got too slow to handle things, but I asked for nothing but gift cards for Christmas and my birthday, and I was able to purchase a new computer. I immediately purchased FM 2010 and started a career the only way I know how, unemployed with every league from every playable nation available. I set my reputation to Sunday League footballer and went on holiday applying for every available job. I accepted the first one offered to me, so I was the new manager of:

STROMSBERGS IF

Stromsbergs had just been promoted from the 3rd Division (unplayable) in Sweden, so I would take over in the 2nd Division. There are 6 leagues in the 2nd division, which is actually the 4th level of the pyramid. There are 2 leagues of the first division above this one, which feed into the 1st Division Elite. After that comes the Swedish Premier Division.

I am currently in 2016 with the save, so I will give some updates leading to present day, and then I will get into more detail with the team.

[dfisher]

One thing I forgot to mention in the first post is my nationality. I started as a US Virgin Islander, because one day I would like to retire to St. Thomas.

Stromsbergs pretty much lacks any history to speak of. There only achievement is the 2009 3rd division title that earned the promotion to division 2. They have basic training and youth facilities and play their home games at Heden, which has a capacity of 500 with only 180 seated.

2010 Season

My team isn't very good, to say the least. We are picked to finish 12th (dead last) in 2nd Division N. I sign a bunch of players to give some depth and pray. No transfer budget at all, plus an extemely low reputation, makes it difficult to attract anyone with talent.

I somehow manage a win in the first game, but then go on a streak of 1 win and only 6 points out of 13 games, including a 3 game stretch without scoring. When you only play 22 games in the season, a stretch like that is hard to overcome, and I went into the last game in the relegation zone. I needed a win and some help to get enough points to earn my way into the relegation playoff.

That game was against Frej at home. I only lost 2-1 at their place, so I had some hope. That hope pretty much disappeared when I had a man sent off in the 81st minute, and I looked and Hudiskvall, the team I needed to lose, was winning 1-0.

Then a miracle happened, Hudiskvall gave up 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to lose, and Jesper Ardvisson, my redheaded backup striker drilled one off the post in the 92nd minute. The rebound went off at a crazy angle and fell to the feet of Kenneth Holmgren, my right attacking midfielder. He struck the ball at a tight angle right into the net, and I had made it to the playoffs!!

I had a 2-legged playoff with a 3rd divsion club for the right to stay in the 2nd division. I managed to win 1-0 on the road and held on for a 3-3 draw at home, and I lived to manage another day at Heden.

Fixtures (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2010Fixtures.jpg)

Final Table (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2010Standings.jpg)

Transfers (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2010Transfers.jpg)

Best XI (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2010BestEleven.jpg)

Only 5 players on my best XI squad (including bench) were on my team at the start of the year. Only one of which was a starter (Hans Hamzeh, who could play all three midfield positions).

Naim Khreis split time between central defender and striker and amassed five goals to lead the team on the way to fans player of the year. Three of those goals were in one game, so that should tell you how hard up for scoring I was. Little did I know that the Stromsbergs all time leading scorer would already be on the team.

2011 season when the new baby allows me some time.

If anyone wants to know how a team or player is doing throughout this dynasty, let me know. With everything loaded, I should be able to find anyone.

[dfisher]

2011 SEASON

Media Prediction - 12th (last) We've been moved to 2nd Division WG

My goal for the 2011 season is to stay in the 2nd division without going through the relegation playoffs. My board only allows 2 scouts and 2 coaches (plus Ass. Man) and no transfer budget. Luckily, I am still way below by wage bill, but, as a semi-pro team, I am still limited. However, I do make some signings, including some building blocks for the years ahead.

Transfers (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2011Transfers.jpg)

Per Magnusson provides much needed versatility by playing DR, MC, and MR all fairly well. With the bad pitches at this level, someone who can play multiple positions comes in very handy. Ottar Bjarnason became my starting AMR (and vice-captain) for years. Johann Aoalsteinsson is still with the team (and my captain) in 2016, although he has made my internal play-by-play monologue difficult with that name.

For the second season in a row, we start off well, with 4 points from the first 2 games. Once again, however, we struggle afterwards, only picking up 5 points in the next 12. A record 3 game winning streak followed, and we then survived the last five games to finish in 10th again and in the playoffs, where we won 3-0 on aggregate. I live to manage another year at Stromsberg.

Fixtures (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2011Fixtures.jpg)

League Table (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2011LeagueTable.jpg)

Best XI (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2011BestEleven.jpg)

Oscar Wall wins the Fans Player of the Year at 18 years of age. He is still favored personnel on the team list, but he turned out to be a bit of a one year wonder. Ottar Bjarnason led the team with a 6.95 average rating, while Dan Danneman started a string of 5 consecutive years of leading the team in scoring with 9 goals on the year. Danneman came to the team as a depth signing in 2010, and his stats aren't that great. He just keeps scoring goals. I've tried to bring in other strikers over the years to replace him, but no one does as well as he does of putting the ball in the net. Plus, he only makes $3500 a year.

[dfisher]

2012 SEASON

Media Prediction - 12th (last).

Once again, my goal is to avoid relegation without the need of the playoff.

Transfers (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2012Transfers.jpg)

Not a great haul looking back. Patrick Wallen was my big signing at striker who didn't do much for me. Dan Danneman was my starter, and I alternated Wallen and Oscar Wall (last year's fan's player of the year) opposite him. I alternated because neither did well enough to hold down the job. Johan Hansson and Jaakko Laine were to be my new central defending duo, but both failed miserably with more ratings in the 5's than 7's. At least Hansson eventually became my first sale for some money. Markus Hirvonen became my starter and AML for a few years and is by far the most successful of the class.


Fixtures (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2012Fixtures.jpg)

After back to back good starts to the year, this one started miserably, with only 2 points out of the first 7 games. Danneman then had back to back braces to start a 5 wins out of 7 games stretch. This stretch put us in the clear zone, and we stayed there with wins in 4 of the last 6. Stromsbergs was safe without the need for a playoff, and I was starting to grow attached to the lads.

League Table (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2012LeagueTable.jpg)

Best XI (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2012BestEleven.jpg)

Danneman led the team with 12 goals and a 7.17 average rating en route to Fans' Player of the Year.

[dfisher]

2013 SEASON

Media Prediction - 12th (last)

Seriously, how bad must our prestige have been to start this game? Anyway, I've slowly been adding pieces to the team, and last year I finally finished out of the relegation zone. My goal this year is to finish top half.

Transfers (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2013Transfers.jpg)

This was a very important transfer season in Stromsbergs history. Some helped right away, while others will pay off in the future. Mikko Tihinen immediatlely became my starting DMC. His only downfall was low stamina due to being in his mid 30's, meaning he had to come off around 60-70 minutes most games. Martin Petterson became a regular at DR, and Lasse Jensen was a supersub defender for a year before taking over at DL in 2014. Then came the youths. Joakim Karlsson can play DC, DCM, and MC. He will get spot duty when injuries hit over the years and is slowly getting more playing time currently. Daniel Lopez is a ML, who I train up to AML and starts to see more time in the future. Finally, David Bostrom is a AM L/R, and ST. My scouts found a keeper with him. Bostrom is currently my best AMR, by best AML, and my best ST. He didn't take over playing full time until 2015 as I brought him along slowly. He has 2 caps for the Under 19 Swedish team with 1 goal (my only player to get international duty).

Fixtures (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2013Fixtures.jpg)

7 goals by Dan Danneman over the first 5 games leads us to 13 points and second place, and I start thinking the unthinkable. . .promotion. Wishful thinking. I don't win another game and manage only 9 draws in the last 17 games to finish 9th, one point above relegation playoff. Just a depressing season that saw us find any possible way to blow late leads.

League Table (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2013LeagueTable.jpg)

Best Eleven (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2013BestEleven.jpg)

Tihinen wins the fans player of the year, my fourth different winner in 4 seasons, with a 7.07 rating. Danneman leads the way again with 11 goals, unfortunately, no one else had more than 4. Next season, I need to end the 17 game winless streak before thinking of any kind of success. Luckily, I am well below my wage budget, which keeps the board satisfied with my performance.

[dfisher]

2014 SEASON

Media Prediction - 12th (last);shocking

Goal #1 for the season was to get a win. We started the season on the heels of a 17 game winless streak to end the 2013 season. Then, I wanted to start to ease in some youngsters en route to a top half finish.

Transfers (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2014Transfers.jpg)

My scouts are obviously more familiar with Brommapojkama (in Sweden) and Fylkir (in Iceland), as I got a few youth players from each. Urban Lundgren can play AMR and DR and has started at both throughout his career as a regular. Martin Jansson has been my 1st choice keeper for 3 seasons now. Glenn Sonnelind is massive and takes a starting spot in the middle of the defense. Johnathon Kristofferson is a good young rotation player at striker, and Daniel Bornemann eventually takes over as starting DMC in the future. Quite the haul. None of the players leaving will be missed greatly. Most are youth players that were never going to play for the first team. Oscar Wall is gone 2 seasons after getting player of the year, but he never fulfilled his promise.

Fixtures (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2014Fixtures.jpg)

2 draws and 2 losses to open the year pushed the winless streak to 21 before we squeaked out a 2-1 win. That seemed to push my young team on, with only 1 loss in the next 11 games. That streak included a record 7-0 win (with hat tricks from Danneman and Kristofferson) and a 6-1 win (with another hat trick from Danneman). I can definitely see the potential on the team, as we finish in 7th.

League Table (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2014LeagueTable.jpg)

Best XI (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2014BestEleven.jpg)

Danneman leads the team with a team record 13 goals. David Nilsson, my DC from my first season, is fan's player of the year with a 7.10 rating.

One more season to get caught up, although I am almost half way thru the 2016 season now.

[dfisher]

2015 SEASON

Media Prediction - 12th (last)

I think we can compete for a top 5 spot. Only some 2nd Division squads get into the Swedish Cup; the game doesn't say how they are chosen, but I want to finish high enough to qualify.

Transfers (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2015transfers.jpg)

The board greatly increased my wage budget, and I wasn't anywhere near it. That allowed me to adjust the budget to give me some transfer funds for the first time. Robin Stenlund is my biggest purcase ever to this point for a whopping $2.5 k. He plays both DR and DL and starts most of the year between the two positions. I pick up Jesper Almgren for some depth at AMR, since my only 2 players at that position, David Bostrom and Urban Lundgren, are often needed at other positions. My scouts continue to watch Brommapojkama and Fylkir, as I pick up a couple more from those sides, with Almgren and 2 young defenders for the future. Salomon King is a veteran DRC for some depth and versatility, and Andres Winding becomes my highest paid player at $17,000 as my new starting AML.

Meanwhile, I say goodbye to a lot of long-time Stromsbergs players. Lindestmo, Anderback, and Bjarnasson were starters at one point; I just was able to purchase better players.

Fixtures (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2015Fixtures.jpg)

It looked to be a long season when we got blown out 3-0 on the road to start the year. Dan Danneman then scored 5 goals as we got 10 points from the next 4 games. After a loss, things finally clicked. Martin Jansson put together 5 clean sheets in a row to start a 9 game winning streak. The key streak was back to back wins over Orebro Syrianska (who beat us to start the year) and Halmia, the two teams that were 1,2 in the league. This put us in first place. After Danneman carried the team in the first half of the season, David Bostrom and Johnathon Kristofferson took over in the second. Despite only 5 points from the last 4 games (including draws against 2 of the worst in the league, the standings speak for themselves.

League Table (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2015LeagueTable.jpg)

STROMSBERGS WINS 2ND DIVISION WG!!!

Best XI (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2015BestEleven.jpg)

Daniel Bornemann takes over at DMC and gets fans' player of the year with a 7.39 average rating. Danneman sets a new record with 14 goals in 22 games.

After the season, the board is delighted, and the fans want to put a statue up of me. We win promotion to the 1st Division South.

Another huge announcement is the fact that Stromsbergs is now professional!

[dfisher]

2016 Season

Media Prediction - 14th (last)
Board Expectations (First Divsion South) - battle bravely against relegation
Board Expectations (Swedish Cup) - enjoy my time in the Swedish Cup

The 2016 season will be the first in Stromsbergs history in the First Division. We are placed in the First Division South, which has 14 teams. The bottom 3 are automatically relegated back to 2nd Division status. The champion gets promoted to First Division Elite, and second place gets in a playoff (I'm assuming with the 2nd place team in First Division North.)

Some huge changes occur in the budget. First, we are no a fully professional team. Our wage budget nearly doubles, and we get a small transfer budget ($7k) for the first time ever. Also, we are now able to hire up to 8 coaches and 5 scouts, instead of 2 of each. I hire people, but don't go to the limit just yet. I want to make sure I don't go right back down.

Transfers (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2016Transfers.jpg)

Some big signings. Hallur Hansson is a Faroe Islands international who will take over at MC. He is, by far, the highest paid player on the roster at ~$40k. Jussi Jokela (DR), Johan Henningsson (DL), and Daniel Johansson (DC) form 3/4 of my starting defense now.

To make room on the roster for all the signings, I had to let some people go. Some contracts were allowed to expire, and then I went on a bit of a selling spree. Olafur Sigurosson was one of the many strikers I brought in to take Dan Danneman's spot, but he failed to impress. He is still young (19), so I might regret it, but the $14,000 transfer fee is almost 14x my highest ever received. He probably was #4 on the depth chart, and I brought in another player for much cheaper.

[dfisher]

MARCH 2016

With my promotion, I also earned a place in the Swedish Cup. Unfortunately, I didn't know that place was in the preliminary round so I only had the opportunity to play 2 friendlies prior to my first cup game ever. We drew IFK Lulea, and 2nd division squad, on the road.

IFK Lulea 1 - Stomsbergs 0

Yuck. The rust was still on us, as we conceded a goal in the 28th minute. We really didn't have many chances, and the players were out of match fitness and exhausted by the hour mark. A one and done performance.

After the cup match, we played a few more friendlies to get in shape for the season proper.

[dfisher]

APRIL 2016

Two more friendlies against lower level teams start the month with some wins. My defense was decimated by injuries. Out of my desired game day squad (4 starters and 2 or 3 bench players), we lost 5 of them. A couple made it back for the season but were severly lacking in match fitness. Finally time came to start things off against last year's runner-up, at their place.

Vastra Folunda 3 - Stromsbergs 0

Wow, it could be a long season. Mikael Johansson dominates us in the air, scoring 2 goals from corners in a 4 minute span in the first half. We then give up another goal at 86'. Just a dominating performance in pretty much all aspects.

Stromsberg 2 - Qviding 1

Once again, things aren't looking good as we concede in the 13th minute. Then, it was only fitting that Dan Danneman scored my first goal in the First Division. I tried again to phase him out in the friendlies and get some other players in there, but he got the start in this game. I was perfectly happy to get the draw as we were in minute 94 (out of 4 extra), when Hallur Hansson stole the ball at midfield and unleashed a 30 yard deflected strike into the back of the net. The sellout crowd went crazy, and the ref immediately blew the whistle to end the game and give Strosberg the win. One of my favorite moments in the dynasty.

We sold out Heden with 500 people for the first time since the relegation playoffs in 2011 and set a record for gate receipts.

Falkenberg 1 - Stromsberg 2

Our first road win at this level. David Bostrom scored in the 28th minute, and Jonathon Kristofferson added one in the 32nd. We then held on for the win. This match was the first of three in an 8 day span, the first time I had to deal with multiple games in a week at Stromsberg.

[dfisher]

MAY 2016

Stromsberg 1 - Jonkopings Sodra 1

A devasting draw. Bostrom scored in the 68th minute, and it looked like we were going to escape with our third win in a row. Robin Stenlund then conceded a penalty in the 94th minute (even though the assistant said only 3 were to be added). If I get relegated, this might be the one I point to.

LB07 3 - Stromsberg 1

Once again, the talent gap is evident. Our team was also tired with the previous heartbreaker only 3 days earlier. The preview said to watch for their AMR Phillip Strand, and it was on point. He made run after run down the right side and had a goal and an assist in the first 30 minutes. We were outplayed, with the only bright spot being Daniel Hautumngimana's first goal in a Stromsberg uniform in the 84th minute.

Stromsberg 1 - Torslanda 1

If the Jonkopings draw was a heartbreaker, this one was pure frustration. We out shot them 16-2, with 6 clear cut chances. Unfortunately, after Bostrom scored in the 3rd minute, we weren't able to beat the keeper again.

Stromsberg 3 - Motala AIF 3

Another frustrating draw. I decided to give my backup keeper a start, and it might have come back to bite me. We score 2 goals in first half extra time, first on a header by DC Daniel Johansson off of a free kick, and then by David Bostrom 2 minutes later. We concede early in the second half, but Kristoffersson scores in the 64th minute to give us back the 2 goal lead. Unfortunately, it would not be enough, as Motala equalized in the 89th minute. There have been some last minute heroics in Stromsberg matches this year.

FC Trollhattan 2 - Stromsberg 0

May mercifully comes to end as the Daniel Cavov, the big red-headed striker, gets a brace to send us home empty handed.

We end the month with only 3 points out of 5 matches. To make matters worse, the Trollhattan match the first of another 3 matches in 8 days stretch.

[dfisher]

JUNE 2016

After lingering in mid-table, we begin June in 10th place, just clear of the relegation zone.

Stomsberg 2 - Vasby 1

Home sweet home. David Bostrom gets a brace (one in each half), and we don't give it all back for a change and hold on for the win. One more game before some rest.

Husqvana 0 - Stromsberg 2

Bostrom is on fire. He scores another brace, this time 5 minutes apart, and the defense has enough left in the tank for the clean sheet. We are starting to get momentum, and Bostrom is starting to get noticed by some bigger clubs.

Stromsberg 1 - Hacken 1

Johnathon Kristofferson puts us in front in the 72nd minute off of a Bostrom assist, but Hacken answers in the 82nd. We looked a little flat.

Skovde AIK 0 - Stromsberg 1

It looked like a bore draw, until Dan Danneman came off the bench. He got the ball with his back to the goal at the edge of the area, turned and kept the defender at his back, and placed the winner in the left hand corner in the 92nd minute.

Stromsberg 2 - Linsdal 1

Bostrom gets another brace, including a fantastic run/shot from the edge of the area that would win goal of the month. This completes an undefeated month, which I would of thought impossible so soon in the First Division.

I earn First Division Manager of the Month, and, as mentioned above, Bostrom gets Goal of the Month.

[dfisher]

JULY 2016

The half way point of the season gives a month long break. We start the 2nd half off against a team that dominated us the first time around.

Stromsberg 2 - Vastra Frolunda 3

Mikael Johansson was again too much for us to handle in the air. He scored a goal off of a free kick early to give a quck answer to a Bostrom goal. We fell behind late in the first half, but Dan Danneman tied it up going into the locker room. Unfortunately, we conceded late in the game again to lose. We at least looked like we belonged on the same field with them this time.

Stromsberg 2 - Falkenberg 1

Bostrom and Danneman score again to give us the season sweep and end a quick month match-wise on the right note.

[dfisher]

August 2016 (Part 1)

Two more games to get up to the present day in the dynasty. These two matches occur as games 2 and 3 of a 3 in 8 days stretch.

Jonkopkings Sodra 0 - Stromsberg 0

Yawn. Not much to speak of, but I'll take a draw on the road.

Qviding 1 - Stromsberg 3

One of my favorite matches ever. A deflected Bostrom shot falls to Andreas Winding, who strikes it on the half volley into the net in extra time of the first half for his first goal of the year. Danneman then makes a great run from inside his own half to slot a goal into the corner. Jesper Almgren, making his first appearance of the year, then makes a great run down the right side and hits a wide open Johann Aoalsteinsson, and the captain buries it for his first of the year. Although we concede late, it doesn't matter, and I am delighted with the win.

Current Standings (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=currentstandings.jpg)

The lads are playing way over their heads right now. With 9 matches to go, we are in 6th place, only 4 points out of the playoff spot. Although that is unlikely with the goal differential the way things are, we are 15 points clear of the relegation zone. I couldn't ask for much more.

[dfisher]

CURRENT ROSTER

Now that I am up to current day in the dynasty, I thought I would go thru the current roster. Beneath every position, I will list the players in the order I see them on the depth chart. I play a 4-1-3-2 formation with a my wingers pushed up into attacking midfielder positions.

Goalkeeper

Martin Jansson - I've cycled thru quite a few keepers over the years; probably more than any other position. At 20 years old, Jansson probably doesn't have the potential to stay here long term, but no one has taken the job from him.

Ivar Jonsson - The 18 year old Icelander has been quite a headache since I picked him up prior to the 2016 season. Twice during preseason training, he missed practice due to being out late at the clubs the prior night. My Ass Man thinks he is better than Jansson now, and his $14k value seems to back that up, but he didn't play too well in friendlies and conceded three goals in his only start. Maybe next year Ivar.

Right Defender

Jussi Jokela - Injured for the first half of the season or so, he has slowly rounded into game shape. Jokela has struggled a little bit so far and has been disappointing. I'm going to start going to more of a rotation with:

Robin Stenlund - My first choice backup at both fullback positions, I feel comfortable with him in the starting lineup if necessary. Only 19 and valued at $7k, he has a good future ahead of him at Stromsberg.

Urban Lundgren - My first choice AMR, Lundgren can drop back to DR if needed. I do that sometimes when I am behind to get some more offensive minded players on the pitch.

Salomon King - Primarily a central defender, King can play outside on the right if absolutely necessary, but he really doesn't have the necessary pace. Has only played there once this year.

Central Defender

Daniel Johansson - Hurt in the preseason, he missed the first few games. With the exception of one game, he has been a rock in the middle for me and looks like a good pickup this offseason.

Julius Brynjolfsson - One problem I had in prior versions of FM is buying players for the future and never giving them a chance to prove themselves. I purchased this 19 year old Icelander and stashed him on the youth team. My scouts and Ass. Man said he should have started last year, and this year, with the incumbent David Nilsson struggling, I gave him a shot. He has started every game since.

Salomon King - Solid vet backup. Good in the air, but, as noted above, is slow. Will retire at the end of the year.

Janne Aloui - Got him for coverage in the 2nd Division. Really isn't good enough to play in the First Divison. His contract is up at the end of the year.

David Nilsson - A starter since 2010, I sold him in the midseason transfer window after Brynjolfsson took his starting job.

Glenn Sonnelind - A massive 21 year old who has been a first choice defender the last 2 years, he tore knee ligaments in the preseason and is out for the year.

Left Defender

Johan Henningsson - Has done a great job since recovering from a preseason injury. Another quality offseason pickup.

Robin Stenlund - See DR.

Sigurour Snorrason - Only 18 years old, has been brought on as a reserve when fatigue, injuries, and suspensions required it. He has spent most of the year with the U19 squad.

Defensive Midfielder

Daniel Bornemann - Last year's fans player of the year hasn't played up to those standards all year, but he has looked much better over the last 10 games or so. Still, he was in danger of losing his job to:

Joakim Karlsson - 20 years old and valued at $8k, Karlsson is seeing his first regular first team action this year after spending a couple years with the U19s. Probably outplayed Bornemann earlier, bu he got hurt and is currently still out.

Central Midfielder

Hallur Hansson - Has more than 30 caps for the Faroe Islands and has drawn rave reviews from the fans. Only 1 goal so far, but it was a memorable one that gave us our first win in the First Division in the 95th minute.

Johann Aoalsteinsson - My captain lost his starting job to our highest paid player and will probably leave when his contract runs out at the end of the year. He led the team to never before reached heights as captain, but he isn't quite good enough for this level.

Daniel Ivarsson - An 18 year old from Iceland valued at $3k, he will probably take over as the primary backup next year.

Right Attacking Midfielder

Urban Lundgren - Has struggled with consistency thus far on the year. His ability to drop back to DR has been valuable the last few years.

Vladen Djulic - A newcomer to the squad, he has earned a couple starts. Every time I think he might be ready to take over for Lundgren, he stinks up the joint. He's only 19, valued at $9k and is extremely fast.

Jesper Almgren - A spot appearance in the first team due to fatigue showed he has some talent, as he had a fantastic assist off the bench. If Djulic can take over the starting spot next year, his presence might make Lundgren expendable.

David Bostrom - Technically my best AMR, but I need him elsewhere. I will drop him back to the wing on some days that I want to make a change but no backup on the match day squad.

Left Attacking Midfielder

Andreas Winding - He has had a disappointing year. I think he is just too slow (pace of 3) to fit into my system. This position is #1 on my list to upgrade in the offseason.

Daniel Lopez - I feel like he has been on the fringe of regular first team football for ages, but he is still only 20. Valued at $9k, he is getting about 1/3 of the starts hasn't done much to claim more.

David Bostrom - Once again, technically my best AML. He has played here on occasion due to no backup on the match day squad.

Striker

David Bostrom - My favorite FM player since Mamady Sidibe led my Swansea team to multiple promotions in CM 01/02. Watching him grow from a 3 position backup off the bench, to a regular starter, to a star over the last few years has been a blast. He is valued at $26k and has has multiple First Division Elite managers scouting our matches. Last match, for the first time, a Premier League manager watched. I am worried I won't be able to hold onto him much longer. He has been capped twice for the Sweden Under 19s, scoring once, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets an Under 21 callup soon. Bostrom leads the team with 12 goals so far.

Jonathon Kristoffersson - Another talented 20 year old, this one valued at $18k, he has not had the on field success that Bostrom has. He has showed flashes, but not the consistency. He just seems to lack the intelligence that Bostrom has, barely getting called for offsides or striking from distance instead of taking it too the goal. Starts about 60% of the time. Has scored 3 goals on the year.

Dan Danneman - Talk about getting the most out of your talent. Danneman is only valued at $1k, but he is the Stromsberg all time leading scorer and has led the team in scoring five years in a row (Bostrom will probably take that title this year). He's 27 years old and has scored five goals this year. I just resigned him for another year.

Daniel Hautumngimana - Signed primarily to be a backup, he has played decent, but nothing great. Only 1 goal on the year.

There's my team. There are a couple players on the youth squad with some promise, but if they play for the senior squad this year, I'm in trouble.

[dfisher]

AUGUST 2016 (CONT)

Stromsberg 1 - LB07 1

Urban Lundgren gets his first goal of the year to equalize in the 89th minute, and we earn a draw against the first place team. Lundgren gets man of the match.

Torsdlanda 0 - Stromsberg 2

Dan Danneman scores in the 3rd minute, and Urban Lundgren, after not scoring until the last game, adds his second. Lundgren gets man of the match again as Bostrom and Hansson get assists. Backup keeper Ivar Jonsson gets the clean sheet in his second start of the year.

Motala AIF 1 - Stromsberg 2

After a scoreless first half, we fall behind in the 51st minute off of a Daniel Bornemann mistake. On a corner, Bostrom flicks onto the far post, and Julius Brynjolfsson banks in a header to tie it for his first career goal. Danneman scores in the 77th minute off of a Joakim Karlsson (in for Bornemann) assist. The win temporarily puts us into 2nd place (we were one of only 3 games on this day).

After everyone else catches up, we end the month in 3rd place in the First Division South, only 1 point out of 2nd with 6 matches left. I come in third in manager of the month.

[dfisher]

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

Stromsberg 2 - FC Trollhattan 2

We jumped out to a quick lead in the 8th minute when David Bostrom headed one toward goal from the edge of the area. The keeper came for the ball, but Dan Danneman beat him to it and headed it into goal. They tied it up when their left midfielder (Daniel) beat Robin Stenlund and slotted it into goal. Daniel Johansson then scored off of a corner to give us the lead back in the 50th minute, but Trollhattan scored off a post-corner scramble when a shot deflected off of Hansson into the goal.

Vasby 2 - Stromsberg 0

The less said the better. We gave up 2 goals in 10 minutes around halftime, and never really were in the game.

Stromsberg 1 - Husqvarna 1

At home against the worst team in the league, we got fouled to death. Husqvarna picked up 7 yellow cards, and we couldn't get any flow going. We conceded on another corner in the 42 minute, and that seemed to be the difference. Luckily, Dan Danneman scored off of a corner in the 90th minute to tie.

Hacken 3 - Stromsberg 1

On the road against the eventual champs with poor form is not the ideal situation. Danneman got us off to a great start after Bostrom headed a beautiful ball right in front of him for an easy goal. It was all downhill from there as we got shredded for 3 goals; it could have been worse as our keeper saved a penalty.

Stromsberg 1 - Skovde AIK 1

Another quick goal for us, this time from Jonathon Kristoffersson in the 6th minute off of a fantastic one-two with Urban Lundgren. Just a great goal for us. Unfortunately, Skovde tied it up with a great team effort in minute 49, and we remained 0 for September.

Lindsal 0 - Stromsberg 2

The season finale in early October was without Hallur Hansson, who was away with Faroe Islands. Daniel Ivarsson, a young MC, got the start as a tryout for the backup role next year. It was a boring first half that saw Kristoffersson stoned twice in one-on-one situations. Lundgren scored on a direct free kick in minute 61, and Bostrom set a team record for assists with his 9th when he headed one to Kristoffersson at midfield. Kristoffersson beat the last defender and took it all the way in for the goal and end the winless streak. A road win to end the year in 7th place, top half of the table in our first year in the First Division.

Final League Table (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2016LeagueTable.jpg)

Stromsberg League Positions (http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/?action=view&current=2016Positions.jpg)

[dfisher]

Thanks to Radii with his great Ipswich dynasty to get me back into FM 2010. There were a couple reasons why I quit the first time. I just had a new baby, leaving little time for game playing. Also, I had a poor run of form with Stromsberg, and, realizing that I wasn't going to get these lads much further, I resigned. I immediately regretted the decision, but the damage was done. I latched on with a Malaysian team, but I couldn't really tell my players apart and wasn't feeling it. I then took a long break from the dynasty.

[dfisher]

Last month I started getting the itch again. I fired up FM 2010 and resigned from my Malaysian squad after 3 weeks. I went on holiday and applied to all jobs and took the first one that was offered to me and was the new manager of:

PERSITARA JAKARTA UTARA, a squad in the Indonesian Premier League, which is the 2nd level of Indonesian football. The squad had a little more history than Stromsberg did when I took over, as they had been in the Super League as recently as 2011-2012, and even won the Indonesian Cup once.

The Indonesian Permier League is divided into three divisions. Persitara were placed into division B, which had 12 teams. The teams play a double round robin, and the top two teams in each division, plus the next 2 best teams, advance to the Second Phase. The Second Phase is two groups of 4 teams which play a single round robin. The top two in each group get promoted. The winners of each group play a single game for the Division Title. There is also a third place game between the two second place teams.

Next up, the 2017-2018 season.

[dfisher]

2017-2018 SEASON

Media Prediction - 3rd
Board Expectations - Mid-table finish
Board Expectations (Indonesian Cup) - 3rd Round

I had a look at the squad, and right away, I needed players. Any players. I didn't have enough to fill an 18 man match day squad. I had a friendly 3 days after I took the job, and, with 6 strikers and only 2 defenders on the squad, it was a definite makeshift squad. I had midfielders playing central defense. Needless to say, defenders were my top priority on the transfer market.

Transfers (http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/2017-2018transfers.png)

I was allowed to send scouts throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Europe, Africa, and South America. Unfortunately, Indonesian Premier Division squads are limited to registering 3 foreign players. That means that I can't shuffle new foreign players onto the match day squad once the registration window closes (matches with the transfer window). Of course, I have four foreign players on my team, so I loan out my young striker from Cameroon, Jean-Marc Onguene. I forgot to put in that I can recall him, so I got screwed. The team I loaned him to also was at their limit for foreign players, so he didn't get registered and missed a year of development. Live and learn.

As for players I brought in, pretty much everyone saw significant action. Wawan Sustrino was the first one I brought in, a youngster who could play leftback and central defender. He wasn't highly rated, but he could play the position. He's actually trained up to a useful player already. Yudistrina Yanuar was supposed to be a filler player in the central midfield, but he kept producing. Hasan Mahdi was my starting left back. Maulana was my big purchase for central defender and played well. Ismed Kurnia has been playing for the Indonsian Under 21s and is getting interest from big clubs. I brought in Eko Nasir on loan since I only had one GK on the squad. He only got in one game. Saputra came in at the midpoint transfer window and gave me some depth on the defense. Dani was a striker who came in on loan and got some decent playing time.

1st Phase Fixtures (http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/2017-20181stphasefixtures.png)

A great start to the season had us in top of the table from the start. We went on a seven game unbeaten and unscored on run to start the year. Unfortunately, we had trouble scoring as well. I ditched my old tactics that I used with Stromsberg, and went to a traditional 4-4-2. As you can see from my goalscorers, my 3 main players were Luis Felicia, an experienced Argentinian striker, Clauido Berrios, my captain, a Chilean right winger, and Riki Novrainsyah, an Indonesian left winger. After losing 2/3 (and getting shutout) around the halfway point of the season, I bumped my wingers up into their more natural attacking midfielder role.

My main weakness is defense was in the air. I was so desperate to find anyone decent to play for me, I didn't look enough at jumping ratings and ended up with 2 DC with jumping in the single digits (in one case, low single digits). Mahendra Tri Saptura came over in the midseason transfer window to serve as a backup, and, after one to many crosses were headed into the net, I slotted him into the starting lineup due to his 14 jumping. This really solidified the backline.

Unfortunately, Felicia was the only striker scoring even semi-regularly, and a five match run with only one win ended in the penultimate match with a 4-2 thrashing to drop us to 3rd place in the table for the first time. We needed help to qualify for the 2nd phase. We played on Sunday for the last match of the year; the 2nd place team (Persiwa) played on Saturday. Luckily, they only managed a draw, which meant we went into the last match needing a win to advance. Claudio Barrios headed in a cross midway through the 2nd half, and we held on to advance to the 2nd phase.

1st Phase Table (http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/2017-20181stphasetable.png)

As for the League Cup, we exceeded expectations by making the 4th round, where we fell to a Super League team 4-3 on aggregate. We actually missed 2 clear cut chances in the 2nd leg at home that would have made things extremely interesting.

League Cup Fixtures (http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/2017-2018IndonesianCupfixtures.png)

The 2nd phase did not start out well at all. We were fortunate to get 2 home games out of our 3 matches. We lost on the road first at Deltras 3-2, but held on to win our next match 1-0. We went into our last match in third place, but a win would clinch promotion due to goals scored. With help we would make the finals. I told the squad to do it for their supporters, and they listened. A Felicia hat trick (our first of the year) led to a 6-0 romp, and we got the help we needed. Persitara was on to the Premier Division Final and had won promotion to the Super League. Unfortunately, we didn't really show up for the final and fell 3-0, but for the first time in my Football Manager career, I had won promotion to the top league in a country.

2nd Phase Fixtures (http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/2017-20182ndphasefixtures.png)

2nd Phase Table (http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/2017-20182ndphasetable.png)

Persitara Best XI (http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/2017-2018persitarabesteleven.png)

[bbgunn]

Interesting that you latched on to a Malaysian team. Good luck!

[dfisher]

Interesting that you latched on to a Malaysian team. Good luck!

It was my first time ever managing in Asia. The names were all too similar to tell my team apart, so I didn't real get into it. I've been able to do it with Indonesia and am starting to view this team as my own.

[dfisher]

2018-2019 Season

With my promotion to the Super League, I am now allowed to register 5 foreign players. I have a transfer budget of $35,000, and a wage budget of $1.2 million/year. My current wage bill is only $600,000 so I have a lot of room to play with. There are 18 teams in the Super League. The champion advances to the AFC Champions League, with the runner-up getting a spot in the AFC Cup. The bottom 4 clubs get relegated to the Premier League.

Media Prediction - 14th
Board Expectations - Avoid Relegation (matches up with my goal for this year)
Indonesian Cup Expectations - 3rd round

Players Out

Achmad Yaini (DC/DMC/MC) - was hurt for most of last season. 34 years old and versatility gave me some depth, but he won't play at this level. I actually resigned him near the end of the season when I was worried about not getting promoted, but I sold him for nothing.

Leonardo Felicia (ST) - this was the tough one. He was my leading scorer last year, but he's 34 as well so I let his contract expire. If he was Indonesian, I would have tried to get him for one more year, but letting the Argentinian go frees up a foreign player roster spot.

M. Fadil Sausu (AMC/FC) - actually got some decent playing time at the end of the year as a striker, but age and depth at the striker position made him expendable, and his contract expired.

Franciskus Mumpo (ST) - loaned him out all year last season. I let his contract expire.

Players In

Jimmy Eboule Bille (DC) - my scouts found him in Cameroon just after the midseason transfer window closed, and I paid a $425 transfer fee. He looks like a stud defender for my level and is only 21. I took a risk on him; if I didn't get promoted, I would be in trouble with the foreign player limit. I also have a Cameroonian striker on the squad, so the two hang out.

Varella (ST) - my scouts found this Brazilian on a scouting mission there. As soon as I clinched promotion, I immediately put an offer in for him. A signed him on a free. He is rated 5 stars and will immediately slot into the starting lineup.

Budi Yulianto (DRC) / Edy Saptura (D/M R) / Marthen Sani (ST) - all three are youth players signed after Trial Day. They will spend the year on the Under 18 squad. For some reason, none of the teams in Indonesia get a youth uptake. It could be a bug.

Heri Hadi (AML) - another relatively young player (20) signed away from a club due to his expiring contract. I spent the entire last season without any backups at AMR or AML, so this one is much needed depth. Looks decent as well.

Muhammad Rahmad (GK) - my scouts like him better than the incumbent so he'll get the chance to start

Firman Hadi (AM L/C) - another 20 year old signed just before his contract expired; he is also an accomplished MC; so he will be a regular on the match day squad due to his versatility

Amin Rinaldo (DR) - 21 years old signed just before his contract expired. He will probably start to see the majority of the playing time at DR.

Gusti Suprato (GK) - 17 years old signed on a free; I sent him out on loan to start the year to a first division squad (3rd tier)

One odd thing that happened in the preseason. One other player that I tried to sign after Trial Day, was a five star goalkeeper that my scouts thought were twice as good as my current keeper. I put an offer in right away. He rejected it, which wasn't too surprising. What was surprising was, when I tried to click on him to see what team got him, I couldn't! His profile was inaccessible, which means he retired from football even though he was a stud at the age of 15.

That wraps up the preseason for the current season. Next up, preseason depth chart.

[dfisher]

2018-2019 Preseason Depth Chart

GOALKEEPER

Muhammad Rahmad - lets see what he can do; I'll probably be rotating him in with last year's keeper

Toure Fofana (FGN) - from Guinea; had a good year last year, but struggled toward the end and had the media/fans on his case a bit; only 23 so still has a lot of growing to do

Gusti Suprapto - will start the year on loan

LEFT DEFENDER

Muhammad Reza Hasan Mahdi - will start every game unless fitness is an issue. On the short side (5'5'') but does well both attacking and defending. Might end up captain next year.

Wawan Sutrisno - performed much better than expected in a backup role last year at the age of 16. Gained a lot of confidence and is now valued at $110,000. Will also see time at DC.

CENTRAL DEFENDER

Jimmy Eboule Bille (FGN) - the big Cameroonian youngster immediately slots in as my top defender. I expect him to dominate in the air for me. Can also play DM, but I don't use that position right now except for when I go all defense. I can't see me taking my best defender and putting him into his 2nd best position to try to protect a lead.

Mahendra Tri Saputra - brought in for defensive depth, but took over a starting job when my lack of height started to become a big liability. The 2nd spot will probably be a bit of a rotation with Eboule Bille in the back.

Syaepuloh Maulana - bought for $14k last year, perfomed ok, but nothing outstanding. Will definitely be on the match day squad and will see some time in the starting lineup.

Herman Gafur - my Ass. Man keeps telling me he is our best defender, but he lacks jumping ability, and keeps getting beat on thru balls. Not a good combo for a central defender. I'll give him some more time, but he could see himself on the transfer list soon.

Wawan Sutrisno - Will be passing Gafur soon on the depth chart, especially since Hasan Mahdi is entrenched at left back. I need to get him in some games to continue his development.

Budi Yulianto - will spend the season on the youth team. If he gets in much for the senior squad, I'm in trouble.

RIGHT DEFENDER

Amin Rinaldo - at 21, should be entrenched here for a long time. This season, he'll be in a bit of a rotation, but should play ~2/3 of the games.

Arif Suyono - my vice-captain, at 34, his time is about up. He had a good solid season for me last year. Can also play midfield, which he may end up doing this year.

Budi Yulianto - See above

Edy Saputra - another Under 18 player. I'm not sure how I would really order him and Yulianto, but I hopefully won't need to figure it out this year.

LEFT ATTACKING MIDFIELDER

Rizki Novriansyah - starting to develop into my best player. Very dangerous dribbling down the left side and sending in crosses. Wanted to move on to a bigger club, but a new contract has shut him up for now.

Heri Hadi - already valued at $210,000; I might want to send him out on loan since he's only 20. He won't make the match day squad that often since he backs up my best player. The next guy has a little more versatility.

Firman Hadi - can play CM as well. Not as good as Heri, but gets more playing time due to the multi-position aspect.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER

Ismed Kurnia - getting regular call-ups for the Indonesian Under 21s. Well-rounded and valued at $300,000, he'll start every game he's available. He's my #1 corner taker.

Angga Febrinando - my 2nd MC spot is going to be a rotation between two guys. Febrinando is the more talented ratings-wise of the two, but he is injury prone and has low stamina. Hopefully, he starts to show what he is capable of.

Yudistra Yanuar - not as talented as Febrinando, but he gives decent results when I play him. Has a decent long range shot.

Arif Suyono - the veteran vice-captain spent all last season as DR, but I plan on using him as a swingman to cover both DR and MC this year.

Firman Hadi - youngster will see some playing time off the bench

RIGHT ATTACKING MIDFIELDER

Claudio Berrios (FGN) - my Chilean captain. Now 34 years old and declining, I need to get some help here ASAP. He's still talented, but lacks the stamina to go the distance, and I keep getting training notes about his attributes dropping.

That's the list for AMR. Obviously, I will spend the rest of the transfer window looking for help here.

STRIKER

Varella (FGN) - Brazilian 21 year old. Looks like he will be my best striker since I started the dynasty, but only time will tell. He'll get plenty of opportunities to prove himself.

David Laly - Ended the season with 7 goals last year after not scoring for the first 10. I hope to see a little more consistency from him. My Ass Man had him pegged as our best striker last season, but he largely disappointed.

Jean-Marc Ongeune (FGN) Youngster (20) from Cameroon had a wasted season last year. He's valued at $60,000 so the promise is there. I just need to get his confidence up after not playing for a year.

Roland Swen - Has dual Liberian/Indonesian citzenship, so he doesn't count to my foreign player limit. If he did he would be gone. Played about a dozen games last year, mostly off the bench, and did not score.

Rizki Novriansyah If I'm hurting, I can move him up to striker and insert one of the Hadi's at AML. I pushed him up some last year when behind to play with three strikers.

Marthen Sani - 16 year old will spend the season in the Under 18s. He's already valued at $85,000. If I get a good draw in the Indonesian Cup, I might let him play a second leg.

That's pretty much the team I decided to go with. I still have time until the transfer window is closed and will be looking for some AMR coverage.

[dfisher]

JULY 2018

Persih @ Persitara

We start the year at home, and our season in the Super League couldn't have started much better. Rizki Novriansyah took the ball down the left wing, crossed to the far post, and captain Claudio Berrios headed it home in the first minute for the early lead. David Laly followed with a wonderful strike from just outside the area in the 31st minute to give us a shocking 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, our good fortune did not last, as they got a brace from Ravel Zackeus Ohee to tie it up by the 63rd minute. It ended that way.

PERSITARA 2 PERSIH 2

Persitara @ Persipasi

One thing about Indonesia, it seems 80% of the team names begin with Per*, making it difficult to get a rivalry together since it's hard to tell them apart. Anyway, we once again get off to a good start, as Ismed Kurnia curls one in from long range in the 7th minute. It stays that way until halftime so I go defensive, but I give up an equalizer in the 69th minute. However, a long pass up to Roland Swen, on for an injured David Laly, starts a run that ends with Swen scoring his first ever Persitara goal. Novriansyah then crosses one into the box in injury time, and the defender clears it into his own net to set the final score.

PERSITARA 3 PERSIPASI 1

Laly is out for 6-8 weeks, so Swen and Jean-Marc Ongeune are going to get some minutes up front.

[dfisher]

AUGUST 2018

There's a two week break before my next match, and I take the opportunity to peruse my scouts' reports. They end up finding an unattached 4 1/2 star 19 year old AMR in Uruguay. I put the offer in, and it is accepted. Daniel Chiffone joins the club giving; it's a good thing too, since Berrios gets a 2 week injury in training.

The Chiffone signing, however, puts me at 6 foreign players on the squad. I am still in the registration window, so I decide to take a chance. I pull back Guste Supaptro (GK) from his loan and list Fofana, my backup keeper from Guinea. He accepts a loan deal at another Super League squad to get me back to five foreign born players. I am putting all my faith in Rahmad to do the job in net (and not get hurt).

Perseden @ Persitara

It's a drab match until Novriansyah takes one at the edge of the area, makes a quick move to his left and blasts it into the back of the net in the 41st minute. An own goal in the 62 minute made it 2-0, but once again, we let the other team back in it by giving up a goal in the 69th minute. This time, they only get one, and we hold on for the win.

PERSITARA 2 PERSEDEN 1

Kurnia is injured in training and is out for a few weeks, weakening our midfield.

Persitara @ Persikabo

Another great start for the squad. Varella gets his first goal in a Persitara uniform with a point blank header in the 10th minute, and then Swen gets his second of the year in the 15th. We don't like to play with the lead, however, as we give back 3 goals to trail. Maulana and Saptura both struggled opposite Eboule Bille. The big Cameroonian defender levelled things with a header off a free kick in the 72nd minute to set the final score.

PERSITARA 3 PERSIKABO 3

PSM @ Persitara

It was Cameroonian day at Persitara. Febrinando finally showed some of his skills as he worked the ball from the left hand corner of the box down to the byline and sent in cross to the far post. Berrios (getting the start) then headed it back across the goal to an unmarked Jean-Marc Onguene, who headed it home for his first career goal. We couldn't hold that lead either, thanks to a mistake from Herman Gafur, getting his first start of the year, but Eboule Bille buried one of a corner in the 78th minute, and we held on from there.

PERSITARA 2 PSM 1

Eboule Bille now has two goals from setpieces. My defenders last year had one.

We end August in first place with 11 points from 5 games. Four teams have 10 points, and two more have 9.

[dfisher]

Novriansyah and Eboule Bille finish 2nd and 3rd in Super League player of the month voting; I finish 2nd in Manager of the month. Onguene's goal against PSM is goal of the month.

9/1/2018

Persitara @ PSIS

PSIS hasn't lost, but has only 1 win and 4 draws.

Starting lineup:

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Yanuar, Febrinando
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

Onguene got us off to a flier in the 2nd minute off a nice pass from Febrinando. But we quickly fell behind by the 30th minute thanks to a slow reaction by Saptura, and a bad clearance by Varella off a corner. Onguene tied it up 2 minutes later off a cross from Novriansyah.

At halftime, I put in Sutrisno for an ineffective Hasan Mahdi and Berrios for a banged up Chiffone. 5 minutes into the second half, Rinaldo found Varella with a wonderful long ball. He took it down the field and found Novriansyah with a perfect cross to regain the lead. The defense let us down again as they tied it up in the 72nd minute off a nice give and go. But we weren't about to stop attacking, and Varella headed home a Novriansyah cross in the 82nd minute for another lead. We went all defensive, including bringing Suyono in for Yanuar at midfield, and hit them with a counter in injury time to give Onguene his hat trick.

PERSITARA 5 PSIS 3

[dfisher]

Varella strains his groin in training and is out 3-4 weeks. Luckily, Laly is back in full training, and Kurnia comes back for the midfield as well. Kurnia gets brought off the bench in an Indonesian Under-21s match.

Persidafon @ Persitara

Persidafon currently is in last place. We are in first and are 1:3 to win.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Maulana, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Febrinando
AM - Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Laly, Onguene

We dominate possession but are unable to score in the first half. In the 47th minute, Maulana tackles a ball away at midfield and hits a streaking Onguene. He jukes a guy to get the ball on his right foot and buries it in the net for a 1-0 lead. In the 53rd minute, Persidafon lose a player to injury, and they don't bring anyone else on. I check, and they've already used their subs! So we play with a man advantage and use it. Hasan Mahdi takes a throw deep in their end and plays it to an unmarked Febrinando. He crosses to the far post, and Berrios buries it for his 25th career league goal. Off the ensuing kickoff, Berrios tackles the ball away at midfield and takes it to the byline, where a cross to Novrianshyah is headed home.

I bring in Heri Hadi for Novrianshyah with the lead to get the youngster some playing time. Kurnia misses a header on their corner in the 71st minute to give them one back. Swen is brought on for Laly and Suyono for Rinaldo, and I switch to control. I was going to bring Kurnia off, and I should have as he gets banged up shortly thereafter. He is ok to keep playing. In the 87th minute Febrinando is not, so it is back to 10 on 10. I get nervous in extra time as we concede again, but it is ruled offside, and they don't threaten again.

PERSITARA 3 PERSIDAFON 1
Berrios is man of the match with a 9.0; Novriansyah gets an 8.2. Those two along with Maulana and Rinaldo are named to the Super League team of the week.

[dfisher]

Febrinando is ok after the last match; Kurnia is not as he is out 1-2 weeks and will miss the next match.

Persitara @ Pelita Jaya 9/22/2018

Pelita is 4th in the Super League. Looking at their players, they are much more talented than we are. The match is pretty exciting, as both teams are tackling hard, but neither is able to find the net and it ends in a bore draw.

PERSITARA 0 PELITA JAYA 0

Persitara @ Semen Padang 9/29/2018

Semen Padang is in 14th as we go on the road again. We are a little banged up, but are slight favorites. We take a quick lead in the 9th minute when Yanuar fires one in from 30 yards out. Injuries quickly mount up, however, as Varella, Maulana, and Rinaldo all end up leaving injured. We concede just before halftime, and then Eboule Bille loses a header off a corner. Our first loss of the year.

SEMEN PADANG 2 PERSITARA 1

Varella is out ~6 days, and Maulana is out 2-3 weeks.

I finish 2nd again in the Manager of the Month; Berrios takes 3rd in player of the month.

[dfisher]

Persija @ Persitara - 10/7/2018

Persija is my main rival, and the preview shows it as a derby, so we are in the same town. We are slight favorites.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Febrinando
AM - Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Swen, Onguene

Maulana is completely unavaible in defense. Varella is only at 81% fitness, so he starts on the bench, and Laly hasn't returned to full training yet. We are definitely shorthanded in attack.

1st Minute - Kurnia puts one inches wide off a blocked Onguene shot.
6th Minute - Rinaldo gets elbowed and their ML gets a yellow.
10th Minute - A nice Persija move ends with a rocket from 30 yards right at Rahmad.
11th Minute - Eboule Bille heads one over from a corner.
20th Minute - A Persija corner leads to a shot off the woodwork that looked like a certain goal.
23rd Minute - Novriansyah needs medical attention. He is well enough to take a free kick which hits off the upright and bounces to Febrinando. He fires one on goal, but their keeper makes a great save to keep it scoreless.
28th Minute - Hasan Mahdi with a terrible pass leads to a Perija goal. 0-1
HALFTIME - I bring in Heri Hadi for Novriansyah.
62nd Minute - Chiffone on for Berrios.
74th Minute - Varella on for Swen.
88th Minute - After we did nothing all half, Chiffone takes it from the right sideline all the way to the middle of the field at the edge of the area and hits a cutting Hadi who buries it in the net for his first goal in a Persitara uniform to tie it up. 1-1 Persija thought it was offside, so much so that their LM who was playing with a yellow got a 2nd yellow for dissent. We'll play the last few minutes a man up.
Unfortunately, we can't do anything with it and end up tied.

PERSITARA 1 PERSIJA 1

Eboule Bille is man of the match with a 7.3; Hadi earns a 7.2 off the bench.

Novriansyah is out for ~3 weeks with a calf strain. That might hurt.

Rahmad is on the Super League team of the week.

[Young Drachma]

Looks like you guys are keeping pace well. Keep up the good results and hopefully, your next 15-year old stud GK will sign for peanuts!

[dfisher]

INDONESIAN CUP DRAW

We draw Premier League squad Persib in the first round of the Cup. All rounds of the Indonesian Cup are 2-legged. We will start at home on 10/17; the next two weeks we play 2x/week.

Febrinando strains a calf and is out 3 weeks. Maulana is back in full training. The midfield is getting a little thin. I put in offer in for an Indonesian DC/DMC/MC that is found by our scouts and rated 5*. It is accepted; there are a few other offers for him, so we'll see if he accepts our contract.

10/17/2018

Persib @ Persitara - Indonesian Cup
We are 5:4 favorites.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Yanuar
AM - H. Hadi, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

5th Minute - Varella just misses wide off a Hasan Mahdi pass.
22nd Minute - Hadi is injured and has to come off. Firman Hadi comes on for him.
26th Minute - A Varella header forces the keeper to dive, but no dice.
42nd Minute - A corner kick to Varella is volleyed on goal, but cleared off the line by a defender. In the scramble the ball gets to Kurnia, who crosses to Hadi, but the header is just over.

HALFTIME
We have 8 shots to their 3; all of Persib's shots were long shots. Possession is ~even, but we are dominating the air. Yanuar has a 6.1, Rinaldo a 7.1, no one else really notable.

70th Minute - We've had 4 shots in the 2nd half, none on target. I bring Suyono into the midfield for Yanuar.
82nd Minute - Laly on for Varella
92nd Minute - Eboule Bille gets a yellow card for a handball near midfield.

PERSITARA 0 PERSIB 0

Rinaldo is man of the match with a 7.5; Hadi is out ~13 days.

[dfisher]

PSS @ Persitara 10/20/2018
PSS comes in at 10th in the Super League; we are still somehow in first. Injuries and fatigue lead to a slightly unconvential lineup.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Maulana, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Yanuar
AM - F. Hadi, Berrios
ST - Swen, Laly

They come out in a 4-1-4-1, the first time I've played against that lineup. Persitara are once again 5:4 favorites.

33rd Minute - A long buildup finds Yanuar finding Laly at the edge of the area, but he puts in over.
HALFTIME - The teams combine for 11 shots in the first half. Only 1 PSS shot is on target.
51st Minute - Another long buildup has Laly finding Yanuar this time, but the shot is deflected right to the keeper. I bring on Chiffone and Varella for an ineffective Berrios (5.8) and Laly (5.6). I don't even remember Berrios touching the ball.
54th Minute - Hasan Mahdi gets beat on a header, but luckily it hits the upright.
62nd Minute - Hadi beats a man and gets to the byline, but his cross his headed over by Varella from ~10 yards.
67th Minute - Saputra on for Maulana (5.6)
85th Minute - Kurnia picks up a knock and has to leave. I go defensive, and neither team threatens the rest of the way.

PERSITARA 0 PSS 0

Kurnia has a dislocated jaw and is out 4 weeks.

[dfisher]

The Super League transfer window opens back up; the newest member of the squad is DC/DMC/MC Yanuar Nugroho. My coaches rate him as 4 1/2 - 5* at both DC and MC, and his ratings fit in with both. He will start at midfield until Kurnia gets back, then probably move back to defense. He's someone I can put at DMC late in games to get a more defensive look out there.

[dfisher]

Persitara @ Persib Indonesian Cup 10/24/11

Novriansyah has returned to training and is on the bench for a short run if necessary; I'd like to keep him out if I can.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Suyono, Nugroho
AM -F Hadi, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

8th Minute - The ball gets headed by about 6 different players, ending with Berrios heading it to Nugroho about 25 yards out. He strikes it on the volley and buries it in the back of the net to score in his debut! 1-0
23rd Minute - A nice buildup from Persib ends with a curling shot from the edge of the area into the net. Rahmad had no chance. 1-1
26th Minute - Rahmad saves a clear cut chance. We need to change the momentum. A draw lets us advance via away goals.
HALFTIME - Maulana comes on for Saptura.
50th Minute - A deep throw-in gets to Varella who heads toward goal, but it is cleared out. The clearance is weak and goes right to Hadi, who puts it in the back of the net for his first Persitara goal! 2-1
67th Minute - Yanuar on for Suyono. I change to counter.
75th Minute - Rahmad fists one to safety to the midfield circle. Persib then has their midfielder dribble unopposed and unleash one from 30 yards into the net. 2-2
80 Minute - Novriansyah on for Hadi. I drop Nugroho back to DM.
81st Minute - Onguene is beat on a header off a corner and we trail. 2-3

That's it; we're out in the first round.

PERSIB 3 PERSITARA 2

[dfisher]

Persitara @ Persebaya 10/28/2018

Not the team I want to be playing coming off a run of bad form. Persebaya is in 2nd in the league and are even favories.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Yanuar, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

Persebaya come out in a formation I've never seen before: a sweeper, 2 DC, 2 WB, 3 MC, and 2 ST.

2nd Minute - A Novriansyah free kick is headed over by Eboule Bille.
10th Minute - Rinaldo sends a nice cross in, but it is headed over by Onguene.
12th Minute - Chiffone uses his speed to get to the byline, his cross is met by a diving Novriansyah, but the keeper is able to scoop it up.
15th Minute - Rinaldo sends in another cross. It's headed on by a defender, right to Novriansyah who heads it into the net!! 1-0
21st Minute - Onguene receives a corner at the edge of the area, his shot is saved and kicked around until it finds its way back to him. He strikes it on a half volley, and the keeper is able to parry it again. This leads to a Persebaya counter that ends with a long shot saved by a diving Rahmad and then cleared to touch.
28th Minute - A Persebaya direct free kick hits woodwork.
30th Minute - Nugroho curves it just over from 40 yards.
37th Minute - Novriansyah sends in another free kick, and Varella heads it right into the net!! 2-0 I switch back to standard from attacking with the 2 goal lead.

HALFTIME - Welcome back Rizki Novriansyah. His 8.0 leads the team. Persebaya uses all three subs at the half.

48th Minute - Varella draws a double team after receiving a pass from Nugroho, and he finds a run of Onguene who gets behind the defense and slots it home from the penalty spot! 3-0
56th Minute - Yanuar has to leave with an injury. I bring Suyono on for him, along with Firman Hadi for Novriansyah since he's just gotten back.
59th Minute - Hadi's cross is headed over by Chiffone.
63rd Minute - Eboule Bille gets juked on defense and a short cross is headed home on the goalmouth over Suyono. 3-1 I go to defensive mindset.
68th Minute - Varella gets a knock. I bring on Laly for him. Nugroho is dropped back to defensive midfielder.
75th Minute - Crap. Eboule Bille gets a knock but can keep playing.
75th Minute - Right after, Suyono passes to Laly 25 yards out. Laly takes one dribble and decides to shoot. It goes in!!! 4-1
83rd Minute - Chiffone is hurt and has to leave. This game is really taking a toll on us.
90th Minute - Suyono finishes a nice build by finding Onguene on a thru ball. His shot is tipped over.
92nd Minute - What the hell. Suyono has to leave injured. I'm down to 9 players.
That will do it.

PERSITARA 4 PERSEBAYA 1
Novriansyah gets MOM with an 8.4; 8.0 for Onguene, who ended a streak of 493 straight scoreless minutes; 7.8 Varella; 7.4 Rinaldo

Chiffone is out 6 days with a bruised shin. Varella out 6 days with bruised ribs. Yanuar out 6 days with a bruised shin. It could have been much worse.

Novriansyah and Onguene make the Super League Team of the Week.

[dfisher]

Febrinando resumes full training. Kurnia is still a few weeks away; the others will be touch and go for our next match.

Persibom @ Persitara 11/18/2018

Persibom currently sit in 10th place in the Super League. We are 5:4 favorites.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - F. Hadi, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Laly, Onguene

Firman Hadi gets his first start of the year at MC due to injuries. Febrinando will see time in the 2nd half.

4th Minute - Nugroho whips in a free kick from near the corner. Eboule Bille wins the header but it is high.
14th Minute - Hadi does some nice dribbling at the left side of the box, and his cross is headed home by Berrios! 1-0
18th Minute - Nugroho rifles one off the crossbar from 25 yards.
32nd Minute - Novriansyah's free kick is on target to Eboule Bille, but his header caroms off the crossbar. It goes out to Hadi, who heads it toward Onguene, but his header is saved.
35th Minute - Nugroho plays a lovely 40 yard ball to Novriansyah, who takes one touch and crosses across the goalmouth to Berrios. His shot hits side net.
36th Minute - Novriansyah takes a corner and plays it to Laly at the edge of the area. Laly draws a defender from Hadi, and Laly finds him for an open shot a few yards behind the penalty spot. Firman gets his first ever senior goal! 2-0

HALFTIME - A dominating performance so far. We outshoot them 10-2. We have 58% of possession and are winning 78% of headers compared to their 40%. Hadi's 8.3 rating leads the way so far. We change to counter mentality.

54th Minute - Eboule Bille has a free kick from our own end. Three passes later, Laly fires a bullet into the back of the net off an Onguene assist. 3-0
65th Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah. Febrinando for Firman Hadi.
69th Minute - Berrios gets tackled, leading to a Persibom breakaway. Hasan Madi gets beat on a header off a cross, but it hits the crossbar.
73rd Minute - Sutrisno on for Hasan Madi.
85th Minute - Sutrisno picks up a knock, but he can stay on.
That's it.

PERSITARA 3 PERSIBOM 1
Firman Hadi wins Man of the Match with a 8.7; Laly gets a 7.9; Rinaldo and Berrios with 7.7.

[dfisher]

Persitara @ PSPS - 11/17/2018

Two weeks between matches due to the Indonesian Cup allow us to get a clean bill of health. Kurnia still isn't quite at full strength, so he'll start on the bench. PSPS is in 6th place and are 6:4 favorites.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Febrinando, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

6th Minute - PSPS gets a free kick. Eboule Bille wins the header to start a counter. Novriansyah plays a beautiful ball ahead of Varella who gets behind the defense, but his shot is hurried and sent wide.
17th Minute - PSPS heads a corner over.
19th Minute - Novriansyah's cross is cleared out all the way to the midfield circle. Eboule Bille beats the man to the ball and he volleys it up to the penalty area, where Onguene (who looked offside) heads it into the net! 1-0
28th Minute - A goal kick allows the PSPS striker to get behind Saptura, but Rahmad is there to smother the ball before it could be controlled.
33rd Minute - Nugroho gets beat on a header off a corner for a goal. 1-1
58th Minute - Laly on for Varella (5.5); Kurnia on for Febrinando due to fatigue.
59th Minute - Well, that's what I wanted to happen. The changes hadn't taken effect yet, when Novriansyah's pass was blocked right back to him. He then found Varella on another attempt. Varella juked past a defender into the penalty area and fired in a shot. The keeper could only parry it, and the rebound went right to Onguene who buried it! 2-1
65th Minute - Their keeper picks up a knock and is playing injured.
68th Minute - Hasan Mahdi gets beat on a header off a cross, but a diving Rahmad makes a great save.
71st Minute - Onguene's pass from just past the circle finds the run of Chiffone, who bangs it in off the upright for his first ever Persitara goal!!! 3-1
72nd Minute - Firman Hadi on for Saptura (5.9). I drop Nugroho back to DC for the first time.
That's it.

PERSITARA 3 PSPS 1
Onguene is Man of the Match with a 9.2; Eboule Bille with a 7.9, and Chiffone with a 7.4.

[dfisher]

Two Portoguese teams scouted Varella last match. Luckily for me, they were both non-league teams, but if someone from the Portoguese leagues comes calling, it will be tough for me to hang on to him.

Herman Gafur, the central defender, is placed on the transfer list. I get a few offers for him and accept most of them.

Sriwijaya @ Persitara - 11/24/2018
Sriwijaya is in 7th place in the Super League. We are 4:6 favorites to win.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

6th Minute - Kurnia sends in a corner near post, but Berrios heads it just wide.
9th Minute - Hasan Mahdi picks up a knock and needs to leave for treatment.
12th Minute - We get lucky as Rinaldo gets beat on a header, but it hits the upright and is cleared by Eboule Bille.
14th Minute - Novriansyah beats 2 men to get to the byline, and his cross is on point to Varella as he breaks open, but his powerful header is way over.
19th Minute - Varella heads a corner off the upright.
20th Minute - Novriansyah plays a beautiful cross from the left byline even with the edge of the area. Onguene is able to get on it, and he heads it home! 1-0
22nd Minute - Varella dribble to the middle of the field and hits a thru ball across his body to Onguene, but his left-footed shot is saved by a diving keeper.
34th Minute - Hasan Mahdi tackles the ball away from a midfielder, and the ball goes to Varella. The keeper is slightly off his line, and Varella tries to lob it over him from 25 yards out, and it goes in!! 2-0

HALFTIME - Varella leads the way with a 7.6; Sutrisno comes on for a banged up Hasan Mahdi.

47th Minute - A 30 yard screamer beats Rahmad, but it hits the crossbar.
50th Minute - Varella splits two defenders and his pass finds the run of Berrios behind the defense, but his shot is wide.
63rd Minute - Sutrisno gets an interception and plays it up immediately to Novriansyah. His first touch is to send it up to Varella on a run, but he can't get his shot on target.
67th Minute - Nugroho loses his man on a corner, and they get one back. 2-1
69th Minute - Febrinando on for a tiring Kurnia.
78th Minute - Chiffone on for Berrios. I drop Nugroho back to DMC.
87th Minute - Nugroho picks up a knock, but he can play on.
93rd Minute - Saptura is caught napping and a thru ball goes behind his back, but what looked like a sure goal is pushed wide.
That's it!

PERSITARA 2 SRIWIJAYA 1
Novriansyah is Man of the Match with a 7.8; Varella gets a 7.4 and Onguene a 7.3; Sutrisno with only a 5.9 off the bench.

No injuries carry over from the match.

[dfisher]

We make another aquisition on the transfer market, as we scoop up talented young striker Usman Suryadi. Our coaches all rate him between 4 and 5 stars, on par with Varella. He was the only player listed on the favored personnel of his old team; needless to say, their fans weren't happy.

I transfer list Roland Swen. This move gives me much greater coverage in case of injury.

[dfisher]

Gafur and Swen both turn down contract offers so the transfers fail. Have fun on the bench guys.

Sutrisno strains his wrist in training and is out 10-12 days.

November awards roundup:
Onguene and Firman Hadi finish 2nd and 3rd in player of the month. First place went to Wanyu Anwar on Persik. Hadi also comes in 3rd for young player of the month. I take 3rd in manager of the month.

Persitara @ Persik 12/1/2018
It's first vs. second; they are 5:4 favorites to win. Both teams have only lost once so far.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

Suryadi will start on the bench for this one.

11th Minute - Chiffone heads a corner toward goal, but it is cleared off the line. The ball bounces to Varella, who strikes a left-footed half volley, but it is defelected en route for another corner.
21st Minute - Novriansyah lulls the defense to sleep then sends in a deep cross to Chiffone. He gets behind the defense but heads it just wide.
23rd Minute - Anwar gets behind the defense for Persik, but his shot is poor.
27th Minute - A nice counter ends with Onguene finding Novriansyah in the area, but his shot is saved by the fingertips of the keeper.

HALFTIME - We have 69% of the possession and are outshooting them 9-3, but most of ours have been blocked. Varella's 5.9 goes off for Suryadi making his debut.

46th Minute - Right off the kickoff, Persik makes a nice move, but it ends by firing one off the upright. The counter is ended by a Persik foul on Chiffone who picks up a knock on the play.
55th Minute - Berrios on for Chiffone.
58th Minute - A direct free kick from 35 yards out is banked in off the upright for a Persik goal. 0-1
74th Minute - Kurnia dribbles with two men on him until he finds Novriansyah who is slightly past his defender. His left-footed curling shot with a man right behind him find the net!! 1-1
75th Minute - Firman Hadi on for a fatigued Kurnia.
82nd Minute - Eboule Bille tries to head clear a cross, but it goes toward an unmarked Persik player. He beats Rahmad to the ball and heads it home. 1-2

That's it. We get beat in the air too much. We have 20 corner, but don't really threaten off them.

PERSIK 2 PERSITARA 1

[dfisher]

Chiffone is out ~13 days with a gashed leg. I fall to 2nd place in the Super League with the loss. Novriansyah still makes the team of the week.

Crap, Novriansyah suffers damaged foot in training and is out 3 weeks. We struggled big time without him before, so hopefully we can pick it up this time.

Persipasi @ Persitara - 12/8/2018
Persipasi is in 6th place. We are 4:5 favorites. At the prematch press conference, I peg Firman Hadi to replace Novriansyah. Heri Hadi is enraged and Firman doesn't feel he's worthy. Awesome.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -F. Hadi, Berrios
ST - Suryadi, Onguene

7th Minute - Persipasi have a corner that they win the header on, but Hadi clears it off the line.
8th Minute - Saptura is caught too high, and they slip a ball behind him, but Eboule Bille cleans it up. Rahmad has to make a diving save off the ensuing throwin.
12 Minute - Eboule Bille gets beat on a cross and we trail. 0-1
15th Minute - Suryadi wins a ball from a defender and gets it to Onguene, but his header is high.
42nd Minute - Kurnia picks up a knock.
46th Minute - Berrios makes a nice run with the ball, but he ends it with a shot right at the keeper.

HALFTIME - We struggle again without Novriansyah. I bring Heri Hadi on for Kurnia and move Firman over to MC.

59th Minute - Varella on for an ineffective Suryadi.
65th Minute - Eboule Bille is injured and has to leave. I bring Febrinando on and drop Nugroho back.
72 Minute - A Persipasi shot hits the crossbar.
93rd Minute - Febrinando finds Varella behind the defense, but he rushes his shot and sails it high.
That's it. Very disappointing.

PERSIPASI 1 PERSITARA 0
Suryadi with a 5.3 as the weakest player. Hasan Mahdi was man of the match with a 7.4.
Eboule Bille is out 7-10 days with a bruised thigh.

[dfisher]

MIDSEASON REPORT

So, we are halfway home and far exceeding expectations. The league table looks like this:

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/IndonesianSuperLeague.png

2nd place didn't seem too bad at the start of the year, but two losses in a row have dropped us from the first place perch we held for most of it. I think we have a chance to contend for the title, but we need to find a way to score without Rizki Novriansyah in the lineup. Both of our drops in form have coincided with injuries for him.

STATS:

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/PersitaraJakartaUtara.png

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/PersitaraJakartaUtara-2.png

Novriansyah leads the team in average rating, assists, dribbles/game, and man of the match awards. Onguene has been a revelation at striker. I was hoping he would be a decent third striker, but he leads the team with 9 goals. We are fairly well-balanced, as 13 players have scored and 15 players have assists. Our biggest need continues to be a second DC, as, after Eboule Boule, Saputra leads with a 6.65 average rating. Eboule Bille is out for at least the next game, so I have a decision to make back there.

[dfisher]

David Laly is injured by Febrinando in practice. He's out 2-3 weeks with a gashed leg.

Persitara @ Persiba 12/15/2018

Persiba are in last place and have gone 14 games without a win. We are 4:7 favorites on the road. Hopefully, this is what we need to get us back on track.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Nugroho, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Febrinando
AM -F. Hadi, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

Nugroho gets the call at DC. Let's see how this goes.

5th Minute - Firman Hadi takes the ball from his own end, dribbles past a man at midfield and whips in a cross to the penalty spot, but Varella can't keep the header down. Nice play by Hadi.
15th Minute - They get a clear cut chance off a cross that is deflected twice, but it hits the upright and goes wide.
19th Minute - Berrios takes a throwin deep in their half, and gets it right back from Rinaldo. He beats a man and floats in a cross to Hasan Mahdi of all people (he's our shortest player). His header is parried by the keeper, but Onguene wins the rebound from a Persiba defender and flicks it back to Hasan Mahdi who slots it home for his first goal of the year!! 1-0
23rd Minute - Berrios picks up a knock and the physio comes on, but he stays in the game.
35th Minute - Rahmad boots a goalkick over everyone's head. Their keeper goes to the right of his area and picks it up, but he's just outside the area!! Yellow card for him. Kurnia sends in a short free kick, and Nugroho beats the keeper but it is high.
47th Minute - Febrinando is hurt and goes to the sideline.

HALFTIME - They only threaten once, but he only have a 1 goal lead. Our strikers aren't doing much. Yanuar comes on for Febrinando.

54th Minute - Rahmad with another booming kick over everyone's head. Their keeper comes out, but Varella beats him to the ball and slots it into the net!! 2-0
58th Minute - Heri Hadi comes on for Berrios, playing out of position.
66th Minute - Firman Hadi intercepts a throw by their keeper and takes it down to the byline. His cross is weakly headed right to the keeper by Onguene.
70th Minute - Suryadi comes on for Onguene.
76th Minute - Kurnia sends in a corner far post, and Nugroho heads it home!! 3-0
That's the game.

PERSITARA 3 PERSIBA 1
I'll take the 3-0 win, but all three goals were a little flukey. I'd like to see someone get a goal on the normal run of play.

Nugroho gets Man of the Match with an 8.4; Varella also had an 8.2 and Hasan Mahdi an 8.0. There are no long term injuries from the game.

Persik finally lose a game moving us to within one point of first, five points ahead of third (2nd qualifies for continental play). Chiffone resumes full training the day after the game. Rahamd, Hasan Mahdi, and Nugroho were named to team of the week.

Hasan Mahdi injures his wrist in training and is out 10-12 days.

[dfisher]

Persitara @ Persih 12/23/2018

Persih are in 16th place. We are 4:5 favorites on the road. We drew 2-2 at our place to start the year.

GK - Rahmad
D - Sutrisno, Eboule Bille, Nugroho, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Febrinando
AM -F. Hadi, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

3rd Minute - A wonderful side-to-side buildup ends with Kurnia finding Onguene on a thru ball, but his clear cut chance is saved.
10th Minute - Onguene is knocked down going up for a cross, and the referee points to the spot! Hadi takes the penalty and scores! 1-0
12th Minute - Chiffone with a hard foul draws a yellow card.
26th Minute - It's Hadi's turn for a yellow on what looked like a dive from Persih.
29th Minute - Varella gets a yellow for holding onto the shirt deep in our own end. This ref isn't messing around.
30th Minute - We fall asleep on the ensuing freekick, and their DMC creeps up and receives the pass unmarked and beats Rahmad. 1-1
33rd Minute - Onguene gets a good shot off a corner, but it is headed off the line.

HALFTIME - We have 2 clear cut chances but haven't scored on either. They don't have any but have a goal.

47th Minute - Chiffone receives a throwin and chips it to Onguene, but his header is high.
49th Minute - A poor clearance bounces to Hadi. He jukes by a defender a fires in a shot, but it hits the crossbar and bounces out.
54th Minute - Heri Hadi on for Febrinando. I move Firman Hadi to the middle and Heri plays out left.
56th Minute - Varella and Chiffone pass back and forth the whole way up the pitch, leading to Chiffone from point blank range, but he is stone.
62nd Minute - Rinaldo picks up a yellow.
64th Minute - Kurnia can't keep his man in front of him at the edge of the area, and the shot hits the back of the net. 1-2
65th Minute - Suryadi on for Varella
69th Minute - Heri Hadi draws a foul that gets a yellow. Kurnia sends in the free kick from midfield, and Eboule Bille heads it over the net.
70th Minute - Berrios on for Chiffone.
83rd Minute - A lot of passing lulls their defense to sleep, and Rinaldo finds a cutting Heri Hadi with a wonderful cross, but the finish isn't there.
88th Minute - Eboule Bille gets a yellow.
That's it.

PERSIH 2 PERSITARA 1
Horrible loss. We had 4 clear cut chances to their 0.

[dfisher]

Suyono is out three months after a slipped disc in training. His contract is up at the end of the year so that might be the end of his Persitara career.

All other players resume full training.

Persitara (2nd) @ Perseden (10th) 12/29/2018
They are 5:4 favorites. We won 2-1 at home earlier in the year.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

2nd Minute - Perseden gets a throw-in deep in our end, and the ball gets bounced around until one of their midfielders buries it in the net for a quick defecit. 0-1
9th Minute - Nugroho finds Suryadi with a nice ball. He takes it past the last defender, but for some reason doesn't shoot. The ball is tackled away before he can get a shot off.
15th Minute - Chiffone picks up a yellow and will be suspended for the next match.
17th Minute - Chiffone gets fouled and the Perseden player gets a yellow.
29th Minute - Novriansyah is fouled near the endline drawing a yellow; Kurnia sends in the freekick, but Eboule Bille sends it high.
33rd Minute - Kurnia finds Chiffone with a nice pass, but his clear cut chance is saved. Eboule Bille heads the ensuing corner over the net.

HALFTIME

66th Minute - Berrios on for Chffone and Onguene on for Suryadi
72nd Minute - Novriansyah is gassed. I bring Heri Hadi on for him.
74th Minute - FINALLY! Eboule Bille wins another header on a corner, and this one finds net! 1-1
That's it. Rinaldo and Hasan Mahdi both get small injuries but can continue playing. At least it's not a loss.

PERSITARA 1 PERSEDEN 1
Eboule Bille is man of the match with an 8.2; Suryadi gets a 5.7 and is looking more and more like a bust.

Hasan Mahdi is out 2 weeks.

[dfisher]

I make a new signing that will come over in the next off-season. My scouts think he is better than Chiffone at AMR. He will be Berrios' replacement at that position. He's young (21) and Indonesian.

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/6AbdulBahri.png

[dfisher]

Persikabo (13th) @ Persitara (2nd) 1/5/2019

We are 5:4 favorites. With 1 win out of our last 5, this is a big one for me.

GK - Rahmad
D - Sutrisno, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

4th Minute - Novriansyah gets a shot off from a tight angle, but it hits the post.
7th Minute - Varella receives the ball on a counter attack around midfield, dribbles by a man, and then attracts two more. This allows him to hit Berrios on a run, and the veteran slots it home. That is something that Chiffone has not been doing in the last few games. 1-0
10th Minute - Novriansyah sends in a free kick from 40 yards. Eboule Bille's header is on target, but the keeper parries it.
22nd Minute - Eboule Bille gets beat on the other end on a corner. 1-1
30th Minute - Saputra heads one over off a corner.
32nd Minute - Some nice Persikabo passing leads to a clear cut chance, but Rahmad saves.

HALFTIME 1-1

49th Minute - Novriansyah with a nice move to get a cross in from the byline, but Berrios heads it off the upright.
60th Minute - Varella receives the ball near midfield and starts his run. He gets the ball briefly tackled from him but is able to continue on past the defender. He then rounds the last defender and fires from 20 yards out. Goal!!! 2-1
64th Minute - Firman Hadi and David Laly on; Kurnia and Onguene off.
69th Minute - Sutrisno finds Hadi unmarked, but his shot is over the bar from the edge of the area.
78th Minue - Berrios sends in a nice cross, but Novriansyah just can't reach it and it rolls out of bounds.
79th Minute - Febrinando on for Novriansyah. I move Hadi out wide.
That's it. We pick up a much needed win.

PERSITARA 2 PERSIKABO 1
Varella is man of the match with a 7.7.

Varella is named to the team of the week. Novriansyah is now out for ~13 days with a freakin' virus.

[dfisher]

Persitara (2nd) @ PSM (17th) - 1/13/2019
We are 6:4 favorites on the road. Another big game that we should win; it will be tought without Novriansyah. We won 2-1 at our place.

GK - Rahmad
D - Sutrisno, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Heri Hadi, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

7th Minute - A scramble from a PSM corner forces Sutrisno to clear it off the line.
13th Minute - Kurnia sends a corner near post, and Varella gets it on net, but the keeper parries it. Eboule Bille wins the battle for the rebound, but his shot is parried as well and finally cleared.
39th Minute - Varella with a nice run, pauses to collect himself, and fires one on net, but it is saved. Hadi pounces on the rebound from an angle, but his shot doesn't have much on it and the keeper recovers.
44th Minute - Berrios finds Varella behind the defense, but his shot is saved by a diving keeper. Onguene gets to the rebound on the wing and passes to Nugroho, but his shot is tipped over.
48th Minute - We were only supposed to have 1 extra minute. Kurnia sends in a corner but it is headed right back out to him. His cross from in closer meets the head of Onguene, who puts it right at the keeper. Varella gets to the rebound on the right side of the net, circles around 2 defenders to left side and slots it home near post just before the half!! 1-0

HALFTIME - We are looking much more dangerous but struggled finding the net until the late goal. The keeper is good, but he lets up a lot of rebounds, so hopefully we can capitalize again.

47th Minute - Rinaldo is banged up but will continue playing.
48th Minute - Eboule Bille lets a man behind him, and it is calmly put into the net, but the ref calls it offside!
59th Minute - Firman Hadi on for Heri Hadi (6.0)
60th Minute - Onguene picks up a knock but keeps playing.
69th Minute - Suryadi on for Onguene.
81st Minute - Chiffone on for an exhausted Berrios.
91st Minute - Sutrisno gives up the ball in our end, leading to a decent chance, but Eboule Bille hurries the shot and Rahmad shows safe hands.
95th Minute - Saptura tackles the ball away from a PSM player who looked like he had a shot. He goes down, and the ref calls a foul! But it is on the PSM player for diving. He gets a yellow, and I get to breathe.
That does it. I'll take the win.

PERSITARA 1 PSM 0
Sutrisno gets man of the match with a 7.3.

Onguene is out ~6 days.

With 12 matches left, we are 4 points out of first and 5 points clear of third.

[dfisher]

We have 10 days off until our next fixture, but then have 2 in 5 days; our depth will be tested a little.

PSIS (8th) @ Persitara (2nd) 1/22/2019
We are 6:4 favorites at home. We won at their place 5-3 behind a hattrick from Onguene. Everyone is back in full training (except Suyono), but Onguene and Novriansyah are not yet at 100% so they will start on the bench in hopes of having them for the weekend.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Firman Hadi, Berrios
ST - Varella, Laly

4th Minute - Varella heads a Rinaldo cross over the bar.
5th Minute - Varella finds Berrios clean thru, but his shot is saved.
10th Minute - Nugroho is hurt and needs treatment on the sidelines.
15th Minute - Kurnia's freekick is cleared to the left side of the area. Saptura is there and heads it toward the near post. Eboule Bille beats the keeper to the ball, but his header floats onto the top of the goal.
23rd Minute - Berrios has a pop off a nice feed from Rinaldo, but it is high.
25th Minute - Hadi has a nice run down the left, but his cross is headed just over the bar by Varella.
29th Minute - A deep throw-in goes to Varella at the byline. He crosses to the far post, and Berrios heads it on goal across his body, but it is right at the keeper.

HALFTIME - Suryadi in for Laly (5.8).

52nd Minute - Rinaldo floats one far post, but Hadi can't get it down.
53rd Minute - Suryadi with a nice pass to Kurnia who fires it from 25 yards, but it is saved by the keeper and the rebound goes into touch.
54th Minute - On the ensuing corner, Kurnia picks out Varella who strikes it toward goal. It deflects off a defender into the net!! 1-0
61st Minute - A nice stutter step allows Hadi to get a cross off. Varella gets on it at the goal mouth, but his header is once again high.
64th Minute - Suryadi's backwards header is intercepted. They get a decent shot off on the ensuing counter, but Rahmad shows safe hands.
65th Minute - Chiffone on for Berrios.
70th Minute - Nugroho gets a yellow card for diving.
71st Minute - Chiffone gets to the byline and sends over another nice cross, but Hadi, once again, heads it over.
79th Minute - Febrinando on for Kurnia. Nugroho drops back to DMC.
80th Minute - A nice move by Hadi frees him up for a cross. Febrinando gets it on goal but it is tipped over.
86th Minute - Febrinando sends in a corner. Eboule Bille wins the header and sends it across the goalmouth. It deflects off the player guarding the post and into the net!! 2-0 It is called an own goal.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 PSIS 0
Eboule Bille is man of the match with an 8.5; Varella with an 8.4.

[dfisher]

Persitara (2nd) @ Persidafon (16th) - 1/26/2019
We are 5:4 favorites on the road, winning 3-1 the first meeting.


GK - Rahmad
D - Sutrisno, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

30th Minute - Onguene receives a throw-in at the left byline and send in a cross. Chiffone gets to it, but his header bounces off the crossbar.
31st Minute - Onguene heads a Rinaldo cross right at the keeper.
44th Minute - Sutrisno sends one in from deep. Chiffone loses his man but can't keep it down

HALFTIME - Yawn.

68th Minute - A Kurnia turnover leads to a shot from the edge of the area. Rahmad barely gets his fingertips to it to tip it over.
70th Minute - Firman Hadi, Febranando, and Suryadi on. Novriansyah, Nugroho, and Varella all off for fatigue.
89th Minute - Saputra gets beat by a dribbler and his shot finds the net. Looked weak. 0-1
90th Minute - Chiffone takes a free kick and it is deflected to an unmarked Saptura, who heads it right to the keeper. The rebound is scrambled into touch.
That ends another bad loss.

PERSIDAFON 1 PERSITARA 0
Saputra with a 5.5; Rinaldo is man of the match with a 7.1.

[bbgunn]

Nice season so far.

EDIT: Oops, didn't see that last loss.

[dfisher]

Nice season so far.

EDIT: Oops, didn't see that last loss.

Thanks. We are overachieving, which makes losses like the last one harder to take. I feel like we have a great shot at winning the thing if we can get on a good run.

[dfisher]

Pelita Jaya(12th) @ Persitara - 2/3/2019
We are 4:6 favorites at home. We played to a scoreless draw last time out.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

Onguene is at 656 scoreless minutes; hopefully, that ends today.

4th Minute - Novriansyah sends in a free kick from near midfield, and Eboule Bille gets us off to a flyer by heading it home!! 1-0
6th Minute - Their striker gets a yellow for diving.
11th Minute - Berrios wins a header off a throw-in and heads it on. Rinaldo comes up and heads it toward goal, but it is weak and directly at the keeper.
14th Minute - A Nugroho turnover leads to a shot from the edge of the area. Rahmad's diving save is then cleared to touch.
25th Minute - Some poor defending leads to an unmarked Pelita Jaya midfielder shooting from 25 yards, but Rahmad dives and gets his fingertips to it again.
29th Minute - Nugroho ends a nice buildup by unleashing from 25 yards, but the ball drills the crossbar and bounces away. Rinaldo recovers it and gives it back to Nugroho. He finds Varella ~30 yards out. Varella dribbles around a defender and gets off a shot from the edge of the area, but this time it was Pelita Jaya who had a diving save.
33rd Minute - Onguene tackles it away from a defender and finds himself and Varella in a 2 on 1. For some reason, he shoots from 35 yards away right to the keeper.
39th Minute - Nugroho's ball sends Onguene to a 1 on 1 with the keeper, but he is stoned. We are now 0 for 2 on clear cut chances.
47th Minute - Kurnia sends a freekick toward Eboule Bille, but he is taken down for a penalty! Novriansyah takes it, and it is saved!

HALFTIME - I'm not liking this one. We are dominating but have missed 2 clear cut chances plus a penalty.

53rd Minute - Suryadi on for Onguene (5.9) and Febrinando on for Kurnia (6.1)
59th Minute - Novriansyah sends an almost identical ball as our goal in, but this time Berrios' header is high.
68th Minute - Rinaldo sends a 25 yarder over.
73rd Minute - Suryadi takes it down the left on a counter and centres it to Febrinando. His left-footed strike is deflected and bounces in off the crossbar for his first of the year!! 2-0
80th Minute - Febrinando finds the run of Varella who quickly slots it home!! 3-0
81st Minute - Maulana gets some playing time on for Saputra.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 3 PELITA JAYA 0
Eboule Bille is man of the match with an 8.7; Febrinando gets an 8.0 off the bench.

With 9 matches left, we trail Persik by 5 points for 1st. We lead Persipasi by 5 points for 2nd.

Eboule Bille, Novriansyah, Febrinando, and Varella are named to the team of the week.

[dfisher]

Crap! Rahmad catches the flu and will miss the next match. Looks like it is up to the under 19s keeper.

Persitara (2nd) @ Persija (9th) 2/10/2019
Our big rivalry match. We tied 1-1 at home and have never beaten our rivals in 7 tries. We are 6:4 favorites.

GK - Gusti Suprapto
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saptura, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

3rd Minute - A Persija shot from 35 yards beats Suprapto but is just over.
8th Minute - A Persija corner leads to a wild scramble in front of the net. It is struck from about 5 yards but bounces off Suprapto to start a counter. Chiffone wins a corner at the other end.
9th Minute - Kurnia sends in that corner, and Eboule Bille puts in the net!! 1-0
21st Minute - Onguene receives a Nugroho header 30 yards out, turns and fires a shot toward goal. It goes over.
23rd Minute - Persija receives a yellow for diving in the box.
41st Minute - Novriansyah finds Kurnia inside the area. The ball is tackled away, but he is tripped and a penalty is given!! This time Novriansyah scores from the spot!! 2-0

HALFTIME - Suryadi on for Varella (5.6). I tell the team to not get complacent.

54th Minute - Kurnia puts Onguene clean thru on goal. He hesitates on the shot, but when he fires it is true!!! 3-0
73rd Minute - Firman Hadi on for Novriansyah.
80th Minute - Febrinando for Kurnia.
86th Minute - Nugroho gets a yellow and will miss the next match.
92nd Minute - Persija with a deep cross. It bounces off the crossbar and Hasan Mahdi scrambles it away.
That's the game!

PERSITARA 3 PERSIJA 0
Huge road win against our biggest rivals. Kurnia man of the match with a 9.0 and Eboule Bille with an 8.3. Suprapto at 17 years old pitches a shutout in his debut. Onguene ended a string of over 11 hours without scoring. This was the first game that I played primarily with a counter mindset. I might have to do that more often for away matches

Kurnia and Ebille Boule were named to the team of the week. Persik won as well to keep us 5 points back with 8 to play; however we are now 8 points clear of third over two squads.

[dfisher]

There was a neat little feature during the post-game press conference. I was asked a question about Nugroho. It seems like the game meant a little more to him than the rest of the squad. He's a hometown boy and grew up with the rivalry. It's pretty impressive for the game to recognize this and bring it up.

[dfisher]

I criticise Suryadi publicly due to poor form. He has been a massive disappointment.

Semen Padang (6th) @ Persitara (2nd) 2/20/2019
Our game got shifted for some reason; this is a Wednesday and everyone else played over the weekend. We play again on Saturday 2/23. We are 4:6 favorites even though we lost 2-1 last time out against them. Nugroho is suspended.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Febrinando
AM -Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

7th Minute - Febrinando lobs it down the left side to Novriansyah behind the defense. He gets to they byline and sends a cross to the far post, where Berrios is waiting to head it home!! 1-0
9th Minute - Kurnia finds the diagonal run of Novriansyah toward the goal, but his shot is high.
11th Minute - A long Semen Padang shot is blocked by Hasan Mahdi, but it goes right to another unmarked Padang player. The shot from the edge of the area is saved by a diving Rahmad.
31st Minute - Saputra loses his man off the dribble, allowing a great curling shot, but Rahmad dives and is able to get his fingertips to it to deflect it wide.
33rd Minute - Febrinando finds the run of Berrios. His short cross meets the head of Onguene, but it short hops right to the keeper.
38th Minute - Febrinando is fouled leading to a yellow card.
39th Minute - Rinaldo with a wonderful cross to Novriansyah, but his header is off the crossbar. The rebound finds its way to Kurnia from 25 yards, but it is deflected. It then bounces to Varella behind everyone, and he slots it home!!! BUT, Varella is called for offside!
42nd Minute - Novriansyah draws a double team around midfield, and his pass splits them to Varella around 30 yards out. He uses a small hesitation to get by the defender and takes it into the area, where his powerful shot finds the net for his 10th of the year!! 2-0
44th Minute - Onguene gets it to Kurnia who brings it right down the middle between the two central defenders. His effort caroms hard off the crossbar. Onguene heads it to an unmarked Berrios, but the veteran is offside.

HALFTIME - Novriansyah with a 7.5, and Berrios with a 7.4 lead the team.

46th Minute - A quick buildup right off the kickoff leads to Varella getting a nice look, but his shot is parried.
61st Minute - Firman Hadi on for Febrinando.
67th Minute - Varella picks up a small knock. I immediately bring on Suryadi for him.
72nd Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah.
84th Minute - Suryadi with a nice little cross over to Onguene, but his header is high.
86th Minute - Saputra with a horrible clearance leads to a giveaway inside the area. The shot is saved and held by a diving Rahmad.
92nd Minute - Berrios is fouled, drawing a yellow.
That's the match.

PERSITARA 2 SEMEN PADANG 0
Novriansyah is man of the match with an 8.6; Berrios a 7.9; Rahmad a 7.4.

1st and 3rd also win so we stay five points behind the leaders in 2nd, but 8 points clear of 3rd with 7 matches left.

[dfisher]

Persitara (2nd) @ PSS (7th) 2/23/2019
We are even favorites on the road. We had a scoreless draw at home.

GK - Rahmad
D - Sutrisno, Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Firman Hadi,Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

3rd Minute - Rinaldo plays a ball from deep in our end ahead of Chiffone. He gets to it, pauses, and then turns on the jets to get to the byline. His cross is on point, but Novriansyah heads it over the bar.
17th Minute - Varella makes a nice run with the ball into the area, but his shot isn't close.
20th Minute - Varella needs the physio on, but he can continue.
36th Minute - Another Varella shot is way off. I bring on Suryadi for him since he is banged up.
45th Minute - Hadi needs the physio.

HALFTIME - Kurnia on for Hadi.

67 Minute - Some nice passing off a deep throw-in sets up Novriansyah with a decent shot from 25 yards, but it is wide.
70 Minute - A PSS corner hits the post and bounces out.
74 Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah.
75th Minute - Nugroho gets a yellow.
80th Minute - A corner is bounced right back out to Kurnia. He floats a cross in, but Eboule Bille puts it over.
82nd Minute - Suryadi gets ahead of everyone to the byline and floats a cross over to an unmarked Chiffone, but his header is way over.
88th Minute - Kurnia sends in a corner. Eboule Bille goes for it, but he is pushed down!!! PENALTY! Heri Hadi takes the penalty, and he scores!! 1-0
91st Minute - Kurnia's freekick from near midfield is headed over by Eboule Bille.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 1 PSS 0
Eboule Bille gets man of the match with an 8.7.

Rahmad and Novriansyah were named to the team of the week. No change in the standings at the top with 6 to play:

1. Persik - 62
2. Persitara - 57
3. Persipasi - 49

[dfisher]

Jimmy Eboule Bille is 2nd for player of the month. Amin Rinaldo wins Super League Young Player of the Month. Varella's goal against Pelita Jaya is 3rd in goal of the month. I take 2nd in Manager of the Month.

The board is delighted with my performance, with the highlight being my performance in the Super League. The lowlight is my aquisition of Usman Suryadi. We lost $72,000 last month.

[dfisher]

We have another new signing that will come over at the end of season. We sign away Semen Padang's starting goalkeeper who has conceded 31 in 29 starts. My scout thinks he's about equal to Rahmad now, but he has 5* potential. He's only 17.

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/1DwiAdiYouwe.png

[dfisher]

Persebaya (13th) @ Persitara (2nd) 3/2/2019
We are 4:7 favorites at home and beat them 4-1 at their place. We are playing on Sunday, and Persik only managed a draw in their game on Saturday. A win pulls us to within 3 points of first.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia,Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

1st Minute - Kurnia tackles the ball away from the opening kickoff. The ball gets up to Varella who dribbles past a couple defenders and chips it into the area toward Onguene. His header is lobbed over the keeper, but it hits the crossbar. Their defender scrambles it away with a weak header into the path of Novriansyah who unleashes a shot into the back of the net 40 seconds into the match!!! 1-0
4th Minute - A Persebaya striker goes down in the penalty area after Eboule Bille tackles it from him. A foul is called, but it is for diving and results in a yellow.
10th Minute - Rinaldo intercepts a pass and gets it up to Chiffone. He plays a ball in front of Onguene who takes a shot toward the far post from an angle, but the keeper gets his fingertips to it and sends it wide.
22nd Minute - Kurnia sends in a freekick from deep inside their half. Eboule Bille heads it back across the goalmouth, but it is headed off the line.
37th Minute - Hasan Mahdi with a clearance that goes over everyone's head. Onguene outhustles their fullback to the ball to the right of the area and is held, resulting in a yellow.

HALFTIME - We have held them to 1 shot, and it was blocked. Hopefully, we can get some more chances on our end. Varella only has a 5.9 so I tell him to go prove a point.

58th Minute - Hasan Mahdi gets beat off the dribble, and the striker gets into the box, but Rahmad parries the shot.
59th Minute - David Laly on for Varella
67th Minute - Kurnia finds Laly on a nice thru ball, but his shot is right at the keeper.
69th Minute - Rinaldo lets someone slip behind him, but the shot is well wide and doesn't even go into touch. Hasan Mahdi gets to it to start a counter, and it ends with David Laly getting fouled and drawing a yellow around midfield.
73rd Minute - Febrinando on for Kurnia.
82nd Minute - Laly is fouled again for another yellow. Suryadi on for Ognuene.
90th Minute - Suryadi outmuscles a defender for a ball and is clean thru for a 1 on 1 with the keeper, but he is stoned. He needed that.
That's the game.
PERSITARA 1 PERSEBAYA 0
Novriansyah is man of the match with an 8.0.

Novriansyah and Rinaldo were named to the team of the week.

[dfisher]

Persitara (2nd) @ Persibom (5th) 3/9/2019
We are 5:4 favorites on the road and won 3-0 at our place earlier this year.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia,Nugroho
AM -Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

18th Minute - Novriansyah sends a low cross in, and Varella is able to flick it toward goal, but the keeper shows safe hands.
24th Minute - Kurnia has to go off injured. Firman Hadi comes on.
34th Minute - Nugroho has to go off injured. Febrinando comes on. Down two subs and both of my CM hurt.

HALFTIME - We need to get some offense going.

50th Minute - A great thru ball allows a striker to get behind Saputra. Luckily, his first touch is bad, and Rahmad is able to smother the ball.
53rd Minute - Rinaldo is hurt, but he will play on.
64th Minute - Chiffone on for Berrios, who has done nothing.
65th Minute - Novriansyah crosses to Varella's feet. He dribbles backwards and sets himself for a nice shot, but it is parried into touch. Our best chance yet.
73rd Minute - Novriansyah and Hasan Mahdi play a 1-2 off the throwin, and Novriansyah finds Hadi. His shot beats the keeper but goes over.
78th Minute - Saputra's header off a corner grazes the crossbar and goes over.
83rd Minute - Febrinando finds Varella in the area. He wheels and shoots, but it is saved by a diving keeper.
88th Minute - Eboule Bille pokes it away at midfield to Onguene. He passes to Varella who sends it to Chiffone on the first touch. Chiffone gets in the area, but his shot goes wide.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 0 PERSIBOM 0
Eboule Bille is man of the match with a 7.4.

Kurnia broke his wrist and is out 7-8 weeks. Ugh, Nugroho broke his foot and is out 4-5 months. I have to finish the season without my 2 starters in the midfield.

Some good news comes on Sunday as Persik falls to Sriwijaya FC. With 4 matches left, the standings look like this:

Persik 63 (+19 GD)
Persitara 61 (+29 GD)
Sriwijaya FC 50 (+16 GD)
Persipasi 50 (+15 GD)

2nd place is looking good. My next two matches will be the key as I'm @Sriwijaya FC and then home against Persik. I end the season at home against the 9th place team and then @ the last place team who have already been relegated.

[dfisher]

My 6 consecutive games without conceding is a new Indonesian Super League record.

Heri Hadi strains his groin in training and is out ~3 weeks, making our midfield even thinner.

Persitara (2nd) @ Sriwijaya FC (3rd) 3/16/2019
Sriwijaya FC played Sunday and then again in the Indonesian Cup on Wednesday. This is Saturday so hopefully we can take advantage of some tired legs. Sriwijaya FC are 6:4 favorites in this one. We won 2-1 at our place.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - F. Hadi, Febrinando
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

I try counter mentality today.

2nd Minute - They try a long throw, but Eboule Bille wins the header. It goes right back to the throw-in taker, who finds a man at the edge of the area for a shot, but it is weak and Rahmad holds.
14th Minute - Febrinando wins a ball at midfield and gets it to Chiffone. He runs to the byline with it and sends in a cross that is met by Onguene, but his header is well over.
23rd Minute - Febrinando tries a thru ball to Onguene, but it is tackled away. Chiffone gets to it and back heels it up to Onguene who slots it home!!! It looked offside but it counts! 1-0
30th Minute - They get a corner. It is sent in near post and flicked on, Rahmad dives and gets out of position. In the scramble, their striker Michel puts it in the net for his 100th career goal. 1-1

HALFTIME - Hadi and Rinaldo with 6.1 have to be watched.

54th Minute - Febrinando is exhausted. He comes off and Yanuar comes on for the first time in a while.
64th Minute - Chiffone takes the corner and sends it towards Eboule Bille, who buries it from point blank range!!2-1
66th Minute - Michel skins Eboule Bille right off the kickoff, but luckily his shot is off target.
74th Minute - My midfield is exhausted. I bring on Berrios for Chiffone and drop both my AM back to regular wingers. I then bring Suryadi on for Hadi and play a 4-3-3.
That's it! Huge win.

PERSITARA 2 SRIWIJAYA FC 1
Eboule Bille man of the match with a 9.0; Chiffone with an 8.3 off his two assists.

The media praises Eboule Bille, and he reveals that it has an unsettling effect on him.

Persik pick up a 2-0 win over the last place team to remain two points ahead of us.

Rahmad, Eboule Bille, and Chiffone make the team of the week.

[dfisher]

The Super League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year finalists are announced. Novriansyah is a finalist for player of the year, and, he has a good shot at it. Kurnia is a finalist for Young Player of the Year.

[dfisher]

Persik (1st) @ Persitara (2nd) 3/30/2019
This is the big one. Win and we are in first place; lose and we are pretty much eliminated. We are 4:5 favorites at home despite losing 2-1 at their place in December. We've had 2 weeks off to rest up.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - F. Hadi, Febrinando
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

12th Minute - Hadi intercepts a clearance and unleashes from the edge of the area, but it is well off the mark.
14th Minute - Eboule Bille with a rare loss on a header on a Persik corner, but the header is high.
24th Minute - Febrinando sends in a free kick from the right of the area. Eboule Bille gets position and jumps up and heads it off the underside of the crossbar into the net!!! 1-0
32nd Minute - A thru ball from midfield gives sets their striker thru on goal. His shot is on target, but Rahmad is able to dive and tip it wide!
34th Minute - Novriansyah sends in a free kick from the same spot as our goal. Eboule Bille gets up again, but this time his header is over.

HALFTIME - Eboule Bille with an 8.1 to lead the team.

57th Minute - Yanuar on for Febrinando.
64th Minute - Rinaldo dives into a tackle to start a counter. Chiffone gets the ball down the right wing and flips it up to Onguene, but his header is wide.
67th Minute - Onguene outmuscles a defender for the ball and hits it back to Hadi. Hadi sends it over to Yanuar in the middle of the pitch, who then finds Varella with a thru ball. The ball leads him into the area and he slots it into the net!! 2-0
69th Minute - Their left winger gets by Rinaldo and into the area. He puts up a cross that is right in front of the net. Rahmad beats their striker to the ball and fists it over.
71st Minute - Laly on for Onguene. Hadi is exhausted and comes off for Suyono, who is finally back from his slipped disc. I didn't think he would play anymore, but our injuries dictate it.
74th Minute - Yanuar turns it over in our half of the pitch. Their striker gets the ball with Eboule Bille on his back, turns, and shoots a hard curving shot. Rahmad dives and barely gets his fingertips to it to see it wide.
75th Minute - They get a shot off the ensuing corner that hits the upright and bounces down the goalmouth. Hasan Mahdi is alert and clears it into touch.
76th Minute - The corner coming from that clearance is headed right back to the corner taker. No one picks him up, and he dribbles closer before lobbing a cross that is headed on goal. Rahmad tips it, and it caroms off the crossbar and is loose in the area until Varella clears it to midfield.
78th Minute - Suyono takes a corner and gets it to Varella. He fires in a shot that deflects off a defender and into the net!!! 3-0
That's the game!! Huge win!

PERSITARA 3 PERSIK 0
Eboule Bille is man of the match with a 9.0; Varella with an 8.8 and Rahmad with a 7.7. This was Eboule Bille's 9th man of the match award on the season, a club record.

Eboule Bille agrees to a contract extension thru the 2021-2022 season.

Rahmad, Eboule Bille, and Varella were named to the team of the week.

[dfisher]

The monthly awards come out, and once again, I finish 2nd in manger of the month. Eboule Bille somehow only ends up 2nd in player of the month.

The board is absolutely delighted with my job performance. The highlight is our performance in the Super League. The lowlight is still my signing of Suryadi. He has been playing a bit better lately. Hopefully, he turns it around next season.

He lost $75,000 last month.

[dfisher]

Mahendra Tri Saputra strains his wrist in training and is out ~10 days.

What the hell fans?! We are bracing for a low turnout of 2000 fans in our 10,000 seat stadium. We have a chance to clinch the Super League.

I get a news item that Varella has rallied the troops with an aim of winning the last two games to clinch the Super League.

The team loaning Toure Fofana have made a $9000 bid for him. I accept.

PSPS (9th) @ Persitara (1st) - 4/6/2019
We are 4:5 favorites at home. We won 3-1 at their place. Persik host the 15th place team in the league. A loss by them and a win by us clinch the Super League for us.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Maulana, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - F. Hadi, Yanuar
AM -Novriansyah, Berrios
ST - Varella, Onguene

7th Minute - Their winger slips behind Hasan Mahdi, and his strike hits the back of the net. 0-1
14th Minute - Maulana gets skinned at 25 yards, and their striker buries the shot. A horrible, horrible start. 0-2
17th Minute - Eboule Bille gets his head to a corner, but it hits the crossbar.
25th Minute - Onguene gets it to Berrios. His shot is blocked, but he gets to the rebound and sends it toward goal. It is held by the keeper.

HALFTIME - I lay into the team, hoping to spark something. Persik is scoreless at the half.

50th Minute - Chiffone on for Berrios; Suryadi on for Yanuar as I go with 3 strikers.
55th Minute - Novriansyah takes it down to the left byline and cross to the far post. Varella gets his head to it and beats the keeper to get one back!! 1-2 Persik is still scoreless.
69th Minute - Febrinando on for Hadi. Still scoreless in Persik.
85th Minute - Febrinando with an interception gets the ball to Onguene. He shoots from the edge of the area, but it hits the crossbar! Still scoreless in Persik.
That's the game.

PSPS 2 PERSITARA 1
Maulana with only a 5.2; Yanuar 5.7, Berrios 5.9, Hadi 5.8. Novriansyah led the team with a 7.4.

Luckily, Persik's game ended up in a scoreless draw. With one match left, we are tied in points, but ahead by 14 in the goal differential. We travel to the last place team in a win and clinch situation.

[dfisher]

Persitara (1st) @ Persiba (18th) 4/20/2019
We are 4:7 favorites on the road in the last match of the year. We beat them 3-0 at home back in December. Persiba has one player with more than 4 goals on the year, and he is out injured. We are tied with Persik for first, but hold a 14 goal lead in differential. Persik hosts 4th place Persipasi.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - F. Hadi, Febrinando
AM -Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

6th Minute - A Persiba cross is headed toward goal, but Rahmad shows safe hands. Persik has already taken a 1-0 lead.
8th Minute - A Persiba shot from the edge of the area hits the crossbar and bounces over.
12th Minute - Persiba with a nice buildup ends with a curling shot from 30 yards that finds net. 0-1
18th Minute - A corner finds the head of Eboule Bille, but it goes over.
22nd Minute - A ball from Eboule Bille is misjudged, allowing Varella to get behind the defense down the right side. He floats one in to Onguene, but his header is pushed over by the keeper.
26th Minute - Rinaldo sends one in from deep. Novriansyah's header beats the keeper, but it goes over the bar.
29th Minute - A scramble in the area leads to a Febrinando strike at goal. This one also bounces off the crossbar.
37th Minute - Chiffone gets to the byline and sends in a cross. Onguene hits the crossbar with a header, and the keeper beats Varella to the carom and punches it clear.
43rd Minute - Novriansyah is fouled just at the edge of the area to bring out a yellow. His freekick goes wide.

HALFTIME - Unbelievable.

52nd Minute - Chiffone gets a good header toward goal, but it is held. Persik now lead 2-0.
53rd Minute - A man slips behind Eboule Bille for a thru ball, and it is slotted home from a tight angle. Thankfully, the flag is up and it is offside.
57th Minute - A Persiba corner is missed by Saputra allowing a point blank shot. It is somehow pushed wide. Yanuar on for Febrinando.
62nd Minute - Suryadi on for Hadi. Onguene with a nice run into the area, but his shot is saved by a diving keeper.
67th Minute - Rahmad dives for a Persiba corner, but Hasan Mahdi clears it with a header. The clearance goes right to another Persiba player and he deposits it in the open goal. 0-2
69th Minute - Chiffone's shot is deflected and rolls toward touch. As it rolls out of bounds, the referee sees Novriansyah tripped in the area and awards a penalty! Novriansyah scores from the spot and there is a glimmer of hope! 1-2
79th Minute - Berrios on for Chiffone.
92nd Minute - Novriansyah finds the overlapping run of Hasan Mahdi. He gets to the area and floats one toward Varella, who heads it home!! 2-2
We can't make any more chances and the game is over. Persik win the league.
PERSITARA 2 PERSIBA 2

[dfisher]

Novriansyah did not place in the Super League Player of the Year voting. Kurnia took 2nd in Young Player of the Year and won the Goal of the Year with a goal from back in July against Persipasi.

Novriansyah and Eboule Bille were named in the Super League Team of the Year.

[dfisher]

The end of the year comes, and Persitara announce a loss of $550,000 for the year. Jimmy Eboule Bille led the Super League with a 7.47 average rating and claimed the Persitara Fans' Player of the Year. Rizki Novriansyah led the Super League in assists with 11.

Persitara Team of the Year

GK - Muhammad Rahmad
D - Muhammad Reza Hasan Mahdi, Mahendra Tri Saputra, Jimmy Eboule Bille, Amin Rinaldo
CM - Ismed Kurnia, Yanuar Nugroho
AM -Rizki Novriansyah, Claudio Berrios
ST - Varella, Jean-Marc Onguene

Bench
GK - Gusti Suprapto
MC - Angga Febrinando
AMR - Daniel Chiffone
MC - Yudistira Yanuar
AML/MC - Firman Hadi
MC/DR - Arif Suyono
ST - David Laly

Hasan Mahdi, Kurnia, Eboule Bille, and Saputra join the all-time best eleven.

[dfisher]

2019-2020 Season - Start of Season Expectations
The board wants us to challenge for the title. Our transfer budget is set at $40k, and our wage budget is slashed to $750k. We are already spending $741k, with 3 players coming in. There are a few contracts that we are going to let expire.

I accept loan offers for GK Gusti Suprapto and striker Marthen Sani off the youth squad.

[dfisher]

The preseason odds come out, and we are picked to finish 2nd in the league with 3:1 odds. Not too shabby, but a lot to live up to. With a small transfer budget, we go bargain hunting in South America and find this guy to play beside Jimmy Eboule Bille in the backline.

http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/Lo.png

Leo is young and comes to us on a free transfer. Hopefully, this shores up our defense even more.

Claudio Berrios announces he will retire when his contract runs out. This saves us from having to cut a club icon and our captain.

[dfisher]

JUNE 2019

A couple of friendlies get us going starting with an away match against our feeder team, Persik Kendal. We have never beaten them in a friendly, with 2 draws. It didn't look good this time either as we gave up a quick goal in the 9th minute. I shouldn't have worried too much though, as we scored the next six. Chiffone had 2, Laly 1, Suryadi finally got on the board, Maulana scored on a penalty, and we got an own goal to help us out. Leo made his debut in the midfield with a 6.9; I'm thinking I might use him in midfield and slide Nugroho back to DC. A big negative from the match is a torn hamstring from Amin Rinaldo, our main DR. He's out 2-3 months, and we have no backup on the main squad (the only position like that on the team). I'm going to try to get by with the 2 youths that I signed last season, Budi Yulianto (who has already been capped at the under 19 level) and Edy Saputra.

Our next match sent us to Peru for a quick $40k against a non-league squad. Despite outshooting them 18-2, we were held to a scoreless draw. The brightside is our two youngsters both looked good in the back.

[dfisher]

JULY 2019

Four more friendlies leads to a mixed bag. All the newcomers are in action now.

Persitara 3 Bontang 1 - Our first home friendly is against an Indonesian First Division club. Chiffone scores again, but he misses a penalty later in the match. Onguene scores off a nice Chiffone cross, and then Suryadi is able to score his 2nd goal in as many matches off a David Laly free kick. Maybe he can be useful this year.

Persitara 3 Persma 1 - Another home fixture, this time against a Premier Division squad. We give up an early goal, but Suryadi and Varella hit the net before halftime. Onguene's goal in the second half extra time clinches it.

Persitara 0 Blora 0 - On the road against a First Division squad leads to some squandered opportunities. The worst thing that happens is the injury bug. Ismed Kurnia tears his calf muscle and is out 3-4 months. Chiffone pulls a hamstring and is out a few weeks, as is Suryadi after a wrist injury.

Persitara 2 Gajah Tunggal 0 - At home against a non-league squad leads to dominance in possession, but only 2 goals out of 6 clear cut chances. Onguene gets hurt early taking us down to 2 strikers. Budi Yulianto, our young right back scores from the edge of the area in the first half, and then Laly slots one home late to clinch it.

TRANSFERS

PLAYERS IN

Leo -the Brazilian DC/DMC/MC goes right into the starting 11 at MC after coming to us on a free. He will play a supporting role as a box-to-box midfielder, the position previously held by Yanuar Nugroho, who will slide back to DC. I think I strengthened two positions with this move.

Abdul Bahri - a young AMR. He will probably rotate with Daniel Chiffone. Chiffone is a little banged up, so Bahri might start the opener, but Chiffone was my best player in the preseason before gettng hurt.

Mukhlis Abidin - only 17, the MC came to us on a free. Was going to be our first MC off the bench, but Kurnia's injury will lead to him getting quite a few starts this year.

Dwi Adi Youwe- another 17 year old, this GK will play about 2/3 of the matches.

PLAYERS OUT

Herman Gafur - I let his contract run out. He signed on with a First Divsion squad. I can't have my DC have a 1 in jumping.

Arif Suyono - my former vice-captain signed with Super League squad Semen Padang.

Yudistira Yanuar - way too low on the depth chart, so I let his contract expire. He is currently without a club.

Claudio Berrios - My former captain retired and is trying his hand at scouting. His ratings are horrible.

Gusti Suprapto (GK), Marthen Sani (ST), Toure Fofana (GK), and Roland Swen (ST) - are all out on loan; Sani and Suprapto are youngsters trying to get some quality PT. Fofana and Swen refuse to accept contracts with other clubs when they are up for a transfer, so I dump their salaries via loan.

Wawan Sutrisno and Budi Yulianto got their first caps with the Indonesian Under 19s.

One friendly left prior to opening day.

[dfisher]

Preseason Wrapup

We finish the preseason friendly season with a road trip to First Divison squad PSIM. Two goals from Varella plus a goal from AMR Abdul Bahri led to a 3-0 win. Assists for Yulianto, Laly, and a returning Usman Suryadi, who looked great in preseason.

Ismed Kurnia named captain. Muhammed Hassan Mahdi is vice captain.

Unfortunately for us, the injury bug has hit us hard in training as well as fixtures.
Amin Rinaldo is out 1-3 more weeks with a torn hamstring. He missed almost all of the preseason so will need to ease back in. Leo strained knee ligaments and is out 4-5 weeks. Ismed Kurnia tore a calf muscle and is still out 2-3 months.

Onguene, Chiffone, and Nugroho all are back in full training in time for our opener.

[dfisher]

The injury bug continues. Yulianto is out about a week and will miss the opener. New GK Dwi Adi Youwe has a chest injury and is out about a week.

PS Biak Numfor @ Persitara - 8/24/2019
PS Biak Numfor is newly promoted for the first time in team history. We are 4:5 favorites at home.

GK - Muhammad Rahmad
D - Muhammad Reza Hasan Mahdi, Yanuar Nugroho, Jimmy Eboule Bille, Wawan Sutrisno
CM - Firman Hadi, Mukhlis Abidin
AM -Rizki Novriansyah, Daniel Chiffone
ST - Varella, Usman Suryadi

Rahmad isn't even back in full training following an injury, but he is good enough to play and I am somehow out of keepers. Nurgoho isn't back to full strength, but he wil start. I realized too late that I had my two young DR, Budi Yulianto and Edy Saputra still on my Under-19 squad, and Saputra played yesterday. That means that I have to put Sutrisno out of position.

3rd Minute - Hadi finds Novriansyah on a run at an angle, but he doesn't get much on the shot and it is right at the keeper.
12th Minute - Varella makes their DC look silly and is tackled just at the line of the area, drawing a yellow. Novriansyah can't do anything with the freekick.
24th Minute - Hasan Mahdi draws three defenders to him to the left of the box. He slips it thru them to Novriansyah who passes to Abidin a step behind the spot. The 17 year old buries the shot to score in his debut!! 1-0
30th Minute - Hadi sends a floater forward toward Varella who flicks it toward goal in the path of a Suryadi. He beats the keeper to the ball, rounds him, and gets the shot off at an angle into the net for his first Persitara goal to get the monkey off his back!! 2-0
32nd Minute - Eboule Bille gets a yellow for a two-footed tackle near the midfield circle. Just silly.
37th Minute - Chiffone gets to the byline and slips it to Abidin. He tries from an angle but hits side net.
39th Minute - Hasan Mahdi with a long pass 2/3 the length of the field to Novriansyah who controls it with his chest, dribbles into the area and beats the keeper!! 3-0
43rd Minute - Varella sends in a corner kick. It's met by the head of Eboule Bille and deposited into the net!!! 4-0

HALFTIME - What a start to the season. Hopefully, we don't let up.

54th Minute - Hadi with a great ball to spring Suryadi on goal, but his shot is off target.
58th Minute - Novriansyah with a great move to get off a cross to an unmarked Varella, but his header is just high.
59th Minute - Bahri on for Chiffone; Saputra on for Nugroho
78th Minute - Onguene on for Suryadi
89th Minute - Sutrisno's cross is met by the head of Bahri at the goalmouth, but it hits the crossbar and is cleared out.
That's the game

PERSITARA 4 PS BIAK NUMFOR 0
Varella 9.0 (Man of the Match); Novriansyah and Eboule Bille 8.5; Abidin 8.3; Hasan Mahdi 8.2

[dfisher]

Yulianto is back to full training, but one day later, we lose Muhammed Tri Saputra to injury for a few weeks.

Persitara @ Persibom - September 1, 2019
Persibom finished 4th last year. We beat them 3-0 at home and drew 0-0 on the road.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Sutrisno
CM - F. Hadi, Abidin
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Onguene

We play again in 3 days, so we'll have to keep an eye on our energy levels.

13th Minute - Varella rifles in a shot off a corner. It is on target, but right at the keeper who gets his hands up to parry it. The rebound goes right back to Varella, but his shot is deflected into touch.
21st Minute - Hasan Mahdi picks up a yellow for a trip deep in our end. Their freekick finds a free man who lost Eboule Bille, but his header is high.
29th Minute - Novriansyah somehow squeezes off a cross between two defenders to the far post, where there are THREE unmarked players. Abidin gets the honors and he heads it home!!! 1-0
31st Minute - After a wonderful thru ball, the Persibom striker easily rounds Rahmad, but Eboule Bille comes out of nowhere to tackle it into touch at the last moment.
38th Minute - Onguene heads on a pass to Varella, who does a nice change of direction to get the ball on his right foot for a shot, but it goes over.
44th Minute - Persibom tries to drive the ball forward from their own end, but the pass bounces right off Novriansyah and starts our break. Novriansyah gets to it and dribbles past a tackle attempt to the endline. He crosses, and Varella is there to head it home!!! 2-0

HALFTIME - Another nice start. Novriansyah with a 7.7 and the two goal scorers with a 7.4. I bring Yulianto on for Hasan Mahdi since he has a yellow and shift Sutrisno over to DL.

56th Minute - Abidin steals the ball in their end, and his pass gets a shot for Varella, but the keeper dives and pushes it away with his fingertips.
71st Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah and David Laly on for Varella.
73rd Minute - Laly has a freekick. He curls it around the wall, but it hits the upright and bounces clear. Firman Hadi gets to the rebound and resets. A few passes later, Bahri heads a Sutrisno cross past the keeper. The ball hits the crossbar and comes back, right into the back of the keeper and bounces into the net!!! 3-0 They call it an own goal.
75th Minute - Their midfield captain turns Eboule Bille, but his shot is nowhere close.
90th Minute - Nugroho misplays a thru ball that is slotted home for a consolation prize. 3-1
That's the game.

PERSITARA 3 PERSIBOM 1
Novriansyah man of the match with an 8.2; 7.7 for Abidin and 7.6 for Varella.

Novriansyah was named in the team of the week.

[dfisher]

PSDS @ Persitara - September 4, 2019
PSDS is newly promoted and have a win and a draw thus far and have not allowed a goal. We are Evens favorites against a team we have never played in a competitive match.

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Yulianto
CM - F. Hadi, Abidin
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

1st Minute - Right off the kickoff, Novriansyah takes the ball all the way to the endline. His cross is meet by the head of Chiffone, but the keeper holds on.
7th Minute - Abidin squeezes off a curling shot from 25 yards, but it grazes the top of the bar.
12th Minute - Yulianto sends over a cross from deep. Novriansyah gets to it, but his header hits the crossbar and bounces over.
24th Minute - Chiffone gets a ball from Abidin on the right side of the area and dribbles toward goal. He passes sideways to Suryadi between 2 defenders, and Usman places it into the goal on the first touch!! 1-0
27th Minute - Novriansyah first attempt at a cross is blocked. He gets to the loose ball and feeds Hadi who curls one hard toward goal, but it hits the upright.
33rd Minute - Varella takes a Hadi corner and unleashes a powerful strike right into the net!! 2-0

HALFTIME - A dominant first half. We have 58% of possession and outshoot them 11-1.

48th Minute - Chiffone sends in a cross to the spot, but no one is there but a PSDS defender. But Varella runs up and steals it away before quickly slotting it home!!! 3-0
63rd Minute - Edy Saputra makes his debut on for Yulianto. Febrinando comes on for an exhausted Hadi.
69th Minute - Chiffone sends a pass on the ground to Abidin in the area. He dribbles to his left and shoots, and it finds the net!! Third goal in as many games for the 17 year old midfielder. 4-0
70th Minute - Maulana on for Abidin with Nugroho sliding up to midfield. The youngster was tired, and, while he scored, only had a 6.0 until the goal.
73rd Minute - Novriansyah gets taken down, drawing a yellow.
77th Minute - Nugroho shoots from 35 yards. It beats the keeper but is just wide.
79th Minute - Chiffone picks up a knock but appears to shake it off.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 4 PSDS 0
Varella (Man of the Match) gets an 8.8; 8.4 for Chiffone and a 7.7 for Hasan Mahdi.

That makes 3 wins in 3 matches, outscoring our opponents 11-1.

Hasan Mahdi, Varella, Abidin, Chiffone, and Novriansyah are named to the team of the week.

My keeper Youwe is back in full training and is called up to the Indonesian national team. Rinaldo is finally back to full training. Rinaldo, Suryadi, and Abidin are called up to the Under 23 squad.

Yulianto is hurt in training.

[dfisher]

Persitara (1st) @ Persikabo (16th) - September 14 2019
They finished 12th last year and are 6:4 favorites to win.
Rinaldo, Suryadi, and Abidin are still away on internatinal duty, so we have a bit of a makeshift lineup for this one. Dwi Adi Youwe makes his debut in net.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Sutrisno
CM - F. Hadi, Febrinando
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

6th Minute - Chiffone plays a deep ball forward and Varella gets chopped down hard going for it, drawing a yellow.
11th Minute - Varella with a beautiful ball to Chiffone going down the right. His shot from a tight angle is just wide to the far post.
32nd Minute - Chiffone picks up a knock, but he'll play on.
37th Minute - Chiffone gets clattered down, drawing a yellow.
45th Minute - Onguene springs Chiffone from an angle. This time he tries near post, but the keeper dives and pushes it away. Febrinando takes the ensuing corner and floats it far post. Hadi loses his man and heads it home!!! 1-0

HALFTIME - Not a good performance despite the lead. Novriansyah with a disappointing 5.6; Nugroho with a 5.9. Chiffone is pretty banged up, so I bring in Bahri for him.

46th Minute - Right off the kickoff, Varella weaves his way thru the defense to get a one on one with the keeper, but his shot is just wide.
51st Minute - Bahri needs the physio on for a knock, but he's able to continue.
60th Minute - Both Onguene and Nugroho go down on the same play and get the dreaded green cross.
61st Minute - On the restart, Varella gets inside the area and is taken down for a penalty!! Novriansyah converts from the spot. 2-0
63rd Minute - Laly on for Onguene, and Edy Saputra on for Nugroho, sliding Sutrisno into the middle.
70th Minute - Febrinando loses the ball at midfield leading to a breakaway, but Youwe is strong in net.
They have a couple more shots on goal, but Youwe shows no weakness and the game is over.

PERSITARA 2 PERSIKABO 0
Hadi and Eboule Bille (Man of the Match) had 7.8; 7.6 for Hasan Mahdi and 7.5 for Youwe and Varella.

Onguene is out ~2 weeks with a thigh strain; Nugroho is out 5-7 days with a bruised rib. I breathe a sigh of relief because it could have been much worse.

Eboule Bille, Hadi, and Youwe are named to team of the week.

[dfisher]

Lots of people back now from both injury and international duty. Only Onguene and Kurnia remain on the injured list. There are still some people not at full fitness, so we will ease people into the lineup.

Suryadi gets a goal in his Under 23 game. Rinaldo played in 2 matches with the squad; he's now lacking match fitness instead of severely lacking match fitness.

Semen Padang (18th) @ Persitara (1st) - September 21, 2019
We have three matches in 8 days, so the extra players may come in handy. Semen Padang have yet to score this year; we are Evens favorites.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Sutrisno, Eboule Bille, Yulianto
CM - F. Hadi, Abidin
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Laly

1st Minute - We take the kickoff and work it slowly up the field. Laly finds the run of Bahri a step behind the defense, but his shot is blocked into touch.
12th Minute - Hasan Mahdi picks out Varella with a great thru ball from our end. It takes him into the area, but the defense is just able to nick it away from him over the endline.
13th Minute - Laly takes the corner and Novriansyah sends it right back to him without any defenders around him. He moves closer and floats in a cross. Eboule Bille's header beats the keeper and seems destined for the net before it is cleared off the line by a defender.
14th Minute - Sutrisno gets a yellow card for a trip.
18th Minute - Laly makes a nice move to get into the area and fire off a shot, but it bounces off the crossbar.
44th Minute - Yulianto sends a ball into the path of Bahri, but it is just too far ahead of him and the keeper comes out for it. But, the keeper drops the ball!! Bahri takes it right from him and scores for his first Persitara goal!! 1-0

HALFTIME - A fluke goal gives us a lead at home, but we need to be doing a little more. Sutrisno with only a 5.6 at the half.

46th Minute - Right off the kickoff, Sutrisno gets beat on a pass and we are tied at 1. 1-1
47th Minute - Tri Saputra on for Sutrisno.
60th Minute - Suryadi on for Varella and his 5.7.
70th Minute - Rinaldo makes his season debut on for a tired Yulianto.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 1 SEMEN PADANG 1
Bahri gets man of the match with a 7.2.

[dfisher]

Persitara (1st) @ PSPS (7th) - September 25, 2019
We are even favs on the road.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - F. Hadi, Abidin
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

1st Minute - Abidin takes a slight knock.
3rd Minute - Novriansyah sends in a free kick. The keeper goes to catch, but Varella darts into the flight of the ball and heads toward goal . . .just over.
24th Minute - PSPS gets a clear cut chance off a nice thru ball right down the middle, but Youwe parries it.
27th Minute - Suryadi gets the ball from Varella. He then sends it past the defender and races by him to get to it, takes it to his right by another defender, and fires it into the net from the edge of the area for his 50th career goal!! 1-0
39th Minute - Rinaldo with a long clearance that bounces over the last defenders head. Suryadi beats everyone to the ball and quickly puts it in the net!!! 2-0
43rd Minute - Varella wins a 50/50 header, but the defender gets off a poor clearance right to Hadi. He puts a lovely ball to the feet of Suryadi, but this time his shot is weak and right at the keeper.
45th Minute - Hasan Mahdi gets beat to the endline, and the cross is headed right at goal. Youwe is up for the task and parries it again. The rebound gives them another good shot, but it is deflected out.

HALFTIME - Suryadi with an 8.7; Leo comes on for Abidin.

48th Minute - Hadi plays a ball forward for Varella. He strikes it left-footed at an angle, but the keeper turns it behind.
53rd Minute - Varella draws a defender up and then sends it to Suryadi who ran to where the defender left. Their DR then comes up to challenge Suryadi who calmly sends it on to the run of Novriansyah who puts it in the net!! 3-0
57th Minute - They float in a high cross from the left side toward the far post. Hasan Mahdi misjudges the header allowing their forward to head it in off the underside of the bar. 3-1
58th Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah and Febrinando on for Firman Hadi.
64th Minute - Suryadi plays a great ball over the defenders head down the right sideline to Chiffone. He has a 2 on 1 with Varella. Chiffone draws the defender and gives it to Varella, but his shot is turned behind by a diving keeper.
65th Minute - The ensuing corner is taken by Heri Hadi. He sends a low line drive right across the goal mouth, and Suryadi is able to get up and head it home for the hat trick!!! 4-1
70th Minute - Suryadi gets a ball from Hadi around midfield. He gets by the first defender then turns on the jets, all the way to his fourth goal of the match!!! 5-1
74th Minute - Chiffone gets to the endline. His cross is met by Heri Hadi, but it bounces off the crossbar.
77th Minute - Nugroho picks up a knock.
80th Minute - So does Varella.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 5 PSPS 1
Suryadi is obviously man of the match, earning a 9.9; Rinaldo with a 7.9 in his first start of the year. Nugroho earns a 7.5 and Heri Hadi comes off the bench for a 7.4.

Nugroho pulled his hamstring and is out 3-4 weeks.

Suryadi's 4 goals are a new Persitara record.

[dfisher]

Persipasi (3rd) @ Persitara (1st) - September 28, 2019
We are 5:4 favorites at home.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, M. Saputra, Eboule Bille, Yulianto
CM - F. Hadi, Abidin
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

2nd Minute - Varella is on the receiving end of a Novriansyah cross to feet. He makes a nice move to get himself free and then strikes toward goal, but the keeper makes a fantastic diving save to put it behind.
10th Minute - Hadi is able to get off a cross toward Bahri. It beats the keeper but goes over.
12th Minute - Eboule Bille comes out to pick up a man, and Yulianto fails to cover for him as the ball is slipped into the area and then into the net. Luckily, the referee calls it offside.
20 Minute - Hasan Mahdi leads Novriansyah down the left side with a throw. He slides it in the area to Suryadi with his back to the goal. He turns his man and unleashes a shot, but it is just wide.
28th Minute - Hasan Mahdi takes a knock.
40th Minute - Hadi springs Varella thru on goal, but his shot hits the upright and goes out.

HALFTIME - Suryadi with only a 6.0 and Hadi with only a 6.1. Leo comes on for Hadi.

58th Minute - Bahri picks up a knock.
66th Minute - Abidin splits the defense with a ball that Suryadi run onto. He fires a shot but it is parried by the keeper.
67th Minute - Laly on for Suryadi; Chiffone on for Bahri.
69th Minute - Leo wins a header off a goal kick and sends it up to Varella. Varella winds his way thru some defenders and shoots, but it is deflected. The ball ends up at the feet of Leo who shoots from distance, but it goes over.
78th Minute - Abidin passes to Yulianto as he is backing up. The defenders back off him, so he sets himself and shoots and scores for his first Persitara goal!! 1-0
91st Minute - Chiffone tries a cross, but it is headed right back to him by the defense. He takes it closer and tries and again, and this time Varella puts it in the net!! 2-0
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 PERSIPASI 0
The unbeaten run continues. Budi Yulianto is man of the match with an 8.2; Varella with an 8.1.

Yulianto, Nugroho, and Suryadi were named to the team of the week.

Yulianto somehow finishes 2nd in player of the month voting. Suryadi takes Young Player of the Month; Abidin was 2nd, Yulianto 3rd. Suryadi's first goal against PSPS wins goal of the month, and yours truly won Super League Manager of the Month.

[dfisher]

Persija (11th) @ Persitara (1st) - October 5, 2019
Our big rivalry game. We have never beat them in our home stadium; however, we are 4:6 favorites.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, M. Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Abidin
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

I meant to start Chiffone at AMR for this one, but I hit continue one to many times so Bahri starts again. Leo gets his first start for us.

2nd Minute - Hasan Mahdi intercepts a long clearance and quickly plays it ahead to Varella. He pauses and then finds Bahri cutting toward goal. Bahri tries to beat the keeper on the far post side, and he succeeds!!! 1-0 Well, so much for wanting to start Chiffone.
5th Minute - Bahri sends in a nice corner. Eboule Bille gets his head to it but it flies over the bar.
27th Minute - Persija takes a free kick from near midfield. Their forward gets above Rinaldo at the edge of the area and heads it on; it goes over Youwe's head and into the goal. 1-1
30th Minute - Varella again finds the run of Bahri, and, in what looks like an instant replay, he puts it in the goal again!! 2-1
40th Minute - Novriansyah and Suryadi work the ball down the left to the byline. Suryadi sends it back to a wide open Hasan Mahdi. He sends cross to the far post toward an unmarked Bahri, but the keeper jumps and deflects the cross into touch.

HALFTIME - Bahri and his accidental start have an 8.7 so far.

47th Minute - A Persija free kick deflects off the wall and seems destined for the net, but Youwe dives and deflects it wide.
53rd Minute - Firman Hadi on for a tired Leo. He needs to get his stamina up.
66th Minute - Bahri wins a ball in his own end and sends it ahead of everyone to Varella. He gathers himself in the right side of the box and crosses to Suryadi, but his header is high.
67th Minute - Onguene on for Suryadi.
71st Minute - Novriansyah is able to get a cross to Onguene. His header is on target but held by the keeper.
76th Minute - Sutrisno on for Hasan Mahdi.
89th Minute - A Persija corner leads to a hard shot that deflects off Varella and into the goal. It's called an own goal. 2-2
91st Minute - Bahri takes a corner kick. It goes to the far post, where Eboule Bille heads it home to the delight of the home crowd!!! 3-2
That's the game!

PERSITARA 3 PERSIJA 2
Great win in a roller coaster game over our rivals. Bahri man of the match with a 9.2; Eboule Bille scores a 9.0.

We get a nice news item with Claudio Berrios (ex-Persitara captain) lauding the performance of Eboule Bille.

Eboule Bille and Bahri are named to the team of the week.

[dfisher]

Indonesian Cup Draw

My board expects me to reach the semifinals of the Cup, so the draw is important. We start out with First Divsion squad PPSM. We have a big match against the defending Super League champions Persik in 3 days, so we play a mix of regulars and backups in the first leg on the road.

Persitara @ PPSM - INDONESIAN CUP FIRST ROUND: October 16, 2019
We are 4:7 favorites on the road.

GK - Rahmad
D - Sutrisno, M. Saputra, Eboule Bille, Yulianto
CM - Leo, Abidin
AM - Heri Hadi, Chiffone
ST - Onguene, Suryadi

4th Minute - Suryadi takes a free kick. Leo gets to it but heads it over.
16th Minute - Hadi gets by a man and sends in a cross from the endline. Onguene gets up for it, but his header from near the goalmouth is over. He should have buried that one.
27th Minute - Yulianto plays a long ball over everyone's head down the right, allowing Suryadi to run onto it. He is way to fast for their defense and dribbles into the area and scores from an angle!! 1-0
36th Minute - Leo picks up a knock winning a header.

HALFTIME - Yulianto's 7.4 leads the team.

56th Minute - Firman Hadi on for Leo.
70th Minute - Firman Hadi gets an interception in his own end and plays it ahead to Suryadi. He uses his speed to get past the defense and crosses to Onguene. He doesn't get much on the header, but he gets enough to get it in the net!! 2-0
71st Minute - Laly on for Suryadi.
80th Minute - PPSM gets the ball to the striker directly in front of the net at the edge of the area. For some reason, Saputra and Sutrisno watch him dribble up the spot and score with little resistance. 2-1
85th Minute - A PPSM shot from 25 yards out looks like it goes right thru Rahmad's hands and into the net. 2-2
92nd Minute - Yulianto sends in a cross from deep. Laly loses his marker and heads it home with less than a minute left!! 3-2
That's the game.

PERSITARA 3 PPSM 2
It wasn't pretty, but three away goals should be more than enough to get us thru after the home leg. I might have to play more regulars than I wanted to, but we picked up a win here without Varella and Novriansyah. Yulianto's 8.3 is good for Man of the Match; Suryadi with a 7.6.

[dfisher]

Persitara (1st) @ Persik (2nd) - October 20, 2019
On the road against the defending league champions, they are 6:4 favorites; we are 13:8 to win.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Abidin, Leo
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

3rd Minute - Persik have a nice buildup culminating in a rushed shot from an angle that just goes over.
14th Minute - A long buildup for us ends with an Abidin shot from 25 yards, but it is held by the keeper.
32nd Minute - A thru ball splits Nugroho and Hasan Mahdi, and we are losing. 1-0
40th Minute - Nugroho sends in a corner, but Varella's header is high.

HALFTIME - We really haven't threatened. Firman Hadi comes on for a tired Leo.

47th Minute - We catch them on a counter as Suryadi slips one thru to Varella, and his shot finds net!! 1-1
51st Minute - Bahri sends a corner to a waiting Eboule Bille near the far post, and his header is true!! 2-1
57th Minute - A Persik counter results in a 2 on 1 against Eboule Bille, but he gets his foot on a pass and puts it into touch for a corner.
59th Minute - A wild scramble in front of the goal leads to a Persik shot from just behind the penalty spot, but Youwe is able to get his hands up and make a save.
62nd Minute - Another Persik thru ball right down the middle leads to a clear cut chance, but Youwe is there again with a diving save.
63rd Minute - Febrinando and Saputra on for Abidin and Nugroho for fatigue.
75th Minute - Saputra gets beat on a header off a corner, but it floats just high and wide.
89th Minute - Novriansyah sends in a free kick from deep. Eboule Bille loses his marker and heads it home to ice the game!! 3-1
That's the game!

PERSITARA 3 PERSIK 1
What a difference a half makes. Huge win. Eboule Bille's 9.2 earns him man of the match. Novriansyah scores a 7.8 and Suryadi brings home a 7.4.

Eboule Bille was named to the team of the week.

[dfisher]

PPSM @ Persitara - INDONESIAN CUP FIRST ROUND October 24, 2019

GK - Rahmad
D - Hasan Mahdi, M. Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Firman Hadi, Febrinando
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Laly

7th Minute - Varella and Laly play a nice 1-2 with each other, but Varella's shot is blocked by the keeper.
10th Minute - Novriansyah dribbles toward the center and picks out Febrinando with a pass, but his low, hard shot flies just wide.
20th Minute - Novriansyah takes a free kick from the edge of the area. He gets it by the wall, but it is inches wide.
28th Minute - Novriansyah gets to the endline and crosses, Laly gets to it, but his header from point blank range hits the crossbar.
31st Minute - Chiffone gets by his man and sends a cross in from the right. Laly gets up and heads it home!! But, it is waved off because Laly is called for a foul!
33rd Minute - Another Novriansyah cross, this time Varella heads it wide.
44th Minute - Febrinando centres one for Hadi who has a shot from distance, but he makes the extra pass to a cutting Novriansyah who puts it in the net!! 1-0

HALFTIME - We've outshot them 16-1, but only have 1 goal to show for it. Leo comes on for Febrinando.

46th Minute - Chiffone gets a cross in, and Varella's header bounces off the crossbar and straight down. It is cleared behind the net before we can take advantage of the rebound.
57th Minute - A horrible Novriansyah pass leads to a counter. Eboule Bille gets skinned, but Youwe parries the chance into touch.
63rd Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah and Onguene on for Varella.
67th Minute - The Hadis play a 1-2, and Firman follows with a pinpoint pass to Laly clean thru. His shot is saved by a diving keeper.
74th Minute - Eboule Bille heads a corner back across the goal to Chiffone. His header is turned behind by the keeper.
79th Minute - Onguene's header off a Rinaldo cross hits the crossbar again. We've had 4 off the woodwork and 4 clear cut chances, but only one goal.
79th Minute - The ensuing corner is headed off the crossbar by Eboule Bille. This is ridiculous.
80th Minute - Rinaldo sends Onguene clean thru on goal for a 1 on 1 with no defender near him, but he is stoned.
That's the game. We are thru to the second round.

PERSITARA 1 PPSM 0
We outshoot them 27-3, but only 1-0 on the scoreboard. Novriansyah with an 8.4 for man of the match. Firman Hadi with a 7.5.

[dfisher]

Budi Yulianto gets another Indonesian Under-19s cap.

I sell DC Syaepuloh Maulana for $1000. He had only played in one game so far, and that was just to get him some playing time. I am slightly over the wage budget so that helps.

Jimmy Eboule Bille comes in 3rd for Super League player of the month. Abdul Bahri comes in 3rd for Young Player of the Month. I take Manager of the Month for the 2nd month in a row.

Ismed Kurnia finally resumes full training. It will be nice to get my captain on the pitch, but we haven't really missed him too much.

Persitara (1st) @ Sriwijaya FC (5th) - November 2, 2019
Sriwijaya is 6:4 favorites. We are 13:8 to win.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Abidin, Leo
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

3rd Minute - Varella strikes one at an angle off a corner, the defender tries to clear it off the line, but he ends up putting it in the net for an own goal!! 1-0
10th Minute - Sriwijaya celebrates after knotting it up at 1, but I don't even react because I know it was clearly offside. The assistant agrees and it is waved off.
11th Minute - Abidin centres one for Varella, but his header is weak and directly at the keeper.
17th Minute - Novriansyah sends a cross far post off a throwin; Rinaldo gets to it unmarked but heads it right to the keeper.
27th Minute - Rinaldo scrambles a ball away on what appeared to be a breakaway, but the Sriwijaya player goes down and a penalty is called! Rinaldo gets a yellow. The penalty is converted to tie it up. 1-1
30th Minute - A thru ball gets between Nugorho and Eboule Bille. Hasan Mahdi comes over to tackle it away, but it goes into the net for an own goal! 1-2
36th Minute - Leo tackles a ball away at midfield leading to a counter attack, but Varella's shot is high.
45th Minute - Hasan Mahdi receives a yellow.

HALFTIME - Sutrisno on for Hasan Mahdi.

51st Minute - Leo picks out Noviransyah with a pinpoint pass from the circle to the penalty area. His shot hits the upright and bounces out.
69th Minute - Chiffone on for Bahri. Heri Hadi on for Leo. I bump Novriansyah up front and play with three strikers.
76th Minute - Rinaldo with a poor clearance that leads to a nice cross from the endline. It is headed off the crossbar and out.
82nd Minute - Varella wins a ball at midfield and takes it down the right side. He slides it over to Novriansyah who hits it on target, but the keeper dives and pushes it away.
84th Minute - Abidin does a nice job of reversing the ball giving Rinaldo plenty of room to bring the ball forward. He picks out Novriansyah with a pass, and Novriansyah puts a diving header into the net!!! 2-2
91st Minute - Abidin plays it up to Novriansyah who turns and strikes it toward goal, but the keeper tips it off the crossbar and then punches out the rebound.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 SRIWIJAYA 2
Our team record winning streak ends at 6, but the unbeaten streak continues. If I get draws at the top teams and hold serve at home I should be ok. Novrisyah gets man of the match with a 7.1.

[dfisher]

I'm on a 12 match unbeaten run dating back to last season, which is another new club record. Despite that, we are braced for a low turnout in our next match, expecting only 1000 fans.

Pelita Jaya (4th) @ Persitara (1st) - November 6, 2019
We are 4:5 favorites at home.

GK - Youwe
D - Sutrisno, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - F. Hadi, Leo
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Onguene

6th Minute - Youwe goes out to catch a Pelita free kick, but they get to it first. Luckily, it is headed over.
7th Minute - Rinaldo plays it into the right side of the area to Chiffone, who dribbles once and sends a cross over to an unmarked Varella. His header bounces off the underside of the crossbar and into the net!! 1-0
14th Minute - Hadi with a nice diagonal pass up to Onguene with plenty of room. He slips it into the run of Varella who strikes it with power into the net for his second goal!! 2-0
18th Minute - Rinaldo loses out on an interception attempt allowing their left winger to get into the area. Eboule Bille is there in support, but he doesn't attack the ball allowing him to get a good shot. It is parried by Youwe right to another Pelita player. The next shot is blocked by Eboule Bille.
43rd Minute - Onguene gets in the area and spins a defender around allowing him to get a fierce shot off. It deflects off the foot of Varella and into the net!! They give the goal to Varella for a hat trick! 3-0
44th Minute - Onguene with a nice move to split two defenders and get a clear shot, but it is parried by the keeper.

HALFTIME - Varella with a 9.5 so far. Kurnia comes on for Firman Hadi to make his season debut.

57th Minute - Onguene wins the race to a long ball and crosses. Varella just misses his 4th goal when his header is high.
65th Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah.
72nd Minute - A superb flowing move ends with Leo passing to Kurnia, who fires a long shot, but it is tipped over by the keeper.
73rd Minute - Yulianto on for Rinaldo.
74th Minute - A Hadi is cross is headed off the bar by Onguene.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 3 PELITA JAYA 0
Varella man of the match with a 9.5; Onguene with a 9.0 in what is by far his best game of the year.

[dfisher]

The rest of the Indonesian Cup draw occurs. In the Second Round, I draw Persibom, who are currently in 4th place in the Super League. Not an easy draw to say the least. The first leg is at home. If we advance, we will face a team in the Premier League.

Persibom @ Persitara INDONESIAN CUP SECOND ROUND - November 13, 2019
We are 4:6 favorites at home.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Abidin, Leo
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

2nd Minute - Novriansyah takes a free kick from just outside the area. He deflects off the wall and beats a diving keeper, but it is just over.
27th Minute - Chiffone gets tripped going for a ball, drawing a yellow.
38th Minute - Varella takes a corner, and it bounces thru the box to Novriansyah. He tries to control it with his chest, but the keeper dives and holds it.

HALFTIME - Hopefully we can break thru in the second half to give us a cushion.

46th Minute - Varella is held, drawing another yellow.
48th Minute - Varella sneaks inside to the endline and tries a shot from an angle. It hits the upright so hard it caroms all the way past midfield in the air.
52nd Minute - Suryadi finds the run of Chiffone with a thru ball. His momentum carries him too far, and his shot with his left foot is wide.
58th Minute - Chiffone gets injured and has to go off, so Bahri comes on for him. I also bring Kurnia in for Abidin.
60th Minute - Leo sends a nice ball into Varella. He gets around a defender and then slips it to Suryadi who powers it into the net!! 1-0
75th Minute - Firman Hadi on for Leo.
80th Minute - Kurnia sends a cross in, and Hadi heads it over to Novriansyah. He drills it on the half-volley, but the keeper is able to parry it.
85th Minute - Suryadi springs Varella near midfield with a wonderful one touch pass. Varella is too fast for the defense as he gets into the penalty area before unleashing a shot that finds the net!! 2-0
93rd Minute - Persibom sends in a corner. Hasan Mahdi jumps with their player at the far post and wins the header. Unfortunately, he wins it right into the net. 2-1
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 PERSIBOM 1
That last minute goal might come back to haunt us, as it gives them a vital away goal. Now a 1-0 loss at their place sends us packing. Varella is man of the match with an 8.8; Suryadi with a 7.5.

Chiffone will be out 3-4 weeks with a pulled hamstring.

[dfisher]

Mahendra Tri Saputra is injured during training and will miss the next few days, including the 2nd leg of the Cup. Abidin is away on international duty at the Under-19 World Cup qualifying. He has played in the last two matches, getting a goal in one and an assist in the other.

Persitara @ Persibom INDONESIAN CUP SECOND ROUND - November 20, 2019
We are still favorites (7:4) despite being on the road. I quick goal would make me breathe a little easier.

GK - Youwe
D - Sutrisno, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Leo
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Onguene

5th Minute - Kurnia sends a corner in, and Nugroho meets it with a diving header that bounces off the upright. Onguene gets the rebound to the right of the goal and crosses. Nugroho gets his head on it again, but this time it hits the crossbar! Ugh.
23rd Minute - A thru ball splits Rinaldo and Eboule Bille. They converge on the ball, but not before they get a shot off. It hits the crossbar and then bounces back off a diving Youwe into the net. 0-1 We are losing based on away goals.
26th Minute - A nice counter ends with a Novriansyah cross headed over the bar by Bahri.

HALFTIME - Uh oh.

50th Minute - Rinaldo with some great dribbling gets into the area, but his shot is saved by a diving keeper.
52nd Minute - Suryadi on for Onguene. Firman Hadi on for a tired Kurnia.
56th Minute - Sutrisno slips it into the area for Suryadi. He takes it to the left of the goal and crosses it in front of the goal. Varella heads it toward goal on one bounce, but the keeper holds it.
62nd Minute - Hadi plays it up to Varella, but he loses the header and it is cleared out. Leo intercepts the header and strikes it on the half-volley from 25 yards out. It is a missle that finds the back of the net for his first Persitara goal!!! 1-1
80th Minute - I bring Heri Hadi on out of position for an exhausted Bahri.
90th Minute - F. Hadi and Novriansyah get out of position trying to win a ball. Two passes later, Nugroho and Eboule Bille can't recover in time to stop a shot that beats Youwe and tie it up on aggregate. 1-2

END OF 90 MINUTES - Extra time.

100th Minute - Nugroho with a terrible clearance, and they bring right down the middle and score. 1-3

HALFTIME - We need one.

115th Minute - Sutrisno whips over a cross that is met by Suryadi, but it just goes over.
121st Minute - On a counter, Suryadi with a nice pass over to Varella. He gets in the area and shoots, but the keeper dives and tips it wide.
That's the game, and we are out of the cup.

PERSIBOM 3 PERSITARA 1

[dfisher]

So we play an extra 30 minutes, lose our first of the year, and then turn around and play 4 days later on short rest. We have another match 3 days after this one, so we are definitely shorthanded. Abidin is still away on international duty.

Persitara 1st @ Persipro 5th - November 24, 2019

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Yulianto
CM - F. Hadi, Febrinando
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

16th Minute - A Persipro pass goes right by Nugroho into the area, but the shot is right at Youwe, who holds.
18th Minute - Bahri takes a corner and gets it to the head of Eboule Bille, but it goes high.
20th Minute - Febrinando with a nice pass across his body to Varella in the area. He strikes it hard and true, but the keeper dives and pushes it around the post.
29th Minute - Bahri gets off a short cross to Varella, but his header one hops into the hands of the keeper.
30th Minute - Hadi tries to slip a ball ahead to Varella from the left, but it is deflected and goes to Novriansyah. He takes it further down the left and is able to get it to Varella in the area. He dribbles toward the middle, shoots, and buries it into the corner of the net for his 10th of the year!! 1-0
35th Minute - A Nugroho pass is deflected, leading to a quick Persipro counter. This ends up with a 1 on 1 with Youwe, but he makes a great reflex save.

HALFTIME - Varella with a 7.2.

61st Minute - Yulianto picks up a knock but can play on.
68th Minute - Rinaldo for Yulianto; Kurnia for Febrinando.
73rd Minute - Laly on for Varella.
91st Minute - Kurnia takes a corner. Eboule Bille with a nice header, but the keeper is able to tip it over.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 1 PERSIPRO 0
Eboule Bille with a 7.7 for man of the match; Varella with a 7.3.

[dfisher]

Persebaya 17th @ Persitara (1st) - November 27, 2019
Fixture congestion is starting to catch up to us. Chiffone's injury hurts, as I really don't have a backup for Bahri right now, and Abidin remains on internatinal duty. We are 4:7 favorites at home.

GK - Youwe
D - Sutrisno, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Kurnia, Leo
AM - Heri Hadi, Bahri
ST - Varella, Onguene

6th Minute - Heri Hadi plays a soft ball into the path of Kurnia who is going full speed down the middle of the pitch. He takes a shot in stride from 25 yards, and it is a beautiful curving strike into the back of the net for his first of the year!! 1-0
9th Minute - Leo tackles a ball away in the area just in time. It goes to the endline, but a Persebaya player gets to it before it crosses the line and floats one across the goal. Eboule Bille misses the header, but their winger doesn't and ties it. 1-1
16th Minute - Onguene shows off some nice dribbling skills and slips a ball behind the defense to Varella, who finishes. BUT, the goal won't count for offsides.
45th Minute - Leo with a nice ball to Varella, who sends a one touch pass onto the run of Bahri. He is clean thru, but doesn't pull the trigger and has it tackled away inside the goalbox.

HALFTIME - We struggled early, but have been dominating of late. I feel like it is only a matter of time until we break thru.

53rd Minute - Firman Hadi on out of position for Bahri.
57th Minute - Kurnia sends in a header, and Varella beats the keeper, but it just bounces off the upright.
62nd Minute - Suryadi on for Onguene.
77th Minute - Laly on for Kurnia to give us 3 strikers.
81st Minute - Suryadi gets it to Laly with room. His strike beats the keeper but hits the crossbar and bounces straight up into the air.
That's the game. A disappointing draw.

PERSITARA 1 PERSEBAYA 1

[dfisher]

Persitara (1st) @ PSIS (7th) - November 30, 2019
We finally get a week break after this one. They are 7:4 favorites.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, M. Saputra, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Nugroho
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

First start of the year in the midfield for Nugroho. My players are exhausted there. Abidin is back but extremely tired.

8th Minute - Leo gets a knock but is able to continue.
20th Minute - Novriansyah makes their DR look silly as he gets to the byline, but his cross is headed just wide by Varella.
25th Minute - Hasan Mahdi takes a knock, but he can play on.
32nd Minute - Youwe gets rounded off a great PSIS buildup. Rinaldo is able to force a rushed shot, and it his the upright.
35th Minute - Bahri sends a corner into the area to the feet of Varella. His strike hits the inside of the upright and bounces into the goal!! 1-0

HALFTIME - Varella with a 7.0; Suryadi with only a 5.6.

52nd Minute - Varella takes it to the endline down the left and passes back into the area to Novriansyah. He dribbles toward the middle and sends it along the ground to the feet of Leo. Leo shoots on the first touch and bangs it off the underside of the bar into the net!!! 2-0
63rd Minute - Edy Saputra (up from the Under 18s for this one) on for Bahri, and I drop my wingers from attacking mids to form a straight 4-4-2. I also bring on Febrinando for Leo.
65th Minute - Hasan Mahdi sends it down the left line for Suryadi. He floats over a beautiful cross right to the far post, where Varella gets to it to head it home for his second of the game!!! 3-0
72nd Minute - M. Saputra is caught out of position to allow a clear cut chance from inside the area, but Youwe dives to save.
73rd Minute - David Laly on for Varella.
That's the game. Good win.

PERSITARA 3 PSIS 0
Varella (man of the match) with an 8.8; Novriansyah with an 8.1.

[dfisher]

November 2019 Wrapup

I once again win Super League Manager of the Month. Varella wins Player of the Month. We are starting to pull away in the standings already. Thru 14 games (out of 34), we are in first place by 9 points, with a +28 goal differential. The next best differential is +9 by third place Persibom, but they are 11 points back. We lead the league in goals with 37, 16 more than the next best team. We also lead in goals against, only allowing 9 thus far.

The board are pleaed with my management of the team, with the signing of Abidin being the highlight. The loss in the Indonesian Cup is the lowlight. We lost $83k last month.

[dfisher]

With Chiffone back in training, we receive a clean bill of health for the first time all year.

Persibo 15th @ Persitara (1st) - December 7, 2019
We are huge 1:3 favorites at home.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

9th Minute - Varella wins a ball in the area and takes it by the defender, but is taken down in the box for a penalty! Chiffone steps up and buries the spot kick! 1-0
18th Minute - Novriansyah takes a counter to the endline and whips in a low line drive cross that is headed back out. He regroups and floats one in near the spot. Leo gets up and gets heads it toward goal, but it is just over.
20th Minute - Leo plays a 1-2 with Varella which frees him for an unmarked shot from the edge of the area. He hits it right to the keeper.
41st Minute - Varella works himself free off a corner, but the keeper dives and deflects it wide.

HALFTIME - Not much of note.

56th Minute - Eboule Bille comes out to challenge a ball, but Persibo slips one behind him for a clear cut chance. Another spectacular Youwe save keeps us ahead.
58th Minute - Suryadi gets the ball on a counter attack and finds Varella in the area, but his shot is blasted way over.
59th Minute - Bahri on for Chiffone.
68th Minute - Abidin on for Kurnia. Onguene on for Suryadi.
77th Minute - Abidin with a wonderful strike from 30 yards after being fed by Leo. It bounces off the crossbar and out.
82nd Minute - Varella with a nice chip pass to Onguene. His header is on target but held by a diving keeper.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 1 PERSIBO 0
Rinaldo's 7.4 gives him man of the match. Not the prettiest game against the relegation candidates, but a win is a win.

[dfisher]

Sutrisno gets banged up in training by M. Saputra and is out for about a week.

Persitara (1st) @ Perseden (15th) - December 15, 2019
We are evens favorites to win.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Abidin
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

8th Minute - Hasan Mahdi takes a throw-in, and Novriansyah heads it right back to him. He dribbles once then floats a cross to the far post to a crashing Rinaldo. He is the only player on that half of the field, and he heads it into the open net for his first ever Persitara goal!! 1-0
23rd Minute - Abidin tries a thru ball to Suryadi, but it gets deflected. It still falls to Suryadi who fires from inside the area, but the keeper pushes it away.
30 Minute - Hasan Mahdi chips one into the area. Varella heads it with power on goal, but the keeper is there.
43rd Minute - Novriansyah crosses to the feet of Suryadi. He steadies himself and slots it into the net!! 2-0
46th Minute - Novriansyah loses his man off a long throw, and the shot finds the net to let them back in the match. 2-1

HALFTIME - Rinaldo with a 7.5 to lead the team.

68th Minute - Chiffone controls a throwin deep in their end. He wheels toward the endline and sends over a cross. Novriansyah gets up and heads it just over the net.
69th Minute - Kurnia on for Leo; Onguene on for Suryadi.
79th Minute - Firman Hadi on for Abidin.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 PERSEDEN 1
Hasan Mahdi (man of the match) and Rinaldo both get 8.0 ratings.

Hasan Mahdi was named to the team of the week.

[dfisher]

M. Saputra suffers a strained neck during training and is out ~10 days.

Persibom (4th) @ Persitara (1st) - December 21, 2019
Another shot at the only team to beat us this season, and the team who knocked us out of the Indonesian Cup. We are 4:6 favorites to win.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

1st Minute - We maintain possession for the first 45 seconds before Leo unleashes a spectacular curving shot from 30 yards that looks destined for goal before the keeper dives and pushes it behind. That might have been the shot of the year if it went in.
3rd Minute - Bahri is banged up, but he can continue.
8th Minute - Novriansyah takes it down the left before cutting inside. He chips a ball up to Varella who captures it with his chest, turns, and buries a shot in the back of the net from 20 yards!! 1-0
13th Minute - Eboule Bille tackles a ball away in the area, but it goes right to a Persibom midfielder lurking at the edge of the area. His shot is on target, but Youwe is able to parry it. The rebound goes right to another Persibom player, and he strikes it from an angle, but Youwe recovers and pushes that one away as well.
35th Minute - Chiffone on for Bahri.

HALFTIME - We are losing the possession battle, but Varella's strike keeps us ahead.

52nd Minute - Kurnia wins a ball in their end and plays a great 2 man game with Suryadi that ends with Suryadi placing it into the back of the net for his 10th of the year!! 2-0
57th Minute - Abidin on for Leo.
64th Minute - Chiffone with a lovely long ball split the central defenders into the run of Varella. His shot is at the keeper and able to be swatted away.
74th Minute - Yulianto on for Rinaldo.
82nd Minute - Abidin plays a ball to Novriansyah in the area. He has an open left side of the net and aims there, but the keeper dives and just gets his hand on it to stop it. It spins right there until a defender clears it out.
That's the match.

PERSITARA 2 PERSIBOM 0
Kurnia's 7.4 leads the team. A Persibom midfielder gets man of the match.

[dfisher]

MIDSEASON 2019 WRAPUP

A dominating first half of the year for Persitara. With 17 out of 34 games played, we sit in first with 45 points, with only 3 draws keeping us from being perfect. Second place is PSDS, who are 14 points behind us (we also have a +31 GD on them). Varella leads the league in goals with 12, and he is tied with Novriansyah for the league lead in assists with 8. Varella and Eboule Bille are 1-2 in the average rating for the league.


Team Stats
http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae119/dfisher9/PersitaraJakartaUtara-3.png

We have a fairly deep team as 14 different players have scored and 14 different players have assists.

Barring a collapse, it looks like we will be winning our first Super League title.

[dfisher]

Abidin pulls his hamstring in training and is out 3-4 weeks.

PSS (12th) @ Persitara (1st) - December 28, 2019
Our first meeting of the year. We are 4:6 favorites. They come out in a 4-1-4-1 so it's going to be tough to break thru for a goal.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

8th Minute - Kurnia with a nice pass from near midfield to the feet of Suryadi. He gets into the area, but his shot is saved by a diving keeper.
19th Minute - Kurnia sends a corner toward the far post. Eboule Bille gets up and is able to head it toward goal, but it skims the bar and goes over.
22nd Minute - Kurnia splits the defense with another nice pass to Suryadi, but he can't hit the net again as the keeper parries it away.

HALFTIME - We have 66% of the possession and have outshot them 10-0, but we have nothing to show for it thus far.

47th Minute - Varella makes a nice move to shake a defender and get into the area. He leaves a ball for Novriansyah coming from an angle on the left. He strikes it, but the keeper gets his hands up and deflects it out.
54th Minute - Chiffone picks up a knock.
59th Minute - Bahri on for Chiffone.
66th Minute - Varella loses his man on a corner, and it is headed into the net. 0-1
67th Minute - Onguene on for Leo as we play with 3 strikers.
75th Minute - Nugroho wins a header off a PSS throwin to start a counter. Suryadi plays it up to Onguene who shoots from 20 yards, and it finds the net!! 1-1
79th Minute - Firman Hadi on for an exhausted Kurnia.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 1 PSS 1

[dfisher]

I won Super League Manager of the Month for December.

Persitara (1st) @ PS Biak Numfor (18th) - January 4, 2020
We are 1:3 favorites on the road. We won 4-0 in home at the beginning of the season.

GK - Youwe
D - Sutrisno, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Yulianto
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

17th Minute - Suryadi gets taken down just outside the area. Novriansyah's free kick skims the bar and goes over.
28th Minute - Suryadi gets taken down hard on the left side of the pitch, drawing a yellow. The defender ended up injuring himself and is taken out.
40th Minute - Suryadi gets a long ball and crosses to Varella. His header is hard and straight flies over the bar.
41st Minute - Suryadi gets a ball from Kurnia and dribbles by a defender. His shot looks good, but the keeper is able to parry.
43rd Minute - Suryadi (again) plays a great long ball up to Chiffone ahead of the defense. He gets a 1on1 with the keeper from an angle, but the shot is saved by the legs of a sprawling keeper. The rebound goes to Varella at the spot. He quickly deposits it into the open net!! 1-0

HALFTIME - We have 63% of the possession, but only 1 goal to show for it.

50th Minute - Chiffone gets by his defender at the right sideline and sends a low cross along the ground. The keeper comes up and tips it away. Novriansyah gets to it first before the keeper can recover and calmly puts it in the net! 2-0
56th Minute - Chiffone gets taken down hard in a challenge for a header, drawing a yellow card and the dreaded green cross over his head.
58th Minute - Bahri on for Chiffone.
69th Minute - The two Hadis come on for Novriansyah and Kurnia.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 PS BIAK NUMFOR
Wasn't as dominating as I had hoped, but we took care of business. Varella (Man of the Match) with an 8.2; Chiffone and Nugroho with 7.5's, and Novriansyah and Sutrisno had 7.4's.

Chiffone is out 3-4 weeks with a sprained ankle.

[dfisher]

Persitara (1st) @ PSDS (3rd) - January 12,2020
We are evens favs for this one and won 4-0 at home earlier this season.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

9th Minute - Kurnia shoots from 25 yards, but his shot hits the upright and bounces clear.
12th Minute - Novriansyah beats a defender on the left side allowing him to get off a low cross along the ground. Bahri is in the area and wins the ball from the defender and deposits it into the net!! 1-0
14th Minute - A PSDS cross is met by their big striker (jumping 17), but his header hits the crossbar.
25th Minute - Kurnia's corner meets the head of Eboule Bille, but it is put over the bar.

HALFTIME - Novriansyah with an 8.1; we have 64% of possession and 14 shots, but only 3 on target.

52nd Minute - Nugroho picks up a knock but can continue.
55th Minute - M. Saputra on for Nugroho.
60th Minute - Saputra gets beat on a thru ball, but the shot is wide.
63rd Minute - Bahri splits 2 defenders with a pass into the path of Novriansyah. The keeper gets to it first but can't hold onto it, and Novriansyah knows what to do! 2-0
65th Minute - Firman Hadi on for Leo.
75th Minute - Onguene on to get some run for Varella.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 PSDS 0
Novrinsyah with a 9.0 for man of the match; Bahri with an 8.5.

[dfisher]

Abidin resumes full training.

Persikabo (14th) @ Persitara (1st) - January 17, 2020
We are 4:7 favorites at home and won 2-0 at their place.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

4th Minute - Varella receives the ball at midfield. Bahri runs down the middle of the pitch to draw some defenders, and Varella takes advantage by dribbling all the way to the endline to the right of the goal. He chips one over a defenders head, and Suryadi gets to it on one bounce and puts it in the net!! 1-0
9th Minute - Kurnia plays a 40-yard ball ahead of Novriansyah down the left. He pounces on it and sends a cross near post. Suryadi gets to the cross and heads it into the net for his second goal!! 2-0
18th Minute - Hasan Mahdi picks up a slight knock.
20th Minute - Varella with another great run, this time into the area to the left of the goal. He cuts back to the right and shoots, but the keeper is able to dive and get his hand to it.
25th Minute - Kurnia picks up a knock.
27th Minute - Kurnia sends a corner to the far post. Eboule Bille gets up and heads it into the net!! 3-0
45th Minute - Varella sends a cross in from the left. Bahri heads it back to Kurnia at the edge of the area, who then passes first touch ahead to Suryadi. He quickly beats the keeper near post for his second hat trick of the year!! 4-0

HALFTIME - Suryadi with a 9.5, Eboule Bille an 8.1, and Novriansyah a 7.7; what a dominating performance so far.

49th Minute - Leo receives a yellow card.
51st Minute - Eboule Bille comes up to challenge a man, and the ball gets sent behind him. The forward beats Nugroho to the ball and quickly gets off a shot that beats Youwe, but it hits the crossbar.
59th Minute - Firman Hadi on for Kurnia, and Sutrisno on for Hasan Mahdi.
63rd Minute - Varella gets tripped, resulting in a yellow.
64th Minute - Suryadi with a great pass to free Bahri for a clear cut chance, but his shot is saved by a diving keeper. The rebound goes to Hadi at the edge of the area. His shot is weak, and the keeper is able to recover in time to hold it.
68th Minute - Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah.
78th Minute - Persikabo takes a long throw. Eboule Bille wins the header and sends it toward Youwe. He goes up to grab it but drops the ball, and Persikabo quickly makes him pay. 4-1
That's the game.

PERSITARA 4 PERSIKABO 1
Suryadi's 9.5 easily wins him man of the match; Eboule Bille with an 8.9, Kurnia an 8.1; Novriansyah a 7.8, and Varella a 7.7.

Eboule Bille, Kurnia, and Suryadi were named to team of the week.

[dfisher]

Persitara (1st) @ Semen Padang (9th)
We are 5:4 favorites on the road.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Abidin, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

14th Minute - Novriansyah takes a free kick from 35 yards. He beats the keeper, but the ball hits the bar.
16th Minute - Novriansyah slips a ball into the area to Varella from the left. He is able to set himself and shoot, but it is weak and parried by the keeper.
34th Minute - Semen Padang tries a clearance from their own endline, but Bahri reads the pass and intercepts. He snaps off a cross to Varella just behind the penalty spot, and he gets up and heads it home!! 1-0
36th Minute - Bahri gets the ball in his own end and takes it up the right all the way down to penalty area. He flips it up to Suryadi, who strikes from an angle, but the keeper pushes it behind.
39th Minute - Hasan Mahdi gets beat on a thru ball. The striker beats Youwe near post to tie it up. 1-1

HALFTIME - Nugroho and Suryadi each with a 5.9.

47th Minute - Novriansyah gets held, drawing a yellow.
60th Minute - Leo on for Abidin and Onguene on for Suryadi.
70th Minute - Kurnia picks up a knock.
72nd Minute - Leo chips one ahead to Onuene. He outmuscles a defender for the ball in the area, but he can't get much on the shot, sending it harmlessly over.
73rd Minute - Firman Hadi on for Kurnia.
74th Minute - Bahri splits the defense with a great ball ahead of Varella. He gets in the area with time to set himself but is denied by the keeper.
75th Minute - Nugroho takes the ensuing corner and puts it to the feet of Varella. He shoots in one motion, but the keeper fully lays out to save again.
80th Minute - Rinaldo springs Varella with a long ball. He takes possession at midfield behind the defense and takes it all the way to the edge of the area. He shoots from there and beats the keeper for his second goal!! 2-1
92nd Minute - Bahri picks up a yellow.
95th Minute - A thru ball slips behind Eboule Bille, but the shot is wide.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 2 SEMEN PADANG 1
Varella's 9.0 earns him man of the match. Rinaldo gets a 7.7.

[dfisher]

Chiffone resumes full training, giving us a clean bill of health.

I get an offer from a team in the Uruguay First Division to loan Chiffone until the end of the year. They offer me $60k, with the opportunity to make it permanent for $400k. I reject for now.

PSPS (7th) @ Persitara (1st) - January 29, 2020
We are 4:6 favorites at home; we won 5-1 at their place earlier in the year.

GK - Youwe
D - Sutrisno, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Bahri
ST - Varella, Suryadi

3rd Minute - Kurnia with a long pass along the ground to Varella. He makes some room for himself and fires the ball off the crossbar.
6th Minute - Bahri takes the ball past a defender along the right sideline. He crosses near post where Suryadi is waiting. Suryadi heads it backwards to an open Leo, who strikes it from 25 yards on the half volley into the net!!!1-0
17th Minute - Novriansyah lobs one ahead of Suryadi down the left. He chips one in front of the net, and Bahri flashes across the goalmouth to get his head to it, but the keeper is able to push it behind.

HALFTIME - Neither team got a shot on target the rest of the half. Leo with a 7.4 to lead the team.

48th Minute - Leo hits the crossbar from 30 yards.
52nd Minute - Kurnia springs Varella with a thru ball, but he takes to long to get his shot off. The shot is blocked and goes behind for a corner.
67th Minute - Abidin on for Kurnia.
77th Minute - Hasan Mahdi on for Sutrisno. Heri Hadi on for Novriansyah.
85th Minute - Abidin with a great long ball ahead of Bahri who is clean behind the defense. He is out of gas, though, and is caught from behind and taken down just outside the area, drawing a yellow.
93rd Minute - Eboule Bille badly misjudges a pass, allowing a PSPS 1 on 1. Youwe is up to the challenge, however, and pushes it away.
That's the game.

PERSITARA 1 PSPS 0
Leo with a 7.7 to win man of the match.

[dfisher]

I win Manager of the Month for January. Varella is runner-up for Super League Player of the Month; Rinaldo gets runner-up for Young Player of the Month. Leo's goal in our last match is second for Goal of the Month.

Persitara (1st) @ Persipasi (12th) - February 2, 2020
We won 2-0 at home back in September. We are 4:5 favorites to win.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Abidin, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

8th Minute - Hasan Mahdi sends a throwin to Suryadi standing all alone on the endline. He crosses to the far post. Varella is able to run onto it, but he heads it over.
42nd Minute - Rinaldo passes to Abidin who has some space just outside the area. Instead of shooting, he drops it to a cutting Varella, who quickly slots it home across his body!! 1-0
48th Minute - Oh no. Eboule Bille is injured and has to go off. Sutrisno comes on for him.

HALFTIME - All of their shots (4) have been long shots. Abidin with a 7.0 to lead the team.

54th Minute - Abidin tackles a ball away at midfield and quickly gets it to Varella. He plays a diagonal pass into the path of Chiffone. His shot from an angle hits side net.
64th Minute - Leo on for Abidin.
78th Minute - Firman Hadi on for Kurnia.
82nd Minute - Varella with a wonderful diagonal pass to the feet of Chiffone who keeps going into the penalty area. He sets himself and buries the shot into the net!! 2-0
89th Minute - Firman Hadi gets a throwin in the penalty area. He goes down but ends up receiving a yellow for diving.
90th Minute - Suryadi with a great pass onto the run of Novriansyah, but his shot is turned behind by a diving keeper.
91st Minute - Leo takes the ensuing corner and floats one to the far post. Sutrisno is here to head it into the net for his first ever Persitara goal!! 3-0
That's the game.

PERSITARA 3 PERSIPASI 0
Varella gets man of the match with an 8.6; Chiffone with a 7.8 and Rinaldo with a 7.7 as well.

Thankfully, Eboule Bille is out only 3-4 days with a dead leg.

We now lead by 21 points with 10 matches to go.

[dfisher]

Abidin, Sutrisno, and Yulianto get called up to the Under 21 team for a friendly. Youwe and Nugroho get called up to the National team for a World Cup Qualifier.

Sriwijaya FC (3rd) @ Persitara (1st) - February 8, 2020
One of the few teams that we didn't beat the first time around, as we drew 2-2 at their place. We are 4:5 favorites at home.

GK - Youwe
D - Hasan Mahdi, Nugroho, Eboule Bille, Rinaldo
CM - Leo, Kurnia
AM - Novriansyah, Chiffone
ST - Varella, Suryadi

15th Minute - Varella jukes a defender out of his shoes to get into the area. He circles a few others and unleashes towards the goal, but his shot is just wide.
26th Minute - Kurnia slips one into the area for Noviriansyah, but his shot from an angle is pushed away by the keeper.
33rd Minute - Novrinasyah floats a free kick to the far post. Eboule Bille runs onto it, but his header is just over.

HALFTIME - Both of my strikers are only carrying 5.9's so far.

48th Minute - Nugroho gets a knock.
59th Minute - Chiffone intercepts a pass and knocks it to Suryadi going to the left side of the pitch. He passes ahead across his body to the middle of the pitch, and Varella cuts in front of the last defender at a dead sprint to receive it. He rounds the defender and shoots from straight on at the edge of the area and scores!!! 1-0
62nd Minute - Abidin on for Nugroho, dropping Leo back to defense for the first time this year.
72nd Minute - Bahri on for Chiffone and Laly on for Suryadi.
81st Minute - Abidin is dispossessed at midfield leading to a quick counter. A thru ball gets past Eboule Bille, and the shot beats Youwe before Leo can make up enough ground to challenge. 1-1
91st Minute - A Sriwijaya striker finds a little room between Leo and Eboule Bille. They converge on him at the edge of the area as he shoots, but the ball deflects off Eboule Bille and over Youwe's head into the net. 1-2
That's the game.

SRIWIJAYA 2 PERSITARA 1
Our first league loss of the year. Leo with only a 6.0, but that should be on me. I never should have dropped him back to defense.