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Old 07-05-2014, 08:19 PM   #51
Tellistto
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Nice work, Brian. Following along!

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Old 07-05-2014, 10:42 PM   #52
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
Thanks!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

The Oksibil Soccer Paper was unavailable for comment.

Saragih is player of the match, though Yogi's delightful goal and Ewangin's shot to open the scoring made them worthy candidates as well. Of more concern to me was the condition of our two injured players. Ferminus has a twisted knee and will miss a little over a month -- Kombo appears to be just fine. Well, I'm glad we got our six points as it will obviously get more difficult with Setia in goal for a while. Let's just hope he doesn't injure himself and leave us without a keeper as happened last year ...
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Old 07-06-2014, 12:20 AM   #53
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
10.26 vs. Persip(1-1-0) We're slight favorites, but the prevailing winds suggest a likely defeat with Ferminus out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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

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

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

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

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

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


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

A new high of 247 attendance! Three games into the season, and we're the only team in the league to win all three, first both in goals scored and surrendered(9 and 1). Of course it's very early and we won't be this good all season, but a fabulous start to the year. We didn't have three multi-goal wins in all of my first season.
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Old 07-06-2014, 02:24 AM   #54
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
NOVEMBER REVIEW

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

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

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

255M lost in October, putting us over 2B in debt(2.11)
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Old 07-06-2014, 12:47 PM   #55
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
11.1 @ Yahukimo FC(0-2-1) We had a draw and a win against them last season, and are slight underdogs on the road despite our recent form. They have a rash of injuries to contend with as well: we'll be without Ferminus again of course.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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

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

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

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

70' -- Muswanto kicks one from their end ... Haryanto's a little behind the defense, Setia comes out a bit, and an 18-y header is lobbed brilliantly over Setia for the score! Just a fantastic kick and header for the goal there, I can do nothing but applaud. 3-1 now.

72' -- Ningmabin on for Herlan. Once again a big play while we wait for the sub, Herlan into the area on the right side for Bayhaqi, a nice angled shot is just inside the left post and it's 4-1!!

75' -- A blast of a freekick by Yarangga nearly adds to our score, just off the mark.

85' -- A good chance for Ningmabin off a centering pass by Ewangin, just right and into the side of the net.

87' -- Muda to Sutanto who heads it middle for Ewangin, open at the edge of the area but just taps it to the keeper basically. Great passing play until an impotent finish.

90' -- Saputra feeds Sutanto who turns and blasts it in the left side from about 15y, they want offside but it clearly wasn't, their defense was late in reacting there. 5-1 for a new scoring record under my leadership here, and a hat-trick for young Sutanto!! We surrendered just 3 shots all day.
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Old 07-06-2014, 02:00 PM   #56
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
11.8 vs. Persisko(2-2-0) This promises to be a sterner test of our skills. Persisko is new to Group D this year and is one of only three(Perssin and ourselves are the other two) to be unbeaten through four games. They've scored 10 and conceded just 3, and with the way we've been playing something will have to give. We are slightly less favored than usual at home, going off as 6-4 favorites with 5-4 the typically standard line against most clubs. We expect Ferminus back in a few days time but we'll have only Setia again for this one.

The 'expert' opinion is that not having Adie(who wouldn't be starting anyway) is going to be a problem and that Persisko will win on the road here. Their logic leaves something to be desired.

Persisko's black and yellow kits certainly stand out against the much lower-key uniforms most clubs field(our blue and white is typical).

6' -- A long wide freekick is sent in front of goal, Novandito is there but can't control it. It bounces around and Saputra gets his foot on first to poke it away, Patay with the clearance. One wrong bounce there and it's a score, so I can breathe a bit easier now.

7' -- Yellow card for Saragih. This is not going well. I tell him to be careful for the rest of the day.

16' -- They're dominating the ball and I switch to a more conservative counter-attacking style. If we aren't going to win possession anyway we might as well not give them extra chances.

17' -- Yogi to Ewangin, angled shot in the right side of the area maybe 12 yards out, it's an absolute rocket but just right of the post and into the netting. Maybe 20 seconds later Bayhaqi to Yogi who fires a little high from just outside the area. Took us some time, but we are fighting back some here.

28' -- Freekick by Sunarya just outside our area, well placed but not enough on it and Setia shows sure hands to make the save.

31' -- We're consistently fighting for possession a lot more, I go back to our usual balanced approach.

32' -- Yogi has a crack just inside the area, but is well off. Looked like he wasn't sure whether to pass or shoot there.

33' -- An impatient long blast by Yogi, with the expected non-results.

34' -- Yogi sets up Ewangin just inside the area, bit of a look and it's high. We're missing dubious chances, but they're getting none right now so I'll take it.

43' -- We win a series of midfield battles, Ewangin to Yogi but Pasanbu tips it wide. Needed a little more oomph on that one and it was a score, only about 15 yards out. No result on the corner.

45' -- They hit us with numbers on a counter and a perfect cross allows Maslan Manyira to quite literally walk it into the goal ... but he's called offside and it's disallowed! He was behind the defense, but still a scary moment there.

46' -- One final long blast by Ewangin is well high.


HT -- After the poor start we've done fairly well, up 8-2 shots and possession is even right now. Overall we've been a bit better but with only one of those shots on-target, the guys are starting to get understandably frustrated. I tell them the result will come if they keeping playing well, but I don't think I got through.

For the first time this year, we're in a fight.


46' -- It takes exactly 16 seconds for that goal and the result to come. The visitors never touched the ball. Saragih took it up the right, moved it in to Herlan, to Ewangin and with the attention on him a lead pass to Yogi found him alone in the area. He beats their keeper easily to the short side as his defender had come up to take Ewangin and nobody filled in for him. It's the kind of goal we often give up, and we take a 1-0 lead!

55' -- Some crazy action after a corner, Saragih gets a key header and then Kombo eventually takes it away from one of their wide attackers.

58' -- A long angled shot from Ewangin is wide.

69' -- A corner bounces off one of their defenders and only a quick reaction from Parsanbu to tip it over the bar prevents us from benefiting.

72' -- I send Sutanto on for Yogi, Ningmabin on for Yarangga, and go back to a countering style. I'll take preserving the win at this point and they've been getting the better of things too much for my liking the last 10-15 minutes.

On cue, they get it into the box for Hidayatullah, fortunately Patay is on him and able to prevent a good angle, blocking the ball out for a corner. It's a bad effort and Bayhaqi clears.

80' -- A long freekick by Ewangin, way over. A minute later, Ningmabin sets him up in the middle but he has to left-foot it and it's over the right corner. We keep after it and Herlan puts it up the right side for Sutanto, who centers for Bayhaqi excellent chance but he doesn't do enough with it and a diving save parries it away. That should have been an insurance goal.

91' -- They take it up the left side, and the cross finds Patay too wide and too far upfield. Labudda puts it in, just four yards out with nothing Setia can do! Disgustingly, we give up the equalizer in injury time ... anybody see this movie before??


FT -- A 1-1 draw, we should have won and I tell the team that. We outshot them 16-5, edged them in possession, and Bayhaqi's chance late should have made that end-of-game goal irrelevant. We left two points out there, no doubt about it.

Other than Yogi's goal, nobody particularly impressed. Bayhaqi's poor finishing throughout was a lowlight. Still, I'm very pleased that we allowed just five shots to a club averaging two and a half goals per outing. All in all, there's a lot of positives to take away.

Attendance was 239.
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Old 07-06-2014, 03:41 PM   #57
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
11.16 @ Persemalra(0-1-4) Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Major injury problems coupled with the fact that some of their best stars last year were loanees that they haven't gotten back. Still, it's shocking to see what was the best team in First Division most of the year go winless to start the year. Our goal is that we don't become their first victim.

The fact that we appear to be going in opposite directions does not keep us from being slight underdogs. Of course, we did lose convincingly both meetings last year. The expert on the day opinions are for us to win due to their injury issues and bad form.

Ferminus is back in goal.

2' -- A long shot by Saputra is well off target, and we're underway.

3' -- Ewangin finds Saragih angling in from the right, missed badly wide to the short side.

8' -- Sutanto from Ewangin on the left, same result. Misses high.

14' -- Saragih finds Ewangin in the box, and he has time to make sure his aim is true. 1-0, we take the early lead. It deflected off a defender sliding for a desperation stop, but went in anyway. Impressive effort though.

He almost scored again a couple minutes later as a bad header gave him a good look, but just wide from the edge.

We switch to counter as their 5-wide midfield is controlling most of the possession anyway -- they just aren't doing anything with it.

We start settling for too many long shots, we can get those all day.

35' -- Yogi to Sutanto, tried to be careful on this one-on-one and Baskara blocked it away with a diving save. That one needed to have more on it, excellent opportunity missed.

37' -- Freekick by Yogi from right of the area, looks for Prasetyo on the far side but they get their first, Saputra is open for a header from about 12 yards and it's beautifully placed into the top corner of the net! He was too far out for anything but a near-perfect header, and puts it in for a 2-0 lead!!


HT -- A 2-0 lead, they control well with 56% possession but only attempt one 'shot' ... a weak header from the edge of the area at the end of the half, nowhere near the target. They can have the ball as much as they want, but have been able to do nothing to crack our defense.

I tell the team not to get complacent, which has mixed results.

46' -- A yellow for Yarangga who has been off his game all day. Ningmabin comes on. It's a pretty quiet game for a while except for a couple of low-percentage chances on our part.

57' -- A dangerous cross but Ferminus gets there first to punch it away. That's the first thing resembling a scoring chance we've allowed so far. Another cross a minute later, and Muda is called for a foul -- penalty!! They say he pushed Pabado in the box.

Waryono takes the kick and converts, our lead is down to 2-1. Still lots of time left ...

71' -- A weak shot from the edge and Ferminus gets to it, but we're getting a whole lot of nothing going for quite a while here and just trying to hang on.

73' -- Guess somebody heard me. Bizarre play, a bobbled cross and it comes down in a crowd in the box. Sutanto has a shot at it but they knock it away, then Yogi gets to it and taps it in. 3-1, and we restore the 2-goal edge.

75' -- Bayhaqi on for Yogi. Fresh legs. A freekick by Herlan is beautifully placed and bends in a bit ... but not quite enough. Into the side. Thing of beauty anyway, too bad he didn't get a goal for it.

80' -- Ewangin goes down just outside the area, and he's done for the day. Oropka will take his place.

84' -- Good passing sets up Herlan straight on -- he's having a heck of a 'just missed' day and here's another one.

86' -- They get a good freekick opportunity, but a routine save for Ferminus.


FT-- That's it, we extend Persemalra's misery with a strong 3-1 win. Saputra, Ewangin, Saragih, and Yogi all made major contributions to this one.

Our veteran striker is no worse for the wear after the match other than being extremely tired ... a hard collision at the end of a long day for a 38-year-old can do that. Hopefully he'll be able to recover in time for our game next weekend.

Our start to this season has now set a new club record -- six matches unbeaten. And counting, we hope. Yogi has a half-dozen goals, one per game so far on average, and the press is starting to take notice of his efforts.
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Old 07-07-2014, 12:31 AM   #58
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
11.22 -- Ferry Kombo bruised his head in training, and he'll miss about a week and a half, maybe two weeks at the most. This will force us to go with the veteran Ignasius Kasimabin at left-back until he returns.

11.23 @ Persebangga(2-3-1) We're actually tight favorites(4-5) here on the road, a recognition of how well we've been playing. After an iffy start, they've won their last two and have only one defeat so I'm definitely not expecting a cakewalk. Both teams are missing two regulars.

We did well against them last year, posting a win and a draw.

Expert opinion: this match 'has draw written all over it'

2' -- They get a weak header from the corner of the box, right to Ferminus.

12' -- Angled shot from Yogi has far too much angle.

13' -- Muda's clearance is blocked and Rahardian hits an excellent blast from just inside the area, excellent diving save by Ferminus to tip it wide. That's the kind of shot that would be a goal against Setia.

15' -- Yogi is wide from straight on. So far they look a little better than we do, we'll stay in the counter and try to weather the storm.

24' -- Corner kick, Herlan delivers it near post and Muda outjumps everyone there, banging it in easily! 1-0, and our first score on a corner in a long time.

26' -- Sutanto has a seat at midfield after hurting something on a header. Doesn't look serious but I get Bayhaqi in there anyway as we are already in the lead.

29' -- Arif open no more than ten yards out near the corner of the box, and he just sends it into orbit well high. We got lucky there, but are controlling the game much better overall. I risk a little more aggression.

32' -- Decent angled look for Herlan goes high.

33' -- Herlan to Ewangin open in the area, that one was a high bouncer and it took too long for him to control it, a better feed and it was a clear shot. They block it out for a corner, and defend it easily.

35' -- Yogi feeds Bayhaqi into the area, had the right angle but it just sailed on him.

40' -- Two-man game with Yogi and Saragih on the right, Yogi tries one and they just manage to tip it over. The corner goes to Muda again, his header is blocked but comes off to Prasetyo, who has an open net with Ibrahim still on the ground. He doesn't miss, and it's 2-0!


HT -- We're up two and Yogi's having an off day. I put in Oropka for him to work on keeping his conditioning up.


46' -- Oropka gets it ahead to Bayhaqi, they trip him just outside the area and earn themselves a yellow. Yarangga lines it up and goes cross-angle, which Ibrahim was expecting and it's tipped away nicely. Nothing doing on the corner kick.

We spend the next several minutes on their end, getting nothing for our troubles.

54' -- Wahyu's blast from 25 is deflected off Prasetyo ... and in! A fluke goal cuts our lead to 2-1, and he's now scored for both teams. I switch to counter, not wanting to risk losing our lead.

56' -- Good freekick chance for Bayhaqi, well right of the goal.

61' -- They've switched to a 4-2-4, going for the equalizer clearly. A nice retrieval by Ewangin nets a volley attempt for Herlan ... well high.

66' -- Saragih crosses, Oropka's there with a header but it was behind him and he can't get it on target.

73' -- Ewangin crosses, Bayhaqi gets there but a nice by Ibrahim on his soft header. Tried to sneak it in short-side but he was right on it.

75' -- A two-man game catches Kasipmabin too far upfield, Muda isn't fast enough to keep up and Karim has a gimme from five yards, banging it in to tie the score at 2-all! Ningmabin on for Herlan as our last sub and we'll go with a balanced approach again to give us chances to regain the lead, I hope.

77' -- Wow. Oropka will have none of it with a 20+-yard floater that's just under the bar, and Ibrahim can't reach it! We're back on top 3-2, switching back to counter. That was one heck of a shot by a guy that almost never gets on the pitch.

83' -- They get a corner, and Muda clears.

85' -- Chaos on the edge of the box, they are called for a foul and Bayhaqi takes the free kick. Wide and a bit high.

94' -- Saragih is caught upfield, Karim drops in behind him and puts a tight-angle shot just inside the near post. We were literally seconds away from this one being over.


FT -- That's it and that's all. Persebangga are never boring. We have 55% possession, outshoot them 20-6, and end up with a 3-3 draw. For the second time this year, we give up an injury-time equalizer. Mark my words, that's going to cost us.

Errors by Saragih and Kasipmabin in defense, and of course the fluke one off Prasetyo cost us. We still should have won, we dominated most of this match.
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Old 07-07-2014, 02:21 AM   #59
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
11.29 vs. Persibom(6-0-1) This will be another stern test, but at least we're back at home. Persibom has nearly twice our payroll, the second-largest in all of First Division. And they were just promoted from Second Divison ... I wish their board was my board! They've won their last four, but we are still even-money favorites. They are contending with several injuries, while we still have Kombo out and will have to run out Kasipmabin again.

Expert Opinion: Persibom to win.

They come out in bright yellow, apparently trying to blind us.

1' -- Herlan to Yogi to Ewangin to Bayhaqi, nice passing play but it leads him out to the right cutting down his angle. He tries to go upstairs and it's blocked away for a corner by Herdiyandi.

8' -- Yogi is free into the area, great chance but didn't get enough angle on it and blocked away again. Lots of up-and-down action so far, both teams clearly skilled, and we've had the better of it but really should have scored already. The corner is just ridiculous, Muda's header is off the crossbar, Patay's point-blank try is blocked by a sliding defender, out for another corner. That's at least twice we should have scored now. They clear it, we retain and Yogi has an open sharp-angle try. Saved again. A corner, again.

9' -- They come down and a long shot tries to bend into the far corner but Ferminus blocks it out. Now they get a corner. Open at the near post but Patay makes the clearance. Centered for Putra, he's got a blast from 16 but it's blocked by Muda! Back the other way ...

It's been 11 minutes, and already enough excitement, frustration, relief for an entire match.

15' -- Well-designed play, Yogi up the right side, crosses, Ewangin is the decoy as Bayhaqi gets his head to it ... and pushes it wide. Argh!!!

Now it starts raining.

20' -- Blast from Novianto angling from the left, Ferminus just gets a hand on it. I've had enough and go a little more conservative with a countering approach, pulling the line back a bit.

22' -- Long freekick from Yarangga is a good seven yards wide. On the other end a couple of challenges go begging and a diving save is required for Ferminus to prevent a score. The keepers have been absolutely fabulous, but somebody just needs to make a play. Preferably for us.

Most of the rest of the half was somewhat uneventful.

43' -- Ewangin in on the left side ... blocked. He tries again ... blocked out for a corner. Muda gets a head to it but nothing on it, easy pickup.


HT -- Still scoreless, but I like what I saw at the end as we are starting to even out possession more. Yogi and Patay are off for Sutanto and Prasetyo, due to the former pair being out to a poor start.


47' -- Interception by Saputra, who then launches an idiotic ... something from nearly 40 yards. Think!

56' -- Novianto gets it in the middle, just inside the area with Prasetyo wearing him, he wheels and fires anyway, off the left post!

59' -- Saragih up the right to Ewangin, crosses for Sutanto who can't get his header on target.

As the half goes on, offense is scarce and it's looking more and more like one goal will be all it takes today. Will anyone convert?

65' -- Yep. They get a corner and a sharp header by Abidin from about 12 yards out leaves us with no chance. For the first time this year, the other team strikes first. We've no choice but to get more aggressive. 0-1

He was Muda's man, and Muda has been virtually untouchable in headers the last couple games. This time, he was too far inside.

68' -- Sutanto to Saragih, in on the right side -- he nicely lobs the keeper but is called offside! That was close ... and it cost us an equalizer.

71' -- Yarangga picks up a yellow. He'll sit our our next game.

72' -- Saputra with it just inside the area. He goes down, no call. Scramble for the ball, Sutanto appears to come out of it and has it taken away, appeared to be a trip. No call. Saputra retrieves it, centers for Sutanto, tries to blast it inside the near post, but it's blocked with another nice save. Sutanto and one of their defenders go for it, it's knocked out and they call it a corner.

Punched by Heriyandi for ... another corner, opposite side. They clear, a desperation chip by Sutanto is easily grabbed. What do we have to do to score on these guys??

74' -- I may have never seen anything so ridiculous. Badly misjudged ball allows Mondow behind Muda, Ferminus comes way too far out and leaves an open angle behind him. 2-0, and that's pretty much the match. I go defensive to avoid any further embarassment and bring on Setia.

89' -- Herlan to Sutanto to Ewangin, who strikes from right of the spot and it's in the left corner! 1-2 now, and I quickly switch to Overload ... perhaps we can catch them and equalize??


FT -- Nope. 2-1 we lose it. Frustrating as we were their equal or better. We needed to convert one of our early chances -- might have been a completely different contest.

A record 295 watched it here.
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Old 07-07-2014, 08:46 AM   #60
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
DECEMBER REVIEW

Ewangin(Tactics) and Kasipmabin(Attacking) showed good progress with no training negatives. I'll take that. Oropka's should-have-been-winner against Persebangga is named third choice for goal of the month.

We continue to lose money hand-over-fist(305M), the board is up to 'satisfied' with the 4-0 win over Persip the biggest positive, the loss of Uropmabin the biggest negative.

I think I've done enough to earn a contract through at least the end of the year, and I discuss said concept with the board. They flatly refuse. Well, I'm as committed to them as they are to me(i.e., not very). If a decent opportunity comes up ...

STANDINGS

Persibom(21 pts, +12)
Perssin(20 pts, +12)
Persigubin(17 pts, +13)
Persipon(15 pts, +8)
Jakarta Timur(15 pts, +1)
Persisko(12 pts, +4)
PSKT(12 pts, -2)
Persebangga(10 pts, +3)
Yahukimo FC(4 pts, -11)
Persip(4 pts, -13)
Persenga(3 pts, -14)
Persemalra(1 pt, -13)

We ended every weekend tied for the lead or better through six games, but the last two have been less kind with the draw against Persebangga and loss to Persibom dropping us down to third(though we're still first on goal differential). I really think we're good enough to fight for one of the two Second Phase spots with the top clubs, but we're in a hole now and will have to stop giving up injury-time equalizers. Without the two we surrendered, we'd be first on goal differential right now even with the loss.

No question we're at least good enough to be a top-half team, and that would be a wildly successful year by any objective measure. But after the way we stormed out of the gate(5 wins in six tries) I'll be disappointed if we don't make a push to catch the top teams. We've got three quality foes(Persipon, Perssin, and PSKT), two of them on the road, coming up in December. How we fare in those contests will tell me a lot about how we handle adversity, and whether we really have any kind of shot at fighting for Second Phase/promotion.

AFF CHAMPIONSHIP 2014

Indonesia got off to a good start, with wins over Myanmar(3-0) and East Timor(1-0). After a 3-1 defeat to Malaysia and a 2-1 win over Laos, they needed just a draw against Singapore to qualify for the semifinals. Instead it was a 2-0 defeat as they couldn't finish off a few quality opportunities, and Singapore/Malysia qualified out of their group, Malaysia only on head-to-head as both had identical records and differential.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:02 AM   #61
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
12.6 @ Persipon(5-0-3, 4th) A win today will keep us in the top three, a loss and we will have a ton of ground to make up. We lost one and drew one with Persipon last year, and they've won five of six after losing their first two of the year.

Yarangga is suspended and Adie still hurt, but we have Kombo back which will definitely help our defense. Probably not an accident that we gave up five goals in the two games he missed. Meanwhile, they are missing two players as well. Persipon are even-money favorites, with the pundits saying Yarangga's absence makes them favorites.

Hard to argue with that, we'll start conservatively. Both teams favor a direct style.

1' -- A quick shot from outside the area by Herlan, it's wide.

4' -- We get it ahead on the counter, but they converge on Bayhaqi and deflect his shot. Impressive recovery by their defense. We recycle and Yogi gets a crack, high and wide right.

6' -- Another try by Yogi but he couldn't get enough on it and it's saved.

12' -- Best look of the match so far, Ewangin into the area and blasts one that's blocked away. They've had more possession in the early going, but we've done more with ours. I'll stand pat.

15' -- Oh. my. goodness. Yogi. Bayhaqi. Saputra. All alone at the corner of the box. Misses the cross angle shot. We have to score those. We just have to.

20' -- Kombo misses an assignment and an angled chip goes just high.

22' -- Decent look for Ewangin from 17, blocked away. Shots are 8-1, 3-0 on target. Scoreboard doesn't care.

24' -- We finally convert on the weirdest one. Saputra launches one in the general direction of Yogi, and the race is on between him and Kurnia. Yogi gets their first, Kurnia almost stops, and he's in alone ... half-volley cross angle is well placed, and it's a 1-0 lead on the road!

32' -- We've taken good control of the possession battle and are playing well in midfield, I switch to a more balanced mentality.

37' -- Yogi tries to float one over the keeper and under the bar from almost 30. He was close too, it just bounced off the top.

41' -- A bad clearance, and smart positioning by Patay and Muda is required to block a shot out for a corner.

43' -- Ewangin up the middle for a wide open Yogi, but it takes too long to develop and Lukman comes out to cut down the angle. He blocks the shot and they recover it.


HT -- We're up 1-0 and in control of the match, halfway to what would be a very big win. Herlan is not looking good but we have no other reasonable option. Kombo as well, not totally unexpected in his first match back from injury, so Kasipmabin comes on and we're back to a more conservative countering approach.

46' -- Crucial tackle by Patay right away, Yasir was in the area and had a half-step on him. They are pushing harder to try and even it up, so far getting little for it but we aren't creating much either.

57' -- A double corner, nothing comes of it. We come back down, Saputra to Ewangin to Yogi, not a bad save by Kurwan but he should have scored that. Should have two goals, maybe three today with all his chances.

61' -- Weak freekick by Bayhaqi.

63' -- Bayhaqi to Yogi for a first-time shot, good play but lots of traffic and it's blocked out.

65' -- Ansori gets a header off a freekick, it's a long one and he hits it almost parallel. Thank you very much.

69' -- Saw it. Still don't believe it. Ansori gets behind Muda who misjudges the ball, waits WAAAAYYYY too long, shot is blocked by Ferminus ... squirts to Saprianto but Patay takes it away ... cleared by Saragih. Should have been a goal. If Ansori wasn't standing there taking pictures for like two seconds, it probably would have been.

72' -- Sutanto in for Yogi.

75' -- Herlan gets a blast from 16 off a corner, it's into a crowd and back out again.

80' -- Ewangin to Sutanto up the middle, hits one from the edge and not enough on it, saved by Lukwan.

81' -- How thoroughly disgusting. Mistake by Saragih leaves Mardianto open at the corner of the box on a cross, and Ferminus is out of position when the ball arrives. Easy goal, tied at 1-1, once again we blow a lead.

83' -- Sutanto for Ewangin, tough angle shot and he can't straighten it out.

90' -- A long header is easily grabbed by Ferminus.

FT -- Draw, 1-1. We set a record under my coaching with 24 shots. Probably should have been a 3-2 win or something, and ends 1-1. Meanwhile, Persebangga goes up 3-0 on Persibom ... and they come back for a draw there. Oh, what could have been today.

All of a sudden we who could do no wrong the first month and a half are winless in our last three.
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Old 07-07-2014, 02:20 PM   #62
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
12.13 vs. Perssin(6-3-0, 2nd) A win would put us ahead of them on goal differential. Problem is, nobody's beat them yet, which is why they are slight favorites today. They play the unusual 4-1-2-2-1.

This is as big a game as there can be at this point in the year. Highest-scoring team in the group(us) hosting the stingiest(them). Good stuff.

5' -- Long shot for Ewangin, easily saved by Orun.

9' -- Another one for Yogi, not a bad attempt but it needed to be perfect and was low enough for a leaping grab. We clearly established ourselves as the team in control early, but again it will come down to whether we can finish.

19' -- Sutanto gets free for a moment in the area, our first good chance but there's too much traffic and it's blocked. Saputra is called for diving and assessed a yellow in the aftermath.

20' -- Saragih's second good intervention leads to a corner ... where Ishak comes wide open at the near post for a gimme header. And just like that, they take the lead. 0-1

26' -- Nice run by Yogi to get free for a volley, just wide from about 17.

40' -- Saragih up to Herlan on the right on a counter, he squeezes it between the keeper and the converging defenders, and we're even! Heck of a play there, and one of the last people I would have expected to make it. 1-1!

43' -- Sutanto ahead of the field for Yogi, he hit that one a little soon I think and it's just deflected. We're going nuts with the long shots, so I try telling them to be a bit more patient and work it into the box.


HT -- Saputra and Saragih are not doing well, but as a team we're fine. I stick with them, only making a couple of minor changes.


48' -- Ferminus grabs it after a number of headers on a tense corner.

51' -- Asdar gets tangled up with Ewangin, and he's called for a penalty! Huge break here for us! Yogi plants it through in the left side with a line drive shot, and we take a 2-1 lead. I switch to counter immediately. He nearly missed that one, but got just enough on it.

54' -- A yellow for Yarangga. I tell him and Saputra to chill, we don't need anyone getting sent off here. The stakes are too high for anything cheap.

55' -- Ineffectual, wide, timid, all describe Yogi's latest attempt, open from the edge. Hit the ball!

59' -- A blast by Herlan might well have scored if Ewangin could have gotten out of the way in time.

64' -- Decent freekick by Ewangin, but Orun makes the save.

70' -- Ewangin's involved in a collision with Ishak, and we can't afford to have him out there banged up. Bayhaqi comes on and Yogi moves up to lead the line.

71' -- Good chance for Siegers, maybe 17 yards and a hard bouncer is right at Ferminus and blocked out.

74' -- Kombo takes the ball away, then loses it. They cross, Siegers first time to Praestya, angled shot just inside the left post! Well, an excellent play there, but once again we've blown a lead. It's 2-2. Back to the attack we go.

75' -- Sutanto sets up Bayhaqi, no more than 15 out, excellent look and well high. That should have put us back in front.

80' -- Angled header by Siegers, well hit but right at Ferminus. A bullet dodged at the other end.

85' -- Yogi ahead up the middle to Sutanto, too timid and it's blocked away. Doggone it!!!

87' -- Yogi to a trailing Yarangga, nice attempt from just inside the area, defenders occupied elsewhere, but it sailed a bit.


FT -- Twas the last bite. Yet an other disappointing draw, 2-2. Three draws and a loss in our last four. Outshot them 19-11, pretty good job in possession, still didn't win. Broken record.
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Old 07-07-2014, 03:39 PM   #63
PilotMan
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Seven miles up
Back to post #1, if you ever complete a game let me know. How do you know when you are done? I'm 600 hours into my first game where I wasn't going to get real serious and I can't seem to decide how or when I can walk away from it.



Good luck with your effort though.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:21 PM   #64
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
Well, ultimately I'd like to win at the highest level(probably England or Spain, highest domestic league in rep. whatever that is at the time). The perfect scenario would be to win the World Cup, Champions League, and that domestic league in the same year. But definitely working my way up to managing an elite club in a top domestic league at least would be required .
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:50 PM   #65
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
12.13 -- Persemalra fire coach Aji Lestaluhu. I have a choice to make: do I apply for the job? Their financial outlook is better, they have the 8th-largest payroll in the First Division(we're 22nd), average attendance is 24th(we're 33rd, but it's a 7-fold difference, more than 1600 to 246). Chance for a fresh start when the board here won't give me a contract ...

No question we have a better team this year, and they are right in the middle of a relegation battle that I would have to win. But if I did, they have the bankroll and established standing for me to build a better squad than I can put together here.

Tempting, but too big of a risk. I stay and will keep trying to build on what we are doing here.

12.18 -- Ferminus broke a finger while catching the ball -- yes you read that right. He'll be out two months.

12.21 @ PSKT(4-4-2, 6th) Looking for a bit of payback after losing both times last year. They've got four players out hurt, but we're obviously going to be missing Ferminus. A low-scoring club but solid on defense, they are 6-4 favorites to take care of business at home. GK Fernando Pitoy was kryptonite to our finishers, and with us struggling to find the net lately that could be a bad combination.

Expert opinion picks a draw.

1' -- Freekick goes to Asso whose volley from the edge of the box easily beats Setia short-side. Disgustingly, we go down right away, 0-1. Muda will get the blame for that one.

3' -- Ewangin puts our first attempt high from outside the area.

8' -- Kombo finally clears the last of three straight corners.

13' -- Sutanto leads Ewangin into the right side, and a well-placed cross-angle shot ties the score! PSKT want an offside call but it clearly wasn't, we're tied 1-1 and have a new lease on life in this match. So much for the defensive struggle.

15' -- Good grief. Horrible coverage by Patay gives Alex too much room, and he plants one in the left corner from just inside the area. 1-2

16' -- Similar shot for Herlan to the one we scored on earlier, but it's not as good and saved by Pitoy.

27' -- Nice setup for Yogi, probably should have scored but didn't do anything with it and it's blocked out for a corner. Two corners go nowhere, though Muda should have gotten off a shot on the second one.

33' -- Ewangin crosses for Sutanto, nice play by Pitoy to tip that header out as it was well placed.

36' -- Hajiyanto should have scored a header at the other end, but puts it wide.

39' -- Ewangin goes down and he'll have to come out, Bayhaqi takes his place.


HT -- We're up 9-4 shots , 56% possession, and playing poorly in defense so we're trailing anyway. Praestyo on for Patay who has been the worst of the bunch.


47' -- Sutanto to Yogi, a lead pass that had to be right on the money. It is, and Yogi skips it past Pitoy and ties the score!! 2-2

52' -- Bayhaqi finds Sutanto all alone inside the box, but it's a sharp angle and blocked by Pitoy. If that pass was more to the middle it would have been impossible to stop him. He's called for offside anyway.

55' -- They're pushing harder at us so I switch to counter, but not before Anes comes free in the middle and puts one inside the left post. Right between Prasetyo and Muda, that was a near-perfect shot and we trail again, 2-3.

Nevermind about that guys, we need to keep trying to attack.

57' -- Herlan threads the needle between two defenders and Bayhaqi's got a step into the area, his turn to put one right where it needed to be in the left side, and we're tied up again! I do switch to counter now, our defense is far too loose to take any chances today. 3-3

58' -- Sutanto for Yogi up the left side, Pitoy comes out but he's beaten easily cross-angle! It's 4-3 now, and I can go full defensive!! Three goals in four minutes, the last two by us.

74' -- We're not giving them much of anything until Muda makes another mistake, but he gets back just in time for a sliding block, out for a corner. He also clears out a dangerous corner right in front by getting his head to it first, and we've got just 15 minutes left to kill.

79' -- Nice pass right up the seam, Sutanto to Herlan, good attempt but high. He could have put the match away right there.

84' -- Fresh legs, Oropka on for Yogi. Before he can come on ... they cross it in, deflects off Muda ... just freaking sits there in the box ... and Hajiyanto eventually hits the open net!! Disgusting, we should have cleared that ball twice. 4-4 Back to try to attack.

87' -- Herlan with a beautiful pass for Oropka, 12 yards away in tons of space, just mindlessly blasts it and a diving save by Pitoy, frustration foul to follow by Oropka. Damn it!! That should have put us back on top.

90' -- They get away with a dive and Saputra gets a yellow.

92' -- They get a corner. They get it to the short post, but we block it off and nothing is even attempted.


FT -- A wild 4-4 draw. We trail 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 on the road, rallying to take the lead and then giving up a lame late equalizer. Great fight, but it's hard not to be disappointed. Sutanto is player of the match. With our fifth match without a win(we've drawn four of them, including the last three), the fans are starting to get a bit edgy.
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Old 07-08-2014, 08:59 PM   #66
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
It's contract time again ...

Keepers

Ferminus -- Wants a raise to 3.25M, and I could only get him down to 3 flat. I pay it, as we need him.
Roni Setia -- A 300k raise to 1.3M. Stil a bargain at that price.


Defense

DR Saraigh -- 550k raise to 2.75M.
DC Patay -- Accepts a 200k pay cut to 1.5M. Bargain.
DR Urwan -- Just a backup and I was thinking of dumping him, but he'll take a 200k cut to 1.3M. Sold.
DRC Prasetyo -- Wants a small raise but accepts another year at 1M. Bargain.
DL Kasipmabin -- I don't want him back.
DL Ferry Kombo -- Tailed off after a good start. Solid but unspectacular with great potential, but wants 4.5M and he's not going to get that. Currently on 2.75M. I offer him 3. We settle at 3.5M, which is a little more than I want to pay him but won't break the bank.
DC Muda -- Wants a small raise but eventually signs for the same 1.3M he's getting. Another bargain.


Midfield

MRC Adie -- Old and injury-prone, will not be resigned.
MLC Ningmabin -- Virtually useless, not resigning.
MC Yarangga -- Not quite as good as he was last year, but still important. Wants a big raise to 4.25M which won't happen. I get him down to 3.5, he was making 2.75. That's a bit high for him, but I like the guy and am willing to overpay him just a bit.
MC Dodi Saputra -- Solid and I want him back, esp. since he's cheap. Very cheap, willing to resign for his current 1.2M. Thank you very much.
MC Herlan -- Sold me the last couple of game. After some haggling he'll take another year at 1.3M.


Attack

AMC Fabian Yogi -- Ah, the man himself. 10 goals in 11 league matches, not much else to say about that. Wants a 2M raise to 5.75. I can't pay anyone that much. He won't go below 4.75, which is a lot. He's our best player though, the fans love him -- tough call, but I give it to him.
AMC/ST Oropka -- Not good enough to tempt me to resign him.
AMC/ST Bayhaqi -- Has had his struggles, but the potential speaks for itself. Wants a big raise(3.5M from 2). Won't go below 3. He's worth it, barely.
AMC/ST Sutanto -- His progress this year has made him a decent attacker at this level. We'll nearly double his pay to 1.7M, and that's still a good deal.
ST Ewangin -- Making 3.5 and wants 3.75. He'll need to take a significant pay cut as age is not on his side. I love the guy, but he's not worth this much anymore. I offer 2. Much to my surprise, he eventually takes it after trying to get 3+ for a while. Clearly he wants to stay and can see the handwriting, he's probably a backup next year but I don't want to dump him completely unless he's useless.

The new contracts put us about 3M over budget, enough to make the board a bit edgy but not enough to bring out any outright complaints. We find an MC(39) who would give us good depth, but with the budgetary constraints I can't afford to go after him. A couple of other good players are also out there, but it doesn't do us any good to note that since we don't have the money. Annoying and frustrating, but the fact is that we've made major improvements to the squad this year. There'll be time to try and make further enhancements in the offseason.

Last edited by Brian Swartz : 07-08-2014 at 09:00 PM.
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Old 07-09-2014, 01:18 PM   #67
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
12.30 -- The Indonesian Cup is drawn and we will take on Premier side PSM Makassar. It certainly could have been a kinder draw, I was hoping for a lower-division side and a chance to at least get through a round this year. They are 12th(out of 16) in Group B so at least not a particularly strong side, maybe we have a chance.

We'll play the away leg first.

January

Yogi's 10 goals tie him for 6th in First Division at the midway point, Engel Ewangin has 6 assists(T-4th) and Sutanto 5(T-9th). Frans Yarangga's 4 yellow card bookings put him in a tie for first with Uho Rohana(Persebangga, also in Group D), not exactly the kind of thing you want to stamp on a resume.

Overall, our Top 100 First Division players are Yogi(10th), Sutanto(27th), Herlan(35th), Ewangin(43rd), Saputra(53rd), Muda(77th), Saragih(82nd), and Yarangga(93rd). Of course, such evaluations are inevitably highly biased by the overall success level of the team, but it still speaks well of us to have eight players on the list.

The top player in our group is Franklin Siegers(Perssis), and having played them recently I find it difficult to disagree.

Training -- Saragih and Saputra did well(Tactics for each), fitness for Ningmabin/Kasipmabin/Urwan was a negative. Urwan is the only one I really care about, and he said he would prove that he could do better. Good answer.

The board upgrades their attitude to 'very pleased' and considers my job 'very secure' even though I'm still on a month-to-month deal. Last year's disappointments play only a small part now, they have described our performance this year(accurately) as 'fantastic'. Ferry Kombo is not as good as the fans would like, and we lost another 231M for a debt of 2.65B, 7.9B if you count the loan for the new ground which is now halfway completed.

Cristiano Ronaldo wins world player of the year, narrowly edging Messi(who claimed the World Golden Ball) and Leighton Baines.


JANUARY STANDINGS

Persibom(26 pts, +16)*
Persiss(23 pts, +12)

Persigubin(20 pts, +13)
PSKT(17 pts, -1)
Persisko(16 pts, +4)
Persipon(16 pts, +2)
Jakarta Timur(16 pts, +1)
Persebangga(14 pts, +4)
Persip(11 pts, -9)
Yahukimo(10 pts, -11)
Persenga(7 pts, -12)

Persemalra(3 pt, -16)

At the midway point we are the bottom rung on a pretty clearly delineated Top 3, we should be right up there with them based on goal differential but our inability to win the won game has cost us. We are the top-scoring team in Group D(29 scores, the same amount we had in the entire season last year), but have been distinctly average at best defensively after our brilliant start to the year.

Meanwhile, the mighty have truly fallen and Persemalra looks prime for demotion after being unfortunate to not make the Premier Division promotion last year. No wonder the coach got fired, how humiliating! There's a pack of 5 mid-table teams behind us waiting to catch us if we slip, and the bottom four are pretty much all in the same non-competitive boat. Right now the Group divides pretty well into theose three groups.

Aside from the two Indonesian Cup fixtures, we also have four league contests this month against Persenga(11th), Jakarta Timur(7th), Persip(9th), and Yahukimo(10th). We need a big month as once again we'll face the tougher teams towards the end of the cycle, and both Persibom and Persiss will be on the road. We need to have confidence and a better points situation than we have right now going into the final months of the year, and right now is our chance to get another strong run going. We have a puncher's chance of qualifying for Second Phase, we've been good enough to put ourselves in that conversation, but the margin for error is pretty small now.

With the tough draw in the Indonesian Cup, I'll be forming our squads in the congested next couple of weeks to focus on doing well in our league matches. If we get destroyed by PSM so be it -- we've got bigger fish to fry.
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Old 07-09-2014, 01:39 PM   #68
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
1.2 @ Persenga(2-1-8, 11th) We've won two out of three, including a 3-1 win to open this season. They are still slight favorites here due to our middling at best form recently. Sutanto gets the nod over Bayhaqi at AMC as he's been better lately, Patay and Prasetyo continue to platoon at the second DC spot but Prasetyo will go out there today.

One change I'm going to stick with for the time being is telling the guys to be more patient on the attack and work the ball in closer before shooting -- we'll get less shots but hopefully better ones.

1' -- 37 seconds. That's how long it took for Saragih to find Yogi on the right side, and he drew the defense and put a pass to Ewangin at the edge of the box and he placed it perfectly just inside the left post. 1-0

8' -- Quiah has a look from just inside the area, Setia just stares at it as it sails several yards high and wide.

9' -- Big tackle by Muda on Sunari who was angling in for a shot. I don't like what I'm seeing from us right now, we're getting beat to a lot of balls by one of the worst teams in our section of the league. We clear out a corner, a couple of long shots miss -- they're the aggressor right now and I'm steaming.

20' -- Sunari outduels both defenders, gets up and hits a 25-yarder well off target, he should never have had a chance to get that off. We've still got just the one shot.

26' -- Quiah to Sunari, he's got a step and bangs it into the upper left corner! Saw that coming the way this was going, and we're even at 1-1. Keep this up and we're gonna lose this.

Oh wow, they call him offside! He was too, looking at the replay. Still 1-0, a late call that was. I switch to a more conservative strategy, our defense is a freaking sieve and we're creating nothing at the other end.

30' -- Midfield turnover, Yogi to Sutanto up the gut to Ewangin, walks in alone, rolls it past the keeper ... JUST left of the goal. If we don't win this, I really going to be annoyed at that one ...

35' -- Bit of a crack on the right side for Herlan, they formed a decent wall to keep us from something better. He's wide right.


HT -- Still up by one, and we did a lot better fighting for possession the last ten minutes so I tell them to try to push forward a little more, our usual semi-conservative road approach. Everyone stays on.


They spend four minutes on the ball getting a corner -- I think the strategy here is keep-away, they're only one goal down so long as we don't touch it. Syahputra beats Muda to the header at the far post, but he had to back up to hit it and Setia makes one of the best saves I've seen from him to tip a good attempt there away. Second corner ... Muda's on that one.

Oh, and Persibom is losing 2-1 ...

52' -- Two-man game with Ewangin and Yogi, they disrupt it just enough to keep anything from happening. We recycle and they concede a corner, line drive surprises everyone as Sutanto delivers it to Muda nearside, diving stop blocks it but it's in front ... he's on the rebound and pokes it in! 2-0, there's our insurance goal, we should have this one now.

PSKT scores again, now up 3-1 on Persibom. Perssin is even 1-1 with Persipon ... it's a heck of a day so far.

54' -- I need a gun. Lax challenges on defense, a cross that Saragih should have cleared is just held on at the goalline, pass to Warman who first-times it inside the near post. 2-1, and we are down to a one-goal advantage without having had a chance to really relax at all.

Same song, different verse.

55' -- Persibom scores, within 3-2 now.

56' -- Cross into a crowd, Yogi can't get a look from 8 yards out through the traffic.

59' -- A couple more missed interventions, cross to Warman, beautiful header to Sunari all alone in front. Easy. 2-2. Shoot me now. Patay on for Prasetyo who had a hand in both those goals.

66' -- Herlan puts one straight up the gut to Yogi, perfect through ball there, he fires from just outside and puts it a little high.

70' -- Ewangin from the edge of the box ... it's over. We are attacking pretty well right now, but we need to convert. A draw isn't good enough here, I don't care what the pundits say.

71' -- More lax defense, Sunari rolls a weak try right to Setia. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we lost.

72' -- Yogi takes an errant header by their defense at midfield, and we're in business again. Sutanto to Ewangin, moves into the area, fires but it's blocked away, might have waited a bit too long there. We are absolutely horrid at converting one-on-ones and it's killing us. Sutanto finding Muda at the near post and him firing a header off the bottom of the crossbar and in for the second similar hookup between those two ... not killing us. 3-2.

We're playing good enough right now that I don't change our approach. I'll probably regret it.

77' -- It's now 4-3 PSKT over Persibom, eerily reminiscent of our high-scoring draw with the former team a couple of weeks ago. A minute later, an absolute prayer of a floater from Herlambang, no less than 35 yards out, is nearly answered as it squeaks over.

Patay finally doing something here, making three important clearances in a matter of minutes. Would have been nice if he'd showed up the rest of the match, but I'll take it now.

83' -- For goodness sakes. Amiri sends a header across as they are on the counter, Kombo goes for it ... does not even get remotely close ... and Sunari is in alone. Another gimme. 3-all. I need a lobotomy.

Less than a minute later, Herlan to Ewangin, Yogi, back to Ewangin, he's in on the right side and bounces one past on the cross-angle. Persenga furiously protests that it was offside. They are not listened to. 4-3, I go defensive and tell the guys to just stall and eat the clock.

The replay clearly showed Ewangin was a step or two upfield from Syahputra by the way, they haven't got a leg to stand on(though I'd be ticked too, as I was just a few moments ago).

89' -- A long one by Herlan is well left.

90' -- Yogi to Sutanto, passes up a good shot to try and get Ewangin a great shot, nice idea but he was the more open player and should have just gone for it. They block Ewangin's try out for a corner.

92' -- Yogi up to Ewangin, keeper blocks it, another corner. Not exactly stalling, but they're throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink which leaves openings.

One more tense cross is too deep, and that's it!


FT -- Phew! We win it 4-3, requiring more goals from corners(2) than we scored all of last year. Muda is player of the match, scoring two along with Ewangin. Prasetyo gets a deserved tongue-lashing and takes it like a man. Sutanto's two assists on corners show another aspect of his growing skills.

Elsewhere, PSKT holds on to beat Persibom 4-3, and Perssin stays at a draw. It was tense for sure, but we are now three points out of first(even on GD) and one out of second(+2).
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Old 07-11-2014, 12:53 AM   #69
Brian Swartz
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1.5 @ PSM(Indonesian Cup First Round First Leg) With another league match in four days, we'll put only a token effort at this one. If we manage to not get slaughtered, we'll push harder in the return leg.

GK: Setia
D: Faizal*, Prasetyo, Abidin*, Urwan -- Abidin and Faizal are the best of the youth defenders, this will be their first competitive match with the first team. Faizal is actually probably better than Kasipmabin at this point according to my staff.
M: Ningmabin, Azmi*, Saputra -- I plan to give a half each to Saputra and Herlan, which should let them recover.
A: Bayhaqi, Priyono*, Oropka

Yeah it's basically one big sacrificial lamb, and we'll play defensively with this group for obvious reasons, but I'm trying to keep my eyes on the ball here and all that. They are 2-5 favorites even if we were going all out here. It's probably going to be ugly.

Rainy conditions gave me hope that they'd be slowed down by the elements. Astoundingly, it was Priyono who had the first shot, a blast from the edge of the area that was right at the keeper. Not bad, kid.

[b]9'[b/] -- Bayhaqi to Herlan, good look and its off the bar and over. You know, I would just laugh if we won this ...

14' -- Good clearance by Priyono breaks up a corner. He's actually playing like he belongs out there, the arrogant whelp!

27' -- First decent shot for them from the edge of the area, Setia saves it easily. I'm thrilled with the way this is going so far.

30' -- Sharp cross by their captain Iskandar, mishandled by Setia for a corner and it caught him enough by surprise that he almost fumbled it into the goal. It goes to Mandowen at the far post, easy header for the score.

Well, what did we expect. Took half an hour at least, 0-1.

45' -- A good look on a counter for Priyono, long shot headed for the left corner ... off the post! He's looked really good today and nearly tied it up right there.


HT-- We've done pretty well for who is out there. Saputra on for Herlan as intended.


68' -- Nice acrobatic clearance by Praestyo on a corner, it's out to Bayhaqi and we're headed the other way on a promising counter. Priyono hits Saputra, just wide right but he was offside anyway. I get Priyono out, he's played great but is quite tired, Sutanto on. Who knows, maybe lightning can strike here at the end, we've still got a puncher's chance at a draw ...

They really start pushing hard at us, obviously not content with winning by one at home. It's corner kick defense after corner kick defense at the end, and then a ridiculous counter off a intervention by Faizal ...

82' -- Sutanto, Bayhaqi, Oropka, nice execution of the triangle and Oropka's shot is off the bottom of the bar ... and it just bounces there in the goal mouth, leaking out to the right. Oropka gets to it first but it's almost a parallel shot he has to try ... off the near post! He hits the woodwork twice in less than ten seconds, and they clear it away.

88' -- Close freekick by Iskandar is high.

89' -- Bayhaqi gets an angled look from the left, nearly scores it but Perdana makes a nice fingertip save. The corner is out for another corner. Two contested headers in front of goal are popped straight up ... and it's a third corner. This one's cleared as regulation expires and they come back the other way. Bayhaqi makes a nice read, we run it back down but Saputra's return pass leads him too much.

A pair of booming clearances by Praestyo and we have a minute left, give or take. Sutanto runs down the ball, centers for Oropka, decent chance but it's well right.


FT -- We lose 0-1 in a match we played well enough to draw in. Fantastic effort though, I'm so proud of these young guys. We've given ourselves a reasonable shot at advancing if we do well in the home leg.

1.6 -- We'll be facing a new coach in that return, as Roberto Bianchi Pelliser has left the Super League to take the reigns at PSM, a big surprise move. It'll be interesting to see what he does.
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Old 07-11-2014, 01:02 AM   #70
bbgunn
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Osaka, Japan via Honolulu, Hawaii via Birmingham, Alabama
Nice! Good position to take down PSM at home! I'm buying tickets!
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Old 07-11-2014, 02:37 AM   #71
Brian Swartz
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Oh so you're the one who did? :P

1.9 vs. Jakarta Timur(6-1-5, 6th) Getting our best shot at another win in this game is the reason for resting our players in the Cup, so we need to take advantage of it. The visitors are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the group, yet have only one draw despite that(16 for, 14 against). They put just one shot on target against us in a solid 2-0 win the first time we met. Since a streak of three straight wins back in November, they have not been in good form. We are better than even-money favorites(4-5).

Persibbom hosts Persenga and should have little trouble winning that one, and Perssin visits Persebangga in what should be a more difficult challenge.

1' -- 20 seconds in, almost another quick strike but Yogi's roller to the left side was too close and it's blocked away by the keeper. Saragih centers for Saputra, who's off target from outside the area.

5' -- Yogi draws the defense right and the trailer is [/b]Herlan, he puts it off the keeper's hands and in, wasn't deflected enough there. 1-0, and just the kind of start I wanted.

9' -- Herlan again from the middle, brilliant move by Kombo to beat two men and set it up with a centering pass, but the shot's just weak enough for Wayhudi to tip it out.

12' -- A couple of good tackles by Ewangin of all people spring Yogi and his shot is blocked, expected better from him there. Herlan gets yet another decent look off the corner, wide right.

[b]15' -- Rahmat blasts a freekick over the bar, their first chance. They've controlled the midfield too easily. Let's not be foolish, I dial it back a bit, we've been great on the counter play so far anyway.

16' -- Another mindless blast is blocked away, this one by Ewangin.

23' -- Ewangin finds Muda for a freekick header, but we don't need to discuss how horrid that attempt was. Two minutes later, Ewangin tries another from closer, just over the goal.

36' -- After a period of quiet, we work it to Yogi as they pack the box, angled shot is a bit to the right. We're doing much better at controlling the ball, and I go back to our normal balanced approach. A couple minutes later, Ewangin just misses from a tight angle.

42' -- Open volley for Muda, horribly wide. Less than a minute later, a busted play and Sutanto is the first to see what was happening, scoops it up and finds Ewangin at the edge of the area. A nice shot into the left corner, and we're really in business, 2-0.


HT -- One of the more dominant halves I've seen, we could easily have 3-4 goals. As it is, my main concern is how long I should wait until pulling some key people to get them rest for our Cup match. Bayhaqi on for Ewangin right away.


48' -- A header into our area, Sinaga gets to it just before Kombo and blasts it in! 2-1, and not the way I wanted to start the half. Down to one goal ahead, and I pull the defenders back a bit now.

53' -- Another scramble play just outside their area, this time Sutanto will try it himself but he's wide with the attempt.

57' -- Herlan is called for a particularly hard trip as their player receives treatment, and he's given a yellow. I urge caution. It looks like we've taken a decent amount of control again, but there's still lots of time to blow this. We're good at it.

60' -- Irwansyah earns a yellow card for them. Guess they don't want us to beat them at anything ...

Praestyo on for Patay. Meanwhile, both of the other games are still scoreless, rather remarkable, that. PSKT is up 4-3 in another shootout(with Persipon). Their fans won't be bored ...

63' -- Nice intervention by Patay before he comes off, makes me wish I could change my mind as he pokes one away to break up a promising rush. Then absolutely horrid play by Wahjudi. Well two of them actually. A bad throw is taken by Bayhaqi, who crosses after a while and the second mistake is made with a boggled catch. Yogi heads it home from the doorstep, and it's 3-1! They absolutely handed us that goal on a silver platter.

68' -- Setia's turn to bobble one, but Praestyo gets to it and they'll have a corner. It's way overshot and we survive our mistake.

71' -- Sutanto appears to trip over his own feet, and we take him off for Oropka.

74' -- Oropka gets a good look from straight on after a number of passes, Herlan spotting him near the penalty spot, but he can't get it close.

A couple minutes later, Persibom finally scores to go up 1-0 on Persenga. You knew it was going to happen.

78' -- Good positioning for a freekick by Herlan, well wide. He's just not got the range for those, really we don't have anybody that's good at them.

We're playing like we basically don't give a crap all of a sudden, and shock of all shocks they get an angled try against passive defense. A nice diving block robs Sonomar of what looked like a probable goal.

81' -- Yellow for Yarangga. Just cut it out and finish the game guys, seriously. Nice try by Ginting on the freekick, but Setia is there.

84' -- Yellow for Nur Jati tripping Oropka. This is no longer a football match.

89' -- Freekick from 25-30 for Yarangga, and he drills it to the right corner! Haven't seen one from him in over a year's time, and that's the icing on the cake, 4-1.

Persibom adds another, and you can mark down the W for them.


FT -- Big win 4-1, we were complacent at times, at others downright brilliant. Herlan was player of the match, and it was probably his finest of the year.

Persiss had a scoreless draw, allowing us to move a point ahead of them and we're 5 up on them in goal differential. Persibom's win keeps them three up on us yet. They're the standard, but we're not going away like we did in the second half last year.

Had a conversation with Sutanto who's been slacking off in training lately ... didn't go well. Winning solves a lot of things so he's not upset, but it's unfortunate as he's really improving.
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Old 07-11-2014, 02:35 PM   #72
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
1.12 vs. PSM(Indonesian Cup, Second Leg) 15M plus whatever additional prize money we can scrounge up is on the line here. After a 1-0 defeat a week ago, we need to win here(by two unless we shut them out, otherwhise we'll lose on away goals). We'll start with a counterattack as our goal, safe but not too safe. A little tired still, but we can rest for the next two weeks after this one.

PSM are 4-6 favorites.

Good reaction from Saragih and Saputra as I tell the team to continue the good play from our last game.

2' -- Two-man game with Saragih and Herlan, then a nice cross from Saragih, Ewangin gets his head to it smoothly ... off the right post and out. Everything but the goal. As usual.

6' -- Herlan delivers a corner to Praestyo at the near post, but he can't control it.

13' -- Lazy coverage, and Saifulloh gets a close one but at a bad angle. Blocked by Setia, a corner is well hit but Yogi is there first and clears.

20' -- We're off to a good start, and though I'm hesitant to do so I tell the guys to push the attack more. Midfield has been strong, but I'll keep the back line deep. After all, a draw doesn't help us we need to win. A freekick from 30 goes high for them, though it was a noble attempt.

27' -- We stay on the attack, Ewangin gets a bit of a look in the right side, weak and right to the keeper. They're much better than most of our First Division foes at closing the gaps in their defense ... which is probably why they're a level up of course.

32' -- Turnovers back and forth, then Ewangin with a nice lead for Yogi, he runs on it in the middle of the area and scores to the right corner! No chance for a save on that one, and we take the lead 1-0.

And now the question, do we play for penalties(the decider if this score holds) or for the outright win? The way we're playing right now, controlling it well, it's not a real question.

33' -- Less than a minute later, Prasetyo challenges upfield, nobody fills his spot, and Mandowen's strike from just inside the area goes upstairs with nothing Setia can do. 1-1. Go figure.

Well, now we have to win by two. There's no choice, we've got to keep the pressure on. Two minutes later, Mandowen has a similar look but misses.


HT -- 1-1, we're getting a bit tired, so are they. Chances are hard to come by, shots are 5-6 and we've had possession for 54% so nothing wrong with how we're playing. What can I do but tell them to keep going?

We're practically living in their end, keeping the pressure on, and get nothing for it initially.

58' -- Only good positioning keeps them from getting a near-post score on a corner,.

62' -- Through ball to Mandowen, we converge and knock it away, Afriyanto is on it and fires, but Kombo is in the right place at the right time to block it! Not that it matters since two players come uncovered on the following corner, he's one of them and heads it in easily. 1-2, and you can stick a fork in us since we'd need three in less than 30 minutes to pull this one off.

67' -- Angled look for Afryianto, Setia with the save. I bring on fresh legs, Ningmabin for Herlan, Bayhaqi for Yogi. A freekick by Yarangga is horribly off.

81' -- Iskandar's wide with a long one. We're still controlling possession but not getting anything resembling a good shot.

82' -- There's one, Saragih with a cross to Ewangin in front, not quite enough on the header and a diving save.

84' -- Kombo centers for Bayhaqi, Aras gets his foot in at the last minute ... and it squirts into the area, Ewangin is there first and he scores! We're tied at 2, still down one on aggregate.

91' -- We get a corner. cleared easily but we hold it in. Can't get anything going.


FT -- A 2-2 draw that was somewhat fortuitous, 3-2 loss on aggregate. Much better than we did last year, and I won't apologize for a one-goal loss to a Premier side. 57% possession and shots were about even, their defense was just very sharp and disciplined. They showed us something on that score.
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Old 07-11-2014, 02:42 PM   #73
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
1.19 -- Our push for a strong second half took a major hit today. Engel Ewangin has achilles tendonitis and will miss 5-6 weeks, while Sutanto strained a groin muscle and we won't see him back for a little over a month either. We'll have to start Oropka now and will have no substitutes up front, leaving us quite limited in attack. It's been a largely charmed season injury-wise, but that all just changed.

I thought of bringing a player or two up from the youth team, but decide against it for now. Our strategy will be to try to get an early lead, then switch to a 5-3-1-1 to protect it.

1.24 @ Persip(4-2-7, 9th) Our best match of the year overall was probably a 4-0 shellacking we handed out in the first contest, so I'm hopefully we can extend our two-game winning streak in the league even with the injuries. We're slight favorites despite being on the road here. Persibom visits Jakarta Timur in what could be a tricky contest, and Perssin visits 4th-place PSKT who is just two points behind them. We're weakened, but it's still a chance to pick up more ground potentially.

We control the action well early, but don't get a lot in the way of shots.

11' -- Yarangga has a freekick straight on, hits it weakly to the keeper.

18' -- Perssin score to take a 1-0 lead on PSKT.

23' -- Nice passing play, Herlan to Oropka in the middle good look but it's blocked wide by Kertadnya. That's the kind of thing we need to capitalize on with this group.

Meanwhile, PSKT equalize for a 1-1 score.

31' -- Saragih finds Bayhaqi about 10 yards out, not enough angle on that and it's blocked away. These poor finishes are more of a problem now that we don't have our full group, we need to put them away. Corner comes to Muda at the near post but he can't get his shot through traffic.

37' -- Yellow for Yarangga and they're attacking more, I switch to counter for a bit.


HT -- We've held the ball for 59%, and have six shots to none, but we need to score. It will probably only take one.

Still 1-1 with Perssin and PSKT, and Persibom doesn't play until tomorrow.


We're still on the defensive more often than not and they get a couple of early corners to start the half, not what I wanted to see from us.

56' -- PSKT scores again, and they're up 2-1 on Perssin! Way to go, guys!

58' -- Oh wow. After our first corner of the half is cleared out, we inbound, work it around, Kombo fires a cross from deep -- it's too close to the goal ... it drops in just under the bar and that's going to count a score! An incredible and completely unintentional shot from close to 40 yards out at the near sideline, and we take a 1-0 lead. That's Kombo's first goal, and all I can say is I don't believe what I just saw.

I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. We switch to the 5-3-1-1 with three in middle defensively and look to hold on to this. Prasetyo on for Oropka.

67' - Dangerous cross but Setia punches it out. They have yet to attempt an actual shot. We come back the other way, nearly lose it, get it back, Yogi to Saputra up the left side, two man game with Herlan gets it back to him, awkward angled volley ... it's just inside the right post, very nice shot there and we're up 2-0! Big play there, and now we should be able to take it easy, I tell the team to really tighten up the back and run clock.

76' -- Freekick from out to the left, nice angled line drive by Yusuf and Setia has to make a diving stab to prevent a score. We don't have many fresh legs on that bench but Ningmabin is one, coming on for Herlan.

Meanwhile, Perssin is just 15 minutes away from what would be their first loss of the season.

79' -- Hermawan tries a blast from the edge of the area on a freekick, but it's right into our defensive wall and just bounces back.

81' -- You idiot .. I've already told Yarangga to back off but he didn't listen. Second yellow and he's sent off. That'll hurt us. Setia makes a routine save on the long freekick.

83' -- Their first shot that's not from a freekick, from Nugroho just inside the area, we've some traffic in front and he hits it right to Setia.

92' -- Muda almost heads it into our own goal off a corner. He then heads the next corner right across our goal mouth. I think he's on drugs or something right now. Good thing we aren't playing anybody good today.


FT -- We hold on for a 2-0 win! Kombo's freak accident of a goal makes him player of the match. We converted our non-chances and missed our clear shots at the goal. I don't know what to call that, but I like the fact that we only allowed three shots on the road, even against such a poor club.

Perssin did in fact lose 2-1 to PSKT, which moves PSKT up to third. We're three points up on them, four up on Perssin, and I'm thinking just now we might able to survive these injuries. Persibom, meanwhile, blitzed Jakarta Timur to a 3-0 lead midway through the first half, then held on to win 4-3, maintaining their three-point bulge over us.

Yarangga is of course suspended for our next match. Given the circumstances(match well in hand, I'd told him to back off his tackles, etc.) I have no choice but to fine one of my favorite players a week's salary. Such things simply can't be tolerated. He thinks it's unfair but fortunately we're in the in middle of a strong stretch of results and he's not raising a major stink about it. It's good timing for us to get Patrick Adie back -- he's not Yarangga obviously, who is our best midfielder, but it's better than having to go with a hodgepodge formation.
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Old 07-11-2014, 08:39 PM   #74
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
1.31 vs. Yahukimo FC(2-5-7, 10th) The only problems these guys have had this year are offense and defense, near the bottom in both. We flattened them 5-1 in a brilliant display earlier, and will look to take another victory here but with four key players out, it could be tough. If we can get through this one, we'll get not just Yarangga back but also Ferminus back in goal.

Persibom unsurprisingly flattened Persip 3-1, a game they should win by sleepwalking. PSKT is at Persebangga, who drew them earlier and is good enough to make things interesting. Perssin hasn't won since November, with five straight league draws before their loss last time out. If they don't turn that around, things could look pretty rosy for us. Hosting Persenga this time out is a great way to make that happen though.

Three of our last four matches are against the others currently in the yop four of Group D. A dramatic finish certainly appears to be in the offing. But first things first -- a great chance for another win today. We're prohibitive 1-6 favorites ... first time I've been able to say that in a competitive match ... which shows the difference between the two clubs. We're 2-1-0 against them, which is as well as we've done against just about anybody.

3' -- Haryanto angles in and Setia manages to block it out for a corner. We wanted an offside call but don't get one. It comes to Haryanto again in front but he can't get it through traffic. Not a great start, we could easily have given up a score there.

5' -- Saragih up to Yogi down the right side, he's got a bit of a crack here ... and it lands closer to the corner flag than the net. Not what I had in mind.

7' -- Terrible play by Saragih as he comes upfield and gambles, missing completely. Kotto gets a lead pass in the area but has to take a moment to control it, by which time Patay gets back in position and blocks him, good recovery there.

I switch to counter and a deeper line, perhaps a bit knee-jerk here but we look loose at the back and don't have the firepower to reliably rally if we get behind. An immediate rush gives Yogi a wild volley which he sends high.

8' -- Haryanto's free behind the defense, but called offside. We look bad today.

Meanwhile, Persebangga strikes first, up 1-0 on PSKT. Sweet!

15' -- Half volley from Saragih from almost 30 yards, what are you doing ... I mean great job almost scoring as he goes upstairs but it's just high. Shades of Kombo's goal in our last game there.

16' -- Maturbong gets behind Saragih, Setia manages to block it away. We'd be getting killed right now if they weren't even more inept finishers than we are. I'm already prepping a half-time screamfest, we're just lazy out there, lots of balls we should be picking off and taking the other way. Granted Adie is no Yarangga, but we should be better than this.

Oh my gosh. They center it back in, Maturbong in the middle with Patay and Saragih both wearing him. They both miss the ball, he rolls a slow one inside the left post. 0-1

Might as well go back to try and attack a little more, but this is ridiculous. Play was totally covered.

Shots are 8-4 them, possession 58% for them ... we're playing one of the worst teams in the league and getting killed by them, at home. Embarassing.

28' -- Another broken play that we used to win almost all of, they get it, Muda gets over just in time to block out a volley attempt.

33' -- PSKT has tied it up 1-1 with Persenbangga. Meanwhile, we're showing signs of life the last few minutes for the first time all day. A collision and Adie goes down. I have to take him off for Ningmabin. That guy is a walking medical ward, and now our midfield is on life support.

We proceed to yield a corner on an errant backpass by Muda, then Bayhaqi clears it out. Ay caramba.

43' -- We keep up the pressure, and then a brilliant play by the most unlikely people gets us to even. A long kick by Setia is headed well by Oropka over to Ningmabin, who hits a tough half-volley pass right on the money to Bayhaqi(Yogi was also in the vicinity). Imam Bayhaqi calmly controls it and puts an unstoppable blast into the right corner, and we're even at 1! Where did that come from??

44' -- Setia punches an aggressive cross ... straight up ... down right in front of the goal, but Patay who has been fine today gets their first.


HT -- Tied at 1, I still give the team a piece of my mind as that first half-hour was just horrible and I can't just pretend it didn't happen. It resonated with about half of them, while the others stood there with a blank look on their face.

Persebangga added another and are up 2-1 on PSKT just before the half, while Perssin and Persenga are still scoreless, much to my surprise.


46' -- Yogi in the area to Bayhaqi, but he leads him too far right. Doesn't matter. Angled shot from the edge of the box, perfectly placed again!! What on earth happened to him today, this is just brilliant stuff and it's 2-1. I hold off on going to 5 at the back, we're playing so well right now I feel we might be able to get another one. Tough angle there, that was just a sublime finish, almost hit the inside of the post.

50' -- We keep up the pressure, eventually retaining the ball after a scramble in front of the area. It's worked around, Saputra comes free from just outside, had the right idea but sends it high over the right corner of the goal.

58' -- Still in complete control. Saputra leads Bayhaqi, he has a look from just inside the area but it's the off foot, weak and right to the keeper.

69' -- Perssin finally scores to go up 1-0 on Persenga. Surprised it took that long. Meanwhile they're putting up a fight more in midfield, I put in Prasetyo for Oropka again and go with our five at the back group to try and get us home with the win.

At about the same time, Saragih centers for Bayhaqi, our first look in a while but it's wide from outside the area.

72' -- A clearance by Prasetyo hits Muda in the back, and we're lucky all we give up here is a corner. Patay heads it clear. Bad-angle shot by Kogoya is well wide and into the side.

75' -- Perfect lead by Yogi for Saputra, one defender to beat, he's tripped ... no call! I thought that should have been a penalty. Out for a corner and they clear it.

78' -- Bayhaqi goes down at midfield, his brilliant day is over. I have to put Urwan in for him as we've nobody at the appropriate positions, so now we'll have the ridiculous 6-3-1 in place with Urwan moving back to sweeper position behind the line.

It's the most defensive formation I've ever put out there or seen, but we're a bit limited right now and have only a little time to kill.

85' -- Persebangga scores again, 3-1 over PSKT!

87' -- Kogoya with a decent look at angled blast, but it's high. Pretty good opportunity given the number of defenders we have out there.

93' -- Nabu crosses, but Setia is there. That should do it.


FT -- They get one more desperation header but it's nowhere close, and we win 2-1. Tougher than it should have been, but missing almost half our regulars we still get a fourth straight league win to echo our four straight to start the year against the same competition. Bayhaqi was the obvious player of the match with both goals, and I tell them we got away with one today. Most agreed, some didn't like the pressure I was putting on them.

Tough. We have a chance to promote here. Get with the program.

A couple got ticked off that I singled out Yogi and Ningmabin for having done well. But they did ... grow up. No long-term injuries for Bayhaqi and Adie either.

PSKT lost 3-1 as that score held up, and Perssin added another for a 2-0 win over Persenga.
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Old 07-12-2014, 12:03 AM   #75
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
FEBRUARY

Twas a banner month, four league wins, a loss and a draw in the Indonesian cup with a close aggregate loss against a Premier side, all with injuries clouding the picture. Couldn't have asked for more, that's certain. And now we get two weeks to try to get healthy as the schedule relaxes.

STANDINGS

Persibom(35 pts, +19)
Persigubin(32 pts, +20)

Perssin(28 pts, +13)
Persisko(26 pts, +10)
PSKT(26 pts, --)
Persipon(23 pts, +3)
Persebangga(20 pts, +6)
Jakarta Timur(19 pts, -3)
Persip(14 pts, -13)
Yahukimo(11 pts, -15)
Persenga(7 pts, -18)
Persemalra(6 pts, -22)

It's looking like a two-horse race for the relegation spot as Persemalra tries to catch Persenga. I'd like to see Persemalra stay up. As for us, the second qualifying spot is now ours to lose. 4 points up with 7 matches to go, we're getting healthy again and have a fairly massive edge in goal differential on the rest of the field. We've only got two fixtures this month, the first of which is a televised visit to 4th-place Persisko that is fairly crucial. The other should be our last easy one, as we get Persemalra at home. Everybody after that is mid-table or better.

TRAINING

Positives: Adie(Fitness), Herlan(Tactics), Bayhaqi(Fitness)
Negatives: Ferminus(GK Handling), Kasipmabin(Fitness), Ningmabin(Fitness)

Ferminus didn't have any kind of a month training-wise inasmuch as he was injured, and the other two negatives I don't care about as they are gone at the end of the year. So three up and three down, but still a good month.

I've been named First Division coach of the month!

And still no new contract. I'm really annoyed by this. The board says they are 'delighted' with my leadership, and label my job as 'Very Secure'. Well, there's nothing secure, very or otherwhise, about a month-to-month deal ... but if do manage to push on for promotion, I'll be in a much better negotiating position. I decide to pick my battles and focus on finishing strong for now.

They still haven't completely forgotten last year but it's not a big factor. They've labeled our performance in the First Division 'fantastic', and mild disappointment over the loss of Uropmabin over the offseason is the biggest factor. I'd love to see what he'd be doing here(though it would mean we wouldn't have Bayhaqi, and given his potential it really probably was for the best).

Financially, it was another 303M down the drain.

Injury-wise, we have Ferminus back now and will have a couple of friendlies before our next match to get him totally ready. We're expecting Sutanto to be back, possibly with a friendly under his belt, but Ewangin will probably miss one more game. Still, we'll be almost completely healthy again.
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Old 07-12-2014, 12:07 AM   #76
JonInMiddleGA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Swartz View Post
Financially, it was another 303M down the drain.

I know the currency is different but I see this and can't help but think "gee, losing 60k doesn't seem so bad now"
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Old 07-12-2014, 04:32 AM   #77
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
2.6 -- Herlan has a viral infection and he's sent home to keep everyone else(hopefully) healthy. He'll be gone for three weeks. I can only hope that Patrick Adie doesn't get injured again until he comes back.

2.13 -- Adie has announced that he intends to retire at the end of the year. He won't be back here and he's 36, so it's an eminently sensible decision. It's been a tough last couple years for him with the injuries, and I'm hoping he manages to make himself one last big memory before it's out.

2.15 @ Persisko(7-5-3, 4th) The first blemish on our record was a 1-1 draw as they equalized in injury time. Neither goal was in regulation as first-half injury time was the occasion for our score by Yogi, so ... Big match here, they are slight favorites at home and after getting nothing for outshooting them 16-5 we'd like a better result.

Before the match, we learn that Kasipmabin intends to retire as well at the end of the year, which makes sense for the same reasons. Ewangin is still a couple days away and Herlan is out but we have Ferminus ready in goal and Sutanto's first game back is today as well, so we should be better than our last couple outings.

11' -- A super tackle by Muda keeps them from getting off a shot during their first rush. We're off to a better than expected start and controlling the action well overall.

14' -- Patay pokes it away at the edge of our area, but Makatindu is there and chips it into the right corner. They take the early lead on us, 0-1.

17' -- Yahukimo FC scores to go up 1-0 on Persibom. Both of us have an opportunity, if we can rally on the road.

20' -- Lovely cross from Yogi, Saputra's at the edge of the box. He waits, adjusts his camera, takes a picture ... and then it's knocked out for a corner. That should be a goal every time, he doesn't score much, but he just needed to fire it already.

We're behind and dominating possession(60% so far), so I tell them to push forward more and not be as cautious, though the line will stay deep.

25' -- Three straight corners for them are tense, but come to nothing despite being well placed.

34' -- Persibom's drawn even at 1.

37' -- They get a header in the area off a through ball, but can't control it.

39' -- Bad passes both ways on this lousy pitch, looks like ours did last year. Yogi sets up Bayhaqi for a long blast, he's been good lately but this one's just a little wide. We're more errant in midfield now so I dial back the aggression some.


HT -- One of those days so far, we've been overall better and probably a draw is the most accurate result, but they finished one of their chances and lead because of it.


51' -- More turnovers, a horribly missed header by Muda, and Makatindu has a similar look to the one he scored on before. He scores again, and we've no choice but to push forward more down 0-2.

Ningmabin comes on for Adie who isn't yet in match condition.

61' -- Fantastic header by Yogi gives Bayhaqi a chance, his shot from just inside the area is a good try but tipped wide. The corner comes to Patay at the near post but he can't get anything through traffic. Our best sequence of the match, but we get nothing from it.

69' -- We work it around for a while, almost losing it several times. Ningmabin leads Bayhaqi into the right side of the area, too far and away from the goal. He just manages to track it down, centers, and Yogi's there in front for the putaway! 1-2 now, and we're still alive though time is becoming critical.

72' -- Makatindu tracks the ball down and crosses it ... Kombo is there ... and puts it into our net!! 1-3!! You ... you moron!!! That's not what we paid the transfer fee for, pal.

I yank him on principle, Muda as well who has been a disaster.

75' -- Ningmabin to Sutanto to Bayhaqi, the triangle's executed to perfection and the first time shot leaves no time to react. Easy goal. 2-3 now, and without Kombo being a walking cluster, we'd been even.

Still, that's a great way to respond.

77' -- Novandito has a decent look at a volley, way off right. A minute later, we hear that Yahukimo has gone up on Persibom, 2-1.

84' -- Novandito gets behind us and is wide open, one-on-one with Ferminus and he's way right again. That was an absolute gift.

We come back down, possession changes hands in a midfield scramble but we get it back. Kasipmabin to Saputra up the left side, they take it away from him but he gets it back, centers to the trailer Yarangga with a blast from 25 ... blocked by somebody in the area. A scramble for it, both clubs have shots at it, then it goes to Bayhaqi about 8 yards out in front and he punches it through the bodies somehow for the score!

What an incredible game, and I'd be spitting tacks right now if I were on their sideline. We're tied at 3, less than a minute after they should have extended their lead again.

85' -- Labudda picks up a yellow. They seem to be self-destructing, I wish there was more time for us to take advantage of it.

90' -- Nice lead pass for them, Makatindu, Ferminus, and about three of our outfield players all arrive at the ball at the same time. Makatindu stops and doesn't move, he's worse for that collision. There's no call, maybe the ref didn't know what to make of it either.

93' -- We move it on but they clear out a cross and that's it.


FT -- 3-3 draw here, not what I wanted but after going down 2-0 and 3-1 we showed a lot of fight to come back. I let Muda and Kombo have it, Muda takes it well and Kombo does not.

All in all we are still in second by four points and with Persibom picking up an unusual loss to Yahukimo we're now just two behind them.
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Old 07-12-2014, 07:50 PM   #78
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
2.20 -- A few days after getting Ewangin back, [/b]Bayhaqi[/b] who has been on a roll lately is sidelined now with a groin strain for a little over a month. It's all we can do right now to put a rotating group of decent attackers out there.

2.21 -- Herlan is back much earlier as expected, leaving us once again with only one man out. However, I'm quite comfortable with Sutanto/Yogi/Ewangin as our front trio, it might be our best pairing. Depth is what we miss with Bayhaqi.

Waiting in the wings to present itself is the fact that our two best midfielders, Saputra and Yarangga, have been one yellow away from suspension for weeks now. the other shoe is going to drop at some point, I'm really hoping not at the same time.

2.22 vs. Persemalra(1-3-12, 12th) We beat them 3-1 at their place and are strong favorites to repeat the treatment here. That only upped us to 1-2 lifetime after getting drilled by them twice last year, but that was a different squad. Completely different.

Incredibly, Persibom lost yesterday for the second straight defeat. To Persisko, but they were home, first home loss on the year. Which means, if we don't lay an egg here and not win, we'll be in first place again!!

3' -- Ewangin on a freekick just outside the area, an absolute rocket cross-angle into the corner of the net. That's how to come back! 1-0.

5' -- Bayu comes free at the edge of the box, we recover just in time and block the shot out for a corner. Let's not go to the no-defense zone again fellas. They get a long header cleared off the line easily by Kombo.

10' -- Good look at a header off a corner kick, nodded well wide by Kombo.

13' -- Saputra to Saragih angling in on the right, just tipped out by the keeper.

22'-- We've looked quite good but not great, not quite as much in control as I'd like. It's still a bit nervy.

26' -- Ewangin drives a shot just outside the area, close but left.

29' -- Yogi steps around a defender but can't get much on the shot, easy save for Baskara. Herlan is still working his way into shape, and Adie comes on for him -- he's done for today.

36' -- Freekick for Lestalhu, loops it over.

41' -- They make a bad throw-in, Adie finds Sutanto for a fairly clear shot from 17, driven but wide right by a bit. That was a darn good opportunity missed. After a turnover we bring it back down, Sutanto to Ewangin and he tries to chip it over but Baskara blocks it. We're giving him a workout. After the inbounds, Sutanto puts one off the left post. Another turnover ... another counter ... Yogi to Saragih, fires from just inside ... wide right. We've missed a lot of close shots, had a lot more saved, but we're still only on one score.


HT -- 12 shots and 6 corners, but only one goal to show for it.


47' -- Long blast from Ewangin. Save by Beskara. Corner for us. Cleared easily. Lather, rinse, repeat.

49' -- Freekick from the left side, Yogi gets a volley on the right, blocked by Beskara into the post ... rolls along the goal mouth literally inches away from a score ... they clear it out. I do declare there's a lid on that net.

53' -- Ewangin up the gut to Yogi, fires from 25 even though he could have walked it in several more yards, it's a looper right at the keeper. Yogi is the man, but I have no clue what he was thinking there. They come back the other way and Patay clears out a cross attempt.

It still would only take them one play to tie this ... we come back down with numbers and Yogi blows it with a horrible backpass. Something wrong with him today.

55' -- A yellow for them fouling Ewangin. Saragih misses a chip to the right.

61' -- Terrible pass on their end gives Saputra an angled look, easily saved. Oropka on for Ewangin, good first game back for him with the early goal.

72' -- Alfian gets their most dangerous shot yet from about 15, Muda in position to block it but they've been building a bit of pressure the last few. I tell the guys to pull back a bit and head for the hopefully safe waters of a one-goal victory.

74' -- Corner comes out to Oropka at the edge, his volley is hard but high.

79' -- They miss high on a 30-yd freekick.

82' -- Again Saragih on the right angles in, again he misses wide right.

Saputra creates a turnover, Yogi to Sutanto but he led him too far, near-impossible angle, blocked out for a corner.

84' -- Yet another turnover in their end, Sutanto to Yogi in the clear on the right side, bangs it past from about 15 yards out. Finally. 2-0, and I can relax. Took bloody long enough.

86' -- Complete non-defense leaves them open for a hoist just inside the area, good save by Ferminus to leap and tip it away, but my goodness. Absolutely horrible judgement by Kombo there.

Two corners and there's a mad scramble for the second one, we eventually win it and clear.


FT -- It's finally over. This one took forever it seemed, we were constantly pressuring them but rarely getting anything for it. A 2-0 win though, and we re-take first place!
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Old 07-13-2014, 01:16 AM   #79
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
MARCH

Training -- Good month for Adie, Kasipmabin, and Sutanto, all on tactics. Ewangin had a bad month fitness-wise, but as he was injured most of it there's no surprise there.

Board remains delighted, I'm still at very secure, Kombo's struggles are bothering them and the fans want more exciting football.

We are the top scoring team in all of First Division by a considerable margin, what the heck do they want?? Aside from that, all very expected.

Standings

Persigubin(36 pts, +22)
Persibom(35 pts, +16)

Perssin(32 pts, +15)
Persisko(30 pts, +12)
PSKT(29 pts, +1)
Persebangga(26 pts, +8)
Persipon(24 pts, +1)
Jakarta Timur(23 pts, -2)
Yahukimo(17 pts, -12)
Persip(15 pts, -15)
Persenga(7 pts, -21)

Persemalra(6 pts, -25)

Five matches to go. The first six of the year and the first six of the second half I've done exactly the same(5 wins, 1 draw). We'll see if the lead can be held this time around at the end. Our top rivals have faded recently, but there is still time for that to reverse itself.
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Old 07-13-2014, 12:30 PM   #80
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
3.2 -- It's turning out to be a crappy end to the year for Ewangin. He'll miss another month-plus now as he injured his foot today in practice.

3.7 vs. Persebangga(6-8-3, 6th) They play the role of spoilers well, and we'll have to try to avoid that here as even-money favorites. A 3-3 draw first time out as they equalized in injury time, and we're short up front with Oropka/Sutanto/Yogi as our trio and no backups, so the goal again will be to grab a quick lead and then go to 5 at the back and defend it.

Their top striker, Fajar Ariyanto has 14 goals in 17 matches -- we'll pay special attention to him.

6' -- Close freekick from Prayitno, a little wide but dangerous.

8' -- Yogi leads into the area, Sutanto and Oropka both in the vicinity but it's knocked out for a corner before we can get a look.

10' -- Off a side inbounds, [b]Yogi[b/] to Saputra to Oropka, his volley from about 13 yards is well placed upstairs, and we go in front early! 1-0!

17' -- Freekick for Yarangga driven wide. They had more than their share of possession early but we've done more with ours, and we're starting to control it better now.

35' -- A looping long try by Yogi almost drops in but stays over. Both sides are sloppy, we're close to getting some better chances but can't quite make that final play or two to get a clear look.

40' -- Nughro gets free for a moderate-range look and puts it perfectly in the left corner. Saragih was in position to block off most of the angle, but that was just a fine shot, and we're tied at 1.

54' -- We go a little more conservative as they're controlling the ball too much here at the start of the half.

62' -- We've turned it around now so I tell them to push forward more. We've only given up two shots all day ... but we need another goal to win this. They get an angled look for Ariyanto, good save by Ferminus who got his hands up just in time. Prayitno's header off the corner should have scored, but is off the bar. Another corner, Sutanto tries to clear but it squirts right to Nugroho for a gimme. His second goal, only two of the year, and now we're up against it trailing 1-2!

66' -- Here's a score I'm not sure I believe ... Persemalra has gone up 2-0 on Persibom!!

72' -- Blast for Oropka at the edge, Ibrahim is just close enough to tip it out. Who'd have thought he'd be our best offensive option today? Corner goes to [b]Muda[b/] at the far post, who volleys it a little too slowly and Ibrahim's foot gets to it ... I thought that was a goal and it should have been.

76' -- Oropka at the edge ... this time he finds a better option as Sutanto is open from 16 in front, and he blows it by on the left side!! There it is, we tie it up at 2-all!!

84' -- Herlan to Saragih, slides it over to Yogi but leads him a little too much and it's knocked out for a corner. If that ball had a hair less on it there was an open net ... Sutanto takes the kick to Patay, but they head it off the line.

92' -- Patay clears out a dangerous cross.


FT -- We had our chances to win this one, but at least managed to rally for another entertaining draw. A shocking 3-1 loss by Persibom gives us a two-point edge on them, and Perssin lost as well so they picked up no ground. We've really gotten fortunate lately with the way our rivals seem to be self-destructing.
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Old 07-13-2014, 11:59 PM   #81
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
2.15 @ Persibom(11-2-5, 2nd) I'm hoping this is the match where we stop copying the results from the first half of the schedule, as Persibom handed us our only loss of the year(2-1). With their recent form, or lack thereof I should say, it's a distinct possibility. Once the favorites to run away with the group, our hosts have lost four of five and we are now 4-7 favorites to win today.

Yesterday, their coach Achmad Sukisno asserted that we aren't really playing that well, it's just a lack of effort on the part of our opponents that allowed us to take the lead. The Oksibil Soccer Paper asked me for my comment on the matter, and I tell them he's being ridiculous in disrespecting both what we've done but also our First Division opponents. Incidentally, the Indonesian Soccer Review is now referring to me as 'talented' in their preview summaries, which I find rather hilarious.

As if this game wasn't important enough, now there's more for them to write about. Frankly I think Sukisno would be better served finding a way to get his squad playing like they were earlier in the year(only 1 loss in their first 13 contests) than criticizing our run of success. So it seems I've got my first little coaching rivalry brewing here.

On our end of things, Ewangin is out and while we expected Bayhaqi back, he's taken longer than expected and it will be another couple of days or so before he's ready. Persibom has three players down as well, but we'll have to go with our makeshift attacking unit(Oropka/Sutanto/Yogi) and the usual plan of stealing an early lead, defending it late with a five-wide line if needed.

Saragih and Saputra responded well to the revenge angle sounded before the match.

8' -- Saragih up the right side of the area to Herlan, he tracks it down, has time and room to wait, and centers ... Yogiis there and an easy score into the right side of the net! 1-0, we jump on them right away.

We continue to control the action in midfield more often than not, but I don't turn up the pressure as we have the lead on the road -- no point in giving them a chance to attack when playing on the counter is working for us.

17' -- Putra gets a bit of room just outside the area, Ferminus goes up and gets it easily.

A few minutes later, something lit a fire under them and they stepped up the pace dramatically, playing more like the club I remember from earlier in the year. I'm glad we got on the board when we did, because all of a sudden they are living in our third.

32' -- Another shot from outside, this one's way off by Mondow.

37' -- Yogi to Oropka, looks clear for a one-on-one but it's tackled away at the last instant! Thought we had a great chance there, but that was a heck of play by their defense it must be said. We bring it back out, [/b]Yogi[/b] has two men on him at the edge. He wheels right around them for a look and places a shot just under the bar!! Incredible goal, maybe the best I've seen from him and he's had some good ones!! It's 2-0 now even though they've controlled the last 15+ minutes of this match.


FT -- After another freekick is way off, we head to the break with a comfortable two-goal lead. Oropka's out for Patay and we go to five at the back to protect it.

They continue to dictate but not as one-sided as it was, and we're giving them nothing cheap which is the main thing.

54' -- One desperation extreme angle shot hits the left post, then they get it to the corner of the box but we block it out for a corner. That's the most dangerous they've looked, but we had enough bodies packed in there that nothing was able to get through. Header at the edge of the box off the corner, Ferminus leaps to the ball and is able to knock it away, that could easily have scored. Muda misjudges the next one, they head it from the far post and Ferminus is there but Yani pounces on the rebound before anyone can react. 2-1, they just punished us on those corners.

56' -- Yogi has a chance just inside the area, but he can't quite float it over the arms of Saka who makes a nice play to deny our star the hat trick.

61' -- We've held it in most of the last few minutes, and a seemingly innocent play ends strangely. Saragih crosses from the right, there's a crowd in the box and Saka can't get there, it bounces in for a goal! It's quickly disallowed though as Yogi is called for pushing Saka, he wasn't close enough to the ball for it to matter in my opinion -- that was a total fluke but it should still count. I can't get the officials to see my side of the case though, and it won't stand.

63' -- Yogi from just outside the area, well defended but he turns and absolutely rifles a line drive, Saka just barely gets there with a nice diving save -- I don't know if I've seen Yogi this sharp in terms of finishing for a whole match, he would have three goals, maybe four against most sides. That ball was just a frozen rope less than a foot off the ground, and it looked like a sure thing.

65' -- Jarot has a shot from the right side, but it's an extreme angle, Ferminus is right there ... and he misses it!! It's in, and we're tied up again at 2!! I can't believe and neither can he ... that's an automatic save for a poor keeper, it was well hit but almost right at him, he just needed to grab it and he missed the ball.

Worst part about this might be that Yani and Jarot had one goal combined on the year coming in.

67' -- They work it around, we nearly take it away a couple times but never get control of it. Yoku goes around two of our defenders on the right, Prasetyo goes out to cut him off and the pass is to Putra at the edge of the box. Patay is a half step late, Ferminus gets his hands to the ball but doesn't get quite enough of it and it's in! Two goals in three minutes, and all of a sudden we trail 2-3!

Well, we'll have to try and fight for possession and attack more, we've shown great fight all year long and now we need to rally again. We get nowhere with it though.

76' -- Looks like we have a good run up the seam by Sutanto but they cut him off. Yogi trails and tries to float one in from 35 ... not a bad try but from that distance it needs to be perfect and it's left of the goal. Adie's on for Herlan to give us fresh legs.

85' -- Mondow to Putra who is a step ahead of Prasetyo, and he angles it nicely from 12 out for another score. Well, they are just carving us up, no two ways about it. [b]2-4]/b].

90' -- Putra gets another crack, Ferminus with the save this time.


FT -- A couple guys seemed not to appreciate me singling out Muda, who was responsible for a couple of the goals. It was true and necessary though. Once Persibom turned it on about midway through the first half, nothing we did was able to stop them. Yogi and Herlan were fabulous but as a team, they were just better and that's the plain truth.

Interestingly, Sukisno stated that we were fantastic and admitted he got it wrong, saying I'm doing a great job at Persigubin. So that little brouhaha should go away.

Persibom retakes the top spot now, and we are four points clear of Persisko in the runner-up position. We definitely still firmly control our own destiny, and none of closest competitors have been on a particularly fine run lately, but as a result of losing today we've still got work to do in order to wrap up qualifying.
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Old 07-14-2014, 02:22 AM   #82
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
3.27 vs. Persipon(8-3-8, 7th) An early goal from Yogi held up until a late equalizer, and we could only get the one despite 24 shots in a draw for our first meeting. Overall we are 0-2-1 against Persipon, but are solid 4-5 favorites here today. We've got everyone ready to go except for Oropka who has a cold but shouldn't even be needed, so it's just as important for me to keep everyone healthy and get a couple guys back in shape as it is for us to get a result.

Persipon was recently knocked out of qualification contention, there are mathematically still six teams in the race for the two spots.

4' -- Each side has had a tight-angle shot go off-target, and now they miss a good try at a freekick. We're not off to a particularly good start.

9' -- Sutanto leads Yogi behind the defense, he hits it right at Lukman and it's blocked out. Should have done better with that, it was a clear opening.

Meanwhile, Persisko, our closest rival at the moment four points back, takes an early lead on PSKT.

We didn't score, but that sequence seemed to spark us to some better play and we were able to stay on the attack for a while.

14' -- Nearly a goal for Yarangga as he's just a hair high on a freekick try.

24' -- They've had very little play for a while now, and off a turnover Yarangga threads the needle up the right side for Saragih, he's in close for an angled shot ... off the right post ... off Lukman's leg ... out for a corner. So very close . ..

The corner bounces around but is eventually cleared, we hold it in and try to attack again, Ewangin goes down in the area no call and we get nothing.

27' -- Some nice passing gets it to Yogi mid-area, he tries to get a shot through traffic but it hits Ewangin who is offside.

After about twenty minutes of being shut down, they are producing a bit more counterplay.

34' -- Ewangin is high on a close freekick. A couple minutes later he's high again on an angled shot from distance. Definitely having trouble finding the range today, and it looks like he's about had as much as he can handle fatigue-wise. I put in Bayhaqi and Yogi takes the lead position.

40' -- We've got numbers on the right side, but try to get too cute. Herlan passes up a good shot to get it to Bayhaqi, but he should have just fired. They knock it out before we can get anything.


HT -- We controlled the last several minutes well and enter the break having played well enough to win but nothing to show for it yet. We have 58% possession, 10-3 in shots and all of theirs came early(3-0 on target), 5-0 in corners, two good chances neither of which we converted, but the bottom line is it's still 0-0. We need to convert our advantage.

The rest of the remaining qualification contenders:

Perssin is rather shockingly still tied at home 0-0 with Persemalra(who has been coming on lately and looks likely to avoid relegation, but still).

Persisko still leads PSKT 1-0.

Persebangga and Persibom have their games tomorrow.


47' -- A long freekick by Bayhaqi almost goes in accidentally. As it is we get corner number six out of it.

For a while, nobody gets anything going, but at the one-hour mark Persemalra goes up by a goal on Perssin.

61' -- Yarangga with a takeaway just over midfield, Sutanto brings it on the left side and hits one forward ... looks like it's to Yogi but Bayhaqi is there open on the right side, he'll have to volley it and beats Lukman easily inside the near post! We finally get our goal, and take the lead 1-0!!

62' -- Meanwhile, three goals in three minutes now as Perssin is up 2-1 on Persemalra. Looks like they just needed waking up.

69' -- Their first shot in about an hour is a 35-yard freekick that's simply sent into orbit.

72' -- Patay's hurt a bit and we put on Prasetyo, no reason to take any chances here. He's had himself a very solid game.

77' -- Persemalra shows fight and evens it up at 2-all.

80' -- A snap half-volley by Yogi tries to catch them by surprise, just outside the area, it's a decent try but wide left. His effort has been good day, execution not so much.

82' -- We have a corner and then a following inbounds, both lead to the ball bouncing around in the box, but we don't get the one lucky bounce to put it in.

88' -- Sutanto to Yogi to Bayhaqi, unselfish passing up the middle on a counter, Bayhaqi had what I thought was a gimme but Siswanto got his hands up to block it away. He's one of the best keepers in the league and showed why there.

91' -- Muda clears out a cross on their most dangerous rush of the game -- I'd be so ticked if we ended up with a draw now.


FT -- Tenser than it should have been, we survive for a 1-0 victory with Sutanto and Bayhaqi stealing the show. I get on perfectionist Yogi for an all-around subpar day and he gets fired up to do better. That guy, I swear criticism is mother's milk to him.

For the first time in my career, we do not surrender an on-target shot. We also go over 300 attendance for the first time, a whopping 353! That's more than we had last year in it's entirety ...

Patay is diagnosed with a thigh strain, and will be out a month-plus. We couldn't just stay healthy, that'd be too much. Prasetyo can fill in for him, he's not as good but not far off.
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Old 07-15-2014, 12:23 AM   #83
korme
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Location: Bloodbuzz Ohio
How many leagues are active in your game?
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Old 07-15-2014, 01:08 AM   #84
Brian Swartz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by korme
How many leagues are active in your game?

Um ... all of 'em(yes I know, I'm a sadist)

MARCH REVIEW

Yogi's second goal against Persibom is named First Division Goal of the Month.

Training -- Negatives in fitness for Kasipmabin, Oropka, and Ningmabin, none of whom will be with us next year. Positives are Setia(Shot Stopping), Sutanto(Tactics), and Saragih(Tactics). Good stuff.

STANDINGS

Persigubin(40 pts, +21)
Persibom(39 pts, +16)

Persisko(36 pts, +14)
Perssin(33 pts, +10)
Persebangga(31 pts, +9)
PSKT(30 pts, -1)
Persipon(27 pts, +1)
Jakarta Timur(23 pts, -7)
Yahukimo(22 pts, -10)
Persip(22 pts, -12)
Persemalra(13 pts, -22)

Persenga(12 pts, -19)

Persibom had a draw in their last game, and we move back up to first. Looks like the race for the top spot will go right down to the wire. We haven't technically qualified yet, but the only way we can fail to make it is if Persisko wins their last two and we get at best a draw and a loss. Perssin are technically still in it but need a miracle.

At the other end, I'm rooting pretty hard for Persemalra who has climbed out of the cellar. They've got work to do and will be hosting Persenga in their finale which will almost certainly decide the fate of both clubs.

We visit Perssin and assuming we don't win there, will have the finale at home against dangerous PSKT to clinch. I don't just want to qualify, we're in position to take first and I want to take that spot.

Board confidence remains delighted, very secure job, performance in First Division is positive. Iskandar Muda is starting to tick off the fans with poor performances, along with the complaints about style which I will continue to ignore.

Another 276M lost, what else is new.
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Old 07-15-2014, 01:14 AM   #85
Brian Swartz
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3.4 @ Perssin(4th) We had a 2-2 draw earlier at home, a game which was played while they were still in good form as the 'refuse to lose' crew. In that one though I felt we were fortunate not to lose it. They've been very drawish lately, slipping down the table a bit as a result(though still much better than predicted) as they've won only two of their last dozen contests. They have a couple of key injuries and as we are basically healthy and in better form, we're favored 4-5 here.

8' -- It's a pretty even battle early, and they're called for offsides on a through ball to Siegers, was an almost certain goal for one of the best players in the league if that call wasn't made. Still, I'm not happy with how we're defending and go a bit more conservative earlier than usual.

11' -- Sutanto gets an angled look and tries to go upstairs on the short side, deflected out but that was a fine effort. Corner goes to Prasetyo at the near post, where he's completely blocked off by at least three defenders.

It's a quality-of-possession deal so far, we're at least as good as they are when we have the ball, but they have it more.

21' -- We work it around, they block us off, and a long shot by Herlan goes wide. Very few chances either way so far.

24' -- Persibom takes a 1-0 lead on Persipon, dropping us back to 2nd place at least for the moment.

25' -- Corner for them and it goes to the far post, Irdan gets a head to it but he's drifting away as he does. Ferminus dives, but it's off the post, Saragih clears it ... off Ferminus and in!! An own goal charged to Ferminus though it was Saragih's fault, and that's not exactly what I had in mind. 0-1

31' -- Persipon ties it up 1-1 with Persibom, putting us back in first by differential. It's going to be a yo-yo the next couple of matches I think.

33' -- Sharp angled shot for Yogi but Bahar is in perfect position and it's blocked. Near post for Prasetyo on the corner, he outjumps two for the header but it's off the post! We needed that, worked on set pieces all week to get in position and miss ...

36' -- Syam misses a long shot, while Persisko has shockingly fallen behind at home to Persenga 1-0. If that holds up, we'll clinch even if we lose. Saragih sets up Yogi with a header, he had two defenders all over him though and it's wide.

40' -- Competing a little better now as we close in on the half. They cross it over and Yusalamony has a header and then a short shot on the rebound both blocked by Muda. If the header was closer to the post that was money, we got more than a little lucky there.

Just before the break, Persipon goes up 2-1 on Persibom. None of the top teams doing well today.


HT -- Even game but they've converted better, probably had a bit better quality chances overall too though it's been close. We're going to need to up our game.


47' -- A couple exchanges of possession and then they trip Saputra, freekick for us left of the area. Prasetyo's header is weak and cleared off the line, but he was far enough out that was a tough ask. Corner goes to him again at the near post and this time his soft header is just good enough to make it in!! Maybe that work did pay off, we tie it up at 1-all.

Pretty even battle for possession for a while, then they assert themselves again just past the hour mark.

64' -- Big play here as Siegers goes down in the area but is called for a dive and hit with a yellow. Persipon now up 3-1 on Persibom

69' -- Saragih to Yogi, that one drew him out wide and once again Bahar leaves no angle to shoot from. Corner is out for a repeat, then that is cleared. Time for fresh legs, Bayhaqi and Adie come on, Ewangin and Yarangga sit. Persibom pulls one back to make it 3-2, they're still in it.

We've started to get the upper hand a bit here, and I'm feeling good about our chances to at least hold the draw.

75' -- Adie to Saputra, chips one through traffic somehow just inside, but misses left by maybe a foot.

79' -- Freekick for Adie, quality save by Bahar who has done well the last bit here to keep us from scoring on a few different occasions.

82' -- Hendambo from a sharp angle is well off, that's their first shot of any kind since half.

85' -- Persenga(2-0 over Persisko) and Persipon(4-2 over Persibom) add insurance goals. By my count we are minutes away from qualifying ...


FT -- Good rally in the second half, we defended very well just couldn't get the winning score. Still, a road draw against a quality side. We outshot them 13-6 and didn't allow a shot on target for the second straight game.

It is indeed official, we have qualified for Second Phase and need just a draw at home in the finale to clinch first in Group D! What a year and achievement for this bunch!!
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Old 07-15-2014, 02:01 AM   #86
Brian Swartz
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4.14 -- A bruised head will keep Prasetyo out a week and a half, leaving us pretty bare right now in the defensive line.

4.16 Youth Candidate Day. We'll keep DM/MC Yusuf Yusuf, fresh in from the Department of Redundancy Dept. apparently, and DR Wawan Firmansyah. Both have good potential with the ability to serve in absolute emergency circumstances without completely embarrassing themselves at present.

4.17 -- Herlan suffered fractured ribs in training today, and will miss 2-3 months(in other words, he's done for the year). Adie will get one last shot now to do something memorable.

4.18 -- Voting begins for the player of the year awards. For Young Player of the year, Sutanto is considered one of the frontrunners ...

4.19 vs. PSKT(5th) Neutral site for this one. We had a crazy 4-4 draw the first time out, coming from behind three times, then losing a 4-3 lead at the end. We're 2-5 favorites for this one. Their coach Roland Khoibur refused to comment about our 'overachievement' with limited resources here, choosing to focus on his own club. Smart man.

We're the very last fixture of the year for Group D First Phase, and as it ends up we have nothing to play for. Persibom lost 2-0 at home to Perssin in their finale to make us tops in the group no matter what happens. At the bottom of the table, Persemalra needed a win but were only able to draw Persenga 1-1, and their failure is complete ... they should have been in Premier Division this year, and now they'll fall to Second Division.

As a result of this, I treat this as what it is -- a glorified friendly, and run out extra reserves with a goal only of maintaining fitness. PSKT is without multiple players, including keeper Fernando Pitoy who is well known to us.

GK: Setia
D: Urwan/Muda/Saragih/Kasipmabin
M: Ningmabin/Saputra/Adie
A: Bayhaqi/Oropka/Ewangin

I tell them to just go enjoy themselves, yet Saragih still fidgets nervously. He's a real basketcase that one -- and Bob thinks he's also become our best player. Not most important player, but best relative to his position.

2' -- Oropka up the right side of the area, goes near corner and hits the crossbar. A minute later, they complete misjudge a ball and Adie goes free into the same part of the pitch. Wide left.

That was his chance for one last moment of glory right there.

9' -- Lots of scramble in midfield, then Bayhaqi with a fine pass to Oropka streaking up the gut, took him too long to control it and then Ari blocked the shot away. He's done everything but score in the early going.

11' -- Adie with a very nice lead pass to Ewangin, we're really countering well today despite the limited squad, and he hits a very nice strike inside the left post! 1-0, and they've not threatened yet.

29' -- They've done a lot better at controlling midfield against us, neither side getting any serious threats for quite a while. Bayhaqi goes down left of the area, not what I needed to see. Sutanto comes on.

42' -- Freekick for Adie, good shot but Ari guess cross-angle correctly and tips it out for a corner.

45' -- They can't control a cross right at the edge of the box, and then Sutanto misses badly open at the edge of the area. Missed opportunities both ways.


HT -- Technically they have yet to attempt a shot(8 for us), even though we're getting beat up in possession(58% for PSKT). I wouldn't bet on that strange set of facts repeating itself.


60' -- Ewangin to Oropka, open in the area, should have scored but Ari blocks it away. It's to Sutanto angling in from the left and he's looking at an open net, puts it away with authority! 2-0!!

Adie is tired and starting to get banged up, Yarangga's on for him. The shot itself was nothing special but that goal was about anticipation, Sutanto saw where it was going before Muchtar did, got their first and the rest was paperwork. Should give him an extra shot in the arm for his Young Player of the Year campaign.

68' -- Setia is bracketed by two attackers on a cross, but punches it out safely, a good decision. Afandi fouls Ewangin in frustration.

The flow of this match is all going our way now.

80' -- Oropka up the right side for Urwan, fairly sharp-angle shot and he tries to outsmart Ari by floating it to the far corner, but he retreats and makes the save easily.

88' -- They suck us into the middle on a counter and then Suntoro waltzes in practically to the box, Setia didn't come out much in fear of a centering pass as they were all over us. Easy score, and it's 2-1 now.

Muda breaks up three rushes in a row with some solid plays, and it's over.


FT -- Could have done without another late concession, but a solid 2-1 win and more than I expected from the side we put out there. Defensively we were good up till the end, and nobody really had a poor day.

Suntoro steals away player of the match for that score, which I would beg to differ with. Imam Bayhaqi has a bruised thigh and will miss two weeks.
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Old 07-15-2014, 02:03 AM   #87
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
4.22 -- Second Phase Draw was today: we find out who we are playing in the battle for promotion. We are in Group A along with Persid(2nd in Group C), Persikad(2nd in Group B), and Persmin(1st in Group A). The view from the pundits is that this is a tough group.

Three days from now we visit Persmin, followed by a game each of the following two Saturdays as well. We'll know our fate by mid-May. I don't know what the criteria are, but we will have two of three away which won't help either.

We need only to not finish last to promote to Premier Division; if we finish first, we will also make it the First Division Final against the winner of Group B with significant prize money on the line. Merely making it here will help our financial situation though, with at least 820M coming our way for the trouble.

We're the top-scoring team but have conceded more goals than most and have made our way here mostly be being very consistent. Against top opposition we've been less impressive, so I think we will have our work cut out for us. Stylistically, we excel at the midfield turnover with a quick attack coming out of it, but the better sides don't hand us the ball as much and a large part of our game disappears. With only three games to decide the result, each will be crucial. There is simply no margin for error, but our chances are still good with only one of four failing to go up.

I order a rescouting of Indonesia talent, as we'll have some choices to make one way or the other as soon as this is over.

** Note: Since I'm a heartless jerk, I'll wait until until tomorrow to put up the Second Phase results ... **
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Old 07-15-2014, 02:25 PM   #88
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
4.25 @ Persmin(first match for both). They are 6-4 favorites at home, and the experts on the day are picking them as well.

My strategy here is to play semi-conservative with a countering style, looking for at least a draw here. A draw here and a win at home in the second game would put us in strong position for the away finale. We saw what happened to Persemalra when they won Group D and failed to advance, and I certainly don't want to put Persigubin in that position.

Persmin plays the 4-1-2-2-1 'V' formation, which we've seen a bit of already this year. They have five players out injured, while we will go without two(Bayhaqi and Herlan) important ones.

Here we go!! I tell the boys they know what to do, time for the talking to be over and the doing to begin.

2' -- Fireworks right away. Their left-back Gapura breaks up a couple of attacking moves, Yarangga has a nice to play to intercept and we hold it back in. Ewangin gets it in the area but he's doubled and can't get anything off. Saputra to Sutanto just left of the spot from 16, he first-times it to the near post ... but a diving save by Perwira, he showed good range and athleticism there to push it out, I thought that was a goal and it nearly was.

A good start though.

5' -- A corner goes near post, a crowd is there and Kombo makes the clearance. Big play.

After about the ten-minute mark they seem to have adjusted to us and are controlling the ball much better, we're on the back foot most of the time.

18' -- Sharp-angle shot by Usmanto is into the side.

19' -- Usmanto with a cross this time, they get a header to it in the box and that's gotta be a score ... no, Ferminus is close enough to block it somehow! Muda clears ... Wayega couldn't have been more than 2 yards for the goal, and Ferminus just reached out has hand and batted it away. They hold it in and Affandi puts one wide from 17 yards ... if they keep going like this they will score and it probably won't take them long. We need to find a way to go back on the attack.

They continue to dominate the ball, we're really up against it the last 20 minutes or so but we do better at staying tight and not allowing any good looks.

31' -- They center it and Muda comes too far forward, he misjudged that one and Wayega has it behind him! one-on-one all alone in on Ferminus, beats him to the left side ... but it hits the post and bounces straight back! Wayega tackles it away from Saragih, it sits there rolling a bit inside the box ... Saragih recovers and clears it. Oh my, we are just dodging bullets right and left here.

They inbound and center, close header for Nugroho just outside the box -- diving save by Ferminus and it rolls wide of the goal. Muda pushes it out for a corner, and you can just tell everyone is waiting for them to finally break through.

Finally we start to fight back a little. They're still the superior team, but we have our moments with the ball.


HT -- We're very fortunate to still be in this. They have a 7-3 edge in shots and 59% possession. All we can do is try to hang in.


Second starts with a two-man game on the right with Ewangin and Saragih. Their defense is disciplined though and we get only a corner which they clear out.

61' -- Back and forth it goes, sometimes Persmin looks like they're about to put the hammer down, sometimes we gain equality for a bit. Saputra to Saragih on the counter, centers for Ewangin who is into the area, tackled from behind, goes down no call, and we have a corner. Out for another one. Cleared.

Prasetyo comes on for Patay, who was solid though unspectacular.

65' -- An absolute gift as Nugroho is carded for tripping Adie. We have had three occasions where we could have reasonably been booked and they've been lenient, so I'd be mighty ticked were I on the opposite side.

It's looking like we might be able to hold them off, but I know how good we are at the late concession.

76' -- A crack for Yogi just inside the right of the area, well wide. Adie is done, Ningmabin on for him as I try to keep us as fresh as possible.

77' -- Yellow for Yarangga as the intensity is picking up on both sides. Well, that means he won't be around for our next match. Fantastic.

Two minutes later, he gets another and he's gone. We have ten minutes left plus injury time, and will have to do it without the heart of our midfield. I use our last sub and bring on Urwan for Sutanto, going to five at the back(5-2-1-1). We need to hold them out, and will only attack if there's a clear opening.

Ten freaking minutes.

85' -- They bobble a cross by Kombo, and we get a corner. Sure, I'll take it. Prasetyo sends it in, easily cleared.

We contest well and give them nothing, excellent defense.


FT -- We almost certainly should have lost this one, even though we had our moments early. A scoreless draw isn't exactly our game, but it's a gift here. They outshot us 9-6(3-1 on target) and had 55% possession, and we were very fortunate more than once they did not score.

Saragih is player of the match and he had one of his best matches of the year, effective up and down the pitch. Yarangga was playing hard in high-intensity situations at the end of a long game -- I decide not to fine him for this one.

Meanwhile, Persibom loses 3-2 in their first game and will now have ground to make up. In our group, Persid lost 1-0 to Persikad.

13,560 attended -- which is several times the capacity of our stadium. Perhaps that's one reason why we only get to host one ...
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Old 07-15-2014, 02:40 PM   #89
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
May Training -- Adie(Tactics) is a positive but we have negatives with Kasipmabin, Urwan, and Ewangin on fitness. Second time in three months for Ewangin so we have a chat about it.

5.2 vs. Persid(0-0-1, 4th) Win and we're in. It's that simple. We'd be four points up on Persid with one to play, an insurmountable lead. A draw and they could still catch us on the final weekend. Victory would also guarantee us a chance of catching Perskid for the top spot and final placement in the last game.

We feel we have better chances to attack against them, so we won't start out conservatively as we did last time though I'll adjust things based on how it goes like usual. With Herlan and Yarangga both sitting this one out(though Bayhaqi is now available again but limited), we'll be weak in midfield.

In the prematch presser they ask if Imam Bayhaqi will play(touch and go), nervousness about our biggest match of the year(of course), and my pick for Young Player of the Year(gotta be Sutanto right?)

We've been made solid 4-5 favorites. This, today, is our chance. We won't get another one like it. Somebody's going to be a hero or a goat(or both): whose day will it be?? The whole team's in excellent spirits -- we're as ready as we're gonna get. I tell t hem I expect them to go out and win promotion today -- Ewangin got fired up about that.

4' -- Yogi to Ewangin in the area, thought sure he was going to shoot but he hits the trailer Adie as he's cut off. Adie's looper from just inside the area was saved easily ... another chance missed.

5' -- We get a corner and Adie delivers it far post, headed out for a second try. He delivers it far post again, Muda gets to it among several players but heads high from about 8 yards out. Not a bad try.

7' -- Cross by Permana on their first rush, tipped over by Ferminus and they'll get a corner now. It goes to the near post, Yogi and their attacker Arufin get there at the same time, it bounces in! Well, that's about as bad a start as we could have gotten today, we trail 0-1

13' -- They hand us a corner with an errant routine backpass. It's cleared and we hold it in, then turn it over before we can get anything working. We're doing a solid job with possession but they're fighting us fairly hard for it. Not sure which way that battle will go yet.

18' -- Permana beats Kombo up the right like he's standing still, but Ferminus blocks out the angled shot. Still, I've seen enough of that, we're going to watch him closely and play a deeper line. Ferminus grabs the corner, and we repeat our earlier miss by Muda on the other end.

22' -- Another corner as they get in the way of a blast by Ewangin. Nothing.

24' -- Sutanto gets a crack from just outside, blasts one at the left corner ... off the crossbar! They call a foul on Persid in the aftermath, but it's outside the area so Adie will take a freekick. One time. High and wide. Not this time I guess. That shot by Sutanto was as close as we can get without scoring.

36' -- We've continued to control the action and get nothing for it. Adie gets another freekick, perfect position straight on maybe two yards outside. Blocked by the wall, swings it left to Ningmabin who has a look but right at Kusuma for the easy save.

39' -- Turnover as Saragih makes the interception on a lazy cross. Sutanto a through ball up the gut to Yogi, he draws two and leads Ewangin into the area with one man to beat. He's got a half-step, fires it on the bounce from just inside and that's over the diving arms of Kusuma on the right side! We tie it up at 1, and we're very much alive here!!

41' -- Great chance to add another one, Saragih passes up a good shot to give Yogi a better one but the pass is behind him and we get no shot. Smart play, just needed that one last pass to be better and he would have had a great look.

They trip Yogi and Adie has a freekick from 30+. He loops it in and Kusuma is right there.


HT -- Even at 1-1, but we're playing well enough to win(10-2 shots, 58% possession). I tell them to keep it up and the result will come. With more confidence than I actually possess. Over time, the law of averages says yes that will happen, but we don't have a big sample size -- we have this one half to stake our claim.


They move it on right away and Permana's speed gets an opening for a cross -- Patay is there with a big header to clear it.

47' -- Another freekick, well hit line-drive by Adie and Kusuma is there.

48' -- Transitions are sloppy with both sides throwing it around. A scramble in the area ends up in a weak shot by Saragih that's easily taken.

They're battling harder and more effectively for the ball this half.

55' -- Yogi just outside the area, nice lead pass for Sutanto who breaks at the right time and he's free at the edge of the box, first-time shot is by Kusuma before he can dive for it! 2-1, and we're now less than 40 minutes from the Premier Division!! Yogi made both plays happen, he's picked one heck of a match to bring top-notch trigger man skills.

57' -- Permana's loose for a bit on the left side, but Saragih tackles it out for a corner. It goes to Maliki at the far corner of the box, he heads it across ... Sutanto and Sandi collide and neither controls it ... Kombo gets to the clearance!! Phew.

60' -- Bad throw-in on their end but we give it right back, we defend just well enough and Saputra finally intercepts one in the area and we're back the other way. Bad cross by Saragih ... the cycle repeats. Arifin's cross has to be tipped out by Ferminus, and another corner.

I'm going to have heart attack before this one is over. I know it. We clear it though.

65' -- Long header by Sutanto, nice try but it really had no chance.

67' -- Adie puts one right at Kusuma on a 35 free. We hold it in and Saragih crosses from the right side ... Kusuma tips it, jump ball at the far post ... Sutanto's scored twice on similar plays but he can't get this one.

75' -- We have another corner and it's time to play keepaway and protect the lead. Adie comes out for Prasetyo, we'll go 5-2-2-1. Bayhaqi's on for Ewangin as well. A third decent shot at a header for Muda, a third goes high. He's consistent.

80' -- They have a corner. Less than 15 minutes. Less than 15 minutes. Less than 15 ... Muda clears. Miss more headers if you can defend now.

85' -- We pass it around forever, looking for an opening, Saragih crosses, Sutanto heads it from right in front, perfect angle but Kusuma dives to make the save just before it can go in. Gotta applaud that, I thought we had an insurance score there.

We hear it from the fans though who love the patience and execution on the attacking move.

86' -- They're getting desperate now and Rofiq fires high from at least 30.

88' -- They head it toward goal from the edge of the area ... Muda is there to head it away to Saputra who nods it on ... and a bad pass by Yogi gives it right back.

ARGHZORZ!!

Chaos reigns in midfield for a few stressful minutes as neither club can gain control for long.

92' -- Ningmabin launches one into orbit from the edge, just because he felt the need to I guess.

93' -- Bayhaqi with a corner, Sutanto comes flying in and is just beat out to the ball. Later, Yogi gets a header in front but puts it just wide.

A final clearance by Prasetyo, and it's over!


FT -- We win 2-1, a solid victory after the initial disaster and it's now official: Persigubin are going up to the Indonesian Premier Division in 2015/16!! Yogi is the unequivocal player of the day, with Sutanto definitely more than worthy of an honorable mention. Another fine day by Saragih in defense, he has really come on espescially as a crosser in the attacking phase.

The board declares getting promotion to be a 'quite unbelievable achievement' and calls my performance 'remarkable', hoping I'll stick around for many years.

Really?? Then OFFER ME A FREAKING NEW CONTRACT ALREADY!!!!

Ewangin also directed credit my way.

Ironically, this was not even our biggest attendance of the year(329).

All of this is not lost on the press who begin by asking if I'll be here next year, pointing out the uncertainty of my contract. I'm tempted to take the high road here, but I've always been a straight shooter. I decide there's nothing wrong with putting pressure on the board, and point out they've had all the time in world to give me a new deal and time is running out. They went on to blather on about how we don't foul much(except for Yarangga), our comeback, Sutanto's goal and other matters.

Persibom wins as well, 3-1, and they have all but clinched promotion. They would have to lose and have Persidago win big on the final game to not make it.
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Old 07-16-2014, 09:10 AM   #90
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
5.6 -- Yarangga will be out again now after straining a wrist(2 weeks). That will hurt.

5.9 @ Persikad(1-1-0) There's still the matter of who represents Group A in the finale to be decided. The winner of this game will be that club ... but if we draw I don't know what will happen. That would keep goal differential the same(+1), and if Persim beats Persid by a goal, they would be tied with us both in points and differential as well for a three-way chaotic finish that is quite possible.

Of course, my goal is simply to win today(a big ask on the road to be sure): if we can manage it, none of that matters, we'd be the unquestioned top of the table club. We'll start off with our usual counter-attacking road strategy, particularly since they like to jump out early in the first half of play. With a weakened midfield, we will need to finish well any chances we have.

Persikad are narrowly favored here(6-4). Their star striker(Suheri Purwasih, 18 goals in 27) will receive major attention from the outset from our defense.

Both sides pass the ball like they can't tell the difference between their uniforms and those of the opponent -- yeah, I think the players are nervous too.

2' -- Long angled shot by Sasongko, well over.

3' -- Decent setup from Sutanto-Yogi-Ewangin with a shot just outside, had a good look at it but it's high and wide.

4' -- Purwasihp tries a long one but Patay stays right with him and blocks it back.

5' -- They get another long shot, off-target. Both teams are impatient right now.

7' -- Supriyadi with a cross from fairly deep ... it dips down and comes in under the bar for a freak score! I could really have done without that, pure luck there and once again we give up an early tally. 0-1

20' -- The last few minutes they've taken control of the possession struggle pretty solidly after an even start. This is definitely going to be an uphill fight for us.

21' -- Patay called for a trip on Purwasih, and he gets handed a yellow. Sasongko is wide with the freekick. I don't think I can afford to pull Patay, so I have to hope he is smart now.

24' -- Mixup between their defensemen, and Sutanto pounces on the loose ball with a chip from about 20 .... just skims high. That was almost the break we needed.

We take it back and Ewangin threads the needle to Yogi, poor ball control there unusual for him, and they concede only a corner. They clear it out, but that was still a nice sequence that we need to see more of.

31' -- We get another corner kick. Nothing.

33' -- Albana wheels middle to the edge of the area, shoots it well wide. As we've been playing better I switch up to a more balanced approach, risky as we could give up an easy one but a close loss will do us no good. It lasts about ten minutes as we don't get much, they adjust, and I pull back.


HT -- I tell the team they need to step up their game, most react well, Sutanto does not.


46' -- Nice passing gets them Susongko at the left corner of the box. Ferminus waits patiently and cuts of the angle, blocking the shot away and we clear. That's the best opportunity we've given.

52' -- Ewangin makes mincemeat out of one of their defenders, then sprays it right to Saragih. He's in on the angle, tries to go across but Sriyanto makes a nice save and we get a corner. Good play there, keeper was just better than the shot.

Adie with the kick, Patay goes up in a crowd feet in front of the goal. ... and they call a foul! Supriyadi is whistled for a penalty!! Karma, perhaps??

It's Yogi Time. He steps to the spot knowing that this shot could well mean the difference between making the First Division Final and not making it. Sriyanto awaits ... dives left ... Yogi's shot went right and he probably wouldn't have gotten it anyway, we're tied at 1!!

40 minutes to go.

55' -- Persmin is up 2-0 on Persid. If both scores hold, they will make the final on goal differential. We need to win, and I go for the jugular by going back to a less conservative approach.

56' -- Corner. Can't get it to Patay, Yogi heads it back in, Sriyanto snags it.

58' -- Ewangin leads Saragih who is behind them on the right side ... oh, he had a good chance there but just didn't get much on it, a relatively easy save. A little more mustard and we would have the lead. Another corner. Similar to the one we got a penalty from, but Sriyanto is there.

59' -- Long angled shot by Yogi is way off.

62' -- I don't believe what I just saw!!! We inbound from the left side, Kombo throws it right up the endline into the area. Ningmabin has it between two defenders, but he can't shoot from there ... dribbles past them like they aren't even there to a better angle a bit inside the box, and easily beats Sriyanto for the score! That is the best individual move I've seen this year. By Melianus Ninmabin. Maligned by our fans. Retiring at the end of the year. Scoreless this year with just five shots attempted. And he just put us half an hour from the First Division final!!!!!

Naturally it's time to go defensive with the 5-2-2-1. Normally it'd be Ningmabin I pull, but not on your life now. Adie sits. He's earned the right to stay out there. If Yarangga hadn't gotten hurt, he never would have even been on the pitch. Just incredible.

71' -- They pass to Jaelani just outside the corner of the box ... we're on him tight ... and get it cleared for a corner. Jaelani takes the kick ... Supriyandi is open at the far post but Muda sees him just in time and clears with a header. They hold it in, Jaelani crosses a jump ball mid-area ... Sutanto heads it clear. Again they pass it in, Prasetyo is there and booms a clearance downfield.

Twenty minutes.

75' -- Albana moves across from the right and lets one go, 25+ deep and well right of the goal. It's a well-struck one with a great angle though and Ferminus barely gets a hand to it ... enough to deflect so it hits the left(far) post, bounces back across the goal mouth ... and Ferminus gets there first to the rebound.

I was right last game. I'm going to have a heart attack. Almost a second fluke goal.

We come back the other way. Saragih. To Yogi. To Sutanto, one man to be t and he's clear, but it's poked away by Rivelino[, bounces off Sutanto. Right to the man of the hour in the middle, Ningmabin. Volleys it from 18 ... easily beats Sriyanto to the left side!! Two goals for him, and it's 3-1!!!

Un-freaking-believable!!!!

78' -- Persikad go to a 4-2-4, it's desperation time.

79' -- Weak header by Sasongko, Sutanto moves to intercept ... but it bounces off him back towards the goal .... and right to Ferminus.

Just make this end.

82' -- Sutanto to Ewangin behind the field on the counter, tries to loop one into the right side as Sriyanto comes out but misses. Golden opportunity there, but we're ten minutes away.

84' -- Sasongko gets a close freekick, tries to go upstairs and Ferminus tips it over. Corner. Out of play. Fans starting to hit the exits.


FT --- That's it!!! Yet another come-from-behind win, 3-1, and we're eaded to the First Division Final!!! And how about Melianus Ningmabin -- you absolutely could not make this stuff up if you tried. If it was a movie I'd dismiss it as hyper-sentimental hogwash, but truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. What an amazing performance!!!!

Almost 4500 showed up for this one. Twice the size of our stadium.
'
We've got a week and a half now before the final, and Yarangga might be back for it. Even if he is, Ningmabin's getting the start. He's earned it and then some.
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Old 07-16-2014, 09:34 AM   #91
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
5.20 vs. Perserang. Well we're 1-2 favorites to take the title against semi-pro Perserang, but there are some picking them., It's a weird line, but it's a title game and lots of opinions out there. It's the first First Division final for either club. Both have made history already: one is about to make some more. They play the 4-1-2-2-1 'V'.

Most importantly for the club: we're about to take in over 1b to work on the financial side, no matter who wins. An extra 80m if we do take it.

We'll try to win the possession battle and attack from the outset.

4' -- Nice counter, we were back but Gunawan got a header from inside the box but tough angle, off the side.

8' -- Ewangin draws the defense wide, crosses and Sutanto has a good look at a header but way too much angle on that.

11' -- Same drill Saputra has an angled try that's right at the keeper.

13' -- Corner ... Sutanto floats it over and their keeper has it.

15' -- They look for Rastawan up the gut, excellent pass but Patay's close enough for a sliding tackle to intercept at the last second. Corner. Kombo and Yogi clear it.

So far we're losing the battle at midfield pretty badly like last game, so counter-attack it is.

17' -- Corner for us. Yeah it's a broken record right now as both clubs are keeping a lot of the attackers to the perimeter. Out of play by Sutanto ...

22' -- Yogi wheels right, fires and it's not high enough, easy save.

23' -- They try to pull us out wide and cross but we don't bite.

25' -- Long-range header by Sutanto is wide and not much on it. We aren't getting quality shots but are looking better and better overall, I think we've got a good shot if we keep pushing.

28' -- Wide shot from the right, we had that one blocked off well. Our defending is top-notch so far today except for that early header they had.

33' -- They have another corner, Ningmabin is there to clear.

38' -- Absolutely beautiful touch passing play. Saputra - Sutanto - Yogi - leads Ewangin into the area, perfect ball there and between three defenders to the open man. Caught the keeper leaning left and placed the shot into the right side, and we take a 1-0 lead!

40' -- Rifled angled shot by Gunawan, just high.

41' -- Rastiawan wheels around Kombo, but can't get the shot on target.

46' -- Probably 30 seconds before the half, after they work it around awhile similar play to their first threat. Rastiawan finds Gunawan with a close header, and this time he buries it. Lead gone, 1-1 at the break.


HT -- Hopefully we contain those two now, they are playing well together. We still can take this I think, we were better most of the first half.


46' -- They try it again, Saputra's there to clear. One thing about these guys, they know where their bread is buttered and how to get it there.

47' -- they have a corner.

50' -- Ferminus grabs a dangerous deep freekick. We come back down and get our first ... anything ... of the half. Saputra, Sutanto, first time pass leads Ewangin. Couldn't have been set up better and an easy score! 2-1 now, how about we keep the lead this time??

56' -- Adie on for the tiring Yarangga. Bad turnover for them, ends up with a good look at the goal by a trailing Yogi who is wide.

67' -- They're controlling play too much for my liking now. Prasetyo on for Ewangin who has done his job and then some. Time to go five at the back and preserve the title! Corner, cleared to Sutanto who rifles a half-volley that looked in at first. Just wide.

69' -- Prasetyo clears out a cross, and Putra absolutely unloads a line drive from 25 yards that Ferminus just manages to parry. That was a cannon shot there. They can't keep the corner in play.

71' -- Saragih goes up the right side to Adie, two defenders are with him but they can't stop him -- they can trip him -- and a penalty is called!!

Again Yogi buries it. 3-1 now, and that's a bit of a final moment for Adie there even though he didn't get to make the conversion.

That's 18 goals this year for the guy who didn't want to come back.

72' -- They keep attacking and get a decent look just inside, not quite enough to test Ferminus though.

78' -- They get a corner. Caught by Fermie. He sends it downfield ... and crumples to the ground! Doesn't look too serious, but on comes Setia.

82' -- Setia grabs another corner. Some incredible headers start a counter, which ends with a nice move by Adie to get a shot from just outside the area, which he hits well but high.

FT -- The rest passes uneventfully and Persigubin win the First Division crown 3-1!! There are no words for such a season ... magical? Ewangin and Yogi steal the show today.

9,090 came to watch.

There is no-one left to play! We'll enjoy this for a while, and it's hard to imagine what could top it. The fans celebrate, and suggest I be given freedom of the city for 'performing miracles' with the club. The board called this win a 'truly momentous' thing and said 'anything was possible' with me at the helm.

Thank you very much. Now about that contract ...

The press's second question is a little ridiculous, saying everybody's gonna want even more and how will I respond to the added pressure. I say they're being ridiculous and suggest they let us enjoy today first. They want a 'proper answer', to which my response is to get up and leave. I don't have time for their nonsense.

1.11b is our reward for the title.
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Old 07-16-2014, 05:45 PM   #92
Tellistto
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Location: Whitman, MA
Nice work. Hope you parlayed this into a bigger club to manage!

Tell
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Old 07-17-2014, 02:20 AM   #93
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
14/15 SEASON REVIEW

Getting more depth and balance in the squad proved more valuable than I had imagined in my wildest dreams. Only a couple occasions did we have to play someone at an unfamiliar position. Some of the new players performed quite well, but most of the success came down to having that depth to plug in where it was needed. While we had injury issues like everybody does, we were not plagued by anything like the rash that started us off in the gutter my first season.

Another key was consistency. In the second half of the year we were actually a little better than the first if anything, while all of our main rivals declined. This squad also showed tremendous fight and determination, rallying from behind time and time again, sometimes twice in the same game. This was clearly on display in our last two contests, where we allowed the first goal both times yet went on to victory. The 0-0 draw away at Persmin in the first Second Phase contest was huge, and a bit underserved. They had immense pressure on us for a while, and had they converted they would likely have made the final instead of us.

Tactically we were at our best creating midfield turnovers and then going on the attack with six, seven guys all able to contribute to creating a shot at the goal. Because of this we excelled at taking advantadge of errant passes by our weaker opponents, but better teams were usually able to keep us out of possession and limit our chances. Clearly we'll need to get better to compete at the next level, where almost everyone we play will fit into the latter group. We were sounder defensively than last year(espescially at the end of the year), but there is still improvement to be made in that.

AWARDS

I was named First Division Coach of the Year, and Sutanto finished Runner-up in the Young Player of the Year voting. Also worth noting is that Sutanto and Yogi were named in the First Division Team of the Year!

BOARD REVIEW

They are absolutely delighted, consider my job untouchable, and won't discuss a new contract.

Annual Training Postives -- Saragih(Defending), Saputra(Tactics), Kombo(Fitness), and Muda(Defending)
Negatives -- Oropka, Ningmabin, Urwan. Two of them won't be back, so who really cares?

Team Meeting: I congratulate them on an amazing year and tell them we plan to stay in Premier Division. Ewangin leads the charge in agreeing, everybody's on cloud nine right now so I think I could have told them they were a bunch of stupid sorry parasitic sacks of entrails and they would have cheered.
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Old 07-17-2014, 01:45 PM   #94
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
Fast Facts

** Scored: 62(54 reg. season). 7 more than anyone else in First Division, a new record!
** Allowed: 35. Five fewer than last year, a little above average but not spectacular. It was our offense that was the strength of the club.
** Attendance: 270 average. 15 times last year's average of 19, but still only 9.4% of our capacity(2875). 33rd in First Division, and even that masks the fact that the top 31 clubs had close to 1k or more. That's sort of a tipping point that we didn't even approach.

PLAYERS

GK Ferminus(23 conc in 17 app, 4 shutouts)
GK Setia(15 conc in 13 app, 4 shutouts)

Ferminus the better of the two clearly despite the numbers, but we think he may have lost something with the two injuries this year.

DR Saragih(27 app, 4 a)
DCR Patay(20 app, 1 a)
DR Urwan(5 app)
DRLC Prasetyo(21 app, 2 g) -- 2 goals on 4 shots!
DL Kasipmabin(6 app)
DL Ferry Kombo(24 app, 1 g, 2 a)
DC Iskandar Muda(27 app, 3 g, 1 a)

Saragih was the most important overall, largely because he can contribute in all areas. He and Prasetyo can now play any of the back line positions which gives us more flexibility and coverage. We need to get Saragih into the scoring column next year, he did not score despite taking 16 shots. On the other wing, Kombo was somewhat mistake-prone but overall very solid.

Overall though we were better, but it's mixed. While Muda was a much better central defenders than anyone last year or his partners this year, he also cost us six goals. Patay/Prasetyo were not as good, didn't contribute as much on either end(if we needed a key header on a set piece, Muda was the go-to guy, last year there was nobody), but they didn't have the downside of going for balls and misjuding them either.

MRC Patrick Adie(10 app, 2 a)
MLC Melianus Ningmabin(17 app, 2g/1a)
MC Frans Yarangga(23 app, 1g/1a)
MC Dodi Saputra(28 app, 3g/5a)
MC Herlan(22 app, 3g/6a)

The big change here was the contributions newcomers Saputra and Herlan made as far superior midfield contributors in all aspects to anyone we had last year. The way they supported the attacking players and recycled possession was vital to our offensive explosion.

AMC/ST Fabian Yogi(26 app, 18g/8a)
AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka(12 app, 2g/5a)
AMC/ST Imam Bayhaqi(20 app, 9g/2a)
AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(24 app, 6g/12a)
ST Engel Ewangin(22 app, 14g/7a)

With better support from the back, our attacking corps blew up this year, esp. Yogi, Ewangin, and Sutanto who led the team in assists -- not bad for a guy who's only 17! A solid debut year for Bayhaqi as well.
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Old 07-18-2014, 04:48 AM   #95
Brian Swartz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tellistto
Nice work. Hope you parlayed this into a bigger club to manage!

Thanks, and well ... I did try ...

OFFSEASON

The big question is of course this: with our finances, how in the world do we compete in Premier Division? We don't even have a respectable First Division fanbase ... It didn't help that a local planning commission blocked the move to a larger ground for a new stadium a couple days after the season ended, so we're in limbo on that. One change in the Premier is that three foreigners are allowed, so some out-of-country scouting was authorized.

Meanwhile, we retained a total of seven youth players, the most notable of which are three DMCs -- we don't use a DMC, but that could always change if these guys pan out -- and AMC Muhammad Triyono who my reports list as having more raw talent than anyone currently on the senior roster. They say he could someday not just play at the Premier level but be a legitimate star there.

Beginning on June 7, the US participated in the Gold Cup. They started with a 1-0 win over Honduras, early optimism tempered by a shocking 2-1 defeat to Surinam despite conrolling most of the match and a draw against El Salvador as a late concession led to a 1-1 final. A disappointing win, loss and draw in group play but it was just enough to make the quarterfinals ... where Mexico drilled them 3-0, all the goals coming in the first half hour. Embarassing, and Garza got himself sent off later in the match just to round off the digusting display. Mexico would later win the Gold Cup for the third consecutive time, while Arema flattned Persija 4-0 to take their second Indonsian Cup in three years.

BUDGETS

We'll take in another 100M from sponsorships this year as opposed to last, a nice boost, but I was still surprised to see a 67.5M payroll baselilne(well up from 41M last year). A good part of this will be eaten up in automatic promotion raises, but there will be room to improve the squad as well. Interestingly, Persinab(who I was impressed with last year and promoted from our First Division group) was relegated back down which shows the difficultly of making it at the higher competition. They had 26 pts ... safety required just 28 so it was a tight battle all the way but they couldn't stay up.

We must find a way to succeed where they failed. The salary we've been given works out to 3.5B a year, which would have been exactly at the midpoint of Premier Division clubs this year. Persinab spent 3.1B not making it, with the top spenders at over 11.5B.
The board has done their part, it's a respectable financial commitment they are making. It's up to me now.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Two interesting options came up, big Premier club Persidafon who has been yo-yoing between the Super League and Premier and just missed out on going back up last year. When that didn't work out, I try at PSBL(First Division) whose coach they hired. Both laugh off my interest as absurd. It's pretty obvious what is going on here -- the Persigubin board are refusing to negotiate as they have a position of strength: despite our fantastic year, I've not yet earned enough respect to convince anyone else I'm worth taking a chance on. Therefore, why should they give me any security and limit their options -- I'm not going anywhere else, because there's nowhere to go, nobody who will take me.

So I'm here for, in all likelihood, at least another couple of years. Time to focus in on staying up in the Premier Division. The board releases a statement of disappointment that I continue to look for other jobs. You could always offer me a contract ... which I suggested, again, before I started to apply. So basically, shut up guys.

JULY

Back to trying to make Persigubin better. I estimate we have about 10M/wk. available. Board hasn't told me I can't hire any new staff: what they have done is limit contracts to between half and a third of what any decent candidates will accept. Which is basically the same thing. However, I am left wondering what would happen if any of my current staff left ... I don't see how I'd be able to replace them.

Either way, I see our biggest need as clearly being a better keeper. Neither of ours have Premier potential, and we definitely need a player or two in midfield and/or attack as well with the departing players(Oropka, Ningmabin, Adie). I don't find anyone who is a quantam leap, but do manage to sign T.M. Syarif, a moderate improvement with the potential to grow into a good Premier-level keeper, for 2.75M. Of the next round of offers, we got only one commitment, Cambodian MC Chhun Kirivutharo for 2.2M -- but he wouldn't be able to join us until his current contract ends in January. This is the club's first foreign signing, and as such a historic moment. We don't have the money to significantly remake the roster, and so I spring for just one more .. 3M for youing striker Iwan Akbar after a number of other options fall through for various reasons. Akbar came up through the youth program at none less than Persib, then was eventually released. One man's trash ...

July 11 -- We announce a loss of 1.7B, a shocking 47% of turnover, by far our worst yet. The board is optimistic that increased 'commercial opportunities' from being in the Premier will improve this number for the coming season.

August

We are named Overachievers of the Year for the First Division last season, with Yogi's performances named a key and Imam Bayhaqi considered one of the year's top signings. A nice shot in the arm for us, and it's hard to disagree. Yogi is named Fan Player of the Year for the second year in a row, no surprise there. Ningmabin moved on to Persiss in the First Division, the other three released players are still out there.

I'm listed as the only name now under Favored Personnel, ditto for Yogi under Legends.

The board says in order to increase our payroll we'd need a top-half guarantee, which is a laugh so we'll stay at 'Consolidate', i.e. 'be competitive'. I'm not sure what they mean by that. We also receive 872M in TV Rights. There's a new one.

Interestingly enough the Premier Division has split into four groups this year instead of three. We'll once again be in Group D. Top team makes the Second Phase, bottom two are relegated. They have also shrunk the season from 30 to 22 games, so it will be the same length as last year as they seem to have just copied the First Division format. Oh, and we've been picked dead last -- but after being taken 9th(finished 11th) and 11th(1st) the last two years I'm not sure how much that really means.

With the automatic promotion raises we are now up to about 63M in payroll, 4M left in the kitty. I'd like to keep as much of that there as I can as a hedge against raises when we do our contract renewals in a few months, but I also am going to try to bring in two people: an inexpensive emergency backup in midfield, and some kind of coach for the U21s to help with training. We can't develop those players without someone, even if they completely suck, to work with them. I couldn't find a midfielder for the price I wanted that would be useful enough, so I just decided that we'd give one of the youngsters a pro contract if it comes to that -- which it will if we have any midfield injuries before the end of the year.

He may not know any more about it than I do, but Bob is of the opinion that some of our players can hang at this level to some degree. It's about a 50-50 split, which isn't that bad. My hope will be to not embarass ourselves, stay up, and then next year to try and bring in a few more players to upgrade what we have to work with.

Also new this year is that a couple of clubs were willing to accept friendlies, meaning we can play against actual opposition not our U21s. The real benefit here is financial, as we can start to get some appearance fees to supplement club income. Long-term we need to start moving the club towards solvency: that's the only way I'm ever going to get a real staff, better facilities, all the things we will need to improve.

On that front, I ask the board to work on a parent club again. They tried a couple of years ago and got nowhere, but maybe someone would be willing be our affiliate now that we are in the Premier. Later in the month, I find out that -- nope, not gonna happen.

Indonesia beat Malaysia on penalties after a 2-1 home win followed a defeat on the road by the same score. 4-3 in the shootout to narrowly advance to the second round, where a strong win at home in the second leg made it 7-4 over Kryzgstan. They've been drawn in Group 4 of the Third Round, with the top two nations qualifying for Final Stage. Australia(55), Kuwait(113), and Bahrain(130) are the others: this is already further than Indonesia made it last time around. Australia you can pretty much pencil in with the other three fighting for the second spot.

Last edited by Brian Swartz : 07-18-2014 at 04:49 AM.
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Old 07-18-2014, 02:12 PM   #96
Brian Swartz
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SEPTEMBER

We give up on hiring a youth coach as the money required just isn't there. We've now got 12 players making 350k a week for a total of 4.2M a week that is basically wasted, so it's an expensive lesson ... Sutanto continues to improve and took another significant step this offseason. At 18 years old, he isn't far behind the top players at the club now.

I also decided to give out a couple of pro contracts to our younger players. Obviously this won't help the finances any, but if we want to get anything out of these guys we need them training. AMC/MC Bangun Priyono, who was so impressive last year in our Indonesian Cup game and has consistently been a threat in intra-squad friendlies, will be our emergency midfield backup. He'll take 750k with a 5% annual raise. The second one is DL Widodo Faizal. He's our most polished young player and is actually a serviceable backup right now, and left back is one of our weakest depth positions. But the real kicker here is that his evaluation has been upgraded this year to the point where Bob thinks he has Super League potential: this is the first time he's said that about any of our players. He'll take 600k and a 5% annual raise, which makes me wonder if I should have lowballed him even more.Regardless, these two signings will cost up less than 1M combined, a bargain I would say.

We lost another 560M last month. The financial situation is getting worse not better, at least for now. A few weeks I suspended all scouting except for upcoming opposition, as I don't plan on adding any new players until next year anyway.

9.4 -- Indonesia puts up a good fight against Australia before falling 2-1 on a late score.

9.11 -- While I'm sure it will be an unpopular choice with the players as always, we select minimal competition bonuses. Anything we can do to reduce costs simply has to be done. Sutanto and Herlan were the most disappointed as was the case last year. The former is of course the biggest concern, but hopefully we'll be able to keep him in the fold as we have the last couple years. If not, well ... no player is bigger than the club. After all, does anybody even really care or remember what happened to Uropmabin? We brought in Bayhaqi and time marches on.

9.13 -- We'll keep our field narrow as that plays to our strength through the middle.

9.15 -- A consortium of businessmen is planning a takeover and will soon approach Wahyu Fadii with an offer, according to the Indonesian Soccer Gazette. I'm thinking just now this is karmic retribution for a very charmed pre-season so far: not a single major injury to anyone on the senior squad.

9.30 -- Lots of bids for Sutanto so far this year, but this time we have an offer on the table for 145M plus a loan-back clause at the end of the year. We could use the money of course, but I'm not letting him go -- he's a huge part of our future. There are now nine clubs interested in him overall, but he shows no interest in wanting to leave.

OCTOBER

We haven't heard anything the last couple of weeks on the bid one way or the other. The board asks for my 'continued patience while they deal with the speculation'. Like I have a choice. We lose another 199M, at least it's not as much as we were losing. That's with another 60M in appearance fees coming in. Debt stands at 4.25B.

10.1 -- We start off the month with our first injury of significance. Iwan Akbar's competitive debut will wait now as a strained wrist during training will cost us him for two weeks, meaning he'll miss at least our first match.

10.4 -- We announce season ticket sales of 84, up from 64 last year so a healthy increase in our fan base is expected.

10.8 -- Another Sutanto offer, this one with 42M up front, and another 142 spread over the next two years. No. He's not leaving. Deal with it.

I got asked a bunch of dumb questions(the only kind the media knows, really) in a pre-season presser, and we are now under transfer embargo until the takeover bid is resolved.

My favorite Q/A: Do you have a favored side of eleven prepared for the coming season? I mean what the heck am I supposed to say? No, I've had most of these guys for a year or two and just spent two months working with them in training and friendlies, so naturally I haven't the foggiest notion who I'm going to play?? Get a clue.

They also thought Ewangin was the top key to our season. Um, no. Yogi is the man here, to the extent there is one. He did just score 18 goals last year you know.

And with that, another season is upon us. Tactically we'll remain with the 4-3-2-1 Narrow that worked well for us later year. The overall balance of talent in the squad is quite similar as we mostly replaced the departing with upgrades and that's about it.

RANKINGS

Indonesian Super League -- 22nd(+5)
Premier Division -- 32nd(+4)
First Division -- 79th(+4)
Second Division -- 105th(no change)

Indonesia -- 152nd(+22)
United States -- 37th(-17)

Persigubin -- 81st(+56!!)

Professional Approval -- 19.5%(+4.4)
Local Name Recognition -- 53.1%(+9.4)
Global Name Recognition -- 5.6%(+5.1)

Persipura remains the top club in Indonesia in the new rankings. The biggest rises and falls are clubs well known to us. Persemalra fell like a rock with their relegation after nearly promoting disaster ... and we are the biggest risers! There aren't any lower-division clubs above us now. There are still 13 First Division clubs ranked higher, and are only second-to-last(a bit above Persebo) in the Premier Division. Meanwhile, Indonesia seems to be improving across the board.
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Old 07-18-2014, 09:52 PM   #97
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
** I haven't played much recently for various reasons, current game date is the middle of December 2017, so we're just over two years behind now. I wanted to get things more caught up anyway.

10.11 @ PS Biak Numfor. And we're off. Lots of questions. Are we good enough to compete, or was last year's magical run a one-off? Can we create enough turnovers at this level to effectively counterattack? Is the club about to be sold and, if so, will they even keep me around?

Am I ever going to stop asking stupid questions and just get to the game already?

We start with what I think will be our top lineup this year:

GK: T.M. Syarif
D: Kombo/Patay/Muda/Saragih(unchanged from last year)
M: Herlan/Yarangga/Saputra(also unchanged)
A: Sutanto/Bayhaqi/Yogi(Ewangin coming off the bench now, and probably Akbar as well once he's back).

Bayhaqi's first year as a regular starter, and our new keeper Syarif are the biggest things that are different.

We're as ready as we can be, looked good at the end of preseason in the friendlies, and are better prepared tactically than either of the previous two seasons. Time to get it on. This is the first of four games to start us off in October. Since we're picked dead last, I imagine we'll be underdogs against everybody: today PSBN are only slight 5-4 favorites though.

3' -- Didn't take us long to concede a fairly dangerous attacking move and a corner, with Muda making the key header to defend it. Still, we're definitely on the back foot here.

4' -- Two more corners, no shots yet but I'm already nervous.

5' -- Angled shot from Prasetyo, Syarif pushes it away fairly easily.

8' -- We've had precious little possession so far, but work the triangle to perfection. Yogi leads into the area, Bayhaqi runs onto it at the edge of the box, the keeper has no chance from that range. We take the lead on the road 1-0!

10' -- Wow. They push it up the left and we take it away, Sutanto goes up the gut to Yogi who outmaneuvers two defenders and their keeper to get an angled shot on an open net. 2-0, and I'm rubbing my eyes to make sure I'm really seeing this. 2-0

13' -- They try the same thing again, Saragih takes it away again. Sutanto feeds it to him on the right side, he's in for a one-on-one ... blocked away! You can't have em all, but he's the quickest to the rebound and easily puts it in the half-open net!

3-0!!! Is this really happening??

15' -- I'm convinced that these guys really suck. Another counter and we almost get a great shot about three times as their defense nearly hands Sutanto the ball at the edge of the box before clearing it. Less than a minute later, cross by Saragih, batted up in the air by the keeper, Sutanto nudges it in. 4-0. What a joke this match is!!! I think that one would have gone in by itself actually after seeing the replay, so really he stole a goal from Saragih in a sense.

19' -- Great pass from Kombo sets up Sutanto angled on the left, into the side. That was a very makeable shot too. They still have more possession than we do, but that's been a moot point for a while now.

25' -- Syarif's turn to bobble a ball but Muda is there to put it out for a corner. Either they have started playing better or we are on autopilot.

31' -- Sutendro blasts one after a poor clearance, defense was still in good position and a solid job by Syarif to block it wide.

45' -- A long kick by Syarif gets all the way through to Bayhaqi who has his shot blocked away. We retain it, but cant get clear for another look.


HT -- They actually were the better team the majority of the time, but for those 10-15 minutes when they weren't, we utterly eviscerated them. I tell them they've done a great job and then put in Faizal and Priyono, since we are hardly going to have a better chance to put them on the pitch than when up by four at the half.


53' -- We're starting to assert ourselves more after spending the beginning of the half on defense again. Priyono gets a look straight on, tries a deft lob but Santoso just gets a hand to it.

57' -- Sutanto to Yogi to Priyono on the counter, has to pause to set himself as the pass was a bit off target, then puts it well wide. He's young.

60' -- Oh wow. Long kick from Syarif, goes all the way down to Santoso who bobbles it. Nobody is close except Yogi and a defender, Yogi gets to it with a header ... and isn't even close to the goal. That was a freaking gift, and he blew it, which would really tick me off if we weren't ruling this match.

69' -- Saragih with a ridiculous header that sets up Priyono, but he can't control it well enough and it's only a corner for us.

78' -- Prasetyo on for Muda. A couple minutes later, Herlan's free kick bounces of the keeper, and Prasetyo gets there first. 5-0

84' -- It's a shooting gallery. Priyono is blocked no less than three times in succession, each one closer to the goal, then Herlan from the other side misses just wide.


FT -- A 5-0 shellacking on the road, easily the most impressive single win of my coaching career, though obviously not as important as the Second Phase stuff last season. Sutanto takes player of the match, with Yogi and Saragih putting in strong arguments as well. Only disappointing thing was Priyono who should have added another couple of goals to the count, frankly. We outshot them 19-3 despite losing possession(56-44). Strange one.

I'm definitely feeling much better about our chances of staying up just now. Press asked about Sutanto leaving(not going to happen) and the transfer embargo(not in my control) among other things.

Last edited by Brian Swartz : 07-18-2014 at 09:52 PM.
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Old 07-19-2014, 05:48 AM   #98
Brian Swartz
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Join Date: May 2006
10.12 -- It's official: Persigubin are under new ownership. Dutch businessman Jonathan Klijn heads the group taking over: he's in effect my new boss. There are rumors that this means I'm gone soon: the [i]Indonesian Soccer Review[/b] is reporting Klijn wants to replace me with Dadang Cahyat, who has been head coach at Persikab('10-'12) and more recently with Persikad last year.

In my meeting, Klijn tells me that the financial bottom line of the club is his top concern, a 5.67B loan had to be taken out as part of the takeover. He says he was intending to replace me but is willing to consider letting me keep my job(I'm assuming our recent win didn't hurt), and will let me know soon what his decision is.

So for now, I have the sword of Damocles hanging over my head despite the recent successes.

PSIR make a bid for Sutanto, total value of which is 237M. That would make it the largest transfer fee they've ever paid. My answer is still no, though it's starting to get tempting. If the offers for him get much higher, I may have to reconsider.

10.13 -- Akbar is back for training. Indonesia suffered a damaging 2-0 defeat to Kuwait, and are now up against it in the Asian Qualifying Group.
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Old 07-19-2014, 09:41 PM   #99
Brian Swartz
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10.17 vs. Perseba Super(0-1-0) We're favored here a bit, 6-4. The press conference was mostly about the takeover, and I just said it like it is: everybody's a little unsure because we don't know what direction things are going to go.

The only thing I could do is try to go get us another win against one of the few semi-pro clubs in the Premier. We'll run the same lineup out there, and try to get Akbar some second-half time if we can.

4' -- Nice try at an angled volley by Saputra, but he couldn't get enough on that one and it's saved. They are clearly trying to put a lot of bodies between us and the goal in order to avoid the kind of open looks we got in our first game.

12' -- Well, it worked for a bit. Yogi led Sutanto, he wasn't wide open but made a nice move to the middle to free himself and get a better angle, putting it in easily from about 12 yards out. 1-0

24' -- After a good start we're losing the possession battle again, so we tighten up a bit and go with a counter.

25' -- Long header by Saragih is wide and high.

37' -- Tough angled shot by Sutanto, tipped out for a corner. A minute later, a close freekick by Yogi is hideously off-target.

44' -- Saputra to Bayhaqi, heads it across to Yogi whose volley had the right idea but is high.


HT -- Well, I'm being reminded again why we couldnt' care less about possession. 7-0 in shots, defense is tight as a drum so far. It's only a one-goal lead though. I challenge them and note I know they can play even better ... get a lot of indifference.


50' -- Saputra up the right side to Saragih, didn't control it too well and had a horrid angle, blocked out for a corner.

54' -- Volley try in front about 15 out for Umam, but Saragih is right there and blocks it. Another similar play a minute later, they are at least trying to attack us now.

65' -- Freekick for Bachri from about 27, loops one just high. I'm reminded that it only takes one for us to not win this.

70'-- -- Nice header by Muda breaks up an attack, we come back the other way. Yogi and Sutanto 2-on-1, Yogi tries it himself, high and wide. We had to have a way to get a better shot there, I'm not too impressed with Yogi today even though he did have the key assist on our goal earlier.

Akbar for Yogi, Prasetyo for Saragih, fresh legs to finish it off.

85' -- Bad throw-in by Kombo, we take turns giving it away in midfield, then we're up on the counter but Herlan's lead pass for Akbar is too strong, and we get a corner. From which we get another corner, from which we get a wildly flying header by Prasetyo, right general direction but too far off balance and it's into the side.

87' -- Two-man game with Sutanto and Bayhaqi, long shot by Sutanto is just wide left. I notice that he's almost never way off these days. It's either a good on-target attempt or just off.

91' -- What do we do in injury-time? What class?? That's right, we concede equalizers. After having them barely defend a cross well enough, we move it back on, Herlan into the area up the left side, congestion in the middle ... and Perseba are called for a penalty! Ok, maybe we get ourselves an insurance goal. That's new, but I could get used to it.

Sutanto drills it, a manifestation of the fact that he's become our go-to scorer with his play early this year. 2-0, two for him, a brilliant start to the year. It's Pamungkas Yuli's world, I just live in it.


FT -- Another shutout win. Another three shots only surrendered, another game where we lose possession. But when we have it, we're doing good things with it. 2-0, and Sutanto is the obvious player of the match.
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Old 07-20-2014, 01:51 AM   #100
Brian Swartz
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10.22 -- Klijn has notified me that he'll let me stay, says the club leadership is strongly behind me and he's been persuaded to let me keep my job.

Thanks. Since you're showing yourself reasonable, about that contract ...

Oh, go piss up a rope? Thank you ever so much, the feeling is mutual. *Sigh*.

10.25 @ Madiun Putra(2-0-0) This is as big as it gets this early in the year. They've won their games 4-1 and 4-0, so nobody has challenged them yet. It's a chance to see if our dramatically improved defense is really all it's cracked up to be. They are even-money favorites to take this clash.

Naturally we'll start with a semi-conservative countering strategy and see how things unfold.

3' -- A weak long shot by Yogi is the first look of the day. Good start for us.

6' -- Hambali is called for a foul as we try to get free for a shot edge of the area. Free kick from Bayhaqi is high, a yellow is assessed.

13' -- Two defenders converge on Kotto, and Talaha is open just inside the area, blasts it but wide. Best chance for either side so far.

23' -- Pretty even so far, though they are starting to look more dangerous. A pass up to Sutanto is blocked, Bayhaqi goes for it again but all we get is a long volley well off target.

26' -- Oh. My. Goodness. Sutanto has it 12 yards out after a ball squirts free, but Hariyanto goes flat and he's too close, can't get the ball around him. Bayhaqi fires the rebound, deflected away by one of their defenders, and they clear. Two shots there, all we needed to do was get one through the traffic and we couldn't do it.

32' -- Great patience in moving it around, finally Bayhaqi gets a look from just outside, high and wide.

38' -- Saputra to Sutanto, heads it to Yogi over the middle. His volley from the edge is floated over the keeper's head and into the right side, fantastic control on that, and we're in the lead again, 1-0!!

41' -- Kotto gets loose at the edge of the box, they find him ... wide left!! Oh man, we just handed them a goal and they refused to take it!


HT -- That near-goal was Patay, so Prasetyo comes on for him. Otherwhise, we just need to keep doing what we are doing.


47' -- We work it for an angled shot for Yogi from the right side, keeper in position and defender right on him, he's just wide with that.

49' -- Quick counter from one end to the other, Bayhaqi moves in edge of the area, he's got Yogi ahead on the left and they converge ... chips it over the keeper and in! I thought for sure he was going to hit Yogi, but he just lofted that one over, and it's 2-0!!

51' -- Muda goes down at midfield. Urwan comes on, he'll take the right and Saragih will move inside.

55' -- Race for a free ball in the area, Bayhaqi goes for it, tripped by Arfan at the edge ... and he's not going to get away with it! Red card, he's sent off and we're now up two goals, an extra man, and Bayhaqi will get a freekick as close as they can get. Line drive, but somewhat high.

58' -- Wicaksono from an extreme angle on the right, Syarif blocks it. Big header by Kombo clears the corner, Wijaya tries to fire one through traffic but misses right.

60' -- They lead ahead to Wicaksono behind the defense, he takes too long to gather himself and Kombo makes a saving tackle. I pull the line back even further, there's no need to risk anything here. It's too late in this case, the corner goes to Wicaksono, on the doorstep at the near corner and he outjumps everyone to put it home. 2-1 now, they may be a man down but we have to kill another half-hour.

64' -- Wicaksono open in the area, inexplicably pauses and Prasetyo takes it away. Still, they are cutting us up pretty good right now.

Counter the other way. Herlan, to Sutanto, to Yogi. He's up the left side, no angle he'll center it ... no he fires it on goal, I don't know how Hanibowo missed that one but it sneaks in! He was 15 yards away, sharp angle, and it looked like the keeper was leaning near-post and Yogi went the other way, but still a shocker. 3-1 now!!

68' -- Dangerous cross, lucky that Syarif was able to scoop that one up.

71' -- Good long freekick by Arii, Syarif just got that one with a diving grab.

72' -- Horrible defense, Wicaksowo from just inside the area, misses wide. Very unimpressed with how we've played this second half.

75' -- Dangerous possession but we can't get a clear look, Bayhaqi has a shot blocked and Yogi goes down no call. Easily could have had another there.

83' -- Another long freekick by Arey, not close.


FT -- Huge road win, we take it 3-1!! Sutanto assisted on all three goals, making him narrowly player of the game over Yogi and his two scores. No question we were a bit fortunate in this one, but we were also good and still the better team. Madiun Putra coach Uut Kuswendi stated there is no way that red card should have been awarded and that we are regularly getting the benefit of controversial calls, suggesting there is bias in our favor.

He can suggest whatever he wants. For now, I just want to keep this run going as long as we can. At the moment, we are the surprise team to beat in Group D, and I intend to keep it that way. Going back to last year, we have now set a new club record for consecutive wins at six straight!
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