Incompetence on Parade: The Life and Times of an Unknown Nobody[FM14]

[BryanS]

The aim of this save is to make as realistic a career as I could by putting myself into FM. I never played higher than youth-league football(being an improperly-educated American, I had the affrontery to refer to it as soccer), though I was a pretty solid DC/GK combo at the time(meaning I excelled at standing where I was told to stand, paying attention, and kicking the ball more often than myself) and we were one of the better teams.

This story starts then in the USA on January 14, 2013, the US start date. I created myself with correct birthdate, city, and all, making my age 35. Experience level was the lowest available(Sunday League Footballer) and then I proceeded to edit that as low as I could while still ensuring that I'd get offers from the crappiest teams available -- I have leagues loaded all over the world so they all had a shot at me. Testing showed the lowest playable experience to be a little over half of what I started at, still much higher than I actually possess IRL of course(that would be like -2 billion).

This will be a game-by-game account of my adventures. It's a journeyman style -- I may go anywhere, but the emphasis is not on the destination but on the journey, the process, the struggle to achieve something worth achieving. I've dabbled in FM before but never done anything significant(never gone more than a year and a half in a save before this). To ensure that I would stick with it, I'm more than two years calendar-time in(February 2015) as of this writing so I figured it was time to start organizing my write-up.

THE JOB SEARCH

Otherwhise known as the search for a homo sapien so idiotic they would hire me. Such individuals should be committed.

** 1.14.13 -- I apply to all 77 head coach openings, only because they wouldn't let me apply for anything with less responsibility. Like say, equipment manager or waterboy, for which my experience is probably still insufficient. I would eventually apply for several more, giving me a total near 100.

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

I went on holiday, applying for every last job that came up. It wasn't much of a holiday really, just application after application followed by(when I was lucky) form letters suggesting that I should be committed for thinking they'd spit on me if my hair was on fire.

Persistence pays off they say. It sure didn't at first. My fingers got so worn out that I began to thrw mi hndz up in dizgusst at mi lzoy typgni skilzzzz.

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

I'm headed to Indonesia. Specifically, to Persigubin Gunung Bitang in the Indonesian First Division, Group D. Inasmuch as their previous job search failed(presumably hiring me won out over dragging the bottom of the river by virtue of a coin flip), they are willing to give me a year-long contract for 4.5m rupiah's per week. At the present exchange rate of 10.3k rupiah's per dollar, that's the equivalent of about $437 weekly. That's not bad pay at all for somebody whose family barely admits they have heard of.

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

INDONESIAN DOMESTIC STRUCTURE

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

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

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

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

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

Persigubin Club Facts

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

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

Wage Budget: 34.06M/wk., of which 33.76m is presently committed. There's not a lot of wiggle room.

Transfer Budget: none

Value: 50M

Balance: 201.3M debt

Sponsorships: General 297.0M, uniform 92.83M.

Stadium: The club is so new they haven't bothered to name it, and there's no information on it(blank Facilities tab).

Season Tickets: 62

Scouting Range: Southeast Asia, plus Cameroon, Liberia, South Korea, and Brazil. This is all rather hilarious considering the First Division requires that all registered players for league matches be Indonesian. Even if I signed someone from those other countries, they wouldn't be able to play.

Board Expectations

First Division -- Mid-table

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

STAFF

President -- Wayhu Fadli

Assistant Coach -- Purba Jeffery Bob(you can't make these things up), 52 yo, very high marks in adaptability, determination, working with youngsters. 550k

Head of Youth Development -- Deni Saputro(500k, 41). Amazing at working with youngsters. Problem is, except for some minor ability in defense, he can't really teach them to do much of anything. So they'll listen to him tell them all he knows, and then when he's done that, they'll pretty much be the same as they already were. Super. Not to mention that we don't actually HAVE any youngsters for him to teach ...

Head Physio -- Surya Matui(500k, 29) -- Barely enough skill to deserve the title of physio.

Chief Scout -- Agung Sukma(35, 500k). He's the worst I've ever seen, and I've seen me some crappy scouts. Heck, I might be almost as good as this guy ... yep, he's really THAT bad.

National Teams

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

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

[BryanS]

2013/14 players

Keepers

Ferminus(29, 1.4m)

Roni Setia(16, 150k)

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

Defense

DC Rial Fitrandi(23, 1.6m)

DC/DR Ben Onisius Benoni Patay(27, 1.3m)

DR Piterius Piter Urwan(30, 1.6m)

DL Ignasius Kasipmabin(35, 900k)

DC Sutiono(25, 9m)

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

Midfield

AMR/MR/MC Patrick Adie(34, 1.3m)

ML/MC Melianus Ningmabin(30, 1.6m)

MC Frans Yarangga(26, 1.3m)

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

Attackers

AMC/ST Fabian Yogi(29, 3.75m)

AMC/ST Yustinus Oropka(28, 1.6m)

AMC/ST Pamungkas Yuli Sutanto(16, 150k)

ST Engel Ewangin(36, 3.5m)

ST Decky Uropmabin(24, 1.4m)

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

OVERVIEW

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

[BryanS]

PRESEASON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER BOARD REVIEW

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FT -- It stays scoreless to the end, despite a 21-6 edge in shots. It's clear to see why Persatu hasn't scored yet, their attackers aren't much better than our scrubs. Sutiono is named man of the match(7.0).

It was also Sutanto's professional debut today.

[BryanS]

October Review

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

Deleted ...

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fabian Yogi(1 goal) is named man of the match, with Oropka getting a 7.1 for his goal and other efforts.

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

Interestingly enough, I was getting a 403 Forbidden error when posting the last game there until I broke it up(can't access /newreply.php on this server, blah blah blah). Is there a character limit or something I don't know about? I've seen longer posts in other threads so it's really puzzling me just now ..

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

November 19 -- The US team scores a 1-0 friendly victory over Japan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

NOVEMBER REVIEW

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

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

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

GROUP D STANDINGS

Persemalra(19 pts, +9)

Persinab(16 pts, +10)

Persipon(14 pts, +4)*

Persebangga(14 pts, +3)*

Penajam(13 pts, +4)

PSKT(9 pts, -1)*

Yahukimo FC(8 pts, -2)*

Persenga(8 pts, -6)

Persigubin(7 pts, -1)*

Persewar(7 pts, -3)*

Persibas(7 pts, -9)

Persatu(2 pts, -8)

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

12.6 -- World Cup Draw.

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

The other groups are as follows:

B: Cameroon, France, New Zealand, Uruguay

C: Italy, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Togo

D: Colombia, Denmark, Greece, Japan

E: Holland, Iraq, Nigeria, Russia

F: Argentina, Congo, Mexico, Portugal(our southern neighbors aren't too pleased with this either)

G: Chile, Costa Rica, Germany, Switzerland

H: Croatia, Iran, Morocco, Spain

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

b]CONTRACT RENEWALS[/b]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

DECEMBER REVIEW

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

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

STANDINGS

Persemalra(28 pts, +14)

Persinab(21 pts, +10)

Persipon(20 pts, +6)

Persebangga(19 pts, +3)

Yahukimo FC(16 pts, +2)

Penajam(16 pts, --)

PSKT(15 pts, --)

Persenga(13 pts, -4)

Persigubin(11 pts, -1)

Persewar(9 pts, -6)

Persibas(8 pts, -13)

Persatu(3 pts, -12)

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

36' -- A yellow for Yogi.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

Meanwhile, what was supposed to be a confidence and fitness-building friendly with the local youth amateurs turned into a 2-1 loss, including an unfathomable miss by Yogi in the closing minutes. Humiliating. It did still have value in getting Ningmabin and espescially Adie closer to full strength.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

January Review

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

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

Standings

Persemalra(35 pts, +16)

Persinab(28 pts, +12)

Yahukimo FC(25 pts, +6)

Persebangga(25 pts, +3)

Persipon(22 pts, +3)

PSKT(21 pts, even)

Penajam(20 pts, even)

Persenga(20 pts, -2)

Persigubin(15 pts, -2)

Persewar(15 pts, -6)

Persibas(14 pts, -12)

Persatu(4 pts, -18)

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

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

[BryanS]

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

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

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

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

** Forum posting errors getting a bit ridiculous at this point

[Rooneyyyyyy]

Hey man! I have a FM save with Persgubin from FM13 that I still go on now, I chose them on purpose (because they are probably the most helpless team in the game), I didn't think I'd find anyone else who has used them!

I found that the best thing to do is get rid of just about every player, and by the end of the season only have Yogi left (actually Sutanto looks good too, he wasn't on FM13). You can easily sign a mid-high table team from cheap FA's. I came 6th with that tactic in my first season and was even challenging for the second phase for months. Then Sergio Van Dijk (best Indonesian in the game) randomly became available for £400 a week! So I won the league and got to the cup final the next season, so look out for him becoming available.

[Rooneyyyyyy]

Wait this is from 2 years ago... NVM