2011 SEASON REVIEW
Off the pitch problems for Thai Port; on the pitch problems for Muangthong United (despite God being on their side); the rise and fall of the national team and a never-ending season. Here's our round-up of the last twelve months in the TPL.
JANUARY
It's pre-season yet Muangthong United start the year by 'parting company' with hugely successful coach Rene Desaeyere. No official reason is given for the departure which tells all in itself: a behind-the-scenes conflict between Rene and the club's owners.
Uncertainty grips Thai Port F.C. In December, the Port Authority, owners of the PAT Stadium, locked the gates as they demanded over a million baht from Thai Port F.C in unpaid rent. By January, it was unclear if Port would even be able to start the season as the PAT and the club were locked in a dispute over a memorandum of understanding (MoU).
FEBRUARY
Just five games are played on the opening weekend of the TPL. Bangkok Glass get off to a poor start by putting in a dreadful performance and losing 2-1 away at Pattaya.
Muangthong United's season takes an early blow as they fall at the first hurdle of the AFC Champions League. Sriwijaya of Indonesia won the one-off East Zone play-off 7-6 on penalties after the match finished 2-2 AET. The defeat sets the tone for a season of disappointment and underachievement.
Rene Desaeyere’s successor in the MTU hot seat, Carlos Carvalho, was sacked in late February after just a month in the job: a chaotic start to the season for the Twin Qilins before they had even played their first TPL match.
MARCH
The month begins with MTU announcing their new head coach: Henrique Calisto quit his job as coach of the Vietnam national side for a new life in Nonthaburi. Ray Wilkins and Winnie Schaefer, amongst others, had been linked with the job. Calisto's first task was to witness his new charges being thrashed 3-0 at Army United. The Soldiers enjoy a strong start to the season and move to the top of the table after taking the 2009 and 2010 champions apart in Din Daeng. Things get worse for MTU as they suffer a shocking 5-1 defeat at Osotspa in the middle of the month.
At this stage of the season, Bangkok’s big three of Muangthong, Bangkok Glass and Thai Port are all in the bottom half of the table.
Some good news for Thai Port as the Super Rich Company Ltd invests heavily in the club.
APRIL
20,011 are on hand at the Yamaha Stadium to watch Muangthong United and fellow title contenders Buriram PEA play out a goalless draw. Bangkok Glass's season goes from bad to worse as they lose 2-1 against a TOT side which had lost five in a row. The embarrassing defeat leaves the Glass Rabbits just three points above the relegation zone. BEC Tero Sasana is the best-performing Bangkok side in April: the Fire Dragons finish the month in third place.
Khlong Toey's Thai Port F.C again found themselves the centre of financial problems in late April. The club's main backers, Super Rich Co Ltd, threatened to withdraw all funding and take their money elsewhere. That MoU is again at issue. Super Rich are less than happy with its constrictive terms and want the PAT to make some concessions. One effect of the impasse is the non-payment of players' wages in March and April.
MAY
The Port Authority and Super Rich call a truce. The PAT made the necessary concessions in order to induce Super Rich into signing the MoU. Unsurprisingly, this wasn't to be the last time in the 2011 season that Port's financial problems made headlines.
It's a bad month for the FAT and president Worawi Makudi in particular. Worawi is accused of attempted profiteering by Lord Triesman in the now infamous 'television rights' controversy. And in the same week, Worawi also saw fit to cancel the FAT presidential election at the last minute, allegedly because he was heading for defeat in the poll.
Media mogul and Muangthong United owner Ravi Lohtong announces that he wants to sell the club. The owner of Siamsport oversaw MTU's transformation from an obscure non-league outfit into a title-winning machine and one of the biggest clubs in the country.
JUNE
Runaway leaders Buriram PEA finally lose a game – 1-0 at Sisaket – but Muangthong and Chonburi, PEA's main challengers, cut each other's throats as they draw 1-1 in Chonburi on the same weekend.
A host of coaching changes in June: Bryan Robson resigns as coach of the Thai national team; Peter Butler is sacked by BEC Tero Sasana and Sasom Pobprasert resigns from Thai Port to take the reins at Buriram F.C of Division 1. Sasom's resignation is, according to the man himself, an act of self-sacrifice. Cash-strapped Port receive a big fee from Buriram to secure Sasom's services and get big earners off the payroll as four of Port's best players, along with their coveted coach, head for the northeast.
FAT president Worawi Makudi wins the rescheduled election by a huge majority. His first act after re-election is to remove two of his opponents from the FAT executive committee; his second is to appoint Winnie Schaefer as new national team coach.
JULY
TPL chiefs extend the June mid-season break by wiping almost all fixtures from the schedule in July.
There was really only one story this month: the signing of Robbie Fowler by Muangthong United. He may be 36 and well past his best, but in a country where Liverpool is the best-supported team, the signing of Fowler is greeted with near hysteria by fans and media alike. He even has an audience with Thailand's new Prime Minister as 'God' gets his first taste of an MTU game: a 9-0 demolition of Samut Prakan United in the FA Cup.
AUGUST
And staying with Robbie Fowler, he makes his competitive debut for MTU at the start of the month in a League Cup match against Kasetsart University. He plays for 32 minutes of the second half at the Thupatemi Stadium.
Thailand are drawn with Australia, Saudi Arabia and Oman in the third-round group stage of 2014 World Cup Qualifying. The Thais are immediately considered rank outsiders to progress.
Muangthong have a good weekend late in the month: a 3-1 win over TOT moves them into second and to within six points of PEA as the leaders are held 1-1 at home by Pattaya and Chonburi lose 1-0 in Phichit.
SEPTEMBER
Thailand play their first two group-stage World Cup Qualifiers, and the general consensus is "Wow!" The first match, away in Australia, was meant to be a walk in the park for the home side. Instead, Thailand took a 15th-minute lead, and Australia needed a goal four minutes from time to snatch victory, after equalizing midway through the second half. A few days later, back in Bangkok, the Thais took out their frustrations on a hapless Oman side. Schaefer's marauding Elephants handed the shell-shocked visitors a 3-0 thrashing, and Paul Le Guen's side got off lightly – a score of 5-0 or 6-0 wouldn't have flattered the hosts.
FAT president Worawi Makudi again came under the glare of an uncomfortably close spotlight. This time, Fifa, the world governing body of which he is an executive committee member, asked him to clarify his legal position in relation to land he owned in Nong Jork. Fifa had reason to believe that Worawi had used funds acquired through Fifa's 'Goal' programme to build the National Football Training Centre on land owned by Worawi. The FAT president strongly denied the accusations and threatened Fifa with legal action.
OCTOBER
Robbie Fowler's first game as head coach is a successful one as Muangthong win 3-1 at Samut Songkhram. Fowler's predecessor Henrique Calisto was sacked at the end of September ostensibly because MTU were knocked out of the AFC Cup, but actually for a behind-the-scenes falling-out with owner Ravi Lohtong.
Thai Port's off-the-pitch problems return. Port's players claim through the media that they haven't been paid for three months and will strike unless they receive some cash sharpish. They targeted the League Cup Final on October 15th for their industrial action. But, in the event, the clash with Buriram PEA is postponed owing to the ever-increasing risk of flooding.
NOVEMBER
There was precious little league action as the schedule is cleared to allow the under-23s maximum preparation time for the SEA Games in Indonesia. Futile generosity on the part of the TPL as the team performs terribly, losing three out of four of their group games thus falling at the first hurdle.
The senior men's national side returns to World Cup action. Unfortunately, some of the hope generated in the early stages of the competition starts to evaporate as Thailand lose back-to-back matches away in Saudi Arabia and at home to Australia. The Thais were outclassed in Riyadh, but gave the Aussies another run for their money. Schaefer's men should have taken at least a point from the game in Bangkok and possibly all three, but went down 1-0 after conceding another late goal against the Socceroos.
Muangthong's title challenge completely falls apart as they draw at home to Army United and away at BEC Tero whilst rivals PEA win against TTM and Siam Navy.
DECEMBER
Buriram PEA wrap up the title with five games to spare by winning away at Army United. Muangthong's faltering form continues as they draw 2-2 at rock-bottom Khon Kaen – after leading 2-0; lose at home to Siam Navy (MTU's first home defeat since 2008), lose away at TTM Phichit and lose at home to rivals for second place Chonburi.
There's no change at Thai Port as players continue to claim they are not being paid, or, at best, are being paid irregularly.
The fixture fiasco reaches farcical levels. At the time of writing, the season is due to end on January 28th, just two weeks shy of a full year since the season started. "Flooding" is the official excuse for all the delays. In truth, the extended mid-season break in July; the break to allow the under-23s preparation time for the SEA Games in November and the decision by Worawi Makudi at the start of the year not to have scheduled midweek games are really to blame. And the League Cup Final, originally scheduled for October 15th, will now be played sometime in February. In other words, our ‘2012 Season Review’ will also include part of the 2011 season!
*Article published here with the permission of the writer, Paul Hewitt.
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