The Warriors, owned by the Silpa-Archa family, have snapped up 14 new players so far this year, including Worawut Wangsawad (Port), Pipat Tonkanya (Osotspa) and Siwamet Tanusorn (Army United). Expect them to be in the promotion shake-up come the end of the season!
UPDATE: It's now official - see below. The other bloke in the photo is former Thai Port and Raj Pracha General Manager Adebayo Gbadebo. He has clearly taken on a similar role at Suphanburi.
It seems a bit of a waste of talent that a player of this calibre will languish in the Thai 1st Division next season. Obviously money for a big factor for Moise dropping down a level.
ReplyDeleteSuphanburi strike me as a team that will either win promotion at a canter or they'll self-implode finishing nowhere. For some reason I feel the latter.
Like you say, it's all about the money! There will be loads of good players in Div 1 next season...Sompong, Anon etc. I'd kill to have either of them in the Thai Port team.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the owner(s) of Suphanburi, it's hard to see them not getting promoted. I reckon in a few the TPL will be full of on-the-up provincial teams like Suphanburi, PTT Rayong, Nakhon Ratchasima, Rachaburi, Songkhla etc, plus your TPL mainstays like Osotspa, Chonburi, BEC Tero, Muangthong, Bkk Glass and Buriram. I think Div 1 will be littered 'old school' teams such as Police, Navy, TOT, Port, Air Force, Raj Pracha etc.
I am afraid you are correct. The "old school" teams will be Div 1 unless an owner steps up to the plate and makes the big investment.
DeleteI'll put a date on my predicition - 2018 season. How many of those teams will still have the same name by then is anyone's guess!
DeleteAnother rumour...'Big Ben' has said on facebook that he will offer Munze a new contract today.
ReplyDeleteGUTTED, this guy more than anyone in that squad I feel is irreplaceable. Of all the outgoing players this is easily the biggest loss. Guess the writing has been on the wall. Of all the good players I have seen for Port over the last 2 years Moise is the only one that I really felt could have gone on to play at a higher lever. Always thought he'd be a great lower league centre back in England - perfect for Grimsby!
ReplyDeleteI doubt Suphanburi will self implode, surely nailed on for promotion at a walk withthe money and players they have.
The Premier league / div 1 prediction below are certainly interesting and probably not far from the truth. It's clear that the whole footballing pyramid is still in it's very early stages here in Thailand and at the moment is having money thrown at it all over the place, while other team survive on a shoestring. The English system has been 130 years in the making, and still we see teams with a bit of new money, flying up out of nowhere. Or minnows that have done things 'the right way' making it big for a while. When things are run a shakily as they are here, it's inevitable that someone with a bit of money, accompanied by someone with a bit of football knowledge will have the power to fly by those that aren't been run so well (i.e. Port etc).
I think what usually settles the premiers from the division 1's tho will be regular attendances. A sugar daddy can bank roll a team for so long, but not for ever, and things will usually even themselves out and a hierarchy restored based on fan base.
At least I hope so for Ports sake!!
Some very good points there. If a club is being bank-rolled by a rich benefactor, trouble can be just around the corner. Gretna FC is prime example of that. Speaking personally, I'd rather my team lived within its means and was self-sufficient. I think I'd be in the minority there, though!
ReplyDeleteI agree about Moise. He's definitely got the attributes needed to play at higher level. I reckon he could play in League 1, easily. Putting your Mariners hat back on for a second, do you think he's as good as Zhang Enhua was for you? (superb Grimbsy knowledge from me!)
Ha ha, that is good knowledge. Enhua was a good centre back whilst with us, we were playing in the championship at the time. It's hard to compare, on the face of it I too would say Moise could at least handle league 1, but then I've only seen him vs Thai teams week in, week out. Then again, you can only beat whats in front of you.
ReplyDeleteIn the end I think the foreigner rule has probably stopped him moving to a Chonburi or Muang Thong type team here, most have a full quota already.
Since we are talking our respective clubs - the best young talent I have ever seen come through our youth system was Jonny Oster, 18yrs old and sold for 1.7 mill was quite an amount back then!! Shame he never really made.
It's easy to forget that Grimsby used to be a Championship side! I remember Zhang playing for you. Was he the first Chinese player to play in England? I never had Lennie Lawrence down as a football trailblazer!
ReplyDeleteI liked Oster when he was at Everton. We had a poor team at the time, and passing the ball on the floor was frowned upon, so he was a target for the boo boys. You're right, he's definitely not had the career he should have had. Bet he's made a few quid though!