The Swatcats 2017 - Season Review.

Well on the whole a disappointing campaign for the Swatcats. In their third season in the Top Tier, a disappointing 12th place is the paltry reward for their efforts. Poor home form has cost them dearly. Poor home results have led to crowds plummeting, culminating in a miserly 1500 at the Bangkok Glass game in November.

There appears to have been little progression - in fact just the opposite - 8^thplace in 2015, 11^th place in 2016 and 12th in 2017 - an unhealthy trend and one that may end in disaster next year.

Motivation seems fine and some performances have been encouraging but the lack of fire power led to many potential victories, particularly at home, ending in disappointing draws. This dented the team’s aspirations of a top ten finish. It took till late in the season to enroll Paulo Rangel who certainly livened things up at the front.

I personally feel that the current squad should not be fighting in the quagmire of a relegation battle. This is a top ten team in terms of player personnel. If I am correct in this view, the finger must inevitably be pointed at Milos Joksic. The question has to be asked, has he taken the team as far as he is capable of doing. I think he is a good team builder and motivator but is his tactical prowess lacking?

The defence looks brittle - Victor Igbonefo is often found lacking, both in his pace and marking ability and the attack, although improved by the arrival of Rangel, looks toothless at times. The team needs to control midfield more effectively - all too often the ball is carelessly given away which puts extra pressure on the defenders.

My opinion is that a well structured 5-3-2 structure is the way forward but with the midfield sitting deeper to consolidate the defence. Adiyiah playing wide with Rangel in the middle is a potentially lethal combination up front but Pina must support them from midfield

In conclusion, an up and coming provincial team with a potentially massive fan base has stumbled and needs a kick up the backside. I think that the squad is strong but is being mismanaged tactically. Unfortunately, although I think that Milos is a great bloke, the team needs a new and fresh approach and a change in coach is now essential.

Unfortunately, I see little evidence of real ambition to raise the club’s profile and Milos Jokic has recently been awarded a new contract. For us fans, it seems that the best that we can hope for is premiership survival. The problem with this strategy is that ultimately, you will have one bad season that may lead to relegation - and surely no one within the club wants that!

I would love to finish on a positive but all I see for the future is a very ordinary side, playing very ordinary football. Diminishing crowds means mean less revenue and that there is little hope of significant additions to the squad. The Joksic contract suggests that the owners are satisfied with the status quo….. the Korat public obviously is not!!!

Dateline 18^th November – Match day 34.

 FT NRFC 1 Sukhothai 1

The 2017 season drew to an end this weekend as the Swatcats sought their third home win in a row.

The match kicked off in front of 2940 fans. In early drama, Ekkachai Rittipan ran onto a through ball from Rangel but he rolled the ball just wide. At the other end the Firebats went close with a header and with the skillful Baggio a constant thorn in the side of the hosts, the visitors looked a threat.

A sortie down the right by Baggio and a superb cross was met by a half volley that was fortuitously blocked by a grateful defender. Minutes later Baggio went close with an angled drive.

With the Swatcats now on the back foot, a Sukhothai goal looked imminent but the hosts weathered the storm and managed to escape the half on level terms.

The second half began with a shock for the hosts when a seemingly harmless free kick from 30 yards drifted into the net - what on earth keeper Weera was doing was beyond belief!! Minutes later, a now confident Sukhothai were denied a certain second goal by an acrobatic clearance from Igbonefo.

This seemed to wake up the slumbering hosts and they now attacked with more fervour. With men being pushed forward, a series of half chances were created with an Ekkachai Rittipan header being the highlight of this renewed burst of energy.

In the 79^th minute, Kirati Kaewsombat was introduced and with his first touch he headed in from a corner to equalize the scores. Minutes later Rangel had a great chance to put the Swatcats ahead but his shot was well saved. In this late surge Kirati Kaewsombat was again involved when he launched himself at a looping cross but his brave header went wide. Unfortunately during his resultant fall he injured his collarbone and was led hesitantly to the waiting ambulance - an injured hero indeed!

A disappointing result and arguably Sukhothai were the better side. The Swatcat team without Dominic Adiyiah looked aimless and uninspiring although Adiyiah replacement Ekkachai Rittipan impressed. Paulo Rangel’s mind was obviously elsewhere and for me his recent performances do not warrant a new contract. Adiyiah’s absence worries me - he was not even on the bench - I have a gut feeling all is not well.

I’m not sure about goalkeeper Weera’s future either. His positional sense seems poor and he is often caught out of the correct position.

Yet again a team came to the 80^th Anniversary Stadium and gave the hosts a lesson in effective passing and maintenance of possession. How this situation can be rectified is in the hand of the coach - I’m not optimistic that there will be drastic improvements!!

Match Day 34 Stats

Finances at Nakhon Ratchasima FC – Season 2017.

Information is exceedingly difficult to find so my figures are “guestimates” and are open to fuller scrutiny.

Income.

As shown in the chart below. NRFC’s primary budget is 50 million baht. I assume this is made up by the share of Truevision’s TV rights plus the major sponsor up of the club (Mazda motors).

Additional shirt sponsorship (Adda, Glico, Central, GS batteries, KBS, Class coffee, Dapper etc plus kit sponsorship) and ground based advertising - 10 million baht.

Shirt and other merchandise income - 5 million baht

Income from ticket sales. 17 league matches plus maybe 3 home cup ties. The Swatcat average gate is just over 5000. Price of tickets 60, 100 and 150 baht - average 100 baht. Income from each match 100 times 5000 equals 500 000 baht. 20 matches so total gate income is 10 million baht.

This assumes that the home team keeps all receipts.

TOTAL INCOME per annum is therefore 75 million baht.

Outgoings

Player’s salaries. The team’s 4 foreign players plus captain and Thai international Chalermpong are earning approx 500 000 baht per month. The other 20 Thai players are probably on average earning 150 000 baht per month. Total monthly salary bill is 5 500 000 baht

Coaching staff salaries 700 000 baht per month

Security/ticket sales staff/police 200 000 baht per month

Ground rental from SAT 100 000 baht per month

Team coach (bus) plus match day expenses, hotels etc 100 000 baht per month

TOTAL OUTGOINGS 6 600 000 baht per month, 79 200 000 baht

Dateline 12^th November – Match day 33.

 FT NRFC 2 Bangkok Glass 1

The Glass rabbits were the opponents in the penultimate home game of the season at the 80^th Anniversary Stadium.

Dominic Adiyiah opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a glorious drive that curved deliciously into the corner of the net eluding a diving keeper. With growing confidence, the Swatcats pressured and Paulo Rangel misses a golden chance to put the hosts 2 up when his half volley from 8 yards thundered against the bar. Bangkok Glass countered with one shot being well saved by Weera and another fizzing just wide of the post.

The first half concluded with honours about even but with the hosts holding that important one goal lead.

The second half commenced with Glass continuing to knock the ball about confidently, The Swatcats meanwhile defended bravely with Victor Igbonefo prominent but the home team did not help their cause by continually surrendering possession in midfield with misplaced passes.

Bangkok Glass bagged an equalizer in the 74th minute with a well struck Chitpanya Thisud free kick from 25 yards and with the Swatcats sitting back, Bangkok Glass became increasingly dominant.

With Bangkok later becoming restricted to harmless long range shots, the Swatcats continued to break forward sporadically and they went close with one shot cleared off the line and another scrambled clear.

On 78 minutes, with Swatcats’ fans wondering if their team could hold out for the draw, Dominic Adiyiah latched onto a long ball forward, eluded an advancing keeper and rolled the ball into the net to put the men from Korat two one up.

An anxious last 10 minutes as Bangkok searched for the equalizer but the hosts kept their nerve and ran out deserved winners of the contest.

An encouraging result for the Swatcats and a 5 star performance from Dominic Adiyiah. Although it was plain to see that Bangkok Glass were a technically more gifted side, the Swatcats manfully slugged away and just about deserved the three points. Swatcat fans like myself looked on enviously as Glass regularly broke forward with fine passing moves and great technical skills - skills sadly lacking within the home team!!

Despite a massive advantage in possession throughout the match for the visitors, the hosts actually created the best chances and with Sukhothai at home next weekend a hat-trick of consecutive home wins is within the team’s grasp.

A footnote; the game was watched by 1583 fans - an utter disgrace for a city of Korat’s side. One has to ask, does the city deserve a Premier League team?

Match Day 33 Stats

Dateline 8^th November 2017 – Match day 32.

  FT Chang Rai United 1 NRFC 0

Fresh from their recent 2 cup semi-final victories, Chang Rai will be hoping to add the scalp of their Isaan based rivals tonight. They started with an under strength eleven, with their eyes undoubtedly on their upcoming Cup Finals.

The match opened with an uneventful first 20 minutes with neither side able to muster shots on goal but in the 22^nd minute the game burst into life as keeper Weera was forced to tip over a vicious dipping volley from Chang Rai. The match then descended again into a dour midfield tussle with a decidedly end of season feel but the Beetles again went close in the 30th minute with an angled drive drifting wide.

The Swatcats ended the first half with a looping header going over the bar after good work from Rangel - in truth the visitor’s only real chance of the half.

A dreadful and uninspiring first half with neither side seeming to desire the 3 points on offer - perhaps a point apiece might be what both sides will be content with.

The second half began how the first half ended, with little attacking prowess shown by either team. I have a feeling that goals will only come from defensive errors. In the 60^th minute Adiyiah shot tamely over as the ping-pong midfield battles of no consequence continued.

In the 82^nd minute, a clumsy challenge by Anthibordee gave the home side a chance to go ahead but the shot was tame and comfortably saved by the keeper. The Swatcats meanwhile probed forward but with little effect.

In the 95^th minute Chang Rai scrambled in a late winner after a defensive mix up when keeper Weera came for a cross and was clattered by his own man - an undeserved winner in my opinion, robbing the Swatcats of a valuable away point.

A spectacle it was not - sure it’s the end of season but surely the few fans present deserve better than this. I had to use matchsticks to keep my eyes open and surely a prime example of why fans are turning their backs on the TPL. A game with 3 shots of note from both sides, with little or no goalmouth incident is not, in my opinion, real entertainment.

I suppose that Chang Rai might be forgiven as they fielded a weakened side but the Swatcats should have offered more.

Match day 32 Stats