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!!!