Book Review: Thai Football Tales: A Beautiful Madness

 

When this blog was in its zenith many years ago, a lot of information on transfers and behind the scenes news came from one person whom I would often watch games with or bump into at Muangthong matches. That person was Matt Riley and now, long after leaving the Big Mango and returning to Blighty, he’s released a fantastic book looking back on the surreal experience of Thai football or as he more poetically tags it, “a beautiful madness”. 

Let’s be clear: if you’re looking for a match-by-match, stat-by-stat, fluid report of the action from a team sweating it out in the minnow leagues that make up ASEAN, this is not the book for you. Don’t feel bad though, it was an assumption I myself made as I perused the opening chapters of the book. Matt had been good enough to ask me for feedback and I made an early note that his timeline seemed somewhat jumbled in the opening chapters before realizing it wasn’t by error so much as by irrelevance. 

That's because in capturing the “madness”, author Matt has used football as a microcosm of expatriate life in Thailand, primarily through reciting a collection of flashbulb memories of his incredible experiences. He doesn’t implicitly state this however, and I can only recall one moment where he actually stops to explain a specific aspect of the local culture, known as “greng-jai”. Perhaps he feels it’s self-evident or perhaps he wants to let his experiences in football simply speak for themselves.

Fortunately, as we might expect from a head of English at a prestigious international school, Matt is better equipped than the average punter to elucidate a sequence of moments that sometimes read like something out of a David Lynch movie. The experiences themselves are not embellished though, in many cases I can vouch for them first hand. The most striking (in more ways than one) memory recited by Matthew in the book is of the moment that the Charity Shield game between Muangthong and Thai Port FC was abandoned as riots started in the crowd. Like Matt, I had to run out of the stadium and across one of the most touristed areas of Bangkok to escape an ass-kicking. Was that the end of the saga? Far from it. The match was replayed in Bangkok at the peak of the political upheaval and fighting across Bangkok. Days after public transport in the city was suspended, fans had to make their way back to the stadium to see Muangthong and Thai Port play “behind closed doors”. When Thai Port scored, a section of the crowd dressed in neutral colours cheered. I remember saying to Matt “I’m not running again”. Luckily, we didn’t have to and the game passed peacefully. The animosity from those days is the reason why games between these two teams still exclude away fans to this day.

Other memories are even more dreamlike, including tigers in cages, (alleged) assassin referees, team managers calling Matt to ask him when the game starts, Godfathers, astronauts, exploding shoes and more. Matt remains humble - the exploding shoe story will confirm this - and doesn’t try to draw conclusions, moral teachings or anything else more than a truly remarkable set of encounters.

Those who are familiar with Thai football or simply “falang” (foreigners in Thailand) will crack a knowing smile of understanding at many of the cultural concepts - some enjoyable, some less so - that are covered in the pages of “Madness” while those who are not may find them even harder to comprehend, but no less gripping. Although the book is certainly not designed as a guide to Thai culture or sports, it still paints a picture of both.

I should note that there are some experiences I recall differently to Matt. That’s only to be expected. There are also some people, motivations and viewpoints I saw, and continue to see, differently to him but hey, it’s football. It’s people. It’s Thailand. 

In summary, Thai Football Tales is the book I would write if I had a slightly sharper literary knife. It serves as an extended look at Thailand and Thai football from the eyes of one person who has since returned home and can at least try to make sense of it all. It’s a short, entertaining and enjoyable read at an equally enjoyable price. 

Buriram ref suspended and six pointer coming up

The referee from the Buriram game suspended for two weeks following a Muangthong complaint. This is, of course, sticking a band aid ("plaster" as we Brits say) on a much more serious wound. Thai refs need much more training, monitoring and integrity.

Muangthong face BG Pathum tomorrow in a six-pointer. I personally preferred the club when they were known as Bangkok Glass and wore green as their main colour. They had a far more unique and fresh feel to them then, as well as their own superhero. I predict a MTUTD victory in this one.

A big win at Chonburi

 United were down to ten men but still clinched a big win at Chonburi yesterday. Mario celebrated by jumping the fence and celebrating with the away fans. More to follow.

Without Me

 No sooner had I posted about some memories of Rene on the touchline at Muangthong do I see that Robert Procurer has called in an old friend at Nonthaburi United...

Do yourself a favour and imagine Eminem's "Without Me" playing in the background right now. I hate DRM.

Chonburi memories

mtutd.com

Ahead of Muangthong's next game, Dale at the Chonburi blog has posted some of his (and his fellow supporters') favourite memories of clashes between the Quilins and The Sharks. Naturally for a Chonburi fan site, the selection includes Chonburi wins.

It made me reminisce on of some of my own memories. It's probably telling that one of the most lucid memories is of my sheer disbelief that a group like the TFA could be so incompetent as to reschedule a fixture six times in one half-season. Another non-football memory is of the one and only Rene Desayeye getting red-carded from the touchline at an away game at Chonburi.

But when it comes down to the action, this was my favourite clash with Chonburi, a game I remember as a packed stadium with a great atmosphere and as you'll see, a whole bunch of goals. Let's go back to May 2010...

****

The best way to explain the excitement and noise for today's game is to say it matched any local derby in the UK. For the first time, Muangthong opened the upper West Stand of the Thunderdome, allowing a total of 21,000 fans into this game. A sea of red and an oasis of light blue covered the entire Impact Arena area with noise and colour. All fans were searched before entry but the mood was good. This was a special moment for Thai football and we could feel it. Like most fans, I was excited but nervous for my team.

One slightly unusual factor at play was Muangthong's choice of black strip - usually an away strip - making Chonburi use their own third choice of red stripes. Apparently this was due to the advice of a fortune teller.

Muangthong started out with what I consider to be our strongest line up: Kawin (GK) , Pakasit (RB) Piyachart (LB) , Jetsada (Cap, CB) Anupong (CB) , Sylla (DM) , Datsakorn (MD) , Siaka (MD) , Yaya (LW) , Christian (FW), Teeasil (ST)

Notice I put Yaya as a left winger today. A message in a bottle told me Muangthong's coaches believed Chonburi's right back would struggle to contain him. Boy, were they right!

Not that you'd know it from the opening moments, though. Chonburi's opener came as quick as it did in our last meeting. I was still trying to get focused on the game itself amid all the excitement, so all I recall is a striker sliding in from close range to beat Kawin. Damn.
Edit: My view was blocked but apparently this was an own-goal.

Muangthong responded well. Unlike previous games, the crosses came from the touchline and as such, they were delivered with more speed and less curl. But a few chances went amiss until someone - Datsakorn I think - was taken down in the box. At the risk of sounding like Arsene Wenger, I don't want to comment too much as I couldn't see what happened clearly. Chonburi's goalkeeper walked off and his team mates followed him. I never really understand the thinking of players when they do this. Still, there is no need to focus on it today.

The players returned , Dango took the penalty and scored.  1-1. The rest of the first half was balanced. Kawin pulled off some good stops and Muangthong kept up a good supply of crosses from both sides. Jetsada seemed to be playing notably further upfield than usual.

In the second half MTU were shooting towards me in the North Stand. Kone came on to replace Christian and made an immediate impact, getting in on a cross from the right wing that looped over Chonburi's keeper to send us home fans ecstatic. 2-1.

But, as seems customary, we did our best to let Chonburi back in. They began a spell of possession play that saw Byrne put one over and had Kawin tip another one over, several wasted free kicks and a cleared corner. We responded by taking off Datsakorn and bringing on Nattaporn. Jetsada seemed to move up to midfield officially. Then the tide turned.

Yaya had been tormenting the Chonburi back line for much of the game but as we began our own spell of possession play, he began to give the Sharks' back four nightmares that Freddy Krugger would be scared of.  As the coaches had planned, Yaya skimmed his marker over and over again, Kone seemed to find himself space whenever he needed it and Teersail was loving the extra options his teammates were giving him.

A free kick floated in by Piyachart met the head of Yaya to make it 3 - 1 around the seventy minute mark. This really seemed to be the mental clincher for both sides. The forward line continued to take it to the touchline and cut inside the Chonburi penalty area and were rewarded with a neatly set up goal for Teerasil about twelve minutes from time. 4-1. The home fans went delirious and began passing a giant flag around the ground. The away fans looked less chuffed.

During all this, the chances continued to flood in, some of them looked easier to score than to miss. But of course it's easy for a lazy fan like me to say that.

We were screaming for more of course, but the game quietened down. Chonburi did create more chances, hitting the crossbar and side post at least once each. But by then the Sharks knew today was not their day and that feeling must have been compounded when one of their team took what may have been the worst corner ever shortly before full time.

After the whistle, the teams swapped shirts, the players saluted both sets of fans and, needless to say, we hung around to soak it up.

Chonburi played well today. That they lost by this margin was because we, at times, were excellent. After our 'opening' game against VB Sports, I said nobody would be able to stop us if we played like that every game. Today, we played better than that. The title race is not even half way done and there are bound to be twists and turns but if we do retain, then today will surely stick out as one of the crucial moments.

For now we can reflect on a good game of football, some controversy, an amazing atmosphere and - as John Hannibal Smith would say - the love of having a "plan come together".


Some great pictures and video to come soon.


Man of the match:
I know, I know, it's the easy option to give it to Yaya. So many players did a great job today. Kawin, Sylla, Pakasit, Piyachart or Kone could all be in the running, but my overriding memory is the spell in the second half with Chonburi's back line looking like scarecrows thanks to this man. The champagne goes to the Ivorian.
 
***************
Photo credit: soccermotivators.com 

Muangthong United 4 Buriram United 4 - Match Report & Highlights

Do they all still hate us?

  Ten years. Ten looong years. The last time I typed a match report here, Barack Obama was US president, covid was a minor virus that had been mainly confined to Hong Kong and Everton weren't crap. Oh, how times have changed.

A few things are still the same, though. Big games at the Thunderdome retain a lively, noisy atmosphere as club shop tills ring happily, fans smash away at the drums and the media overhypes games with the most ridiculous superlatives they can muster up. The official MTUTD Facebook page still has me banned as punishment for the Fowler Out campaign of long ago and the familiar face of Mario Gjurovski is welcomed around the stadium as head coach along with former player Dagno Siaka as his assistant. Robert Procurer, once known for his involvement in the ownership and recruitment of MTU is now usually spotted at Nonthaburi United (a phoenix club of Nonthaburi FC) along with fellow Muangthong alumni Coulibly Abdoul.

I won't bore anyone with long, self-absorbed reasons why I stopped blogging and my involvement in Thai football since then, though I did talk about it here. I can summarise it by saying I've been to a few games in the last decade and I'm hoping that the forthcoming MRT station at Muangthong Thani will make it much easier to attend games regularly and maybe, maybe, get this blog running at full speed again. 

But let's get back to today's action. Our old rivals Buriram have maintained their hold on power while we have openly acknowledged that we invest less in players than we used to.  The predictable result is the "Thunder Castle" are undefeated at the top of the table while we are halfway down, but still playing some darn good football. Despite our recent poor away form, I still think this home game will be close. I only wonder if I'll have any flashbacks to the first time I saw what I thought was a "influenced" match official.  There's a guy with a megaphone outside our stand gently but firmly refusing to allow Buriram fans to enter, which instantly makes him a legend in my eyes.

The stadium is loud, with the away section having a notably feminine pitch to all its songs while the East and West stands look sold out. The north and south stands are both about two-thirds full, with lots of flags.

Mario: we will miss his fashion choices

 We line up almost the same as our previous home game - where we defeated a mediocre Korat side - with Eric Johana in attack, Brazilian Popp on the left midfield and Pathiwat in goal. The club legend and tremendous goalkeeper Kawin Thamasatchanan is now on the bench. At 33 he is not that old for a goalkeeper but injuries have affected his career. At least he's still around, though. On the touchline, Mario is looking sharp. In the last home game he appeared to be wearing his wife's leggins but this time around he's opted for a suit with white trousers. A risky move but he can make it work. On the Buriram side the squad is littered with talent: their tricky no.21 Suphanat is one to watch along with their set piece specialist (so I'm told) Theerathon Bunmathan.

The game starts and we are immediately on the font foot: pressing everything and catching the visitors by surprise. A few fast-paced crosses at both ends occurs before Johana gets a square ball, wrong foots his marker and from outside the box places a screamer around the goalie and IN! 1-0 up, the stand erupts and I can't believe we have scored so early on. A fantastic goal, too. 

Credit: 90min.com

The fast pace continues, Buriram's keeper rushes a clearance, Popp intercepts, squares it to Poramet Arjvirai who hits a shot inside the box that is deflected in. We are 2-0 up! The crowd go wild again.

The pace continues. Both benches are getting agitated with some bizarre officiating decisions. Bunmathon fouls Poramet, who ticks the free kick quickly. The ball finds Joahna down the left wing who cuts inside and smashes a third goal past their keeper. It's 3-0 after about thirty minutes against an undefeated team who, before this game, had conceded 13 goals all season. Am I dreaming?  The pace slows but only a little. BU attack down the middle and Suphanut smashes in a great half-volley from the right wing to make it 3-1 before we go in to half time. It's a lot to take in: a game full of flowing, attacking football punctuated by conflict and bizarre officiating, a 3-1 lead against the undefeated champions. The last time I sat in this block of the stadium with my son I had to bribe him with sweets to even watch. Now he's asking if he's allowed to buy a beer yet.

I'm thinking that if we can can control the first ten minutes or so of the second half, we can't screw it up. But things get even better when we break through yet again: Poramet is through but sees that Johana has more space, he squares it to the Kenyan who takes him time to place a shot and smash it home to make it four f**ing one to the Quilins! How is this happening? It's my favorite goal of the night because it sums up our desire, our effort and the unselfishness of Poramet to do the right thing.

We're on fire now but it must also be noted that Buriram have perked up. In the first half I kept commenting that they looked hungover, as if they expected to win just by turning up. Now they are breaking faster and looking dangerous. That said, Pormaet breaks through into the box yet again and gets clearly obstructed. I didn't have a good view in the stadium but watch the highlights for yourself. The MTU bench is livid but the referee refuses even a VAR check and play goes on until he gives us a softer free kick, almost by way of compensation. This really did mark the turning point in the game. For one thing, our composure started to slip and we looked shaky. For another, Buriram really turned up the heat and for yet another, the ref and officials became pathetic.

 For a while we held out through a mixture of luck and desperation but with 11 minutes left, Buriram scored. 4-2 I don't remember much about that one but shortly after it was a soft free kick but a classy free kick goal that made it 4-3. It almost seemed inevitable then that our hearts would sink and sure enough, Buriram won a corner that was knocked around before beings slotted in by Doumbouya in injury time to make it 4-4. Before that happened, a clumsy, late and dangerous challenge by a Buriram player who had already been booked was ignored by the referee and a free kick was given to Buriram for an incident that involved no contact. So a draw it was and as the officials left the pitch, beer was splashed over them and a certain MTUTD staff member (not Mario) got into a physical altercation with the referee. I don't condone any of that. 

 Wow. What a game. After ten years, how do I unpack all of this? It’s as if everything good and bad about Thai football was compressed into one single game: fast, skillful football combined with tactical naivety, great atmosphere, great value for money, bad sportsmanship, utterly incompetent officials and traffic jams outside.

 Let me start by saying that we should have defended better. However strange some of the ref’s decisions were, we would have won the game if we had defended that final corner with more composure. I’ve been supporting Southampton long enough to know a nervous defence when I see it and nervous is what we looked after their third goal.

 Now to the officials. I need to be careful to control my own bias here after what I have seen before and for all the anti-Muangthong followers out there in Twitterland, I am only too aware that incompetent officials feature in almost every Thai match. And yes, we only complain about officials when we don’t win, the same goes for your Thai team, too. Neither of these facts change the wrongs that happened today and Mario probably summarised the feelings of everyone with his comments in the post-match interview:

Credit: Thai League Central

There are two particular standouts for me. The fact that the referee did not even order a VAR check on a blatant foul in the box and his clear panic and refusal to give a second yellow card for what was a clear bookable offence. There were other moments, too but those can be overlooked. What is the cause of these terrible decisions? I truly don’t know.

Mario resigned (or was let go )earlier today, to be replaced by the familiar face of Milos Josic, who performed very well at Rajpracha (who have also returned to Nonthaburi) with a small budget. It’s sad to see Mario go as he really is a Muangthong guy. I hope he’ll be back in some way or another in future. UPDATE: Mario has now decided to stay on, meaning his resignation was probably in frustration.

For Thai football as a whole, I think sadly my observation of years ago or my more recent one in Dale’s blog holds true: Thai football saw a surge in popularity and growth but that surge could not continue forever. There are good and negative elements to any culture and in the case of Thailand, those elements can all be seen in the business of football. There’s great value and great atmosphere, but there’s also a clear refusal to address deep rotted dishonesty and bad sportsmanship. There’s food, beer and transport but there’s also disorganisation and poor communication. You’ll find friend and entertainment but you’ll also find traffic jams, a lack of logic and moments of frustration. It’s all part of the game, but at least we are blessed enough to have a game to follow.

That’s all for now, see you in another ten years. Or maybe sooner, if I can squeeze an away game in before the end of the season.