MTU players in Thailand squad

Only one TPL game this week as Thailand are playing Australia.
MTU players in the squad are:

Phaitoon Thiemba (RB)
Datsakorn (MD)
Pitchipong (MD) Edit: BP says it's Piyaphol, not Pitchipong.
Teerasil (ST)

Kawin is still injured, Panupong and Nataporn are not considered back to full fitness.

Good luck guys!

New contracts

From the OS:

Muangthong United on Wednesday have reached an agreement to extend a five-year contract each with their six players including Nataporn Panrit, Datsakorn Thonglaow, Panupong Wongsa, Teerasil Dangda, Kawin Thamsatchanan as well as Dagno Siaka for the club’s long-term plan to improving its standart to the continental level.

The chief exclusive of Siamsport Syndicates Company Limited Pongsak Pholanan, the firm who owned the Thai Premier League defending champions revealed that, : “Our main propose to extend contract with these players is the long-term plans for the club to be the top-team of Thailand as well as the Asian continent in the near future, and it would be the guarantee that all six players will belong with us for long time and it also showing that Muangthong United are the professional football club which paying attention to all of our players. I believed that these players have potentials to lead us to the success surely.”

Kilins’ Deputy Chairman Wiluck Lohtong added that : “the contract extending with all of six players have approved by the unanimous resolution from our board of director as well as the staff coaches who want to see all of this players leading this club to meet our long-term goal. Moreover, some of these players have joined with us since we play in the Division 2 and 1. Finally, I can confirmed that, we are still looking to strengthen our squad by signing another top-players soon.”

The report suggested that, Muangthong United have splashed the budget to extend contract with all of six players for around 25 million baht (833,333 USD).

Of course this doesn't guarantee any of the guys will stay out their contract but it does rack up the prices for them, and there are still a lot of clubs sniffing around Kawin. It's also a very good sign of ambition. The only name I noticed missing from a 'wish list' of our top players is Christian.

TOT 1 MTU 3 - Highlights

The red card for the TOT player at the end was totally correct. Not only does he blatantly haul down Fowler but on realising what he's done, he goes down clutching his face as though he'd been hurt himself. His protest was OTT and he and TOT's coach should both be reported in my opinion. Credit to MTU alumnus Kone Muhammed for trying to calm things down.

TOT 1 MTU 3

Bangkok Post

 Muang Thong United beat TOT 3-1 to move to second in the Thai Premier League last night.

The two-time defending champions overtook Chonburi who suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at TTM Phichit.

The Kirins are five points behind leaders Buriram PEA who entertain Pattaya United today.

At TOT stadium, after a scoreless first half, Muang Thong got off to a fast start in the second half racing to a 2-0 lead in the opening five minutes.

Teerasil Dangda opened the scoring in the 47th minute and Piyapol Buntao added another goal in the 50th minute.

Kone Mohamed cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 58th minute before Christian Kouakou sealed the three points for the visitors after 76 minutes.

TOT were reduced to 10 men in injury time when Younes Chaib was sent off for tripping former England international Robbie Fowler.

TOT Vs MTU - Saturday

"To spit on your own fans, please press one......... To move stadium, please press two..........."

TOT are not a well run football outfit. The club moved to Kanchanburi where they acquired good support in a good catchment area, only to move "home" to Cheang Watthana the next year. Once arriving " home" (and not a day beforehand) they realised their stadium was not ready and spent one and a half seasons using the Thunderdome as the pitch of choice.

That 18 months was not enough though and upon leaving, the club had to use Army's ground until their own was ready.

Now the Cheang Watthana stadium is in use but there's one problem before Saturday - it's so small that TOT can only offer 400 tickets to away fans, many of whom will live closer to this ground than the Thunderdome. I can only hope other fans will be able to stand around the unterraced sides of the stadium and that there will be no safety issues.

TOT feature former Quilins target man Kone Muhammed in their ranks. The visitors still face a multitude of injury and fitness issues. Zesh will be out, Nattaporn and Panupong are only in with an outside chance of being ready.

Saturday 1800 (according to MTU OS) @ Cheang Wattahana TOT Stadium.

Action from the 2-3 at Chonburi credit: getida ka

Title required?

Massive new plans announced

MTU recently held a press conference featuring key executives from Siam Sport, the club, and both the property and banking sections of the Land & Houses company.

All parties involved announced plans to develop Muangthong Thani into an "international standard" sports village featuring tennis courts, football pitches, swimming pools, accommodation and of course a total redevelopment of the MTU stadium.

The complex would meet FIFA and Olympic standards and would create large scale employment and investment in the sector.

The total cost of the project is in excess of 500 million baht, making it by far the most expensive and developed stadia in Thai football.

L&H executives in grey, Siam Sport execs in black

Stadium plans

Contract signing

Muangthong United 0 Osotspa Saraburi M150 0 - report

verydemotivational.files.wordpress.com

Omens aplenty before this one, a former MTU coach mentioning that we could look considerably weaker without Teerasil - who turned out to be suspended for this game - a short but phenomenal downpour that rendered our 10 million baht drainage system as useless as ever and delayed kick off by one hour. Of course, a wet pitch can be dangerous, as it punishes the body more. Two of our squad had little or no experience on such surfaces...

Kawin (GK), Thiemba (RB), Diarra (CB), Zesh (CB), Kayem (LB), Datsakorn (MD), Dagno (MD), Arromsawa (MD), Jakkaphan (LW), Chris (RW), Fowler (ST).

Sure enough, the surface took its toll on Zesh and he went off injured around the 25 minute mark, replaced by Adisak, as Siaka dropped back to defence. (That now marks all three of our regular centre backs off the “fit and available" list. )Nawapol became a second casualty shortly after, to be replaced by Pitchipong.

thaileagueonline.com

Whenever there's a downpour, the left side of the pitch - from the view of a North Stand fan -  becomes  little more than a pond. That makes passing very awkward and naturally favours the visiting team. Today was no different. MTU’s best chance was a cheeky free kick by Fowler that the goalie palmed away.

By the second half things had eased up and more chances came MTU’s way, mainly thanks to Christian. A fantastic opportunity came Fowler’s way courtesy of his African team-mate, but somehow it went wide (see the video below at the 1:17 mark). The rest of the game was a story of both sides working hard, MTU creating more but looking unusually blunt without Teerasil or even Ahnon, who did appear late on.

So two points dropped and two more players on the injury list. On the bright side, most of the team worked very hard, Diarra looks capable in defence and Zesh has confirmed there is no tear in his leg. It will be interesting to see who gets selected for Chonburi in TLC in midweek and then the fake local derby with TOT next week.

Callisto targets

Various reports - helpfully translated into English by thaileaguefootball.com - have linked Callisto with transfer targets based in Vietnam, namely:  Le Cong Vinh  (T&T Hanoi, his team were crushed by MTU in the AFC Cup this year but he didn't play), Phan Van Tai Em (Navibank Saigon) and Huyn Quang Thanh. Naturally, all three are seasoned internationals.

On one hand this marks another turning point, as until recently good Thai players went to Vietnam rather than the reverse. On the other hand, let's bear in mind we have a foreign player quota. To gain these guys we'd have to lose any three of Fowler, Siaka, Christian, Diarra, Issoufaour, Zesh and Romone.

Will the incoming players be of better quality? Will they be likely to settle in to Thailand? If not, why buy? On the other hand, could they be exciting additions? Take a look and judge for yourself....

MTU face off against fourth placed Osotspa Saraburi M150 at home tomorrow.

Le Cong Vinh - striker from Hanoi T&T:

Above: Phan Van Tai Em, midfielder for NaviBank Sài Gòn
Image credit: news.yahoo.com 


 Huỳnh Quang Thanh, defender for Becamex Bình Duong:

Muangthong United 6 Bangkok Glass 2

BG Man

Bee Gee Man

What a game to miss! Despite looking forward to this match for a long time, family circumstances prevented me from going. All I can do is enviously offer a report from Ben at http://muangthongunitedreplay.wordpress.com

A Teerasil Dangda hat-trick gave the foundation for a steam-rolling of Bangkok Glass on Wednesday night. Muangthong’s passing was top notch, and although many through-balls in the final third could have been better, there’s no doubt BG players will fall asleep tonight seeing red and black triangles dancing in their dreams.

A great game, great energy in the stadium, and Bangkok Glass put up quite a fight until the final whistle.

Extra notes: The other goals came from Piyaphol Buntao, an own goal and Ahnon. Fowler set up a good chance that Ahnon squandered seconds before he made amends.

MTU were very depleted, especially in defence, but still overwhelmed their high-ranking opponents. Good job lads!  Next up is Siam Navy
Osotspa Saraburi M150 on the weekend.

MTU Vs Bangkok Glass preview

Games between heavyweights MTU and BG are usually fought out to a good standard and have produced very mixed results over the last three seasons. In the 2009 season, BG looked to be heading for the TPL title until a late surge by The Quilins - including a win over the 'Glass Rabbits' at home - saw it snatched away.

Since then, BG have never really fulfilled their potential despite an early season 1-0 win at home to Muangthong in 2010, though that was avenged in a 2-0 home win for the champs later on. This season MTU forced a draw at the LEO Stadium.

How have things been since then? Well Glass' very own superhero BG Man told me:

For Bangkok Glass, it's been a similar season in many respects as MTU's. A very poor start and some shock losses have been decently overcome to reach the midway point in a fairly respectable position. Performances have ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous and until a season long consistency is found, BG wont be challenging for any trophies. However, the signs are finally there that things seem to be heading in the right direction both on and off the pitch.

MTU still have selection problems. Captain  Nattaporn is very likely to be absent again following his mystery health problem last week. Datsakorn will most likely take the armband again in Oat's absence. Panupong is in with a chance of a return, though Diarra held his own against Thai Port last Saturday. Christian looks to be returning to fitness too, as his goal at Port showed.

Muangthong are still defending an undefeated home league streak that threatens to span over two full seasons. The well supported, well-financed BG will be one of the bigger threats to that potential achievement.

Muang Thong beat Port to go second

From the BP and the man, the legend, Tor:

At PAT stadium, Muang Thong were dominant throughout.

www.bangkokpost.com

Piyaphon Buntao scored two goals in less than two minutes in the second half, while striker Christian Kouakou erased any doubt with a left-footed shot in the 89th minute.

The showdown got off to a wet start in this raucous affair, and yellow cards and uneven play were the order in the first half as both sides returned from a long mid-season lay-off.

The Kirins started to enjoy more possession near the end of the first half after Port were reduded to 10 men after 38 minutes.

Siwakorn Jaksuprasart was dismissed after a second bookable offence when he tripped Jakkraphan Pornsai.

Piyaphon broke through in the 52nd minute with a low drive past third-string goalkeeper Wanlop sae Jiew.

Barely a minute later, the two-time defending champions broke down the left side and rocketed a shot off the keeper, and Piyaphon was able to head the ricochet past the fallen keeper for a 2-0 advantage.

The Kirins kept the pressure on and five minutes later Jakkraphan made a mazy run dribbling past several defenders to reach the box before blasting over the bar.

A minute later Christian laid off what seemed to be an easy hat-trick for Piyaphon but he fired wide.

Former England and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler entered the match after 61 minutes to much applause, but was unable to ripple the cords before Christian's 20-yard effort just before the final whistle.

Casualty:Nattaporn

From the OS:

Muangthong United skipper Nataporn Panrit is getting better following his collapsing during the 2-2 Toyota League Cup last 16 second-leg draw against Kasetsart University FC on Tuesday before has been taken to the hospital urgently.

“He’s getting better now and he has been looked after by doctors closely.” Kilins’ general manager Ronnarit Suewaja insisted. “Today (August 3) the doctors will monitor him meticulously including the causes of his collapsing and his Electrocardiogram, then the result revealed that he is fine but maybe the hot condition has caused him dehydration and then he collapsed.

"Oat" is the second mysterious casualty this season after Miroslav Toth "nearly died" when he collapsed on the day of the Navy game. Nattaporn will be sorely missed as he's been a great captain and excellent rearguard throughout this season and Panupong also seems to be suffering from some tweaks.

Luckily, Zesh is on form and probably benefiting from his rest earlier in the season. As they strive to return to fitness, there could be competition for the second CB slot. Diarra looked much improved in recenntr TLC games and other defenders can also play at CB.

On a brighter note, Zesh Rehman is expecting his first child later this year and is enjoying his time in Thailand.

Robbie's debut

Fowler debuted today in the League Cup game against Kasetstart FC. MTU scraped an aggregate win helped by Rob's appearance in the 58th minute.

www.thaileagueonline.com