Why Raj deserve to be in D1

Rajpracha's survival in Division 1 was finally secured on Wednesday night when Chantaburi failed to defeat Air Force United. I'm absolutely delighted for Rajpracha as although the league table never lies at the end of the season, I am certain that 'The Crowns' not only deserve to stay up, but are in fact one of the best teams in D1.

So how then, did we come so close to the drop zone? Well the problem began shortly into the start of the campaign. After a strong set of opening games that put us in a top five slot, Raj began a slump in form that saw us getting hammered on a regular basis. It quickly became apparent that the new coach was not competent and the squad started to look more and more like a nervous bunch of schoolkids playing against men. It must be said that the people in charge took too long to deal with this problem in my opinion, it was obvious what needed to be done a long time before action was taken to remove the coach. We suffered for that delay. However, even in this period the players showed bursts of the quality they are capable of.

New coach Somchai quickly set about making changes and improvements and the players started to show what they can do. A win at home to (then) second placed Air Force United was followed by a win away to Nakhom Pathom (still in the promotion race), a narrow home defeat to runaway leaders Sriracha was followed by a two-nil win against them in the FA Cup and that in turn was followed by a draw with Chiang Rai United who are also still hunting promotion. In all these games Rajpracha showed superb football skills, as they played a passing and attacking game with pace, skill and confidence.

But with such a large deficit the team were always playing catch-up in a sixteen team division with four teams taking the drop and just a couple of poor results set us back. A loss away to Thai Honda was followed by a terrible official's decision at Chula United that literally turned a win into a defeat, plunging 'The Crowns' back into trouble. It also seemed strange that both the old coach and his replacement seemed to rotate players for the sake of it, even though some are clearly so much better than others.

There followed a nervy few days for the fans, not least myself having tasted relegation with Southampton and never wishing to taste it again. But other results soon ensured Raj's fate was back at their own feet and they never looked back, winning away to Narathaiwat and crushing RBAC at home.

That win sets the scene for this Saturday (with a new kick off time of 1530) as fans of both teams prepare a joint party to give their "player(s) of the season awards" and celebrate promotion and survival respectively. For Raj, it also means they can now look forward to the exciting FA Cup tie with neighbours Muangthong next week.

Yet more relegation analysis

It's been pointed out to me that PTT have the advantage over Raj because although the H2H scores between the sides are equal, PTT have more away goals, which is used as a splitter before goal difference.

The good news however is that Raj could be safe before their next and final league game on Saturday not only if Chantaburi fail to beat Air Force, but also if PTT - who have actually shown very strong form recently - beat Prachinburi tomorrow.

Credit and copyright: thai-fussball.de

Updated relegation analysis - 16/10/10

Raj's game today became another victim of the Thunderdome pitch and rainy season. The game is rescheduled for Monday. Nobody seems to know about KO time, though. At this time it appears that Chantaburi's game with AFU may also have been postponed.

Results from today went in Raj's favour with PTT drawing at home to Khoen Kean and Prachinburi losing at home to Chiang Rai. This means PTT and Prachinburi have both lost their game in hand and both teams sit along with Raj at 35 points from 28 games. Chantaburi remain in the first relegation spot of thirteenth place with 33 points from 28 games.

Raj have the 'head to head' advantage over Prachiburi (4-3) and Chantaburi (2-1) but PTT and Raj stand at 4-4 on 'head to head'. Therefore the deciding factor is goal difference, where PTT have a ten goal advantage over Raj ( minus three for PTT, minus thirteen for Raj).

Possible permutations remain multitude but one worth considering is that if Chantaburi fail to defeat AFU, then Raj would need just two points from their remaining two games to be safe.

Credit: thai-fussball.de

Narathaiwat 0 Rajpracha 1 - D1 relegation analysis

A Wisarut goal after nine minutes was enough to give Raj a nervy win away to already relegated Narathaiwat.

The win puts Raj in eleventh place with 35 points from 28 games. PTT are next behind with 34 points from 27 games, next, and in the first relegation spot are Chantaburi with 33 points from 28 games.

Chantaburi must play Air Force home and Chula away. I think they will struggle to get more than four points from these games.

PTT play Khoen Kean home, Prachinburi home and RBAC away. I expect them to win at least two of these games.

Raj play RBAC at home (this Saturday at 1630) and Khoen Kean at home next weekend. They must look to take all six points but four might be enough.

The glamorous FA Cup tie against Muangthong that looked to be the final act of the season has now taken back seat in the minds of staff, players and fans.

Credit: thai-fussball.de

Raj in relegation zone

Rajpracha have dropped into thirteenth spot, the final relegation spot, after PTT Rayong's surprise 2-0 victory over Customs FC at the weekend. The league table now looks like this:

(credit thai-fussball.de)

Raj must play Narathaiwat away (Weds), RBAC at home (Sat) and Khoen Kean home (Saturday next week).
PTT Rayong must play Khoen Kean home and RBAC away.
Chantaburi must play Air Force home and Chula Utd away.

Raj's fate is in their own hands. If they win all three games they will finish above Chantaburi.

Rajpracha Vs Sriracha

Raj will take on Sriracha at the Thunderdome on Saturday in a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup tie scheduled for the following week. (However, no less than three games are booked in to play at The Thunderdome at the same time on the same day!).


Sriracha sit atop the D1 table after being relegated from the TPL last season. However Raj will be coming into this game full of confidence after their 1-0 win against second placed Air Force last week.


If Raj could win this one, it would have a profound effect on the league title race and with thirteen games left, Raj themselves would be just eight points away from a promotion spot.

Raj updates

Photos of our bottom kicking from Songkhla can be seen here.

Our  next opponents are Thai Honda FC on Sunday. Here's a clip of them beating Khoen Kean FC, with help from some comical defending.

Next game - Nakhom Pathom

Nakhom Pathom are a club with Premier League experience. As one of the first clubs to enter the TPL from outside Bangkok, they were relegated just last year. This year they are mounting a promotion challenge and currently sit in fifth place in Division One.


The province:
Nakhom Pathom is a neighbouring province to Nonthaburi and is famous for its fruits and Thai dishes. NP has a reputation for attracting good levels of away support and Muangthong United are unlikely to play this weekend, boosting home support for Raj.Let's hope for a good travelling contingent of fans and  big home support generating a good atmosphere  

Who to watch:
NP have an English player by the name of Lee Tuck (pictured left) who has played in non-league English football. I'm currently trying to contact Lee for an interview.

I call:
With Raj's form really starting to stutter, it's important to keep up our good home record. My heart says 2-1 Raj, my head says 1-1.


**********
Image credits: wikipedia.org , Nakhom Pathom FC Facebook group.

Prachinburi 2 Raj 1

Raj went down a fixture we should be looking to win if we want a serious push for promotion.

More details to follow.

Next up - Narathiwat

Image credit: www.narathiwatfc.net 

Narathiwat FC hail from Narathiwat in the deep south of Thailand and play their home games at Narathiwat Central Satdium. 
The club joined Rajpracha in the D2 promotion play offs last season and managed to scrape the final spot by drawing with Samut Prakan in the final game.

Division one has not been kind to them so far and the club are one place off the bottom.


The province:
The province has a high Muslim population (hence the Islamic symbol in the club badge)  and has been hurt badly by the seperatist terrorism in the region. However, it is considered friendly and cultural. The people of Thailand's deep south have a different dialect and traditional diet to the rest of the nation.

Only the hardcore away fans will attend this game as it will entail a round trip of over two thousand kilometers!

Who to watch:
Yen Emile was not selected for Raj's last game and teh team suffered for it. He may well return for this game but his fiery temper has already been on display this season.

I call:
Raj need to bounce back from the disappointment of drawing at home to PTT. Although Sunday's game (0-0 away to Sriracha) was a good result, we need a win to push back up the table. I call 2-1

Sriracha 0 Raj 0

Actually a very good result, away to the team narrowly relegated from the Prem last season, and the favourites to go straight back up.

I was unable to attend this game but I'll be at the next home game on Wednesday.

Air Force United 2 Rajpracha 1

Photo credit: http://www.siamsport.co.th/

Rajpracha took an early lead and Air Force were reduced to ten men but it was not enough for Raj to hold on.


Air Force equalised before half time and although the second half was very even, it appeared to be heading towards a one-one draw. With about ten minutes left, Air Force went down to nine men when another player was dismissed for his second bookable offence. Yet on the ninetieth minute, Air Force scored. Raj applied pressure for the three minutes of injury time but could not get through.

A decent game with some flashes of good football from both sides and despite the number of yellow cards, this was not a dirty game and the ref did not give any more free kicks than he had to. Raj took a good crowd of about one hundred or more noisy fans and the home crowd were welcoming. An enjoyable day out at Don Muang for everyone.

Next up - Air Force United (away)

Image credit: www.airforceunited.com 

Raj travel to AFU on Sunday for a 1730 kick off.


I normally only preview home games that I will attend - as opposed to this away game that I hope to attend - but I want to give special mention to AFU for two reasons. One, their fans are some of the friendliest in Thai football, which is saying something. Secondly, their website is an example to all other teams. It's free of flash and other junk that slows down your browser and bloats the bill of the web designer, and focuses on giving you the actual information that you need such as player profiles, ticket details, a stadium map and a web board. I wish that teams like Osotspa would take a look at the AFU website.


Air Force United play near Don Muang Airport, which is almost as close to my home as the Thunderdome, so like many Raj fans, I hope to be hopping on the bus to attend this one. It's second against third, too.

Chantaburi 0 Rajpracha 2 - Score

Raj move in to second place.

Rajpracha 2 Suphanburi 1

A successful, if quiet opening game for Rajpracha. The club had a decent sized crowd - with plenty of visiting fans , too - and a new merchandise stall selling the three new teams shirts at 350 baht each.

The first half was a quiet affair as both teams cancelled each other out. The second half was better as Raj took control of the game. Both goals were scored by number 16, Tameesee.

Suphanburi pulled one back with about seven minutes left to make for a tense finish, but Raj just held out.

A good performance today but we also saw a couple of areas to work on in training for this young team. In the first half they were caught offside needlessly on a number of occasions because attacking players simply did not even take a sideways glance before rushing forward. Secondly, when Raj tried to run down the clock they did so by feigning injury and arguing. They also gave the ball away with unnecessary sideways passes and conceded free kicks in their own half.

A far better and more sporting way to run down the clock is, of course, to take the ball to the opponents' corner flag and hold possession. In Thailand, there's a good chance an opposition player will lose his cool, clatter someone and get sent off as a bonus.

To be fair, the Raj method of time killing seems to be the only method used in Thailand. Perhaps I should get a job as a coach!

In all, a good result against one of the weaker sides in this division. With effort, Raj can look for a comfortable mid-table spot this season.

*****************
Some crowd shots

First up....Suphanburi

All depending on the match not getting postponed, of course.....

The club: 
Suphanburi FC have spent the last two seasons in Division 1 after relegation from the TPL in 2007. The club narrowly avoided relegation last year, finishing just two points above the drop zone. Club colours are orange and black. There is an official web site for the club here.

Who to watch:
Muangthong United star Mussa Sylla played for Suphanburi in their premiership days, but financial; problems have restricted the club from any top signings since then. The club have just one non Thai player on their books.

The place:
The away fans will have a distance of 100km to cover as they leave their pleasant, historical province.


I call:
With respect to Suphanburi, this is an easier game to start with than the original scheduled fixture of Rattanabundit away. It's so crucial our young squad gets off to a good start and our impressive new striker Traore' Ibrahima will be looking to make his mark. I say 2-1 Raj.

The club logo and some of the information here came from the Wikipedia article on Suphanburi FC.

******************************************

Nonthaburi FC's next opponents are Kasem Bundit University on March 28th.

What I know about them:

Nothing, except their results and league position (8th) so far this season.

I call :
3-0 Nonthaburi. With Janewit scoring twice.

More details and coverage of both Raj and Nonthaburi to come soon, time permitting. 

Raj game postponed

I believe Rajpracha's opening game against Suphanburi has been postponed until the 23rd of March due to the ongoing political protests in and around Bangkok.

If I am correct about this, Raj join the growing list of teams waiting to get the season underway. Only the games based in the north have been given the green light. This is ironic because this is where most of the protesters come from.

Promotion

The official Rajpracha website confirms The Raj are indeed promoted. According to the OS, the worst case scenario is that Raj finish joint third with Samutprakan, whom Raj have defeated in the head to head.

Have a look at the table and fixtures and see for yourself.

Congratulations Rajpracha!