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Big Dreams

Started on 14 January 2010 by saplingg
Latest Reply on 2 February 2010 by saplingg
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saplingg's avatar Group saplingg
15 yearsEdited
The following are excerpts from the diary of a young man named Abraham Tan. It follows his journey from being a bum living with his mother in his hometown of Singapore to the beginnings of a career in football management.

NOTE: This story contains foul language and might be considered offensive towards certain ethnicities/nationalities. Please understand that it's a fictional story and is not intended to insult anyone.


6 Jan 2009

My Career Begins

I've sent out my job application, and I begin my career not far from home at Kendari Utama, an Indonesian First Division team. First Division is the lowest league out of the three major football leagues that Indonesia has, the second is the Premier League and the top is called the Super League.

My objective is to spend at most one or two seasons managing this club, hopefully get a good result under my belt and move on to a more promising club. The date is 6 Jan 2009 and the league runs from August 09 until Jan 2010. I'm will be arranging loads of friendlies during this long off-season period and I will refrain from getting too involved in the everyday running of the club, letting my assistant handle the games.

I've been given a budget of 2.7k and 850 p/w to strengthen my squad, and with this money I hope to fix the weaknesses in my side - fullback, left wing and striker.


25 Jun 2009

Singapore Beckons

Well interesting news, there's just been a job opening in my hometown Singapore. DPMM FC is now looking for a manager, and I can't help but think that if I get this job it's going to boost my career by miles. The media have labeled me a favorite for the post, and the reporters are jamming up my phone asking for a comment. I told them I'd make a decision by the end of the day.

Some real thinking to be done here.


26 Jun 2009

Drama Days

Well Mr Marati (my chairman) is flipping a shit over my declaration of interest but I couldn't half understand what he was saying anyway, the slimy fuck. My grasp of Bahasa Indonesia is still basic which is probably good because I might've told him "I quit" if I knew how to.

To tell you the truth I'm hoping I'll get to go back home in the near future.


30 Jun 2009

Stuck in a Rut

DPMM picked Syed Neo over me. Motherfucker. I'm pretty disappointed, but what are you gonna do. Back to work.


15 Aug 2009

I Fucking Hate Own Goals

In our second league match of the season my supporting midfielder, Agus Riyanto put the ball into our goal for us off a corner, causing us to lose our 1-0 lead on this game.

We had this match against Perseta by the balls and I'm thoroughly pissed off.


6 Sep 2009

Suckers!

Hahahaha, good news, in our 5th league game against Persitoli, I thought it was over for us as they got a penalty in the 86th minute.

But the sucker missed from the spot! That gives us our third win in five games and puts us on top of the league. Whoop!


15 Nov 2009

Dry Spell

We haven't won in 8 games and with 9 games to go till the end of the 1st phase, I desperately need our form to pick up if I'm going to aim any higher than 6th place. We're not doing poorly, out of 13 games we're 3-8-2. But it's just not good enough and I am really expecting more out of this team.


21 Nov 2009

Wheelin' Dealin'

14203-transfers 2009.png

Here is a list of my transfers for this season. I'm quite pleased with the deals I made here, although I think I was a bit too generous with my offers. Oh well finances are the least of my worries right now, I have ambitions damn it!

14203-team report 2009.jpg

Here's a team report from my assistant, looks to have quite a few stars in it but he is an idiot anyway and what does he know.


27 Nov 2009

Unbelievable

Somehow or another, my application for a vacant spot at Geylang Utd was exposed by the media. Naturally the board weren't too happy and after the big hookah about the DPMM job a few months ago, they decided that they'd had enough and gave me an ultimatum - apologize or resign.

As much as I'd have loved a move to Geylang, which would be brilliant for my career, I wasn't ready to leave Kendari yet.

I had no choice but to make a public apology. How humiliating. Bastards.


20 Feb 2010

Season Wrap-up


14203-2009 league table.png

Well all my whining paid off as we came away with a decent 4-2-3 in the last 9 games of the season, giving us a respectable mid-table position and $35,000 in prize money. I'm annoyed because if we weren't so goddamn half assed in our finishing we could easily have made third, and that's $15,000 more.

I mean come on we drew so many times against terrible opposition and so we're 6th instead of 3rd by goal difference? Damn.

I'm doing a lot of thinking as to what the future holds for me. As I've mentioned time and again I don't want to be stuck here in Indonesia and if I had the opportunity to move I would love to. But I'm also afraid to lose my job here at Kendari. Mom would kick my ass if she found out I was unemployed again.

I just wish someone would come to me with an offer, but I guess that luxury is only available to guys like Fergie and Mourinho.

Maybe one day I'll get there.
Very nice, enjoyed it. Like how you've put a bit of humor in the story...looking forward to next update. Nice quick summaries of each part of your career :wink
saplingg's avatar Group saplingg
15 yearsEdited
1 Jul 2010

Chained

Today is the first day of the rest of my sad miserable life. I've just signed a 3 year contract with Kendari, which could mean that I'm stuck here for awhile. I guess the Premiership will have to wait.

In other news, my squad is starting to look more solid, I've managed to reduce the wage budget considerably, and I've secured some solid loan deals at zero wage contribution, which includes Mr Sairan, our star striker . He should put in a good performance for us this season, and Mr Roniarto, our solid sweeper/defender.

I'm contemplating reworking my tactics from the 4-5-1 we've played last season as the crossing in this team is quite poor and maybe we ought to play more through the middle? I don't quite know yet, we'll see.

Pre season friendlies are still going strong, and we've changed our ways by actually scoring a couple of goals this time. Hopefully our performance in front of goal carries on into the league and we start to see a couple more wins instead of draws - we might even make the second phase if we're lucky.

For this season I've set expectation as mid-table finish which judging by last seasons performance I think we can safely accomplish. But as always, I'm shooting for the stars.



18 Dec 2010

Last Ditch Effort

I haven't had much time to write lately, believe it or not I've been hard at work managing this team into (hopefully) greatness.

14203-league table 2010.png

First off, let me wrap up our performances so far this season - 7-6-4 out of 17 games ain't too bad, eh? Also take note of our goals scored. We're the second highest scoring team so far, and compared to our pathetic 16 goals at the end of last season, this is quite a welcome improvement. Unfortunately we've also conceded a lot more goals, but I think that's due to my tactics.

I've been employing quite a… I'd say creative tactic, very heavily offensive, at first I figured that a fluid attacking game might not work due to the astoundingly poor quality of our football, but I guess I overlooked the fact that our opposition's defense is pretty sucky as well, so we've been managing to sneak throughballs in tight spaces and exploit the huge gaps in their defense.

14203-tactics.jpg

Take a look at the tactic - I know, weird, but it seems to be working for me and I'll probably stick with it till the end of the season. If I make it into the second phase I might pull some players back and go with a standard 4 backline, but I'm really just experimenting here. Player instructions are not that wacky, I've cut down on a lot of long shots, pushed up on throughballs, and increased most of the closing radiuses.

14203-fixtures 2010.jpg

Now back to the league, I've got 5 games left and I'm 2 points behind PSBI. Here's a tricky fixture list though. I've got 2 home games and an away game against Persiko, Persidi and Persitoli, which if you'll notice are the relegation fighters this season and I really need some good solid wins here.

We're also up against Yahukimo, who raped me 1-3 at home, and their form has been pretty solid lately so I think this match really could go any way.

And lastly we're up away from home against PSBI, our rivals for the qualification spot. I'm pretty certain it's up to this match which decide who gets in, if we draw we can fight, if we lose it's gonna be tough, but if we win I'm sure we can pull through to the second phase.

Fuck em fuck em fuck em I hope those bastards get injured. We're up against them in 2 weeks on New Years Day. What a way to start 2011.



19 Dec 2010

Kendari Utama 2 : 1 Persiko

Down 0-1 at half time, I screamed at them till they were red in the face, and 2 goals came in the last 20 minutes. Guess the threats of intense physical training worked. Great comeback.



1 Jan 2011

PSIB 3 : 1 Kendari Utama

Shit.



1 Feb 2011

Game Over

We followed up our poor performance at PSIB with one win, one draw and one loss, giving us a final position of 4th and 45,000 in prize money. Blora overtook us in the table with a good final few performances but I guess qualification was completely out of reach after we lost to PSBI and we sort of gave up after that defeat.

It's still a good result for the season considering we expected a bottom half struggle, but once again I'm disappointed that we didn't do well in the big matches. I can't blame it entirely on my team, perhaps my tactics were a bit too eccentric. You don't see teams like Inter or Liverpool using a 3-2-5, so maybe I deserved to lose this season. I mean I'm using a fucking LIBERO for christ's sake.

I can't help but second guess my decisions tactically following this performance. You know, what if we stuck to a 4-4-2, or something more traditional and conservative? Could we have won? Could a promotion here have attracted the likes of a Singaporean team, giving me a chance to get back home?

I'll never know. It was a good season by all accounts but I'm still a nobody in the grand scheme of things, and I suppose I'll be stuck at Kendari for yet another season.
2 Spots higher than ur previous season, u getting there, keep it going im sure you will be 1-2 next season.
19 July 2011

Keep On Climbin'

As my third season at Kendari Utama rears its ugly mug, I'm getting more and more antsy by the day to get on with the action.

To tell you the truth I'm sort of becoming comfortable here. I guess I've gotten used to the awful traffic, terrible pollution and general poor living conditions. But one thing is still pretty novel to me - a pack of cigarettes for a dollar. WHAT A BARGAIN!

You know what, I think I'm actually excited to get this season underway. As resentful and grumpy as my past entries have been, we've had two solid seasons, and I genuinely believe that this one is going to be a good one.

We've consistently made 25% of our turnover for the past couple of seasons, and the kitty is getting fuller. I've told my board that I believe we can do a top-half finish. (Secretly though, I'm aiming, and expecting for more.) They love my confidence and they've given me a great budget to work with.

I've told them I won't be paying out any transfer fees and so they've given me a grand total 1.6k p/w to sign players with (at the beginning of my career here the average player made about $50 p/w so now with the leeway to make a maximum offer of 375p/w, this is considered a lot for me.), and I've already made 3 signings so far.

A skillful AM/FC who has great technique on the ball, a speedy MC who I believe will be great support on the counter, and a powerful striker who I had on loan last season and was my top goal scorer. These three are my key players in my squad. Coupled with the wealth of talent available on loan from bigger clubs, I think I've assembled a squad that can take me through to the second phase.

Let the games begin!!
Really like the way you do the blog, its refreshing as everybody have normal and sensible blogs. Your story really cracks me up at times :D

Really enjoyable blog:yes
I love your writing style & well done so far, great career! :D
FM_MUFC : I love your writing style & well done so far, great career! :D

+1

KUTGW!
Ty for the support :)



25 Dec 2011

Confidence

Despite an excellent first half of the season, we've managed to fuck it up yet again. Let me put it this way - in the past 8 games, we've got 1 win, 5 draws and 2 losses. What ever strength we've shown in the beginning has turned to shit, and promotion is just a pipe dream now.

[imgw]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/saplingg/leaguetable2011.png[/imgw]


With 4 games left to go, I've got a one in a million shot of making it. But it doesn't matter anyway, there's no hope left in me. Three seasons of letdowns in this shithole of a country can change you. I came here with a plan, with goals, and now I can't even imagine them any more.

I've lost confidence in my squad, and worse still, in my own ability.

Funnily enough my board loves me. They're delighted with my leadership and I can't blame them, I must have been a godsend to them. I've met my expectations and more for the past two seasons, I've controlled my finances wonderfully and I've steered this team into consistent and confident mediocrity. Go me.

But I don't give a damn about what Mr Marati and his team of retards think. They can label me the messiah for all I care. I need big results. I need wins. I need my ugly face on the sports page in the news, I need the clubs back home to be whispering about me. If there's any chance of me making it in this career, I need a fucking reputation. And coming in 5th place in the bottom tier league in the rat fucked sewer that is Indonesia is not going to cut it. I need a fucking holiday.

Merry Christmas, motherfuckers.
good blog, is reeli interesting, but might want to cut down on the bad language and the slating of indonesia, we have some indonesian members
Oh ok - I hope this doesn't offend anyone really, it's a fictional story so I don't mean for it to be insulting or anything
http://www.the-spiceislands.com/Images/Indonesia/Jakarta/Popside1a.jpg

1 Jul 2012

JC: Today we have with us the manager of Indonesian First Division side Kendari Utama, Abraham Tan. Abraham, what is it like being a Singaporean managing in Indonesia?

AT: To be honest with you, it's not easy. For the first couple of seasons I hated life here. I'm sure you guys still remember the Geylang Utd job application leak, hahaha! But I've settled well and I'm completely focused on the football.

JC: Good to hear that you're finally starting to enjoy it here. You were pretty active this summer, and your new signings should be coming in today. How do you feel?

AT: I am confident that there is already a lot of potential at Kendari, and by making investments in good players, I think we can really push for a promotion spot this coming season. It took me a good couple of seasons to get a feel for a realistic timeline in terms of achievements, but I'm now ready to spend. So I'm thrilled to be able to finally make a push for a promotion spot, and I think that these signings will help us progress.

JC: Care to introduce your new signings to us?

AT: Sure; first off we have Hendro Siswanto and M. Husein. These two attacking midfielders should pose a definite threat to our opponents back 4. We saw last year that we have a star in Solekan, who came runner up for the Top Goalscorer award. These two players will complement him very well.

Secondly we have Nugrahanto, to replace our goalkeeper Setiawan. Setiawan performed far too poorly last season, and he's left us a couple of weeks ago. Nugrahanto is a talented goalkeeper and I have no doubts that he can fill Setiawan's shoes and then some.

Astawa and Mustakim are both quality fullbacks and they will add excellent depth to our current backline. Astawa is only 19 and he's showing a lot of promise. I think we'll be seeing a lot of him in future.

Lastly, As'ari and Fandhi, we had the two of them on loan last season and they gave some good performances for us.

JC: That's a lot of them! You've been very strict with your finances during your term at Kendari, with the club reporting close to 25% profits consistently for three seasons. But with the new stadium being built this year, are the wage demands going be a problem for you?

AT: Marati and the board know my stance on finances, and I feel that now is the time to spend. The new stadium will stretch us, but we have been doing well and there is no reason to worry that this spending will hurt us.

JC: I appreciate your confidence Abraham. Who do you think will be your rivals for the qualification spots this year?

AT: Blora is definitely going to be one of them. They've been pushing us hard in the league for the past three seasons, and I don't see why they won't give us a run for our money this year. The other team would have to be Mauro Jambi, they topped our group in 2009, and they've had two years in the Premier Division in 2010 and 2011. That kind of experience is hard to compete with.

JC: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, and good luck with the season!
Good Luck
saplingg's avatar Group saplingg
15 yearsEdited
12 Jan 2013

I Did It!

[IMGw]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/saplingg/leaguetable2012.png[/IMGw]

[IMGw]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y177/saplingg/qualified2012.png[/IMGw]


Yes!! We've qualified, and with two games left to go. We dominated the league from the start, and I think only losing twice is a groundbreaking achievement for a team like us, who has been so inconsistent this past few seasons. We've got the fewest goals conceded in the entire first division, 7 in 20 games. And I think I've got to congratulate our new goalkeeper, Nugrahanto. 13 clean sheets in 20 games is really something.

I am so glad to finally be seeing some results. A win in the second phase playoffs would be amazing, but qualifying with two games left to go, with no sign of weakness this entire season, that's definitely an achievement.
2 Mar 2013

Second Phase

The top two teams of every group in the first phase qualify for second phase group play. 8 teams are drawn into two groups of 4, and the top team of every group qualifies for the finals.

In our first match against fellow group D qualifiers we played at home against Muaro Jambi. We've met them twice already this season, winning 3-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away.

I pushed the team for a win, but it was not to be. Our star holding midfielder for this year who had joined us on loan, Faisol Abdillah, was out to injury for 7 weeks or more. This season we played a 4-2-3-1, with 2 MCs, 3 AMCs and a poacher up front, so we really needed a good defensive mid to anchor the play, but unfortunately we had no suitable replacement.

Abdillah's loss really showed as our possession in the midfield was tenuous and unsure. Without a suitable base to build on, we only came away with a 0-0 draw.

In our second match we played away to Persipro, a team we've only met once before when we defeated them 2-0 in a friendly. We were off to a flyer as Abdul Fikri Sairan scored a stunning header off a corner, and our confidence showed as we had several attempts on goal. In the 52nd minute Sairan made a great run into space and blasted the ball from the corner of the penalty area, a long range thunderous kick. The ball passed the keeper on his outside and stunningly flew into the corner of the net. I've got to say I lost it when the assistant referee flagged it offside, and it was such a shame as it was a magnificent goal. Despite many chances like that, we somehow only came away from the match 1-0.

This gave u 4 points and a +1 goal difference, putting us on par with PSBL, who we were to meet in our next match. They were unfortunately ahead by goals scored, so a draw would not cut it for us today. I had to win. This pressure I think was too much to handle for the players, who were expecting to be winding down the season with friendly matches at this point, and our striker Faisal Muttaqin got sent off in the 10th minute for a poorly timed tackle. This put us under even more stress, and PSBL mounted several strong attacks against us, with Nugrahanto being tested at every chance. Finally they scored from a narrow angle, and unfortunately we couldn't make a come back, giving us a 3rd placing in our group as Muaro Jambi won their third fixture and overtook us in points.

I've got to say that I'm pretty disappointed as the first two fixtures should have both been confident wins for us, which would have put us in great stead for our last match against the toughest opposition, PSBL. We definitely had a chance at taking the trophy, but I suppose I can't let it get me down as it was a fantastic season overall, our first phase performance saw us with a 14-6-2 from 22 games and giving us an 11 point lead over fellow qualifiers Muaro Jambi.

Well next season the Premier Division beckons, and it's going to be tough but an interesting fight. I haven't thought much about my future yet, but chances are I'll be happy to stick around at Kendari for another season. For now though, I think I'll celebrate.

You are reading "Big Dreams".

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