UHT Vana Nava Hua Hin City FC 2015

[ste860]

i thought micheal made a hugh difference when he can on great goal and a lovely through ball for the 2nd , great for him with his family in the stand

[Big Boy]

Michael Byrne, was on the bench until the 60th minute. He scored a beautifully taken goal within minutes of his arrival. He is quite clearly not the player he was, but his experience will probably be an asset as we push for a coveted Champions League place.

Really, I must have missed something because it was not clear to me. What makes you say that? Michael was absolutely superb today and head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch in terms of class and quality. I'd happily take another 10 Michael Byrnes'.

Maybe I am not so easily satisfied. I've only seen the guy play 3 times so far:

1. Cup game - some nice touches, but some not so good touches. People sat in front of me repeatedly saying, "Too old, too slow."

2. Friendly - again some nice touches, but didn't really have the right support on the field with him. A wonder shot, which was saved by the underside of the cross-bar. I still felt he may have had a little more pace in his younger years.

3. Yesterday - my first question has to be, if he is still such an amazing player, why did the coach only play him for 30 minutes? I have a lot of time for our coach, and if Michael Byrne was still at his best, I'm sure he would command more than 30 minutes. OK, there is the foreign player influence as well, but if so amazing, surely he would be the first name on the team sheet. There is no doubting he has a lot of skill/experience that will be an asset to us this season in the lowest division of Thai football, his reputation tells me he was even better. A fantastic goal from almost nothing - something Hua Hin have always been lacking for 3 seasons - a player who can target the goal when you least expect it from distance.

I currently see him the same way I saw Brian Hall when he paid his own transfer from the great Liverpool side to Plymouth. He was at the end of a great career, and still had a few 'class' games left in him at a lower level.

However the pass from Byrne was sublime, perfectly weighted and really put it on a plate for him....
Exactly the type of service Andre thrives on, which until Byrne's introduction, was lacking today. Some people may call it 'kick and rush football' but I thought it was a lovely and effective piece of football.

Yes, it was a lovely pass, and showed great vision.

Regarding 'kick and rush', I was less than pleased when it was the only weapon in Hua Hin's armoury. The team these days (for my personal liking) have it about right. They can play it through the field and they can do the quick breakaway. I think they have just about the right balance. My only 'minor' dislike with the current style is the way they sometimes faff about at the back. We have played ourselves into trouble several times when these balls have been intercepted.

[ste860]

i think the problem we have is the number of decent foreigners we have there's always going to be a problem of who is going to be on the bench , so Michaels performance yesterday has given the coach the option to maybe rest / drop one of the brazilians to the bench and give us the chance to change things is plan a is not working , its a nice problem for a manager to have maybe have Valerie on the bench for some games and play all three together
plus i think he will form a good link up with the chap who plays number 2 who has got some lovely touches too ,

i personally think he should start besides being a good plater he also is a team player and is always talking and pushing his team mates on and is aware of whats around him

did any one spot him telling andre to come back and defend a loose player testerday

[Big Boy]

Now you're talking - Athit hasn't failed to impress me since his arrival, and he still seems to have youth on his side. A real battler.

Regarding the foreign player ruling, I thought Byrne might have been on the bench because of it, but we only had 3 foreigners on the pitch all match, so that isn't the reason for the late appearance. Or was there a 4th, who I haven't realised is not Thai yet?

[ste860]

i assumed there was a 4th , if athit is the number 2 i think hes very good with loads of skill /he was a real find even with his hair cut ,

one thing i was wondering the man who dances at the front and shouts orders from the stand ,is he the man who dresses as the hua hin mascot ,

[Sabai Sabai]

Sorry BB, I'm not looking for an argument here, a lot of your observations in recent weeks I've wholeheartedly agreed with however to make a statement like:

'He is quite clearly not the player he was'

And then follow it up with:

I've only seen the guy play 3 times so far:

Is a really strange thing to say. So between us we have seen him play roughly 90 competitive mins in a Hua Hin jersy, in a relatively new side which the coach is still trying to decide A. The best system to use + B. The personnel to fill the positions.

Perhaps it's this reputation thing you refer to, upping your expectations. It reminds me a bit of the good old film Braveheart..... The amount of people that met William Wallace but didn't believe it was him because they'd heard he was 10 foot tall and shot thunderbolts out his ass!

For me personally, I have not followed his career as I say, I'm aware he was the first ever Brit to come and play in the Thai league and he's played with a few teams in the premier league. I'm judging purely on what I'm seeing now though, and against the rest of the players in the current squad. For me, in the little I've seen him play so far, and he WILL still improve, he is THE classiest player we have in our squad.

Cup game - some nice touches, but some not so good touches. People sat in front of me repeatedly saying, "Too old, too slow.

First competitive game for 6 months or so, still showed some class, to be expected he'd be a little rusty. Initially thought myself he looked a little slow, but on reflection happy to accept that the role he was playing he didn't have to use pace.

Yesterday - my first question has to be, if he is still such an amazing player, why did the coach only play him for 30 minutes?

Like I say, the coach is still trying to decide on the best system and who to play where, for me I'd have liked to have seen Byrne playing in place of 24 in his role yesterday. As GD has alluded to though, the coach seems to rate this 24. As it turned out, when he was introduced yesterday, it was to replace Lucas and play his role. Given Lucas has been star man for us all season and Byrne has only just arrived it may have been harsh on Lucas to drop him and play Byrne there from the start. Lucas will have to be careful though as Byrne was much more effective when he did come on.

A fantastic goal from almost nothing - something Hua Hin have always been lacking for 3 seasons - a player who can target the goal when you least expect it from distance.

He started the move himself on the halfway line, waited, timed his run to perfection and it was an excellent finish. He actually showed a good turn of pace to make the run and bit space, he knew exactly what he was doing from when he started the move.

The kick and rush thing was a throwaway comment, I don't think we need to debate that one any further!

i personally think he should start besides being a good plater he also is a team player and is always talking and pushing his team mates on and is aware of whats around him

Yeah, I agree, you could see him geeing up all the players as they were walking onto the pitch at the start of the game, despite him not actually starting himself. Looks to have settled in very well to the squad.

[Big Boy]

I've just read some interesting news. Shota has not gone for good - he is only on loan to Kalasin until the end of the season. he says he will return .

[Big Boy]

Back to 3rd place, but still a mountain to climb if 1st and 2nd maintain their form of the first half of the season.

Table_Gameweek_13.png (33.65 KiB) Viewed 1029 times

[bsdk1960]

^^ after next round it's only a small hill we have to climb

[Geordie Dancer]

News from the training ground. There do not appear to be any serious injuries after the weekends game. Another new arrival was in attendance (No. 39). Don't know any details yet. The reserve goal keeper from the first half of the season has returned to the squad presumably as cover following the loan departure of Shota.

[Big Boy]

Is Choi still about, or was he just a triallist? We saw him for most of the Chumchuri match, but he wasn't there Saturday.

[Geordie Dancer]

Choi was at training yesterday as was the other thai player (No. 34) who came last week. They were both at the game on Saturday but didn't have club shirts on. They were on the pitch with the team at the end of the game

[Big Boy]

Filmed yesterday, but published a day late.

Because of mechanical obstructions, this week's video was filmed a lot closer. As a result you can see where the nearside seating will be located between the 2 fences.

The pitch is looking in a state nearer to being ready to be laid.

Our quaint little grandstand is looking quite good, but I fear too small to house our current following.

I'm still thinking unlikely that we'll be using the ground this season.

[Geordie Dancer]

One more new arrival at training today. Don't know his name or squad number yet but he has been signed from division 1 team Changmai FC. Yesterdays arrival (No. 39) has also been signed from a first division team, Krabi FC.

[Sabai Sabai]

I'm still thinking unlikely that we'll be using the ground this season.

Well according to the mayor of Hua Hin(at least I think he was still being quoted at this point) in the article published today on the club's Facebook he said the stadium would be completed by around the start of August and we would be able to start playing there by the start of October allegedly.

Not certain what the 2 month gap between completion and starting playing is but I'm assuming it will be for the pitch to be ready. I'm no expert but I'd have thought they could have had the pitch ready at the same time as the stadium itself is ready....

Is it a seasonal thing where they need to lay it in rainy season? Or just poor planning?!