Marked for Ferian Rizki
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at PSIM
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Rachmat Sucipto has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at PSIM can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” PSIM may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with Maluku Utara United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at PSIM
Adrián Dalmau was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at PSIM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Rizki is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for PSIM
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market14 Jun 2027
Persib come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and PSIM did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Theo Leeming, 19, steals the show — 7.63
Marked 7.63 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market14 Jun 2027
Ferian Rizki hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PSIM can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Cahya Supriadi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” PSIM have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bhayangkara Presisi keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at PSIM
Franco Ramos Mingo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
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From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” PSIM may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Tempers go at PSIM
Adrián Dalmau was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match3 Apr 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ezequiel Vidal’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to PSIM.
Squad5 Apr 2027
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at PSIM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rio Hardiawan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market5 Apr 2027
No place for Andy Setyo in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Andy Setyo has his answer from PSIM; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Rachmat Sucipto, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 41. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match20 Mar 2027
PSIM taken apart
0‑3 to Persija, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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Squad22 Mar 2027
Franco Ramos Mingo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Sani Rizki in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PSIM this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sani Rizki, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the PSIM dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Rachmat Sucipto left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
A promise honoured at PSIM
Something was said to Syahrul Lasinari and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. PSIM lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at PSIM
Adrián Dalmau and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 144% of everything PSIM earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ferian Rizki and PSIM agree another 3 years.
Market28 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adrián Dalmau signs something — a contract at PSIM or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Dec 2026
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. PSIM lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market21 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at PSIM
Ferian Rizki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Riyatno Abiyoso has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at PSIM will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market21 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ezequiel Vidal signs something — a contract at PSIM or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Fahreza Sudin knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at PSIM, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andi Asnawi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market14 Dec 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Witan Hidayat has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Deri Corfe falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at PSIM
Ferian Rizki was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ahmad Agung, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Harlan Suardi gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Harlan Suardi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout2 Nov 2026
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
150% of the income goes out in wages at PSIM
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at PSIM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deri Corfe is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at PSIM
Ferian Rizki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fahreza Sudin, and the manager let it.
Market2 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adrián Dalmau signs something — a contract at PSIM or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Oct 2026
Andi Irfan hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PSIM can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” PSIM may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at PSIM
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Deri Corfe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sani Rizki, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at PSIM
Ferian Rizki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at PSIM
Adrián Dalmau and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 209% of the PSIM income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at PSIM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rio Hardiawan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad5 Oct 2026
26 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Adrián Dalmau
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Adrián Dalmau has come out of that comparison in the side, and PSIM have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
When it matters, Andi Irfan plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Sep 2026
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Ezequiel Vidal decided nobody was going anywhere. Persebaya had no time left to answer.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market14 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at PSIM, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
PSIM offered $11.0K; Dewa United said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ezequiel Vidal. 3‑2 against Persebaya, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match12 Sep 2026
PSIM are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Stefano Beckham is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Adrián Dalmau at his very best
Marked 8.46. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at PSIM.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Deri Corfe falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
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Squad
Ferian Rizki in a row with a teammate
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Squad
PSIM are still strangers to each other
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at PSIM, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at PSIM until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $33.4K — a club that wants Asyraq Gufron enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Semen Padang wanted more than $32.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Persik have kept their man, and PSIM go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Persib made PSIM work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Sep 2026
56 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at PSIM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rio Hardiawan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.