Dika Nurdiansyah

Striker - Semen Padang
17 Sep 2028
Sunday
Process

Marked for Dika Nurdiansyah

110 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

4 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Maicon Silva damages knee ligaments — 15 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Tempers go at Semen Padang

Jaime Giraldo 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.

Boardroom

Semen Padang counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Semen Padang now.

Squad

Words at Semen Padang training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fantamady Diarra 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Semen Padang against PSM

0‑2 to PSM, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Fantamady Diarra runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Irsyad Maulana

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Irsyad Maulana, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Bill Fenton wants to come home

“I did not go to Aktobe to sit and watch. I want to come back to Semen Padang and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Market

The Arthur Augusto question follows Semen Padang around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Arthur Augusto’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

Back issues
109 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

28 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Maicon Silva

23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Semen Padang lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Boubakary Diarra: 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.” Semen Padang have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra 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.

Squad

Irsyad Maulana 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 Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Persib take the points off Semen Padang

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Kianz Froese runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Dika Nurdiansyah never got going

5.27 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Market

The Kianz Froese story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kianz Froese signs something — a contract at Semen Padang or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

108 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Maurício

18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Semen Padang lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Semen Padang refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 42 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

As if he never left: Armando Oropa returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Armando Oropa is a Semen Padang player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Squad

Words at Semen Padang training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Moussa Koïta 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.

Match

Dika Nurdiansyah’s goal not enough for Semen Padang

Dika Nurdiansyah scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Persijap, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Tempers go at Semen Padang

Rui Rampa 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jaime Giraldo

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Boardroom

129% of the income goes out in wages at Semen Padang

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.

Player ratings

Fantamady Diarra runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

106 Edition

The Borneo Post

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Jayus Hariyono: 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.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Marcos Astina

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Match

Whatever happens, Borneo do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Market

Leo Guntara attracts admirers

The name of Leo Guntara has come up in conversations Borneo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Mohammed Al-Otaibi

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah: I did not sign for Borneo to play for other people

“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at Borneo and a proper look at me.” He remains Semen Padang’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.

Market

Leo Guntara told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Leo Guntara has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Borneo.

In brief

106 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Diego Maurício damages knee ligaments — 33 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

8 unbeaten for Semen Padang

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Semen Padang did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Arthur Augusto shuts the door again

15 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.

Squad

Words at Semen Padang training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Moussa Koïta 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.

Loan watch

Teguh Amiruddin counts the days

“I watch every Semen Padang game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Tempers go at Semen Padang

Ambrizal Umanailo 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ambrizal Umanailo

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Jaime Giraldo shuts the door

Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Boardroom

Semen Padang counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Semen Padang now.

In brief

105 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Maurício

41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Semen Padang lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Tin Martić out for 18 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Semen Padang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Resky Fandi keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Semen Padang may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

7 unbeaten for Semen Padang

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Semen Padang did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Jaime Giraldo 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 Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Mohamed Moussa Koïta

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

One of those days for Mohamed Moussa Koïta

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Semen Padang share the spoils with Borneo

A 1‑1 draw with Borneo leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Dika Nurdiansyah

A mark of 5.44 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

97 Edition

The Borneo Post

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Gavin Kwan Adsit asks to leave Borneo

“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.

Player ratings

Abdullah Al-Hafith, 35, rolls back the years — 8.39

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.39 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Habibi Jusuf: 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.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Boardroom

An order from above at Borneo: somebody has to go

Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.

Match

No end in sight to Borneo's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Borneo has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Saheed Owolabi 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Mohammed Al-Otaibi 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.

Boardroom

124% of the income goes out in wages at Borneo

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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Marcos Astina

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

96 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Maicon Silva damages knee ligaments — 121 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 121 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

A fracture rules Tin Martić out for 83 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Semen Padang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Semen Padang up to position 2

25 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Tempers go at Semen Padang

Jaime Giraldo 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.

Squad

Words at Semen Padang training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fantamady Diarra 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 146% of everything Semen Padang 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.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Jaime Giraldo

20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Match

Kazaki Nakagawa sends Semen Padang past Madura United

It finished 1‑0, and it was Kazaki Nakagawa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Semen Padang.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Kazaki Nakagawa

7.90, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Semen Padang had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

In brief

94 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

15 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Tin Martić out for 97 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Semen Padang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Semen Padang

Jaime Giraldo 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.

Squad

Words at Semen Padang training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Moussa Koïta 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Irsyad Maulana

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Irsyad Maulana, and the manager let it.

Match

Fantamady Diarra rescues a point for Semen Padang

It needed Fantamady Diarra to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Persija, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Player ratings

Kianz Froese runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

93 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Tin Martić out for 104 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Semen Padang will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Abdulhamid Ikromov has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Semen Padang they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Diego Maurício signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Diego Maurício and Semen Padang agree another 2 years.

Squad

Jaime Giraldo 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 Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Semen Padang

Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra 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.

Match

Semen Padang and PSM cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. PSM came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Market

The Ravy Tsouka talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Semen Padang know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Player ratings

Fantamady Diarra runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

92 Edition

The Borneo Post

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Syahrul Trisna puts it in writing

“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Gavin Kwan Adsit keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Borneo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.

Match

Koldo Obieta sends Borneo past Madura United

It finished 1‑0, and it was Koldo Obieta’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Borneo.

Player ratings

Marcos Astina runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Alfred Odinaka

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alfred Odinaka, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah wants his own locker back at Borneo

“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Semen Padang continues; the message travels home.

Player ratings

Koldo Obieta was the difference for Borneo

Marked 7.41. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

91 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jaime Giraldo 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 Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Mohamed Moussa Koïta 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.

Squad

Diego Maurício gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Wakaso dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Fantamady Diarra

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

Match

Semen Padang and Persijap cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Persijap came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Market

Diego Maurício linked with a move away

The name of Diego Maurício keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Semen Padang say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings

Kianz Froese runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Dika Nurdiansyah could not find anything

5.50. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.

In brief

88 Edition

The Borneo Post

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Kei Hirose out for 27 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Syahrul Trisna puts it in writing

“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Boubakary Diarra: 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.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Marcos Astina at his very best

Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Borneo.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi 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.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah has seen enough of Semen Padang

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Borneo, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.

Market

No place for Habibi Jusuf in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Habibi Jusuf has his answer from Borneo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Match

Borneo and Semen Padang take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

85 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Squad

Dika Nurdiansyah says Semen Padang went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Abdulhamid Ikromov has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Semen Padang they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Mohamed Moussa Koïta 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Semen Padang

Wahyu Agong 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Diego Maurício

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

A bad afternoon for Semen Padang against Persebaya

0‑1 to Persebaya, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Semen Padang

Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.

Player ratings

Kianz Froese runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

83 Edition

The Semen Padang Herald

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jaime Giraldo 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 Semen Padang this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Fantamady Diarra 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.

Player ratings

Fantamady Diarra runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Rayhan Hannan signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rayhan Hannan and Semen Padang agree another 3 years.

Squad

Ripal Wahyudi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

No goals between Semen Padang and Arema

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Arema will be the happier side with the point.

Market

Diego Maurício linked with a move away

The name of Diego Maurício keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Semen Padang say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings

An afternoon Dika Nurdiansyah will want back

Marked 5.54. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.

Market

Semen Padang pick up Rayhan Hannan for nothing

The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Rayhan Hannan arrives at Semen Padang with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.

In brief

81 Edition

The Borneo Post

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Leo Guntara out for 74 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Abdullah Al-Hafith says Borneo went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

4 matches without a win for Borneo

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Borneo are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Marcos Astina

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Marcos Astina 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah counts the days

“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Semen Padang runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

Borneo and Persebaya take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Market

Marcos Astina linked with a move away

The name of Marcos Astina keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Borneo say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

  • Market The window shut and Mohamad Anez is still in the building
  • Player ratings The referee tires of Koldo Obieta
  • Boardroom The Borneo production line keeps running
75 Edition

The Borneo Post

3 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Leo Guntara out for 117 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Marcos Astina is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Borneo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Chris Nduwarugira 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

72 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Boardroom

PSIM have won it

This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.

Match

PSIM through in the cup

A 1‑0 win over Persija, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Match

PSIM make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now PSIM have 4 straight wins of it.

Squad

Franco Ramos Mingo 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Anton Fase

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.84, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

PSIM keep winning on the road

3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.

Match

Nobody wins at PSIM

8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Juan José Forero 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.

Squad

Bandar Nasser gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

71 Edition

The Borneo Post

6 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Rendy Oscario keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Borneo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Boardroom

The Borneo board want somebody sold

The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Syahrul Trisna

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah counts the days

“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSIM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

70 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Dika Nurdiansyah 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.

Squad

Juan José Forero 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 97% 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.

In brief

69 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Muhammad Iqbal asks to leave PSIM

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at PSIM

Dika Nurdiansyah 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Facundo García

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

67 Edition

The Borneo Post

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah counts the days

“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSIM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Market

Koldo Obieta linked with a move away

The name of Koldo Obieta keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Borneo say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

63 Edition

The Borneo Post

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Saheed Owolabi 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.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah has seen enough of PSIM

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Borneo, and 6 appearances in 37 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

59 Edition

The Borneo Post

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Koldo Obieta breaks Persik hearts

Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Koldo Obieta scored in the 87th minute, Persik had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Borneo took the lot.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Marcos Astina

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Saheed Owolabi

At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Borneo see off Persik

Three points for Borneo, 1‑0 the final word against Persik in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Kei Hirose gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah has seen enough of PSIM

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Borneo, and 6 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

A promise honoured for Abdulvohid G'ulomov

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Borneo told Abdulvohid G'ulomov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

59 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Zé Valente damages knee ligaments — 77 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 77 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Tempers go at PSIM

Franco Ramos Mingo 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Ezequiel Vidal

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezequiel Vidal, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ezequiel Vidal

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at PSIM

5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

Match

Point won or two lost for PSIM?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Persebaya? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief

55 Edition

The Borneo Post

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Abdulla Mirzaev out for 28 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Both of them Marcos Astina's — 8.11

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.11, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 26 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Squad

Chris Nduwarugira 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 goals as Borneo and Persija go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Borneo and Persija, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

A bad afternoon for Borneo against Persija

2‑4 to Persija, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

No hiding place for Kaio Nunes

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kaio Nunes, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamad Anez 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.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah counts the days

“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSIM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

52 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Zé Valente

129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. PSIM lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Cup progress for PSIM

A 0‑1 win over Dewa United, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

PSIM through in the cup

A 2‑0 win over Dewa United, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

The terraces

The ground has had enough

“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 30 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.

Market

Reva Adi Utama puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Hendro Sulaeman keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” PSIM may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Anton Fase runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Franco Ramos Mingo 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 terraces

PSIM supporters have found a favourite in Dika Nurdiansyah

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Dika Nurdiansyah has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

51 Edition

The Borneo Post

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Abdulla Mirzaev out for 58 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Squad

Daffa Fasya: 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.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Marcos Astina

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Persis take the points off Borneo

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Marcos Astina

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah counts the days

“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSIM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Market

Koldo Obieta linked with a move away

The name of Koldo Obieta keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Borneo say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

47 Edition

The Borneo Post

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Abdulla Mirzaev breaks a bone — 89 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Borneo make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Borneo have 4 straight wins of it.

Market

Only the photograph left for Rayhan Utina

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayhan Utina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Player ratings

Marcos Astina runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Borneo find a way past Maluku Utara United

Maluku Utara United made Borneo work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Kaio Nunes was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.51. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

No hiding place for Kei Hirose

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kei Hirose, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah wants to come home

“I did not go to PSIM to sit and watch. I want to come back to Borneo and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.

In brief

43 Edition

The Borneo Post

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Caxambu damages knee ligaments — 14 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Abdulla Mirzaev breaks a bone — 119 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

8 matches without a win for Borneo

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Borneo are no longer polite ones.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Squad

Rayhan Utina: 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.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Rayhan Utina has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Player ratings

Marcos Astina runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Persita take the points off Borneo

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

39 Edition

The Borneo Post

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Caxambu

43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Rayhan Utina has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Marcos Astina 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.

Match

Dewa United take the points off Borneo

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Marcos Astina

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Borneo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamad Anez 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Alfred Odinaka

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alfred Odinaka, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Cleylton

A mark of 2.88 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah has seen enough of PSIM

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Borneo, and 2 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

39 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Anton Fase runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Ousmane Camara at 19 — 7.89

The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ousmane Camara did not need any: 7.89, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

Dika Nurdiansyah says PSIM went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

The run at home goes on for PSIM

10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Squad

Make Aldo Maulidino 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 terraces

PSIM supporters have found a favourite in Ousmane Camara

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Ousmane Camara has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

35 Edition

The Borneo Post

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Caxambu

74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

No end in sight to Borneo's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Borneo has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Rayhan Utina is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Borneo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Borneo

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Player ratings

Marcos Astina runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Koldo Obieta

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Borneo come up short against Persijap

Persijap left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah has seen enough of PSIM

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Borneo, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Abdulla Mirzaev 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

35 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Dewa United punish PSIM for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Anton Fase will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at PSIM escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Player ratings

Both of them Anton Fase's — 8.93

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.93, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

Whatever happens, PSIM do not lose

10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Ousmane Camara keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” PSIM may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

Nobody wins at PSIM

8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Paulo Gali 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.

Squad

Juan José Forero gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

PSIM and Dewa United take a point apiece

It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Anton Fase named player of the week

One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Anton Fase has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.

In brief

34 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Hatem El Fegoun 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.

Squad

Make Aldo Maulidino says PSIM went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

9 unbeaten for PSIM

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation PSIM did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Make Aldo Maulidino 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.

Player ratings

Anton Fase runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Jop van der Avert

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jop van der Avert, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Ezequiel Vidal was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.42. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

Words at PSIM training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan José Forero 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.

Match

PSIM and Persija take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

31 Edition

The Borneo Post

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Caxambu

104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

A 2-goal lead gone for Borneo

It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Bhayangkara Presisi kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Borneo will be asked about the last half hour all week.

Market

Only the photograph left for Rayhan Utina

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayhan Utina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Marcos Astina 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Marcos Astina runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Marcos Astina gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Mohamad Anez 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.

Loan watch

Dika Nurdiansyah counts the days

“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSIM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

Borneo and Bhayangkara Presisi take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

27 Edition

The Borneo Post

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Caxambu

134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Tempers go at Borneo

Chris Nduwarugira 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.

Squad

Mohamad Anez 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

27 Edition

The PSIM Sentinel

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Reva Adi Utama damages knee ligaments — 27 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Tempers go at PSIM

Make Aldo Maulidino 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.

Squad

Rio Hardiawan 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