125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bhayangkara Presisi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
4 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.
Siphelo Baloni 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Račić 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.
Marked 5.26. 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.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bhayangkara Presisi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bhayangkara Presisi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
A brace, and Moussa Sidibé takes the afternoon — 8.72
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Moussa Sidibé provided it, and the 8.72 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces17 Jul 2028
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.
Moussa Sidibé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moisés Gaúcho 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.
“I did not go to Dewa United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Bhayangkara Presisi and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bhayangkara Presisi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Moussa Sidibé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Suhrob Eshboyev 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.
19 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bhayangkara Presisi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Siphelo Baloni 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Alan Cardoso 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.
At 23 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.
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.
It needed Bernard Henri Doumbia to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Dewa United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Fareed Sadat will want back
“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 Bhayangkara Presisi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Moussa Sidibé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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.
Semen Padang held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Bhayangkara Presisi answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Bhayangkara Presisi know it.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Slavko Damjanović 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Alan Cardoso 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.
7 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.
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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Maluku Utara United? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rifad Marasabessy is living that version at Bhayangkara Presisi, and it tends to show in the first month.
Slavko Damjanović 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Awan Setho 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.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Bhayangkara Presisi have gone and got theirs early.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Andrean Rindorindo is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Bagas Wibowo has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“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 Bhayangkara Presisi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bhayangkara Presisi is running low.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bhayangkara Presisi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Alan Cardoso 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Bhayangkara Presisi can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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 watch6 Sep 2027
Teuku Ichsan is tired of being somebody else's player
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Bhayangkara Presisi where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Bali United until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
The goal that put Persik ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Bhayangkara Presisi equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
4 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.
Moussa Sidibé 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 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.
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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Bernard Henri Doumbia had Bhayangkara Presisi level again within 1 minutes, and Persis never got to play with a lead at all.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.51 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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.
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.
Firza Andika 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.
“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 Bhayangkara Presisi, and 2 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody at Bhayangkara Presisi 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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Persik will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Siphelo Baloni 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.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Bhayangkara Presisi can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Moussa Sidibé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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.
“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 Bhayangkara Presisi, and 4 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bhayangkara Presisi has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces12 Apr 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Fareed Sadat has his answer from Bhayangkara Presisi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Bhayangkara Presisi 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.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bhayangkara Presisi has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Moussa Sidibé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Marked 5.60. 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.
Moussa Sidibé 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Cardoso 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amir Ganah 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Alan Cardoso 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bhayangkara Presisi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bhayangkara Presisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amir Ganah 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.