Southeast Asia Indonesia

Pesut Etam Part Ways with Tavares as Macan Putih Announces Sudarsono

Liga 1 Indonesia side Borneo FC have announced on Tuesday that they’ve parted ways with their Brazilian head coach, Edson Tavares. The former Yokohama FC and Persija Jakarta tactician has vacated his position at the Pesut Etam, citing differences between himself and the club’s management in regards of Borneo’s vision and mission for this season as the reason behind his departure.

Edson became the second Liga 1 head coach to leave his post during the ongoing COVID-19 suspension, following Mario Gomez’s departure from Arema FC. However, unlike Gomez, the reason behind Edson’s departure was not financially-motivated. A recent regulation set by the Football Federation of Indonesia (PSSI) have required players and club staffs to receive a 50% pay cut from their employers for this season, in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. And while this regulation was behind Gomez’s departure from Arema, Borneo’s club president Nabil Husein Said Amin has confirmed that Edson’s departure had nothing to do with the regulation.

“Praise to be Allah, Borneo FC have never had any issues in regards of wages or finances in general. Perhaps Edson decided to leave because we no longer have the same vision towards the club’s future in regards of the current situation. Because of that, we’ve decided to end our cooperation,” Nabil said on Wednesday, as quoted by liga-indonesia.id, “We always do our best to fulfill our obligations towards our players and staffs.”

Despite parting ways, Nabil had nothing but praises for the Brazilian head coach, who had led Borneo to 6 points from three matches prior to the league’s suspension. The Samarinda-based club had won two games and lost only one prior to the suspension and are sitting nicely on 3rd, behind league leaders Persib Bandung and 2nd placed defending champions Bali United.

“We would like to thank Edson for all that he has done for Borneo FC. We wish him all the best for his future endeavors,” said Nabil.

In the days after Edson’s departure, a number of names have been linked to the vacancy at the Segiri Stadium. Among them former Indonesia national team head coach Luis Milla, former Indonesia U-19 head coach Fakhri Husaini, former Persiba Balikpapan, Persis Solo, and TIRA-Persikabo head coach Eduard Tjong, and even Gomez himself, who had taken charge of Borneo in the 2019 Liga 1 season prior to his brief stint at Arema.

However, recent information suggested that Borneo and Edson might not have parted ways in good terms, as Nabil revealed to Bola.com on Friday that Edson’s stubborn personality and his poor attitude in communication has led Nabil to axe Edson from his position.

Macan Putih Appoint Club Legend Sudarsono as Head Coach

Meanwhile, newly promoted side Persik Kediri have followed in the footsteps of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Juventus in appointing a club legend as their new head coach. With 90 appearances across two stints for the Macan Putih, Budi Sudarsono was officially appointed as Persik’s new head coach on Thursday. He will replace incumbent head coach Joko Susilo, who has been promoted into the role of Persik’s technical director.

The Persik job is Sudarsono’s first ever head coach role. Prior to that, the 40-year old had earned his coaching badges whilst serving as an assistant coach for both Kalteng Putra and Persik following his retirement in 2015.

“We’ve discussed about the arrangement to have Joko as our technical director and Budi as our head coach with the two men. One of our considerations in appointing Budi as our new head coach was his vast experience as a player,” said Persik club president Abdul Hakim Bafagih as quoted by Antara, “We need a figure like Budi here. He will be an excellent role model for the other Persik players.”

Together with Persik, Sudarsono had won the 2006 Liga Indonesia Premier Division title, which back then was the top flight league of Indonesian football. Sudarsono then represented Persik in the 2007 AFC Champions League, scoring two goals as Persik finished third in their 4-team group. He’s also a seasoned Indonesia international, having represented Timnas Garuda 46 times and scoring 16 times in a period that spans 9 years.

According to Hakim, Sudarsono will collaborate with Joko in taking charge of Persik this season, with Sudarsono implementing his newly acquired coaching skills on the pitch and Joko helping out with the team’s technical development.