Under-pressure Persib Bandung head coach Robert Rene Alberts has resigned from his position at the Indonesian giants on Wednesday afternoon following a dismal start to the 2022/23 season, which led to a large-scale protest from Persib fans demanding his sacking.
Having guided Persib to 2nd place in last season’s Liga 1 Indonesia, Alberts was guided with the task of winning the Maung Bandung their first league title since 2014, and to do so, he was complemented by the core of last season’s silver-winning squad as well as quality additions in the likes of Rachmat Irianto, Ricky Kambuaya, and Ciro Alves.
However, Persib crashed out of the 2022 Piala Menpora pre-season tournament in the quarterfinal after losing to PSS Sleman on penalties, before reaping only one point from their first three matches of the Liga 1 season – the worst start ever made by a Persib side in the league.
The Maung Bandung could only muster a 2-2 draw away at Bhayangkara FC, before losing 3-1 at home to early pacesetters Madura United. Persib were then thrashed 4-1 by Borneo Samarinda in their third match of the league season last weekend, which serves as the final nail in Alberts’ coffin.
Following the humiliation in Samarinda, Persib fans have been voicing for Alberts’ immediate sacking, threatening to occupy the club’s headquarters should the Persib management fail to do so by the deadline that the fans have set.
And true to their words, Persib fans live up to their threats by organizing a massive march to the Persib headquarters on Wednesday, surrounding the buildings as they demanded Alberts to be sacked on that day.
In response to the protests, Alberts decided that it was best for him to resign from his position immediately, ending his 3-year tenure with the Maung Bandung.
With Alberts now out of the picture, Persib are now hunting for his replacement, with former Bhayangkara head coach Paul Munster being touted as a likely successor. In the meantime, Budiman Yunus will act as Persib’s caretaker head coach for their upcoming match against PSIS Semarang this Saturday.