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A budget shortfall, management conflicts and match permit hassles all led to the perfect storm known as another disappointing season for Persija Jakarta.

The Kemayoran Tigers were ousted from the Indonesian Cup on Wednesday after they lost 5-4 on aggregate to Persik Kediri in the two-leg quarterfinals.

In May, the capital-city club finished fifth in the Super League, which meant it has been without a major trophy since 2001.

Coach Benny Dollo, who took the helm midway through the season after acting as the team’s technical adviser, said Persija needed to reassess its program and work on its weaknesses before the new season kicks off on Sept. 18.

In the meantime, Benny said, he would allow his team to take a much-needed break.

“We’re coming off a tough season and have nothing to show for it, so I think we need time to ease the stress out of that a bit,” Benny said on Thursday. “But management will hold a meeting soon to talk about the club’s plans.

“We actually already had an initial assessment of the team, just after the Super League. I know we we’re working a very limited time frame, as the new season will start in less than two months. We just have to start our preparations much earlier.”

Persija, whose officials vowed prior to the 2009-10 campaign that the team would win the league and Cup double, endured problems on and off the field.

A rift in the Persija management, which had some officials fighting for control of the club throughout the season, set back most of the team’s plans.

Prior to the start of the season, entrepreneur Edy Joenardi, who had agreed to invest Rp 30 billion ($3.33 million) in the club, was on the verge of taking over at Persija, but later backed out allegedly because of the infighting.

It was a costly blow to the club’s finances, as Persija had to revert to funding from the Jakarta government, which could only allot Rp 12 billion to the club.

Without a sufficient budget, Persija lost a number of key players, including defender Pierre Njanka, who was instrumental in Arema Malang’s Super League title bid this year, midfielder Ponaryo Astaman, Robertinho Pugliara and star striker Greg Nwokolo.

Even though Persija secured the services of Singaporean players Baihakki Khaizan and Mustafic Fahrudin, the lack of depth proved crucial to the club’s subpar showing.

Persija also seemed to have never smoothed over its match permit problems with the Jakarta Police, forcing the club to either play at an empty Gelora Bung Karno stadium or move its home matches to neutral grounds.

Meanwhile, assistant manager Ferry Indrasjarief said he expected only minor changes to next season’s lineup.

“We had an initial assessment, and it’s likely that we will retain about 70 percent of the players from previous squad,” Ferry said.

He also confirmed that Persija had asked the Jakarta government to sign off on a Rp 40 billion budget for 2010-11 season.

“We have yet to calculate the exact budget for next season, [but] it might be fairly large,” Ferry said. “Because we want to use the money efficiently, we will try to make concessions with some of the players regarding their contracts.”