Gone Travelling

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 74233
Season 2


I was called to the boardroom to discuss what we wanted to achieve next season. I was hoping that they would go easy on me and not suddenly take the fact that we had performed well in the second half of the season as an indication that we should win the league or something stupid. After some discussions I was pleased that they saw thing the same as me and they wanted top half, something I was pretty certain we could achieve. As I made my way back home I was thinking that we could achieve more than that, in fact I would be a bit disappointed if we weren't at least in the mix when the title was given out, not that I was going to tell the board that!

With the expectations set I called the scouting team together and we discussed our plans. We had the maximum 5 foreign players already and despite a couple of the getting on a bit we were happy to go with them again for the new season, especially with the number of youngsters we had their experience would be priceless. We didn't identify any massive weak areas of the team and so decided the best way forward would be to try and upgrade our home grown players and attempt to bring in some of the best Chinese players.

Things were going well with targets identified and bids made and on the first day of the new year as the window swung open 3 Chinese players joined. China's No. 1, last seasons golden boot winner and a young up and coming attacking midfielder. I was please that we had acted early and had are targets in for a total of about £4m, leaving about £6m if anyone caught my eye as the window progress. It was at this point that I had 2 meetings that could potentially de-rail all our plans. First our start centre back Gil and then our best midfielder Jucilei both came and said that they were homesick and wanted to move back to Brazil. I had planned to let them both go at the end of the season when their contracts were up so tried to talk them into 1 more season, but neither were interested, so I transfer listed and accepted offers on both. With our 2 best players set to leave I was straight back into the market, and central midfielder was secured from Dortmund and was in the van whilst the Brazilian pair were still sorting out their contracts. This meant I had to delay bringing in my cetre back until the left. Then both of them rejected the contracts as they weren't getting paid enough in Brazil, not that homesick afterall! Anyway onto the transfers:


View attachment 74232

So a couple of youngsters going out on loan in the shape of Yang and Shengli, 2 players that I hope 1st team football will aid their development and could if the progress well enough make an impact for us in the coming seasons. My 3rd choice keeper went as part of the deal for bring in our new first choice keeper, so no real worries about him going. Junjian was a central defender who was ******** about not playing but when you have heading of 6 and jumping of 4 I don't really think you cut out to be a centre back! Kun was a decent prospect unfortunately for him I had 3 players ahead of him in the pecking order including 2 better youngsters so he was never going to get any game time meaning £550k was good value. Jucilei left on loan as he was particularly vocal about leaving despite twice rejecting moves due to not getting paid enough, anyway off on loan until he retires at the end of the season, as I had already brought in his replacement.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 74202

The ins then and there weren't that many.

View attachment 74201
China's number 1 would be our new number 1. I could believe we got him so cheaply either. He will do a job for a couple of seasons and we do have a really good young keeper coming through so hopefully he will help develop him into the bargain. Very pleased with this signing

View attachment 74200
Mahmoud found himself on the transfer list and as I thought I was losing my midfielder it made sense. £5.5m is an absolute steal and I think he could well be the star of this team for seasons to come. Another signing I'm really happy with.

View attachment 74199
Central attacking midfield was the 1 area of the team that I thought we could do with another body, as we only had only player who could play there naturally. Yeah we had a couple of others who could fill in but I wanted a proper back up and Baozeng was the man. I had tried to sign him when I took over last season and finally got my man.

View attachment 74198

Erpan was last seasons top scorer in the Super League. I wanted a Chinese striker who could rotate with Pizzaro when I needed to use my 3 foreign players further back. He has an eye for goal and is quick and will be a good option and could also be good off the bench against tiring legs.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 74196

Pre-season would see us take on 2 K-Legaue sides against who I wasn't sure what to expect as I don't know how we rank against them, in my head anyway we should be able to win. Then it would be 3 Chinese sides from the division below, again I expected to win these. Having said that I was keen to ensure everyone was fit going into the new season therefore a bit of rotation and loads of subs would be the order of the day.

View attachment 74195
One defeat in 5 was a good pre-season, even the game we lost we dominated and probably should have won with our second string. I was happy as we moved towards the start of the season, confidence was high, everyone was getting on well and fitness levels were exactly were I wanted them to be. The board had set a target of top half, however in my eyes there were 4 maybe 5 teams that could win the league and we were one of those.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 74194

As we moved into the new season it would appear that the bookmakers agreed more with how I thought our season would go as opposed to how the board thought it would go, having us second favourites for the league!

View attachment 74193

Our 3 games in March would see us take on Renhe and Quanjian at home and newly promoted Tianjin away from home. Not the easiest of starts with Quanjian expected to be towards the top of the table whilst I'm always more than a little concerned about playing newly promoted teams early on in the season especially away from home. I'd expect a minimum of 6 points from this month.

View attachment 74192
An unbeaten month is not to be sniffed at though I definitely see the games against Renhe and Quabjian as points dropped. I think if we are to mount a serious title challenge they are the games, especially at home you have to win. I was pleased we managed to negotiate the potential banana skin of Tianjin, though if I'm honest performance levels haven't been where they need to be this month.

 

[Ralph2211]

April was going to be a big month, and one were our title hopes would be tested. We would go away to two of the teams I expect to be there or there abouts come October when the title is handed out, in Shanggang and Jiangsu. The other 3 games against Shenzhen, Beijing and Yifang I'd expect us to win, though with Beijing being a derby of sorts that was no guarantee. I wanted a minimum of 9 points and if we could avoid defeat to both our title rivals I'd be happy.

View attachment 74190
Not a bad month, with wins over Shanggang and Beijing being the highlights of it. The defeat to Jiangsu did take the shine off those wins a little but it was our first defeat of the season. I'm a little worried about the number of draws against teams we need to be beating though!

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 74189
We would go into May in need of a good month. With 12 points from our opening 7 games there was already a gap of 9 points between ourselves and Shenhua who had a 100% record at this stage. We did play them this month so we had a good chance to reduce the gap. We would also play one of the other teams I had down as potential title challengers in Guangzhou. Our other 3 league games would see us go away to Fuli and entertain Yanbain, two games I expected us to pick up 3 points in. We would however start the month against First Division side Yongchang in the cup and this would be a chance for some of our squad players to show me what they can do and try and force their way into the team, despite the planned rotation i still expect to progress in the cup.

View attachment 74187
Well that wasn't the start to the month I expected, or at least the scoreline wasn't. We battered Yongchang who scored with one of their two shots on target and despite everything we threw at them we couldn't break them down and for another season my cup run ends after only one match. The next two games followed the same pattern as the Yongchang one except we actually managed to take some of our chances. Fair play to Yanbain who scored with every shot on target! The Guangzhou I was only to happy to take a point as we were awful and only managed 1 shot on target the entire game. I blasted the team after that performance and challenged them to show what they were made of against league leaders and still unbeaten Shenhua. They responded just how I wanted and dominated the game from start to finish and how we lost is still beyond me. An equaliser with 5 minutes to go was a big enough kick in the teeth before a 93rd minute winner really left me fuming. As we approach the mid way point of the league we sit 3rd but there is still a decent gap between us and the top 2.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 73977

June would only have 2 matches but if we were to keep in touch with the teams at the top of the table we needed to pick up 6 points. We would firstly travel to bottom of the table Yiteng before entertaining 5th place Liaoning, who like ourselves were trying to push on towards Continental qualification.

View attachment 73976
We got the 2 wins we were after, though the results were quite how I thought they would be. We edged a very even game against Yiteng, who I expected to hammer. Then the game I was most worried about turned out to be a walk in the park. 2-0 up inside half an hour, they did manage to pull one back after the break but all that served to do was motivate us again and 2 further goals saw us walk away comfortable winners. That took us to the half way point of the season and I'm happy enough with our position of 3rd however I'm a little concerned about the gap to the top two.

View attachment 73975
Eight points behind the top of the table as I said is a bit of a concern, however I'm not sure that both of the teams above us can continue on the form that they have shown so far this season, meaning that if we can improve ours a little we can still put ourselves in the mix.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 73974

July in contrast to June would be a very busy month with 5 games in the league. We would play 4 teams in the bottom half of the table one of which would be our derby game at home to Beijing. We would then round the month off with the most important game of the season so far against top of the table Shanggang. I'm not saying that this is a Title decider but if we were to lose it and given that they have 8 points on us already I'm not sure we could come bak from that as I just don't see were they will drop that many points. I would love to win the 4 games prior to the Shanggang to ensure we were on top form and then who know how that game will go.

View attachment 73973
I was kind of happy with the month before we played Shanggang. 3 wins and a draw isn't bad but we need to stop dropping points in games that we should be winning. If we don't win the league or qualify for the Champions League then it'll be because we drew too many games. Then we had the Shanggang match. 1-0 up early and in control, we somehow managed to concede 2 goals in 2 minutes just before half time. We continued to press in the second half and were the better team but couldn't get the goal we needed to at least pick up a point. I now needed to pick the guys up as August is another busy month and we need to push on.

 

[Ralph2211]

One thing I forgot to mention that happened in July was That the board we pleased with how I had been doing and offered my a new contract which would see a small increase in wage and give me the opportunity to continue to plan for the future with Shandong.

View attachment 73971

View attachment 73972

So after the heartbreak of the defeat to Shanggang, and if I'm honest the realisation that we were unlikely to win the league this season, I had to pick the lads up to go again and at least do a Spurs and put pressure on those at the top of the table. August would play out much like July with 4 games against teams who we should really be beating with the final game of the month again being the big one, with title rivals and last years Champions Jiangsu rolling into town. I'd be happy with a similar month to last except we really need to win the big game if we want any chance of a top 2 finish.

View attachment 73970
Well that was a great month. 4 wins and a draw, and most importantly a win against one of our rivals. That win against Jiangsu pretty much ends any hopes they had of retaining their title leaving them 5 points off the leaders with 5 to go. Our performance this month teamed with slip ups from the top two has really put us back in the mix for the title as with 5 games to go we sit 3rd 3 points behind the top 2. Granted we need to maintain our form and hope for a slip up or two from the teams above us, but we do play one of them so a win in that game will be crucial!

View attachment 73969
The Title race is certainly hotting up!

Our great performance in August also meant another trinket to add to the downstairs toilet as I scoop Manager of the Month.

View attachment 73968

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 73620

With 5 games left it really was squeaky *** time. Realistically we needed to win all 5 games and even then we would need help from elsewhere if we were to be crowned Champions. That said but defeat in our second of the five games against Shenhua and it would be curtains to those title hopes. Looking at all the fixtures I felt we could definitely win all five of our remaining games, which of course would mean Shenhua would drop points, however I was struggling to see were Shanggang would drop points. I also felt that 5 pionts adrift at this stage was too big a gap for Jiangsu to make up.

View attachment 73619
So we are off to a good start with two good wins over our two most difficult opponents. Both games were tight and tense, though we dominated possession in both neither game had many chances and I was happy to come out on top in both, especially the Guangzhou game which could easily have gone the other way and we could have had very few complaints. The win over Shenhua puts us second with 3 to play, though Shanggang still haven't lost!

I also got Manager of the Month again.

View attachment 73614

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 73618

Three games that would decide if we would be Champions, have to go through the qualifiers for the Champions League or if we would end up 3rd and have no Continental competition at all to look forward to. It was 3 games that we really should be winning with 2 teams struggling against relegation and only Liaoning being anywhere near the top of the table in 5th. Of course ot could be argued that in 5th and with nothing to play for Liaoning could actually be the easiest game.

View attachment 73617
Two convincing wins in the first of the 3 games hadn't effected the table at all as Shanggang had also won their two games. We then went into the final game of the season knowing even a win may not bring us the Title if Shanggang also won. If they lost however we had both won a game each against each other but we had beaten them 3-1 and only lost 2-1 meaning a win for us and a defeat for them and we'd be Champions. All the ifs ands and buts meant nothing as we could only manage a draw and Shanggang won anyway meaning they would be Champions! Second place at least would mean Champions League.

View attachment 73616
View attachment 73615

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 73613

Season Review

Overall a season we could be happy with, though I can't help think back to the start of the season where we drew games we should have been winning and think of what could have been. I was also disappointed to go out so early in the cup, as I really want another trophy. On a personal level I had got a new contract, a pay rise and another couple of coaching badges meaning I now had my Continental B and was spending the next year studying of my Continental A, so things in that respect were on the up.

View attachment 73612
Another indication of how well we had played all season was the fact that we had set a number of new records for the club with those for Average Rating, Clean Sheets and Man of the Match falling.

View attachment 73611
View attachment 73610
View attachment 73609
We had our end of year awards at the club before we all went on holiday, below are the results:

View attachment 73608
I was in complete agreement with not just the awards but also the team if the year. The most interesting thing was that one of our foreign players had been displaced in the team of the year by one of our home grown youngsters, which really pleased me.

I was just about to head off for a few weeks holidays when the Chairman called me to his office to discuss the plans for next season, and most importantly how much he was going to give me to spend. I was hopeful we'd get a big budget what with Champions League qualification and the prospect of 2 of the clubs foreign player about to leave/retire meaning about £175k off the wage budget.

View attachment 73607
£6m was a bit lower than I had hoped for, bit with the savings on wages I was about to make that would give us almost £400k in free wages, so I may shuffle things around a bit and increase the transfer funds if necessary.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 72963

Season 3

We headed into my 2nd full season in charge in good spirits. We had Champions League football to look forward to and were in a good position to push for the Title. If we could make a few good signings to compliment what we already had I'd be pleased. After a meeting with coaches, scouts etc we had identified defense as the place most in need of attention. We had lost a couple of centre backs, one of whom was our left back cover. That meant we needed a centre back and a left back, possibly even a right back as we didn't have too much in the way of cover there either. So onto the transfers:

View attachment 72962

The team had released a few players in the close season and they fell into one of two categories, they were either has beens or never will bes. Yu Yang and Gil were past it now and whilst they had both held onto the technicals both had declined massively physically over the previous season and with pace of 4 and 5 just weren't up to it anymore. The other 4 players were just not at our level so to get them off the wage bill was pleasing.

We also sent a couple of youngsters out on loan and there was one player sold:

View attachment 72960
The 4 loanees have all gone out for first team football with the hope that when they return they can make an impact on the first team squad, and they all have the quality to do so. The only transfer for cash was Li Yuanyi who was a player who was an ok back up but who had made less and less appearances as my time had gone on. £220k for a 29 year old who rarely played seemed like a good deal to me.

 

[Ralph2211]

So with a number of players leaving the club we needed a few recruits to boost the numbers as squad depth could be key with Champions League football on top of our other commitments. Luckily we had a number of players in our reserves and who had been on loan who had developed and would be coming into contention for a place in the first team, this meant I didn't require the number of players I had first thought, thats not to say we didn't bring anyone in.

View attachment 72955
Only 3 players came in and if I had paid enough attention to my reserves it would only have been 2. Grillo comes in for a fee of £3m from Velez. He will slot straight into the team at centre half and is the direct replacement for Gil. Afshar has caused me a bit of a headache as he is my 6th foreign player and we are only allowed 5, but my scouts had raved about him and for such a small fee I could resist. The final transfer is the one with hindsight I wouldn't have made. Li Hailong will be cover at right back, though I have since discovered a youngster in my reserve who needs some game time too.

View attachment 72947
A really solid centre back who replaces Gil in the team, and on £12k per week he represents an almost 90% saving on wages. Quick(ish) strong and good at everything you'd want your centre back to be good at. The fact that he is left footed and can fill in at full back is a plus as I couldn't find anyone decent enough to bring in in that position.

View attachment 72942
Afshar had come to my attention during the Asian Games which took place half way through last season. My scouts then picked him out again and raved about him during the Asian Cup where he had played well for Iranian national side. At age 19 when he joined he was too good not to buy especially for £325k which I think is an absolute steal. He will probably spell the end for Piris at the club, but as he is 9 years younger and still has time to grow I feel he is an excellent addition to the squad. Being Asian also helps with Champions League registration.

View attachment 72941
Having searched for full backs for the majority of the transfer window I finally bought Li Hailong. He will be in a three way fight for the starting berth at right back and may well start the season as first choice, however with two younger and improving options in the squad he'll need to hit the ground running to nail that slot down.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 72940

Pre-season would see us take on 5 Chinese teams, and under normal circumstances I'd expect us to win all five, however we will have Champions League qualifers in there and assuming we make the group stage a couple of group stage games as well. This will mean a lot of rotation with a number of youngsters given a run.

View attachment 72939
All in all I was happy with Pre-season. A few of the younger players really stepped up and the result against Beijing, which on the face of it looks a bit disappointing, was achieved with a completely 2nd string team so really happy that our reserves could put on such a good performance against a fellow Super League side. One thing that did cause me a few headaches over pre-season was the Asian Cup, as we had a number of players away on International duty and that coupled with a few injuries lead to a few square pegs in round holes.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 72938
Our Champions League campaign would start early, and we would face the possibility of 2 qualifiers before we could begin to think about the group stages, all of this would be whilst the Asian Cup was ongoing and therefore we would be without a number of our best Chinese players.

View attachment 72937
First up was Ceres of the Philippines. We actually had to play this game with an injured keeper and when we went 1-0 down in the 13th minute I was really worried. However the lads turned it on and our superior quality finally told though it took until the final 5 minutes for us to actually go ahead and then add a bit of respectability to the scoreline. This result worried me as I had assumed that we would be one of the best teams in the whole competition never mind the qualifiers and yet we had struggled. Into the playoffs we went and still without our international players we would face Japanese club Kobe Leone. Having seen how we had played in the previous leg and with what I assumed was a step up in class I had major concerns about this game. this game however was quite the opposite of the previous one, tight on the scoreline but not on the pitch. we dominated and should have won by more, whilst they only managed 2 shots the entire game. So with that we had made it to the group stages, when we should have all our players available.

The group stage draw took place and would see us face:

View attachment 72936
My complete lack of knowledge about the region meant I was unsure how we would perform, being 4th seeds though suggested we could be in for a tough time, especially as I then found out that Pohang were the club with the most Asian Champions League wins in the History of the competition.

We would kick off our campaign with a home tie against Pohang before back to back away games in Japan and Australia. I was keen to see how we would perform against Pohang as that would give us a good sense of where we stood and how realistic our chances of winning the thing would be.

View attachment 72935
I was really pleased with how we had started. We completely dominated Pohang though went behind early to an own goal, but goals either side of half time earned us the win. However what had pleased me most was our defensive display as we didn't allow Pohang a single shot on target. Next up was Hiroshima away. We started really quickly and were 2-0 up inside 9 minutes. They then had a man sent off and we took care of business with a further 3 goals to boost our goal difference. The game away to Brisbane pitted 1st against 2nd and unfortunately we didn't show up until half time. 2 goals in 2 minutes just before the half hour mark and a third before half time meant the game was over as a contest. We were much improved in the second half and pulled a goal back but it was too little too late. All of this leaves the table like this at the half way point:

View attachment 72934
2nd at half way was pleasing. If we can win our 2 remaining home games I'm confident that we can make it to the next round.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 72933

So whilst all this Champions League stuff was attracting all the attention there was also the small matter of the league to consider. We would kick off March with 2 games that I feel we should win. Away to Shenzhen and home to Yifang are both very winnable and anything less than 6 points will be a disappointment. My only concern is the trip to Australia in between the games and the possible need to rest and rotate.

View attachment 72932
4 points from 6 is ok I suppose. I was worried after the draw in the first game especially as it was too many draws at this time of the year last season that had costs us, but was happy to bounce back in the second game of the season.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 72427

April would see us continue our assault on the Super League with 4 very winnable games. I was keen to have no repeat of last season were we dropped points early on against teams we should be beating, so anything less than an unbeaten month would be a disappointment. We start and finish the month with trips to Changchun and Tianjin with back to back home games with Yanbian and Renhe sandwiched in-between. Minimum of 10 points required in my eyes.

View attachment 72426

4 wins was exactly what the doctor ordered. We bossed each game and were deserved winners on each occasion. What was even more pleasing is that we seem capable of rotating the team as we did against Yanbian and Tianjin and still winning. I was also plaesed that our Champions League games didn't seem to be effecting us as we won both matches after our mid week exploits. So still unbeaten in the league and we need to continue that form on.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 72425
Zheng Zheng broke the League appearance record. He has rarely let me down and can look forward to a few more appearances, though if I'm honest I will be looking to replace him as he is beginning to decline now at the age of 33.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 72424

May would be a very busy month and rotation would definitely be required. On top of Champions League commitments we would have 5 games domestically. We would kick the month off with 3 away games, including the 3rd round of the cup against Jingying. There would also be difficult games with last years Champs Shanggang and 3rd place Jiangsu, meaning a very tough month ahead.

View attachment 72423
That went better than I had though it would, the squad players are really stepping up, and we now have real competition for places in certain areas of the pitch. The draw with Shanggang was probably a fair result with neither side being any good in front of goal. The next 2 games were actually more comfortable than the scorelines suggest and I'm pleased to progress in the cup for a change! The final two league games were really good performances. We tore Jiangsu apart and on another day it could have been 6 or 7, they of course managed to score with their only shot on target! We did go one better against Henan who didn't even manage a shot on target and were dispatched with ease. Another good month for us as we keep up our league form and progress in the cup, have to be pleased with that.