Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!

Introduction

So FM 14 was a pretty disappointing lark for me, as I checked out after about 4 months of play, even after getting a newer laptop (according to my Steam stats, I chalked up only about 275 hours of game time compared to 480-650 on FMs 10 through 13)

But some of the new stuff like the coaching badges convinced me to take the plunge again.

So here we are. As usual, this is intended as a journeyman setup.

The game profile

66 leagues from 28 nations.

Asia: China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore

North America: Mexico, USA

South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay

Europe: Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine

Start Date: January 2014

Database: Large

Player Count: 108,000

Options Ticked: Disable First Window Transfer Budgets, Prevent teams which already have managers from being controlled, Prevent use of In-Game Editor

The manager

Myself, as true to life as I can get: American nationality, no coaching badges, and a Sunday League rep

Club

Season	Club		Nation	League	GP	W	D	L	PTS	FINISH	Avg. Att	Wages	Notes
2014	Yanbian FC	CHN	Div 1	30	9	4	17	31	11th	4,948		$1600/w	Overachievers!
2015	Yanbian FC	CHN	Div 1	30	17	7	6	58	3rd	5,426		$1600/w	Overachievers!
2016	Yanbian FC	CHN	Div 1	30	13	7	10	46	8th	5,384		$1600/w
2017	Yanbian FC	CHN 	Div 1	30	14	10	6	52	3rd	5,267		$1600/w
2018	Yanbian FC	CHN	Div 1	30	11	9	10	42	8th	5,144		$1800/W
2019	Yanbian FC	CHN	Div 1	30	18	5	7	59	1st	5,272		$1800/w
2020	Yanbian FC	CHN	CSL	30	8	5	16	30	13th			$2000/w

Cups

Season	Club		Nation	Cup		Result							Notes
2014	Yanbian FC	CHN	FA Cup		Lost in Second Round
2015	Yanbian FC	CHN	FA Cup		Lost in Third Round (to Super League club)
2016	Yanbian FC	CHN	FA Cup		Lost in Third Round 
2017	Yanbian FC	CHN	FA Cup		Lost in Second Round
2018	Yanbian FC	CHN	FA Cup		Lost in Third Round (to Super League club)
2019	Yanbian FC	CHN	FA Cup		Runners-up (lost to Super League club, beat 2 others)	Overachievers!
2020	Yanbian FC	CHN	FA Cup		Lost in Fourth Round

Trophy Case

Chinese First Division - 2019

So there were just a handful of jobs available the start. Sibir in Russia and Wuhan in China promptly dropped my application in the "Football Manager" circular file. But I managed to blag my way into a job with a familiar task.

Yanbian Changbaishan - Chinese First Division

I feel like I've been here before ..... actually, I have. I managed Yanbian in FM 12 (IIRC) and managed to get them up to the Super League, where we struggled for a couple of years before suffering relegation. In this instance, it's a 1 year deal on $1,600/week, with a bonus of $6.75K for avoiding relegation.

As you might expect, that's my remit: Battle bravely against relegation. The media is picking us for the wooden spoon and we're up against the wage budget, so there's really not much to operate. We do have a couple quality players, with a striker and two central midfielder rated as 4-1/2 stars. But the talent drops off fairly quickly, with our 2nd best striker only rated 2 stars. Our greatest area of need is probably goalkeeper, left back, and the second central defense slot, all of which are 2 star players at best.

We're cash strapped, and have the facilities to prove it: Our training facilities are "Basic" and our youth facilities "Poor". We do have "adequate" junior coaching and "above average" youth recruitment, which suggests that if I can hang on we might get some half decent youth prospects (of course, with "poor" youth facilities they'll pretty much be the best they'll ever be as soon as they turn 16. Sort of like figure skaters or women's tennis players)

I expect we'll quickly run into financial issues, as we have to pay $88.2K per year to rent our 30,000 all-seater stadium. But that's for the board to figure out.

We have a couple of largely useless affiliates: A parent club in Super League side Changchun that's strictly for a pre-season friendly and doesn't pay us anything, and likewise with our feeder club Yanbian University (and at least we're not paying them for the privilege)

Having looked over the squad and their talents, I've opted for a 4-5-1 formation, or what FM is calling a 4-3-3 DM Wide. It's pretty much all hands on deck, so in my first days I've only tried to offload a couple of 19- or 18-year-old players currently in the U19 who look like they'll never make the grade for even the Jia League. The worst contract on the books at the moment is 26-year-old DC Li Minhui, who's a 2-star player trousering $2,000/week out of our roughly $24,000 weekly wage budget. Unfortunately he's dealing with a thigh strain for the next 3 to 5 months, so it's pretty unlikely we'll be able to shift him off the books anytime soon.

Feb. 21, 2014 - The bookmakers price us at 40-1 to win the division. They're expecting us to be relegated.

Feb. 22, 2014 - Our March 15 match at Beijing IT is picked for live television.

March 3, 2014

Yanbian 3-3 Changchun (Friendly)

First match under the new regime was a see-saw affair. We took the lead early, fell behind, went into halftime level, went ahead, got pulled back. Still, a draw against a Super League side ought to provide some encouragement. However, we lost our starting AMR to a twisted knee for 4 to 5 weeks.

March 10, 2014

Yanbian University 0-1 Yanbian (Friendly)

A lot of huffing and puffing in a match we were expected to win easily.

March 12, 2014 - Convince the board to let me go on a course to study for a National C license. Expected to complete the course after about four months.

And with that, we've come to the end of an all-too-brief pre-season. Wish it could have lasted longer, but it is what it is.

Will follow this

Seems like you're in for a tough year with the bookies' opinion on you. Got a screenshot of your best player(s) so we can judge what you're working with? Never managed China, nevermind the divisions below...

Good luck, Jason! Will be following.

Good luck I just managed to get a job in South Korea somehow so will follow this.

Seems like you're in for a tough year with the bookies' opinion on you. Got a screenshot of your best player(s) so we can judge what you're working with? Never managed China, nevermind the divisions below...

These are the two players my ass man rates as 4-1/2 stars:

Have fun in the Jia League Jason.

These are the two players my ass man rates as 4-1/2 stars:

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz92/BobbyRifle/FM 15/SergeGosseacute_OverviewProfile_zps8f3418cc.png

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/zz92/BobbyRifle/FM 15/ChiZhongguo_OverviewProfile_zpsa005b5b1.png

Second player looks tidy. Pretty good going forward I'd say. The first player is a striker though? Doesn't look up to much.

Good luck though!

You should see my other options up front.

You should see my other options up front.

Not to worry. Out of 1.3 billion and counting, there aren't a lot of good Chinese footballers, much less decent strikers.

I've got agents pitching me various unattached Brazilians and Colombians, but I'm already at the foreign player limit.

Well Gosse is good in the air.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Beijing IT 4-1 Yanbian (Jia League)

Injury injuries in the squad mean I can only name 4 players on the subs bench, with one of them being a goalkeeper. The bigger problem though was our inability to defend set pieces, as a goal off a Rory Delap-style throw-in and another from a corner staked Beijing IT to a 3-0 lead at halftime. We managed to pull one back in the 72nd minute and looked like we might be able to get back into it, only to ship a 4th when our goalkeeper deflected a shot back to the forward who took it, and he duly punished the goalkeeper from a tight angle.

It could have been worse though. The next day, Hainiu get blitzed 9-0 at Wuhan.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Yanbian 1-3 Tianshan (Jia League)

Still short of a full subs bench, but again that wasn't the issue. We were doing well enough in the first half until a 60-yard punt from a Tianshan player sailed over my goalkeeper, who was caught in no-man's land and could watch it bounce into the back of the net. In the second half, we were caught out by another corner and then gave away a penalty. We pulled one back in the 71st minute but never threatened to really get back into the match. And I lost a central midfielder to a gashed leg, although most of our injured players are about ready to return (and then one of them got himself injured in the next day's reserve match).

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Xiangtao 4-3 Yanbian (Jia League)

Really don't know what to make of this. A comically bad header to try to clear our penalty area didn't, and was duly punished. Set pieces again were our downfall and we went into halftime down 2-0. It was 3-0 before we woke up and our right wing Jin Bo scored in the 66th and 69th minutes to make it a fight. But we shipped another one through terrible defending, before pulling one back again in the 82nd minute from the left wing Gao Wan'guo. We nearly came away with the draw but our subsitute forward was led a little too far and couldn't get a good shot away when he was through on the Xiangtao goalkeeper. Regardless, we lost and other results going against us see us fall into the relegation zone. We're now the only team that hasn't picked up a point, and the only reason we're not bottom at the moment is because Qingdao were hit with a 7-point deducation for this season.

April 1, 2014

Central midfielder Li Chenglin was named to the Team of the Week.

The club records a loss of $146,000 for the month. Oh.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Yanbian 3-4 Qingdao (Jia League)

Pretty gutting really. I think we had the better of the play in the first half, but we went into halftime down 0-2. We should have taken the lead only to hit the post. A good cross from right to left ended up in the back of the net to pull us to within one. But then my vice captain and goalkeeper went after the ball in the penalty area and it resulted in an own goal. But we kept at it and were rewarded by the reverse of our first goal and then our substitute forward equalized in the 85th minute. Thought for sure we were finally going to get our first point, only for our goalkeeper to watch a rocket go by him from 20 yards out in stoppage time. We're still without a point, but still ahead of Qingdao by grace of their points deduction (they're now up to -1)

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Yanbian 0-1 Beijing Baxy (Jia League)

Made some tweaks to my tactic to try to tighten things at the back. Fell behind in the 5th minute from, what else, a corner. It was Baxy's only shot on target all day. And we couldn't take advantage, only getting one target ourselves. The result means we've slipped to the foot of the table.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Zhongji 1-0 Yanbian (Jia League)

Before the match, Zhongji's manager told the media he thought we could beat the drop. Well I'm glad he does, because I'm having my doubts! I decided to play more defensively and we got into halftime scoreless. I told the players they were doing well and to keep it up .... and in the 47th minute a deep throw-in goes across the 6-yard-box, nobody spots this, and it's buried in the back of the net. And we're now 0-for-6.

April 20, 2014

I call a team meeting on the assistant's advice. I tell the boys we're off to a bad start, but there's still time to turn things around. Everyone's spirits pick up a bit.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Zhongze 2-4 Yanbian (Jia League)

FINALLY! It looked like more of the same when we went down after 3 minutes thanks to yet more slack defending. But this time we didn't fold. One of the central midfielders equalized in the 9th minute. Then Gosse and Cui Ren set each other up in the last 5 minutes of the half and somehow we were up 1-3. Cui Ren tacked on another in the 66th, and though we conceded almost straight after that we managed to see the match out without further incident. Fun fact: We scored 4 goals on 4 shots on target, despite having only 40% of the possession; Zhongze scored on their only 2 shots on target. We're still in the relegation zone, but we're finally on the board.

[b]Chinese First Division (through 7 of 30 rounds)[/b]
1. Songjiang		17
2. Chongqing		16
--------------------------
3. Yongchang		15
4. Shenzhen		13
5. Baxy			12
6. Chengdu		11
7. Zhongji		11 
8. Rizhiquan		10
9. Xiangtao		10
10.Beijing IT		10
11.Tianshan		8
12.Hainiu		6
13.Zhongze		5
14.Wuhan		3
-------------------------
15.YANBIAN		3
16.Qingdao		1

Manager's thoughts

Well no doubt about that, we've dug ourselves a pretty big hole by losing our first six on the spin. As you can see from the table, Zhongze was a team that we needed to get a result from, if only to keep them in the relegation fight.

As I suspected from my brief pre-season with the team, the defense is our biggest weakness; none of the three players I've trotted out at left or right back has above a 6.51 rating and Han Guanghua who I wanted to play as a covering center back has only a 6.10 in four starts. I have half a mind to just play Keeganball now; our 12 goals is middle of the pack in the league, but our left wing Gao Wan'guo is providing a spark as he's joint leader with 5 assists. Jin Bo has 4 goals from the right wing, despite being a natural defensive forward. That's double the number of goals that Serge Gosse has, but I still believe Gosse can be useful as a battering ram given his high aerial attributes. It's just a matter of being able to get him the damn ball.

Oh, and the club lost another $123,000 for the month of April.

Good luck

Good luck in China mate!!

Losing quite a lot of money at the moment but thats to be expected.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Yanbian 1-2 Shenzhen (Jia League)

Tried to go defensive, but was down 0-2 inside the first half-hour thanks to more slack defending on set pieces. Pulled one back in the 34th minute. Around about the 60th minute, I have no idea how we didn't score from inside the 6-yard box. We had another opportunity late in stoppage time but my substitute forward took too long to shoot and got tackled from behind (cleanly) in the penalty area.

May 4, 2014

Qingdao win at Chengdu, dumping us back at the foot of the table.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Yanbian 3-3 Songjiang (Jia League)

It doesn't get any easier with the table-toppers coming to town. In a move somewhat forced by desperation, I switched to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond. It didn't work though as we fell behind in the 13th minute, this time to a perfect cross/perfect shot. But we hit back almost immediately off a corner, then tacked on two more to go up 3-1 in the 20th minute. Songjiang pulled one back from, what else, a corner as we allowed a free header in the box. But we went into halftime still ahead ... but got pulled back to a draw off another Rory Delap-style throw-in. But there was still enough to convince me to stick with 2 up front at least for now.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Hainiu 1-2 Yanbian (Jia League)

Hainiu were all over us in the first 15 minutes, but we were able to whether the storm and get into halftime scoreless. Cui Ren found Serge Gosse in the 47th and 80th minutes to give us the lead, before Hainiu's star forward put a fright into us in the 87th. We broke on a counterattack near the end of normal time and seemed to finish the game off, only for our goal to be disallowed for offside (which, how can you be offside on a counterattack, but oh well). But we were able to see the match out, and leapfrog Qingdao and Hainiu to climb out of the relegation zone (on the tie-breaker). And apparently losing to us is not a good thing for your career, as the Hainiu manager was sacked after the match.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Yanbian 2-3 Hainiu (FA Cup Second Round)

So fresh after beating Hainiu in the league, we get them in the cup. And it was almost the reverse of the league match. Hainiu went up in the 7th minute, off a corner naturally. But using the cup match to experiment with a different, more patient, style of play we asserted our control over the match. We equalized in the 22nd minute and generally dominated the last 30 minutes of the first half but couldn't find some more goals. That would be costly. At halftime I told the team they were doing well, keep it up and we would win. Well instead the defending got shoddy again, as evidenced by yet another corner that bounced through the penalty area to a Hainiu player at the far post. He scored to take the lead. In the 78th minute, our thoroughly mediocre goalkeeper simply watched a shot beat him at the near post. Nice effort, pal. Gosse added his second of the game in the 88th minute, but there was no further way back.

[b]Chinese First Division (through 10 of 30 rounds)[/b]
1. Songjiang	24
2. Chongqing	23
------------------
3. Yongchang	19
4. Shenzhen	19
5. Rizhiquan	17
6. Beijing IT	16
7. Baxy		16
8. Zhongji	15
9. Xiangtao	13
10.Chengdu	12
11.Wuhan	9
12.Zhongze	8
13.Tianshan	8
14.YANBIAN	7
------------------
15.Hainiu	7
16.Qingdao	4

Manager's thoughts

Honestly, I really can't complain too much, although I would have loved to hold the lead against Songjiang. A point from 2 matches against sides in the top-4, plus a win over another side in the relegation fight. It still means we're 2-1-1 in our last 4 leagues matches, so hopefully we're starting to turn things around and dig out of the hole we put ourselves in.

In the meantime, even though we have no wage space left, I've brought in a bunch of players on trial in hopes of finding some solutions to our problems at the back. Our 25 GA is second worst in the division, but 18 GF puts us in the middle of the pack there.

Looking good so far hopefully you get the defence sorted.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Yanbian 2-2 Chongqing (Jia League)

If you'd offered me a draw before this match against the second-placed side, I would have taken it. But instead I'm disappointed. We were up 2-0 inside of 15 minutes, only to get pegged back to level terms just before halftime. A couple of chances for both sides in the second half came to nothing. Chongqing fired 19 shots, but got only 3 of them on target as we focused on keeping men behind the ball.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Yongchang 5-2 Yanbian (Jia League)

For those keeping score, this match means we will have played the 2nd and 3rd placed teams in succession. Worse, I'm now down my starting goalkeeper (sprained wrist in a training ground injury) and a center back (food poisoning), and can name only four substitutes because of other injuries. Though given the fact that our starting GK only has a 6.65 average rating, maybe this a blessing in disguise. Well, no. We got torn apart, falling behind in the 5th minute, then shipping three goals (one credited as an own goal, but really down to calamity goalkeeping) in a 4-minute span to go into halftime down 4-0. We pulled two back to make it look a little respectable, only for Yongchang to drive the stake in 3 minutes from time. And results elsewhere go against us, dropping us into the relegation zone on the tie-breaker.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Rizhiquan 5-2 Yanbian (Jia League)

Almost a carbon copy of the Yongchang match. Down after 90 seconds, from a corner naturally. Ship two more goals to go into halftime down 3-0. Give up another midway through the second half to be down 4-0. Make a double substitution of players who were "looking uninterested". Substitute forward claws back two goals, only for Rizhiquan to bury a 5th from more calamity defending 2 minutes from time.

June 24, 2014

I put 31-year-old backup defender Han Guanghua (1-1/2 stars) on the transfer list. He complains to me about. I tell him his tackling has been poor. (He's won 7 tackles out of 11 in 9 appearances this season. SEVEN. TACKLES. FROM A CENTER BACK). He says my conduct has been deplorable and he won't let it go. So things might come to a head.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Yanbian 1-1 Chengdu (Jia League)

Tried to take advantage of Chengdu's weakness dealing with a 4-2-3-1 wide by switching to our old 4-1-2-2-1. Thought I'd played a blinder when Gosse scored his 10th goal of the season (his 8th in the league) just 29 seconds from kickoff. But Chengdu pulled us back in the 35th, and despite us dominating most of the second half we couldn't find the winner.

[b]Chinese First Division (through 14 of 30 rounds)[/b]
1. Songjiang	34
2. Chongqing	29
------------------
3. Yongchang	27
4. Rizhiquan	25
5. Shenzhen	24
6. Zhongji	22
7. Beijing IT	21
8. Baxy		19
9. Xiangtao	17
10.Chengdu	16
11.Wuhan	16
12.Zhongze	13
13.Qingdao	11
14.Tianshan	10
------------------
15.YANBIAN	9
16.Hainiu	7

Manager's thoughts

So not great, picking up only 2 points from 12 and shipping an average of over 3 goals per game. Still, there were really tough opponents in there, and the only match I'm seriously disappointed with (well, aside from conceding 5 in two separate matches, but that's all on our ramshackle defense) is the Chengdu match because we had enough to win it.

I've been looking over a bunch of trialists, most recommended by their agents, but while there are some good'uns they don't fit what we need and/or they're foreigners (and we're at the limit).

We have some opportunities to right the ship soon though. Our first match in July is Wuhan at home, followed by Beijing IT at home and Tianshan away. If we could contrive to get 6 points from that, we'd really help ourselves.

July 4, 2014

I get a notice in my fortnightly staff meeting that due to the club's financial problems, our transfers are being restricted and I'll have to use youth players to fill out the squad. Uh oh.

A quick look at the club profile screen shows our finances are listed as "insecure". (though our average ticket price of $4 probably doesn't help)

A look at our finances screen shows ... we're $433,000 in the red. But projected to make a profit of $2.4M this season. Huh?

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Yanbian 3-1 Wuhan (Jia League)

I decide to change things up again and go with a flat 4-4-2, matching Wuhan's preferred formation (and which they've had trouble against). But it looked like more of the same when calamity defending saw us fall behind in the 8th minute (in what would turn out to be Wuhan's only shot on target for the whole match), and things looked worse when our deep-lying forward had to come off with injury. But Li Jun, who's hardly got a sniff off the subs bench, linked up with Serge Gosse twice as they each grabbed a goal before halftime. Wuhan had a couple opportunities, but Cui Ren gave us some insurance in the 66th minute and we saw out the rest of the match, even hitting the bar in the process. And we've popped out of the relegation zone again, as we hit the halfway mark for the season.

July 6, 2014

Our financial issues rear their head again, as the board informs me that I won't be allowed to retain any transfer revenue.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Yanbian 1-0 Beijing IT (Jia League)

Well that's not good. The match got moved for television coverage and coincided with a reserves match. Now I've got bench players who played in that game and are ineligible for today's game. I'm left with three players for the subs bench, all defenders. Sigh. So naturally we have a central midfielder pick up a knock. But he's able to stay on. Beijing IT have the better of the play, but we hit them in the 59th minute when Kim Ki-Soo, playing his first game of the season at left midfield, receives a pass from the right side whilst in acres of space, and proceeds to score on our only shot on target. We get a scare in the 85th when Beijing IT score, but it's wiped out for offside. We've won 2 games. And the result -- our first clean sheet of the season! -- means we've put 4 points between us and the drop zone.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Tianshan 4-1 Yanbian (Jia League)

More unlucky than anything. We were down 2-0 inside of 5 minutes thanks to a free kick striking off the wall and giving the taker a second bite of the cherry, and then a Tianshan forward also got a second chance when he got in behind my defense, only for my goalkeeper to parry his shot ... right back at him. The third goal inside 30 minutes was bad though, as that Tianshan forward found himself in front of goal following a throw-in and beat my goalkeeper to the near post (although it would have tough for my goalkeeper to make a save, as it was just about point-blank range). I tried to relax the troops, and we pulled one back on 54 minutes and looked like we might make a game of it of it after all. But then Kim Ki-Soo got himself sent off .... for diving .... while already on a yellow card. Idiot. A switch to a 4-4-1 did nothing, and we got caught ball-watching on a corner in the 70th minute for the fourth goal, just as I was trying to switch to a counterattacking mode.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Yanbian 0-3 Xiangtao (Jia League)

Our defensive frailties come roaring back (although, tbf, we were missing our "best" center back for yellow card accumulation, as well the aforementioned Kim Ki-Soo) as we concede from set pieces again: A free header in the 33rd minute, and an unmarked shot in the 38th. The third goal in the 73rd minute wasn't from a set piece, but was a pretty similar fashion: A cross from the left that finds an unmarked forward for a free header. Good night, thanks for playing.

[b]Chinese First Division (through 18 of 30 rounds)[/b]
1. Songjiang	41
2. Yongchang	39
------------------
3. Shenzhen	34
4. Chongqing	33
5. Zhongji	29
6. Rizhiquan	28
7. Beijing IT	27
8. Baxy		23
9. Xiangtao	22
10.Zhongze	20
11.Chengdu	19
12.Wuhan	18
13.YANBIAN	15
14.Hainiu	14
------------------
15.Qingdao	14
16.Tianshan	14

Manager's thoughts

So that started well. I said I wanted 6 points from the first three matches and I got it, though not in the order I was hoping (I was looking to beat Tianshan, but we arsed that one up; Beijing IT was hoping to at least get a draw).

Unfortunately our calamity defending has struck again. The Xiangtao match was always going to be tough for us, but I'm not happy with the manner of defeat. We actually have the most losses in the division with 11 (we're 4-3-11) and the second-worst goal difference (-16), so I expect that we'll be engaged in the relegation fight for the rest of the season. The attack has faded a little, as we're now in the bottom half for goals, and our 46 goals against (so right about 2.5 per game) is second bottom.

Having said that, we are 4-3-5 since our abysmal start to the season. Not great, but more of midtable form.

Unfortunately with our finances still a mess, it's unlikely we'll make any moves with the transfer window closing on Aug. 1. What we've got is what we've got.

Can't help thinking of Pink Floyd with that title.

Can't help thinking of Pink Floyd with that title.

OOF. A struggle this season,eh?

Those two back to back wins were extremely important! Good luck!

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Qingdao 2-4 Yanbian (Jia League)

A pretty thrilling game. We took the lead in the 8th minute when our left back caught up to a ball that was heading out for a goal kick, and corkscrewed it into the box where Chi Zongguo met it rushing up from his central midfield role. Qingdao thought they'd equalized in the 31st minute, but were adjudged to have tripped one of my defenders in the buildup; there was no such reprieve for us in the 39th minute though. Two minutes later, we were up again when Serge Gosse was awarded what the commentary described as a harsh PELANTY! 1-2 up at the half. Second half was pretty similar to the first, with two goals from us sandwiched around a Qingdao tally. Our fourth came from a well executed move that sprung Gosse for a one-on-one. A vital three points for us, not least because Tianshan won to spring out of the drop zone, whilst Wuhan also won to drag themselves away from the drop.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Baxy 1-0 Yanbian (Jia League)

Pretty unfortunate not to get something from this match. We held Baxy to only 2 shots, only 1 of them on target. Unfortunately that was all they needed, as we failed to pick up a late runner of a corner in the 23rd minute. Fortunately, results around us were mostly favorable. Really the worst part was Serge Gosse suffering a dislocated shoulder. He's out for 3 months. Of our 34 goals in the league this season, he's scored 11 of them.

My plan right now is to move Gao Wan'guo up to Gosse's advanced forward role. He's not as good in the air, but he has some good attributes for up to: 11 dribbling, 10 first touch, 9 finishing, 10 anticipation, 10 composure, 16 flair....he's no Gosse, but he should at least be a serviceable stop gap. Kim Ki-Soo will move from central midfielder to Wan'guo's role on the left wing. He's right-footed, but listed as "Accomplished" on the left wing. Cui Min will come off the bench to fill Kim's CM/ball-winning midfielder role. He's only a "competant" central midfielder though.

It's a lot of moving parts, so there's the definite potential to go tits up.

August 12, 2014

The board respond to my request for a new senior affiliate with the following options:

Beijing Gu'oan: First-team experience for Beijing players. Pays $11,002

Jiangsu: First-team experience for Jiangsu players. Pays $10,570

Fuli: First-team experience for Fuli players. Pays $11,984

Shandong Luneng: First-team experience for Shangdong Luneng players. Pays $22,324

So not the windfall I was hoping for. But Shandong provide the biggest cash, and have the best training facilities of the four. So I recommend we go with them.

The board take my recommendation. And we end up keeping our affiliation with Changchun, so we'll still be able to host a friendly against them and keep all the money.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Yanbian 1-2 Zhongji (Jia League)

A fairly even game against a side we were expected to lose to. Wasn't helped with DLF Jin Bo going off with an injury just 4 minutes into the game. Zhongji went up in the 33rd minute with a shot that hit the underside of the bar. Then in the 65th minute, they got a wonderstrike from 25 yards out. Li Jun, who came on for Jin Bo, pulled one back for us in the 80th minute with his own hit-the-underside-of-the-bar shot, but we couldn't find the equalizer. Results mostly went our way though, with Hainiu and Qingdao playing to a draw, with both teams in the relegation zone.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Yanbian 2-0 Zhongze (Jia League)

We come into this fixture 1 spot and 4 points behind Zhongze, and with Hainiu getting a win to climb out of the relegation zone and leave us only 1 point clear, I really want to get something from this. After a mediocre performance as the advanced forward, I decided to flop Jin Bo and Gao Wan'guo, dropping Wan'gup into the DLF role. It worked almost immediately with a 9th minute goal from Wan'guo off a great pass from Kim Ki-Soo. Despite Jin Bo and, in the second half, my entire back line displaying complacency (Really? when we're fighting relegation?), we kept up a pressing style of game. The midfield and forwards (once I subbed out Jin Bo) kept working hard and in the 67th minute Wan'guo struck again when we refused to allow Zhongze to clear the ball out of their penalty area. We ended up firing 26 shot, with 13 on target, and kept 55% of the possession. We probably should have scored more, given that we had 4 CCCs and 5 HCs. Zhongze managed 12 shots with 4 on target (with 2 CCCs and 5 HCs), but were unable to breach our goal.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Shenzhen 1-0 Yanbian (Jia League)

A much sterner test against the 3rd placed side. I tried to park the bus, and it mostly held up until Shenzhen finally broke through in the 55th minute. The bigger problem was we just couldn't generate any kind of attack: We took only 2 shots, none of them testing the Shenzhen keeper.

[b]Chinese First Division (through 23 of 30 rounds)[/b]
1. Songjiang    54
2. Yongchang    50
------------------
3. Shenzhen    46
4. Rizhiquan    40
5. Zhongji    38
6. Chongqing    34
7. Chengdu    31
8. Baxy        30
9. Xiangtao    29
10.Beijing IT    28
11.Wuhan    24
12.Zhongze    23
13.YANBIAN    21
14.Tianshan    20
------------------
15.Hainiu    19
16.Qingdao    16

Manager's thoughts

Two wins and three defeats isn't great, but it's enough to keep treading water. Our defending actually was halfway respectable this month.

September though, that's going to be a brutal month as we have to face the top two, plus Chongqing away. We do get Hainiu at home to start the month, and given the tough fixtures after that it's pretty much a must-win match for us. That would put us 5 points clear of the relegation zone with 6 to play, and hopefully pull one or both of Wuhan and Zhongze between us and the drop.

A win would also be helpful in the sense that Hainiu may have an even more brutal run-in than we do:

9/6 @ Yanbian

9/14 v Shenzhen (3rd)

9/20 @ Songjiang (1st)

9/27 v Chongqing (6th)

10/11 v Chengdu (7th)

10/18 @ Yongchang (2nd)

10/26 @ Rizhiquan (4th)

That's matches against all the top 4, with three of them away.

As for Qingdao, their run-in is a little easier, but they have relegation six-pointers at Wuhan on the 6th, and at home against Tianshan on Sept. 27. They'll have to get something out of those matches, and they're currently on a 6-match winless skid.

Our October matches aren't much better: Home against Rizhiquan and then ending the season on trips to Chengdu and Wuhan.

Also:

Yup. Although they're usually for the other team.

Good to see your out of the relegation zone,hopefully you can stay out of it!

An interesting start so far! Baptism of fire. Very enjoyable

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Yanbian 2-0 Hainiu (Jia League)

I dropped Jin Bo because of his complacency in recent matches and called Li Xun up from the reserves. It was a fantastic game from him, with goals in the 22nd and 29th minute, and he missed out on a first-half hat trick only because a teammate was flagged for offside on his 44th minute goal. We put the screws defensively to Hainiu, pressing them and getting stuck in, and while it meant we racked up the fouls (17 to their 3), we held them to just two shots on target. A vital win that takes us 5 points clear of the drop with 6 matches to play, and with other results going in our favor moves us up to 11th as we leapfrog both Wuhan and Zhongze.

September 7, 2014

The board pump $85K into the club to handle runnings costs. Our balance is still $597K in the red though.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Songjiang 2-2 Yanbian (Jia League)

Before the match, Songjiang's manager said he felt we wouldn't stay up. I said we're staying here. And boy was our character tested today. I tried to play for counterattacks, but our center midfielder Chi Zhongguo had to go off with an injury (later determined to be a twisted knee, put him out 4 to 5 weeks) on 14 minutes. Songjiang scored in the 29th and 43rd minutes to take a deserved lead into halftime. I tried to buck up the players (not a hairdryer treatment, but more of a "Come ooooooon, guys." And changed to a more attacking mentality. Li Chengling, who came on for Chi Zhongguo, scored in the 47th minute and it was game on! I'd forgotten about the first-half injury sub though, and burned my last substitution in the 75th minute. So naturally both my left wing and right wing go off with injuries, taking us down to 9 men. In the 5th minute of 3 minutes worth of stoppage time, we send a free kick into the area....PELANTY! A Songjiang player is adjudged to have clattered one of our players. Which the commentators judged as being a harsh decision. Our left back Jiang Hongquan blasts it into the roof of the goal, and we're able to claw out a draw with 9 men. IT'S UNBELIEVABLE JEFF!. We drop to 12th because of a Wuhan win, but Qingdao's loss means we're 6 points clear with 5 to play, pending Hainiu's match on Sunday.

September 17, 2014

Chongqing poach one of my scouts (12 JPA, 10 JPP). I get $2K compensation for it.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Chongqing 0-1 Yanbian (Jia League)

The Kardiac Kids strike again! I decided to look for counterattacks again, and we played out a fairly dull first half with Chongqing. UNTIL! We're going forward on the counter, Gao Wan'guo is breaking in on goal but gets dragged down from behind by a Chongqing defender, who is then shown a straight red for a professional foul. The commentators call it a shocking dismissal, but I certainly think it was a legit red. We're unable to take advantage until the second half when I'm forced to move right wing Cui Ren up top due to an injury to central midfielder Li Chenglin (later diagnosed as a broken wrist; he's out 5 weeks now) in the 83rd. It looks like we're going to come away with a bore draw, but Cui Ren receives a pass near the penalty arc, and proceeds to whistle a shot past the goalkeeper for a stoppage time winner. Other results go our way and we jump into 11th place, 9 points clear of the drop (pending Hainiu's match on Sunday) with four to play.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Yanbian 1-7 Yongchang (Jia Leage)

Ouch. This was actually a fairly competitive match at one point. We were down 2-0 at halftime, but Jin Bo scored in the 47th minute to give us a chance. But then central defender Li Minhui picked up a second yellow in the 51st minute and we were sixes and sevens after that. If there's any consolation, it's that Yongchang are running rampant at the moment, with this match being their 7th win on the trot, and they're unbeaten in their last 18 (the 18 unbeaten is a new First Division record, as is their 67 goals). Unfortunately, Qingdao won their match, so that leaves us 6 clear of the drop with 3 to play. But results elsewhere did go our way, leaving us in 11th place and with teams between us and the drop.

September 30, 2014

Liaoning poach a scout from me. I'll get $1.7K compensation from it.

[b]Chinese First Division (through 27 of 30 rounds)[/b]
1. Yongchang	62
2. Songjiang	61
------------------
3. Shenzhen	55
4. Rizhiquan	49
5. Zhongji	47
6. Chongqing	40
7. Chengdu	35
8. Beijing IT	34
9. Xiangtao	33
10.Baxy		31
11.YANBIAN	28
12.Wuhan	28
13.Zhongze	27
14.Tiashan	24
------------------
15.Qingdao	22
16.Hainiu	19

Manager's thoughts

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? OK, it wasn't as bad as that, since we did pick up 7 points from 12, won the match I'd identified as must-win, and picked up 4 points from 9 available against the 1st, 2nd and 6th placed teams. And as I said we were hanging in there against Yongchang until we went down a man. They're just too good a team for us to play 10 v 11.

With Hainiu losing the last match of the month, we're 9 points clear of them with 3 to play.

Here's the run-ins, starting with us:

Yanbian

10/11 v Rizhiquan (4th)

10/18 @ Chengdu (7th)

10/26 @ Wuhan (12th)

Wuhan

10/11 @ Shenzhen (3rd)

10/18 v Zhongze (13th)

10/26 v Yanbian (11th)

Zhongze

10/11 v Beijing IT (8th)

10/18 @ Wuhan (12th)

10/26 @ Tianshan (14th)

Tianshan

10/11 @ Baxy (10th)

10/18 v Zhongji (5th)

10/26 v Zhongze (13th)

Qingdao

10/11 v Songjiang (2nd)

10/18 @ Xiangtao (9th)

10/26 v Zhongji (5th)

Hainiu

10/11 v Chengdu (7th)

10/18 @ Yongchang (1st)

10/26@ Rizhiquan (4th)

A very nice youth intake indeed:

Jin Chenxi is almost good enough attribute wise to play for us now. Better still, him, Li Bingjian and Wang Xiaodong all are listed as "enjoys" or "relishes" big matches. We could use those kind of players.

That's a cracking youth intake Nice to see you've climbed the table a little too. With any luck you'll continue to climb and hopefully steer well clear of the relegation zone.

All going smoothly atm

October 5, 2014

Shenhua poach my chief scout. Which I'm too bothered by as he was a bit crap.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Yanbian 2-4 Rizhiquan (Jia League)

A poor performance, not helped by having to change out two of my four defenders due to injury or red card suspension. We spurned a couple of early opportunities but got on the board through Cui Ren in the 23rd minute. But Rizhiquan hit us twice in a 5-minute span to go into halftime leading 1-2. We kept pushing at it though and equalized in the 64th minute through Chi Zhongguo's scorcher from distance that took a deflection off a Rizhiquan center back. But they went up again in the 75th minute as we continue to have problems defending against Rory Delap throw-ins, and they added an insurance goal in the 85th when we were hunting for an equalizer.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Qingdao win on Saturday, but Tianshan lose 3-0 at Baxy today, and fall into the drop zone. We're 4 points clear with two to play.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Chengdu 3-1 Yanbian (Jia League)

A first half filled with wayward shooting sent both teams into halftime scoreless. But then Chengdu broke for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the 50th and they were off to the races, adding a second goal in the 52nd minute. Some more ball-watching from my defenders resulted in Chengdu finishing the game off in the 72nd minute. Serge Gosse came off the bench in his first action since his dislocated shoulder, and got us a consolation goal in the 82nd minute.

Tianshan and Wuhan won, but Qingdao and Zhongze lost, leaving us in 12th place and three points clear of the drop going into the final match of the season.

But apparently we're safe regardless, because I get a notice that I've received my $6,750 bonus for avoiding relegation.

The league sorting rule has results between teams coming first, then goal difference, then goals for. We split with Qingdao, with each team winning one. We have a worse goal difference than them. My guess is it relates to the Tianshan-Zhongze match. They're both on 27 points, one behind me. Tianshan has a worse goal difference than us, but only -1 behind us. Qingdao is 2 points adrift and 3 behind us.

I can see a scenario where we lose, Qingdao win, and there's a draw in the Tianshan-Zhongze match, putting us all on 28 points with one of the four going down.

October 19, 2014

Fan-fricking-tastic. I leave Gosse available for the reserves to build up match fitness, and he twists his knee. Out 4 to 5 weeks. On top of our captain Cui Min being out for yellow card accumulation.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Wuhan 2-7 Yanbian (Jia League)

Well, I was not expecting this! Wuhan lined up in a 3-4-1-2 formation, so I decided to play with a defensive mentality, with a very deep defensive line, barely ever closing anyone down, direct passing and exploiting the flanks. And we just completely tore them apart. Li Xun got back into the side at forward and had us 0-2 up inside of 10 minutes. Plus we hit the bar on 5 minutes. The game really changed though in the 15th minute when a Wuhan defender saw straight red for a professional foul. Things settled down a little, but then we struck for four goals in four minutes (28, 29, 30, 31). We lost the clean sheet in the 32nd minute, but we were still on cruise control. I didn't even bother to say anything to the team. What could you say? Li Xun had to go off with injury in the 54th minute, but his replacement made it 7 in the 67th minute. Wuhan pulled one back in the 74th, but it just made the score a little more respectable. Apparently nobody was really bothering with defense, because we took 24 shots (13 on target), whilst Wuhan took 20 (6 on target).

The 9-goal match is a Yanbian record.

It was such a comprehensive result that every one of the week's First Division Best XI is a Yanbian player.

We finish the season in 11th place. For which we get $105K and pay out ... $300K to the players. Okay then.

[b]Chinese National First Division - FINAL[/b]
1. Yongchang	66
2. Songjiang	65
------------------
3. Shenzhen	61
4. Rizhiquan	58
5. Zhongji	47
6. Chongqing	46
7. Xiangtao	42
8. Beijing IT	40
9. Chengdu	39
10.Baxy		34
11.YANBIAN	31
12.Wuhan	31
13.Qingdao	28
14.Tianshan	28
------------------
15.Zhongze	28
16.Hainiu	20

Manager's thoughts

Well it was a struggle, but we got there in the end. It was like an entire season's worth of frustration came out in the final game with Wuhan the unfortunate recipient.

November 1, 2014

We announce a new main kit sponsor. One year, $26K.

November 17, 2014

Finally landed my National C license ... about 4 months after after I was projected to do so.

November 23, 2014

The board put in $525K to deal with running costs. We're still $563K in the red.

The board offer a 1-year extension to my current deal ($1,600/week, $6.75K bonus for avoiding relegation). I figure I'll give it another go.

I then ask to start a course for a National B license, but the board they can't provide the money for it. Surely I should be able to use my paid-out bonus for avoiding relegation? How much can a National B license cost?

December 7, 2014

We get a tax bill of $14K, for taxable profits of about $1.8M. Say what?

Announce two new sponsorship deals:

A 1-year sponsorship deal worth $96K. Previous one was worth $96.46K

A 1-year new kit sponsor worth $25.5K. Previous one was worth $25.65K

Board set the initial wage budget at $25K p/w, and a transfer budget of $430K

Our general sponsorship deal of $2.35M kicked in this month, so we now have a balance of $2.52M.

December 22, 2014

We announce a profit of $2.2M, 54% of turnover. That comes with the caveat that the profits were boosted by investments of $625K.

January 3, 2015

Agree to a purchase offer for transfer listed AML/ST Li Xun from Zhicheng in the lower divisions: $8K up front, $15.75K over 12 months, $6.5K after 50 games, $6.5 after 10 goals, 20% of next sale. He's 27 years old, and unlikely to improve in the future, as well as being rated only 1 star ("decent player for most Second Division sides"), so I agree.

I try again to get the board to fund a National B course for me, but they say they need me at the training ground.

January 4, 2015

Shenhua table a bid for Chi Zhongguo: $53K up front, $78K over 12 months, $31K after 50 games, $1.5K per league appearance for 10 games, $31K for 10 goals, 20% of profit from next sale. I don't *want* to sell him, but I imagine if I turn down a bid from a Super League club he's going to throw a strop. However, Tianjin are also rumored to be interested.

I decide to ask for $60K up front, $100K over 12 months, $50K after 50 games, $1.5K per league appearance for 10 games, $50K for 10 goals, 20% of profit from next sale, increasing the potential value by about $57,000.

January 5, 2015

Jiayunhao come in with an offer for transfer-listed reserve DM Li Longhu. He's valued at $5K. They offer $400 up front, $775 over 12 months, $500 after 50 league games, and 20% of next sale. He's listed as having the potential to be a fairly good player (2-1/2 stars) but he turns 24 next summer and is only a 1/2-star player now. So I accept it.

January 6, 2015

Shenhua accept my negotiated terms for Chi Zhongguo.

Li Xun's move to Zhicheng collapses when they can't agree on wages.

January 7, 2015

Li Longhu's move to Jiayunhao collapsed when they can't agree on wages.

January 8, 2015

Chi Zhongguo agrees terms with Shenhua.

This worries Serge Gosse, who comes to me concerned that our first team squad is a little thin now. I tell him I'm working on some moves (which is true).

January 9, 2015

I land former China international Han Peng as my new U19 assistant manager.

January 10, 2015

My attempt to sign Chi Zhongguo's replacement gets leaked to the press. I thought China didn't have freedom of the press!

Hangzhou come after my right back Jiang Hongquan, but I say no to this one. Their manager then talks to press about it.

Zhicheng try again, asking about Li Jun this time. They offer $3.3K up front, $6K over 12 months, $2.6K after 50 games, 20% of next sale. He's 26, rated 1-1/2 stars, unlikely to improve in the future and "has declined slightly as a footballer over the last three months." I agree to the offer. That one collapses over wages also.

January 17, 2015

I land another former China international, Shao Jiayi, as our new head of youth development.

January 19, 2015

I convince the board, over their initial objections, to find a feeder club that we could players on loan to.

Good luck for the new season,Ferrugem looks like he should be a good signing for you.

Quite a decent wage/transfer budget - shame you weren't able to spend much any of it!

Ouch. Good luck!

Great season having far surpassed the board's expectations

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Yanbian 0-3 Chongqing (Jia League)

So, the start of a new season. And kicking off in miserable conditions (1 C, breezy, with hail). And we were just as miserable as the weather, falling behind 0-2 inside 15 minutes (the second one looking miles offside) and barely getting a sniff ourselves. Li Haojie picked up a knock, and then saw straight red in the 44th minute for what the commentators said looked like a dive. My ever helpful ass man pointed out in the second half that our midfield was being seriously overrun. Well, yeah, we're 10 v 11. What do you think is going to happen? Nothing went right for us; we led the time of possession 54-46, but were outshot 21-9, 11 on target to 1. I appealed the red card (my assistant said it was probably a justifiable red), though I probably could have been tipped off to the eventual outcome by the media's post-match questions.

March 15, 2015

We announced season ticket sales of 1,011, about the same as last season's 1,000.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Wuhan 0-2 Yanbian (Jia League)

I tried to replicate the tactics we used in last season's 7-2 demolition of Wuhan, but it wasn't quite to be. Even though I had us playing deep, the teams combined for 40 shots, 15 of them on target. Ferrugem opened his account in the 6th minute. Wuhan had us under heavy pressure to open the second half, and we had trouble just stringing passes together: Either too long or too short. So I pulled back further and tried to retain possession. We found the insurance goal in the 57th when Cui Ren (who had assisted on Ferrugem's goal), found Gao Wan'guo just on the edge of the six-yard box with (finally) a perfectly weighted cross that he was able to volley into the back of the net. If nothing else, we won't have to wait 7 games until our first points of the season.

March 22, 2015

The board inform me that "due to good wage budget management", I can now keep 65% of any transfer revenue.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Yanbian 1-1 Tianshan (Jia League)

Same old Tianshan, always cheating! Tianshan decided to play 5 across midfield, but we managed to take the lead on a lovely turn of events: Ferrugem intercepted a Tianshan pass, quickly sent it ahead to Gao Wan'gup, who touched it on to Li Xun, who wasted no time in bulging the auld onion bag. But Tianshan equalized in the 54th minute on a very, very soft penalty which the commentators identified as a dive. It rattled our boys as there were a lot of nervous faces for the remainder of the game, but we held on for the draw. Unfortunate, because we had much of the attacking play but couldn't hit the target. We fired 23 shots, but got just 5 of them on frame. Tianshan took 7 shots, with 2 on target. But I feel a bit better having slammed the decision in the post-match presser.

March 29, 2015

Even the FA knows it was never a penalty, as they remain silent over my criticism of the decision.

March 31, 2015

Player power is starting to rear its head, as players who wanted to move (but which I couldn't, because they're so crap) start to complain that I haven't kept my promise. Given what I've seen in the other saves, I'd best nip this in the bud immediately.

I managed to arrange a sale of one of those players, though he'd wanted a loan rather than a transfer. He's buried in our reserves though, and frankly getting shot of him clears some space there. Except he doesn't like the wages offered, so I'm stuck with him. I hope he remembers that he turned it down.

Manager's thoughts

Blatantly cheated out of having 6 points from 9, but it's a damned sight better than 0 as we had at this stage of last season.

The bigger issue now seems to be the rumblings of discontent emanating from players who want to leave the club but haven't been the subject of any interest. The most problematic of them at the moment is Li Xun, who's filling in up top whilst Serge Gosse recovers from injury. Gosse is supposed to return in about 2 weeks, but then I need to get him back up to match fitness. The last thing I need is for Li Xun to be throwing a strop, but if I have to dump him on a free transfer, then I guess that's what will have to happen.

Mixed bag so far.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Meizhou 0-4 Yanbian (Jia League)

We get our first crack at one of the promoted sides (both of which are hot on my heels in midtable). A bit of a puzzler to me, as they line up in a 3-3-2-1-1 formation. That's a 3-man backline, 2 wingbacks and a defensive midfielder. We took the lead in the 9th minute but that was all the scoring in the first half. But we took control of the match in the second half, as Gao Wan'guo scored a brace in addition to setting up our other two goals. So, yeah, that means he had a hand (not like Maradona) in all four of our goals today. A storming match from him, as he notched a 9.5 rating, completed 84% of his passes and won 100% of his tackles (okay there were only two, but he's playing a deep-lying forward)

April 5, 2015

Oh, what could possibly go wrong with this? China are drawn into the same group as Japan for AFC World Cup qualifying (along with Indonesia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).

If you're Australian, you get Qatar in your group (along with Kyrgyzstan, North Korea and Tajikistan).

Let's all laugh as we're told politics doesn't enter into football.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Yanbian 0-0 Zhicheng (Jia League)

And now we get the other promoted side. A lot of huffing and puffing but we really couldn't find a way through their 5-man midfield. We took 17 shots, but got only 4 of them on target. Should have won this game, but I'll take the positives that a) we didn't lose, and b) we kept a clean sheet. The down side is Li Xun tore his hamstring and is out 3 to 4 months.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Chengdu 8-0 Yanbian (Jia League)

Wow, I've never seen a jinx as hard as this one. In the tunnel before the match, I was asked about our goalkeeper's run without conceding a goal! We fell behind in the 15th minute, and then got whistled for not one but TWO penalties (the second of which the commentators felt was harsh). So we were down 3-0 at halftime. Somehow we arsed up the kickoff. Then Kim Ki-Soo gets a straight red in the 49th minute for what looked to me like a fairly innocuous challenge. And then the roof caved in as Chengdu scores in the 59th, 65th, 67th, 80th and 89th minutes. I guess the lesson was speed kills: Chengdu have the most pace in the division, we have the least.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Shenzhen 4-4 Yanbian (Jia League)

**** me, we had this one and choked it away. We were up 0-2 at halftime, and responded almost immediately to a Shenzhen goal. We made a 1-4 when a Cui Ren cross was turned into the net by a Shenzhen defender. Then Shenzhen got one back in the 73rd minute when my goalkeeper and left back couldn't decide who should go get the 50-50 ball, allowing a Shenzhen attacker to reach the ball and beat us at the near post. In the 79th minute, a header off a long free kick bounced past my goalkeeper. And then in the 88th minute one of my defenders let a ball bounce off him in the penalty area, right into the path of a Shenzhen attacker, right as I was getting ready to substitute him and pull back into contain mode. I mean, I'm happy with the draw as they're a much better team than we are, but we should have seen this one out and picked up all 3 points.

Manager's thoughts

A good month that sputtered at the end, not helped by that Chengdu result (although I'd be checking the referee's pockets). Probably should have been able to bag 9 points from 12 this month, but instead had to settle for 5. On the bright side, Serge Gosse is working his way back to fitness and should be up to full speed soon.

Three league matches this month:

5/3 v Qingdao

5/9 v Xingtao

5/16 @ Changchun

So home matches against sides just ahead of us in the table, and an away match against one of our parent clubs, relegated last year.

We'll end the month with the FA Cup Second Round. We'll face either Xinjiang Youth or Nan'an Aoluan. The board just wants us to "Be competitive" in the cup. Could be an opporuntity to look at some of the quality players that came through last year's youth intake.

Doing well enough at the minute In my limited experience of Asian saves it takes a lot of patience to progress due to the lack of money. Shame you couldn't hold on to the lead against Shenzhen, that would have given you some really important breathing space from the bottom few

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Yanbian 5-2 Qingdao (Jia League)

A deserved win, though we got some help from the Qingdao goalkeeper who probably should have stopped the first three. We took the lead in the 7th minute when a Kim Ki-Soo shot seemed to go through the goalkeeper's arms or something. Qingdao equalized 3 minutes later. We took the lead for good in the 29th minute when Ferrugem got onto a Cui Ren cross and, as he was getting knocked to the floor, managed to get just enough of the ball to send it trickling past the keeper. It was 3-1 in the 32nd minute when Kim Ki-Soo got his second of the game, with a shot past the flailing Qingdao keeper. There was no doubt about the fourth goal though, as Ferrugem delivered a spectacular strike from the edge of the penalty area. Qingdao pulled one back just before the break to send us into halftime up 4-2. I kind of messed up the team talk, telling them to not let their performance levels dropped, which confused some and motivated others. A fairly even second half followed, until the 85th minute when we broke on the counter and Ferrugem put the match away with a header off Kim Ki-Soo's cross. A hat-trick for our Brazilian teenager, and I brought him off in stoppage time so he could get a standing ovation from the home supporters. Impressively, we took 14 shots with 10 on target, compared to 9 and 4 for Qingdao, despite having only 42% of the possession. Reminding us all that it's not how long you keep the ball, it's what you do with it.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Yanbian 3-1 Xiangtao (Jia League)

A very opportunistic performance. We were ahead after just 26 seconds (a new club record!) when a Ferrugem shot rattled the crossbar and Jin Bo was able to race onto it for a simple tap-in. We doubled our lead in the 9th minute in similar circumstances when Cui Ren's cross-cum-shot from right wing bounced off the far post. Ferrugem and Jin Bo both went after the loose ball, with Ferrugem poking it forward for Jin Bo to score another tap-in. Almost straight out of halftime, Jin Bo was charging forward into the penalty area, but had the ball slide tackled away from him. It fell into the path of the trailing Gao Wan'guo who placed a shot from the penalty arc for our third goal. We lost the clean sheet in the 85th minute unfortunately, but that was as close as Xiangtao would get.

The midfielder we sold to Shenhua is keeping an eye on his replacement:

And other managers are starting to cast a wary eye on me:

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Changchun 4-3 Yanbian (Jia League)

Changchun come in great form, having won their last 5 on the trot, and I'm missing my center back Chen Xiao due to yellow card accumulation. A back-and-forth first half ensues, with Changhun taking an 11th minute lead. We hit back in the 34th and 37th minutes to take the lead ourself. But Changchun pull level almost straight from the restart, then go ahead again in the 44th minute. Again I mess up my team talk and get players angry at me, but we pull level in the 52nd minute. But in the 88th minute, just as I getting ready to make my last substitution and go into "Contain" mode to try to get out of this with a draw, we leave a Changchun attacker completely unmarked in the penalty area and he makes us pay for it. Irritatingly, FM doesn't allow me to cancel the changes, so we waste about 3 minutes in Contain before I can get into the tactical area and change things up, but it doesn't help.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Yanbian 4-1 Nan'an Aoluan (FA Cup Second Round)

Given the board's lack of interest in this competition, and the fact we're playing a lower-league side, I opt for an A/B lineup, calling in some of the more promising youth players as well as having this be Serge Gosse's return to competitive fixtures. We fell behind in the 9th minute, but took control of the match after that, with Ferrugum and Gosse scoring in a 9-minute span. Ferrugem added another in the 59th minute with a wondergoal. My refusal to name a goalkeeper to the subs bench nearly came back to bite me when Yin Guang had to go off injured, forcing me to move defender Chen Xiao between the sticks. But our defending held firm, barely letting Aoluan have even a look at goal. Gosse finished it off with a close-range finish in the 89th minute. All in all a sucessful match, with four youth players getting their first taste of senior football; right back Qian Zhaokai was the standout, registering a 7.5 rating and an assist.

It'll be a tougher test in the Third Round though, as we're drawn against Super League side Hangzhou Lucheng. Though they're in the relegation mire at the moment, so maybe we can hope their attentions will be fixed on that instead of the cup.

What the hell? Chen Xiao wants a talk about "why you keep playing him out of position". IT WAS ONE TIME, AND IT WAS AN EMERGENCY.

Manager's thoughts

So that was a pretty good month, marred only by the loss to an in-form Changchun. Otherwise we would have perfectly matched the old dictum of "Win at home, draw on the road." We even got past the first hurdle of the FA Cup, so we've already gone further than we did last year. So far I've managed to massage the egos of wantaway players, but I think we're really going to need some movement in the transfer window coming up to prevent further rumblings of discontent. Clubs are looking at our players, but nobody's making a move yet.

A busy month is ahead for June. We start with away matches in Beijing, against IT and Baxy, followed by a home match against Rizhiquan. That one kicks off a 3-matches-in-7-days stretch as we travel to Hangzhou in midweek for the FA Cup, before finishing the month at home against Yiteng.

Also, a nice update in my inbox: My status at the club is currently "Untouchable".

Very solid work so far Jason at the 1/3 point. I like the attributes of Ferrugem and a very young player as well.

Solid start to the season

Very solid work so far Jason at the 1/3 point. I like the attributes of Ferrugem and a very young player as well.

I always love signing a player for free (well, aside from his agent's fee) and have him turn into a $325K value.

Solid start to the season

Indeed. Just need to hang on for another month, then those reinforcements I wanted at the start of the season will actually arrive. If last season holds true, another 15 points from 20 matches would be enough to keep us up. Obviously I'd like to do better, but the first goal is always just to stay up.