cerud Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 The Great Zall of China take the title... Waw, waw... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Good start Cerud. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Good start mate, good luck next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Excellent first season, cerud! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snootyjim Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Good luck, hope it goes well for you. How are Shenhua doing in your game, out of interest? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 Good start Cerud. Good start mate, good luck next year. Excellent first season, cerud! Thanks guys! Good luck, hope it goes well for you.How are Shenhua doing in your game, out of interest? Shanghai Shenhua finished in 3rd in the Super League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 2013 Pre-Season Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League The Stats CFA Jia League: Stay clear of relegation TOSHIBA FA Cup: Not decided yet Media Prediction: 15th of 16 Wage Budget: $1,514,822 ($369,408 from last season) Currently Spending: $1,162,054 ($352,768 cap space available) Transfer Budget: $0 (-$10,611 from last season) Main Kit Sponsorship: $43,398 (expires 2016) CSL TV Rights: $97.56K Average Ticket Price: $3 (+$3 from last season - we're actually charging this year!) Average Season Ticket Price: $56 (+$38 from last season) Estimated Value: $700K (-$25K from last season) National Club Ranking in China: 17th (+5 spots) Boardroom Promises: Give youth a chance. Initial Thoughts I've added a few players to the squad so far this off-season and trying for one big signing right now. I also just had my scouting range expanded to the entire Asian continent which should make a difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 2013 End of Pre-Season Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League The Matches China - Intersquad Friendly - Wuhan Zall FC U19s - won 6-1 China - Intersquad Friendly - Wuhan Zall FC Reserves - won 3-2 South Korea - Hyundai Oilbank K-League - Incheon Korea Railroad - tied 1-1 China - Lower Leagues - Hubei Huakaler - won 3-0 China - Lower Leagues - China Three Gorges University - won 6-1 Season Tickets Sold: TBA The Players Squad | Transfers - We've been strengthening defensive positions within the squad. It's been difficult because there was no youth intake last season for some reason (I think because the game start halfway through their season?). In addition, I've been having to deal with the restrictions associated with the league foreign players rules. Makes it a bit more difficult. Still, I managed to bring in a few players I hope will help. Main Transfers Geng Xiaofeng - GK - We needed a better goalkeeper. Unfortunately, the rules state no foreign goalkeepers are allowed, so I had to settle for signing one from a rival club that were willing to let a goalkeeper go. Xiaofeng is a step up from what we had, so I hope he can play regularily at this level. Wang Qiang - D C - Qiang is a good centreback for this league and a position in which I was lacking in true talent. I'm going to be counting on him to organize the back line and keep other players in check. Pre-Season Thoughts I was hoping to be able to play a few matches against other clubs in our new league, but our Board said it was going to be too expensive to travel. They do realize these clubs are in our league and we WILL be travelling to them weekly? I think my Chairman needs a geography lesson. I'm hoping for survival, possibly a finish around 10th place. Any higher would definitely be a great season in this new league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Well you'll soon get a chance to get the measure of your opponents anyway Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Well you'll soon get a chance to get the measure of your opponents anyway Oh yeah. My first match is away to Shanghai and the new home of Drogba Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 March 2013 Update Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Wanda Plaza CFA Super League I'm going to try something a bit new this season and offer more indepth match discussions. Here we go. 9 March 2013 - Shanghai Shenhua - Away An unbelievable way to begin a new league! I figured playing against the club who owns Drogba would make this a losing cause. However, we went up in the 1st minute to a beautiful effort by Vincente cutting in from the right. He would add another in the 20th minute as well to put us up 3-0 before even a quarter of the match was over! It's funny Drogba makes over $15M more than my entire player payroll! 17 March 2013 - Beijing Guoan - Home Our first home match of the season. It began horribly as the opposition took a 3 goal lead by the 16th minute. We got lucky with a smart individual effort from Zhizhao, our new left winger to give up one before the half. A strong team talk and a substitution and were were back on the pitch for the second half. Now, we were controlling the play. We tied it up with two quick goals in two minutes and took the eventual winner in the 61st minute from our right winger, Gutiérrez. 20 March 2012 - Liaoning Whowin - Away Somehow, the wheels fell off. This was the first match in which we were actually expected to have a good draw, but the referee had other plans. We were given 2 penalty kicks against us and a red card later in the match. Everytime we went down, we battled back, but it's tough to play against a 12 player opposition. 30 March 2013 - Jiangsu Sainty - Away The defending champions showed us exactly why they have that title. We were luck to pull one back late in the match. The Standings I guess I shouldn't complain at being in 6th place...but I will I have averaged a penalty kick against us each match and lead the league in yellow and red cards. I haven't changed my tactics, yet, this year, I get carded when a player breathes wrong. 14 yellow cards in 4 matches is borderline stupid...I just can't figure out if it's my players who are stupid or the referees. The one thing this is showing me is that my defensive side still needs some work. We can't concede this many goals and expect a miracle every match to get us out of danger. More work to be done. Awards Chinese Super League Goal of the Month - Yuan Mingcan - 1st Place Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatTraveler Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Great start to the season, your loses where close and you should survive confortably. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 4-3 and 5-4? I'd call you the entertainers of the league, but Liaoning seem to have even more scoring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Great start to the season, your loses where close and you should survive confortably. Thanks, TheGreatTraveler. I'm feeling good about survival as well. 4-3 and 5-4?I'd call you the entertainers of the league, but Liaoning seem to have even more scoring. I know! These scorelines are crazy and nervewracking! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 April 2013 Update Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Wanda Plaza CFA Super League 7 April 2013 - Guizhou Renhe - Home This was a fairly straightforward match, and one where we finally didn't give the opposition a penalty kick! 13 April 2103 - Henan Construction We began early with a great header by François from a cross in from our left winger. However, it was shortlived as we went into the half down 1-2, again their first goal a penalty kick gift from us. We exchanged a couple more goals in the second half, but were unable to get the equalizer. 17 April 2013 - Dalian Shide - Away This was a very even match which could have gone either way. We finally broke the scoreline in the 81st minute on a great single effort from Vicente and had our own penalty kick awarded to us for the second goal. Still true to form, Dalian Shide had their own penalty kick but couldn't convert it. 21 April 2013 - Guangzhou Evergrande - Home So, after Guangzhou had their 3 penalty kicks (that's right, all goals were penalty kicks...), I knew that the referees had slightly heavier pockets due to the bribery lining them. In the the second half, when a blatant penalty should have been awarded for us and no call (my criticisms in the post-match press talk were not met by any objections from the FA), I knew that they were paid off. Not much I can do about that. 27 April 2013 - Tianjin Teda - Away Vicente gave us the early lead and we held on. A bit of luck finally came our way as Tianjin controlled the pace of the match right from the beginning. The Standings Well, we had 14 yellow cards and 2 red cards in the first four games of the season. In the next five, we had 3 yellow cards and no red ones. Hopefully, our discipline problems are behind us. I'm happy with our 7th place position, especially since most think we are headed towards relegation. The table also shows a very tight top half. A win would have us in 2nd and fighting for the title. We are approximately a third done the season, so I'm happy with our progress for this first one back in the top flight. Other News Our Board managed to get us an additional kit sponsor! It's not much, only an additional $4,539 until the end of 2016, but I'll take it. The financial situation is not too pretty right now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 The league position's still good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Quite a good start,at least your not in Guangzhou R&F's position! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogogo golem Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 League position is really good and leagues with foreign player rules tend to end up with stronger attacks than defences so I guess that's the reason for the crazy scorelines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 The league position's still good. Happy with our progress so far. Quite a good start,at least your not in Guangzhou R&F's position! I know! Glad I don't have their record! League position is really good and leagues with foreign player rules tend to end up with stronger attacks than defences so I guess that's the reason for the crazy scorelines. Hmmm...never thought about that, but it could explain the high scores not only in my matches but elsewhere too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypanimz Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Decent start, only 4 points from top Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Decent start, only 4 points from top Still a fairly tight league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Very handily placed. China looks like fun! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Very handily placed. China looks like fun! It can be It can also be aggravating... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 May 2013 Update Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Wanda Plaza CFA Super League 5 May 2013 - Shandong Luneng - Home This was the beginning of a bad month. We went up for the early lead into the half, only to have to taken away by 3 goals in the second. We added one at the buzzer but it didn't matter in the end. 12 May 2013 - Hangzhou Greentown - Away Another match where we took the early lead only to squander it late in the match. 19 May 2013 - Changchun Yatai - Home Same story. An early lead blown. The Standings Oddly enough, we have a better away record than at home. Not too sure why that is. I'm not happy about this month especially given that we led each game. We're heading into a summer break now, with out next match not until July. Other News We had two interesting offers which I jumped on. Manchester United and FC Bayern Munich have asked for us to host respective friendly matches as part of their pre-seasons. Manchester is offerring $180K and FC Bayern is putting up $240K. I've taken both offers simply because we need the cash. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatTraveler Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Not a good month, hopefully it doesn't lead to a drop in form! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcidBurn Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Not a decent month but hopefully you can turn it around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Just started following this. Ace job to have taken them up to the big league after coming in midseason. Bit of a form wobble now at the moment, but what matters is you're very clear away from relegation which would've been the main goal for a 1st season in the top level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Not a good month, hopefully it doesn't lead to a drop in form! Not a decent month but hopefully you can turn it around. Hopefully our break with enable us to recoup! Just started following this. Ace job to have taken them up to the big league after coming in midseason. Bit of a form wobble now at the moment, but what matters is you're very clear away from relegation which would've been the main goal for a 1st season in the top level. Thanks, noikeee! I've always been a follower of your careers and appreciate the comments. Hoping I can recover this season a bit, but a 10th place finish would still be good for me at this stage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 We had two interesting offers which I jumped on. Manchester United and FC Bayern Munich have asked for us to host respective friendly matches as part of their pre-seasons. Manchester is offerring $180K and FC Bayern is putting up $240K. I've taken both offers simply because we need the cash. I had the same reaction when Hannover offered my Slovenia semi-pros $40,000. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Interesting friendly offers. Useful too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snootyjim Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Still very tight around the middle of the table, hopefully a couple of good results will propel you back up again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Not bad to see Man Utd and Bayern offered you to play against them with decent money Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogogo golem Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Unlucky this month but those friendly offers are going to line the bank account. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Nice to see some European clubs going to China on tour, and definitely nice to see you getting some good money as well. Good luck in the rest of the season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Very mixed so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Interesting friendly offers. Useful too. I need the cash! Still very tight around the middle of the table, hopefully a couple of good results will propel you back up again. It is. A couple of wins and the table is completely different. Hopefully I can change our recent form. Unlucky this month but those friendly offers are going to line the bank account. Yeah...finances aren't too healthy at the moment. Nice to see some European clubs going to China on tour, and definitely nice to see you getting some good money as well. Good luck in the rest of the season! A good payout indeed Very mixed so far. A good way to describe it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 June 2013 Update Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League TOSHIBA FA Cup Disgusting. We dominated them, 14 shots to 3. But we were beaten by a team in a much lower league while at home. The math speaks for itself. We have problems. Other News Unfortunately, FC Bayern have cancelled their Asian tour due to conflicting matches. We still have the Man Utd match though so at least that's something. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 A little late but well done on the title and good luck in the Super League. I've always enjoyed China Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogogo golem Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Unlucky on the Bayern news and how you lot that cup match is beyond me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 A little late but well done on the title and good luck in the Super League. I've always enjoyed China I'm finding China...interesting I mix of massive dominant clubs and the other guys. I'm with the other guys. Unlucky on the Bayern news and how you lot that cup match is beyond me. Just a bad day. Hopefully that's all it was. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 July 2013 Update Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Wanda Plaza CFA Super League 3 July 2013 - Dalian Aerebin - Away I retooled our 4-4-2, hoping that we could improve out defensive structure and it worked. However, now my striker don't shoot...at all. They just pass off to the midfield. Oddly, enough, both are listed as attacking. Not sure what to do about that. I'm finding tactics much more difficult with this FM year. 7 July 2013 - Guangzhou R&F - Home Guangzhou haven't won a match all year, so I was hoping we could grab one and turn ourselves around. And did we! Unfortunately, it was still our midfield and defenders with the goals. My striker simply will not shoot now and my midfield won't even give them the ball. Still having tactical issues. 14 July 2013 - Guangdong Sunray - Home This is the club that got promoted along with us. A relatively quiet match in which to scored the only goal in the second half. The Standings An entire month without a goal from a striker is scary indeed. However, we find ourselves somehow in 10th place halfway through the season. I can't complain about our position, but I think we could do better if I could just figure out how to get this squad to play like...well...a squad. Friendlies It would seem that even though our FC Bayern match was cancelled, someone forgot to tell the team! Both our friendlies happened as planned. I'm very happy on the outcome. I think that realistically, our squad would rank a midfield League Two side in English football. To keep play with the likes of Man Utd and FC Bayern, I can't complain. We were actually winning the Man Utd match until the 80th minute when van Persie came on and put a quick two in the net. But until then, I was hoping! Awards Goal of the Month - Julio Gutiérrez - 1st Place Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogogo golem Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Odd. You're doing well in the league though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
London City Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 I am loving this badge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcidBurn Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 You did extremely well in those friendlies! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 Odd. You're doing well in the league though. It's a tight table, so a win or a loss means a lot, but our current position is good. I am loving this badge. It's a fun one You did extremely well in those friendlies! I know! Can't complain about those! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Could do with a few more wins. Perhaps you should play the bottom side every week?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 Could do with a few more wins. Perhaps you should play the bottom side every week?! I wish! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 August 2013 Update Wuhan Zall FC - Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Wanda Plaza CFA Super League 3 August 2013 - Beijing Guoan - Away We took the game to Beijing and controlled play well. A goal in the 66th minute was enough for us to secure the win. 7 August 2013 - Shanghai Shenhua - Home We blew two leads in the game. The final nail in the coffin was an own goal by my left back. That hurt and began a long month. 10 August 2013 - Liaoning Whowin - Home We took the early lead in the 9th minute but went into the half tied. I thought that was going to be the final, but then we completely imploded. Liaoning scored 3 goals in the final 10 minutes to show us out of our own stadium. 17 August 2013 - Guizhou Renhe - Away We are very good at blowing leads. I felt comfortable with a 2-0 lead until Guizhou scored in the 77th minute. They added another 3 minutes later for the tie. 25 August 2013 - Jiangsu Sainty - Home Play was fairly even, albeit a bit more in our favour. However, this was one of those matches where the referee though the was the most important. We had 3 goals disallowed and Jiangsu had 1 disallowed themselves. 28 August 2013 - Dalian Shide - Home Want to know how to blow a lead? Just watch us! This is getting old. 31 August 2013 - Henan Construction - Away Not our match. I ended up holding a team meeting after this match in the hopes of boosting their morale. It seemed to work but we'll see how it translated onto the pitch. The Standings I know that much of our problem is that we are a very small market club. We have to lowest annual salary in the league and are still losing a lot of money. The Board just had to give us $800K to help with our books and we're still almost $2M in debt for the season. I'm increasingly thinking about finishing off the season and then moving on. Not too sure where, but hopefully to a club with a bit more local support. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogogo golem Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 You need the team to pick themselves up, fast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 17, 2012 Author Share Posted November 17, 2012 You need the team to pick themselves up, fast. Doesn't look like that's about to happen, I'm afraid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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