[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

[duffy89]

BREAKING NEWS - DUFFY BACK IN THE CLUB?

This is the first sacking I’ve seen in the Chinese Super League so I applied straight away!

And after a successful interview I got offered the job!

Take a look at that war chest! Jiangsu are currently sitting rock bottom in the league at the moment so the board are clearly prepared to put money where their mouths are and try and get the club out of the relegation zone.

In fact, getting out of the relegation zone wasn’t enough for the board who expected a mid table position!

Here’s the league table and I guess we’re only 12 points off 8th place but it’s still a hell of a challenge!

I accepted of course. This looks like it could be a great challenge and the club name reminds me of St. Johnstone, the club I support! Come on you Saints!

OK, lets see what I’m dealing with here…

[AK22]

African dominance, tick. International management, tick. Chinese team destined for relegation, tick!

Let's hope you can turn it around. At least you've some money to spend

[GazTheDoood]

Cracking start managing China mate, really good write-up when you joined too, enjoyed reading that. Interesting club move also, I like that you've chosen to manage in China whilst managing their national team as oppose to managing somewhere really far afield - good luck keeping them up, should have a good chance with that budget.

[duffy89]

African dominance, tick. International management, tick. Chinese team destined for relegation, tick!

Let's hope you can turn it around. At least you've some money to spend

Haha yeah a bit of a rollercoaster! Cheers AK, I'm looking forward to the challenge!

Cracking start managing China mate, really good write-up when you joined too, enjoyed reading that. Interesting club move also, I like that you've chosen to manage in China whilst managing their national team as oppose to managing somewhere really far afield - good luck keeping them up, should have a good chance with that budget.

Why thank you kind sir

Yeah I wanted to keep things realistic and I'm really interested to see how good China and it's leagues can become.

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

June

Jiangsu Sainty – Background

So just who are Jiangsu Sainty?

They’re a professional football club based in Nanjing, China. The team was originaly founded in 1958 but it wasn’t until 1994 that the professional team , Jiangsu Sainty was established. They finally reached the Super League, China’s premier division in 2008 and haven’t looked back since. They were runners up in 2012 and here’s how they fared in FM prior to me joining:

They’re still waiting to win the league but have been 2nd a further 3 times in recent years. So how the hell are they sitting rock bottom of the table? Who knows, but surely these lads are better than that, they were runners up last season for goodness sake! Here’s how they’ve performed this year. Not great .

They’ve been a regular in the Asian Chamopions League too, but have never made it past the group stages:

Behind the scenes, here’s all you need to know about general info, facilities, and finances.

£31 for a season ticket! What a steal! As you can see, facilities are pretty poor so I’ll be aiming to use some of that healthy cash balance to improve them straight away.

The stadium is brilliant; we play at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre, a 65,000 capacity beast:

I don’t usually like “running track” stadiums, but at 65k seats, who’s complaining?

Before I get into the squad and transfers I’m happy announce that I was able to hire my old Jomo Cosmos ass man Booler Shabalala! Welcome back mate!

Jiangsu Sainty – Squad Analysis

I think our squad is pretty poor to be honest, although it must be ok for Chinese standards considering the media predicted these lads to finish 5th in the league. Here’s who I think are our best players:

Zhou Yun - DR

Probably our best player at the club at the moment, Zhou is an experienced right back who should perform well at this level.

Piao Shengqing - DC

Piao is a young and promising centre back, our best at the club.

Reng Hang – DL/DC

Yep, another defender! Reng is our only left back and looks decent enough. At 31, he won’t last forever but can do a job now.

So a couple of not bad defenders there but we’re definitely lacking from the midfield up. Luckily I have that £5m to play with and it looks like I’m going to have a busy few days in the transfer market. It’s fortunate that I join in the middle of a transfer window so can strengthen straight away. The window finishes on the 18th of July and there a few restrictions on transfers it would seem.

Firstly, I can only sign 2 over 21 Chinese players this window and the club have already made one of these signings (he was an awful free transfer). Next, my squad can only have 5 foreign players in it, i.e. anyone who’s not Chinese. Furthermore, on match days I can only have 4 foreign players on the pitch at one time and that’s including 1 Asian player. So basically 3 non-Asian players and 1 Asian foreign player on the pitch.

It’s a bit of a stickler so I’m going to have to make those signings count.

Oh yeah, I can’t sign non Chinese goalkeepers either .

Right, time to do some wheeling and dealing!

[pearcey_90]

Caught up on the thread. Taking the Chinese job by storm! Jiangsu are a pretty decent club in CSL, always in and around the mix so hopefully you can get them back up there

[duffy89]

Caught up on the thread. Taking the Chinese job by storm! Jiangsu are a pretty decent club in CSL, always in and around the mix so hopefully you can get them back up there

Cheers pearcey, here's hoping! I think it's just an awful run of form that has put them at the bottom of the table, no way they should be down there based on previous seasons.

[duffy89]

I may have some HUGE transfer news coming up – a couple of familiar faces and a player I never thought we could sign. But I’ll wait until it’s all confirmed before I update!

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

June & July

Jiangsu Sainty – Transfers

So, onto the area which could make our break our season. I was given the tools to bring players in so it was up to me to spend the money wisely. Overall I’m delighted with the 4 signings we made, without further ado, let’s have a look at them!

George Khoza – AMC /MC - £2m

Well look who it is! None other than the young man I signed for Jomo Cosmos 3 years ago! He was the first player I checked out after taking on this job and found him playing for Libertad in Paraguay after moving there from Cosmos 2 years ago for £1m.

Despite not having a lot of playing time in Paraguay he’s looking fantastic and is still only 18, going on 19. He’s worth every bit of that £2m in my opinion and he’ll become the creative hub of our team.

Li Guofeng – ST/AML - £725k

I know Li well from international duty and he has always performed brilliantly for his country so I was delighted to bring him into Jiangsu. He cost £725k from Beijing but for one of the brightest prospects in Chinese football I think that’s a steal. He’s head and shoulders above the strikers we currently have and I’d love him to form a partnership with this man below:

Obinna Stephen Odinakachaku – ST /AMR - Free

That name sounds familiar to me! Yes, I’m reunited with another Jomo Cosmos player! Obinna stayed at the club after I left but chose not to renew his contract and I snapped him up! I had to pay him a pretty penny to come here (40k a week!) but I’m delighted he decided to join us. He’s looking good from when I last saw him and has been developing nicely. He’s even been capped for Nigeria a couple of times.

I’m really looking forward to seeing him and Li playing together!

Ok, time for the star attraction, the one we’ve all been waiting for. May I present to you, Jiangsu Sainty’s new signing…

Sven Bender – DM/MC - Free

Yes that’s THE Sven Bender and no that screenshot hasn’t been photo shopped! I still can’t believe we managed to sign him. I was having a look at free transfers when I spied his name and thought what the hell. I offered him a huge wedge of cash and it proved too much for him to turn down!

He’s without a doubt the best player in our team and probably the league despite being 31. I’m surprised he was left out of contract by Mainz, who he moved to a few years ago after leaving Dortmund. Anyway, their loss is mine!

I wasn’t surprised to see this:

Hell, I’m even tempted to order a real life Sainty shirt with Bender #6 on the back!

Get in that shirt now you beautiful man:

Wow, what a transfer window that was! I really think we have a chance of mid table after making those signings, I just need them to hit the ground running asap!

[elbilly]

Some cracking signings there! How many do you think you'll get in that huge stadium?

[duffy89]

Some cracking signings there! How many do you think you'll get in that huge stadium?

Cheers pal! A lot more than I was expecting, attendences so far have been between 30k and 40k!

That stadium is top notch and I bet you wouldn't miss it from a mile off Good luck with the new club mate.

Aye, it's a bit of a goliath! Cheers mike

[am_walters]

That is a gigantic signing!

And 31 years old?! Insane that you've pulled that off.

[AK22]

Congratulations on signing a Bender!

[iHeadHunta x]

What a signing, any chance of getting Lars aswell

[forameuss]

What blood pact did you have to undertake to sign him?

[duffy89]

That is a gigantic signing!

And 31 years old?! Insane that you've pulled that off.

Congratulations on signing a Bender!

What a signing, any chance of getting Lars aswell

What blood pact did you have to undertake to sign him?

Cheers lads, he did say when he joined that the move was "financially beneficial to his family".

Money talks!

Plus I now have to give him my first-born child.

Definitely going to see what Lars is up to!

[withnail316]

Great progress.... and what a signing Bender is! Well done, man.

[duffy89]

Great progress.... and what a signing Bender is! Well done, man.

Cheers dude!

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

June & July

Jiangsu Sainty – Fixtures

Jiangsu Sainty – League Table

We needed to hit the ground running and that’s exactly what we’ve done! To be fair, our first few fixtures were very kind, all home games and all to bottom half opposition. Still it was nice to get this club back to winning ways! Bender and Obinna were with us for all but the first game and have really stepped up to the plate, Obinna has 4 goals in 4 games already but fair play to the other lads in the team, they’ve been playing brilliantly too.

Khoza and Li are currently at the Olympics which is a bit annoying so we’re still waiting for all our new signings to play at the same time.

Those 3 league wins get us out of the relegation zone and up to 12th place!

All of a sudden we’re in the semis of the FA Cup too after dumping out Henan and Beijing. We’ll play Hangzhou in a two legged semi final, starting next month.

What a difference a month makes!

China – News

Over on the international scene, the draw for the Asian Cup group stage has been made and here’s ours:

I’d be disappointed if we didn’t get though that group comfortably. Saudi Arabia are likely to be our biggest challengers, they have some decent players. This kicks off after the WC qualifiers finish next year.

Our ranking goes up again!

Top 25 in the World, I’m getting light headed.

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

August

Jiangsu Sainty – Fixtures

Jiangsu Sainty – League Table

I keep expecting us to slip up but we just can’t stop our hot streak! This was always going to be a tough month for us, 8 games crammed into a month and we were playing some strong teams.

The game against reigning champs Guangzhou was a cracker, trading blows before finishing 5-5. Obinna got a brace and Li bagged a hatrick, it was a great match!

I was delighted to get a point away to Shadong too, coming from 2-0 down to snatch a draw against the league leaders. We’re absolutely flying up the league table and have reached the point of mid table safety that the board were looking for.

Clearly we can mix it with the big boys and I’m starting to think it’s just a fluke that the team were bottom when I joined. Of course, our new signings have been fantastic, Bender is a lynchpin in midfield, stopping the opposition in their tracks. I’ve nicknamed him Gandalf (you shall not pass!)

Our “Fantastic 4” are still to play a game together, however, as Khoza was injured on international duty. He’s out for 6 weeks

We had our first leg of the FA Cup semi final this month too and secured a solid 2-0 win against Hangzhou, keeping a vital clean sheet. We travel to them for the second leg next month.

[pearcey_90]

Wow epic signing getting Bender

Had a fantastic start so far so may it continue mate

[deltablue]

Great start in China.

[Blanco]

Looking promising - shouldn't take you too long to get that next trophy on the list!

[iHeadHunta x]

Looking good and the best is how much China are improving, working wonders!

[duffy89]

Wow epic signing getting Bender

Had a fantastic start so far so may it continue mate

Great start in China.

Looking promising - shouldn't take you too long to get that next trophy on the list!

Looking good and the best is how much China are improving, working wonders!

Cheers guys!

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

September

Jiangsu Sainty – Fixtures

Jiangsu Sainty – League Table

The Sainty train goes rolling on! That’s 13 games unbeaten in the league now – the boys are flying. I reckon if I’d taken over a few games earlier we might’ve had a shot at the title!

On top of that we’ve made it to the FA Cup final! We managed to get past Hangzhou despite losing away from home (our first defeat since I took over) and will face Renhe in the final – another double legged affair which takes place in November. Renhe are a decent team though and aren’t 3rd in the league for nothing so this will be a tough tie.

Jiangsu Sainty – Youth Intake

The less said about this, the better.

China – Fixtures

China – WC Qualifying Table

I was back in action with China this month too. We had a nice little warm up against Pakistan before securing a great 2-0 victory against Korea on their own turf. Bahrain continue to win and they share 1st place with ourselves. We play them at home next month so we have a good opportunity to put some distance between ourselves.

Korea are looking in real doubt to get though this group, not good for those lads.

[Paolo Willenté]

Looking good on both fronts at the moment. The to fella's from Jomo look fantastic as well as Bender. Keep it up!

[duffy89]

Looking good on both fronts at the moment. The to fella's from Jomo look fantastic as well as Bender. Keep it up!

Cheers dude! Delighted with getting the Cosmos boys, they've been doing brilliantly!

[pearcey_90]

Bet you can't wait for next season to start the form you've been in since you've arrived

[duffy89]

Bet you can't wait for next season to start the form you've been in since you've arrived

Defintiely mate! Really think that if we tighten up a couple of areas in the summer we have a shot at the title.

[duffy89]

Ugh, I'm in one of those ruts where I can't seem to fit in any FM time and work is taking over my life. Never seem to have time at the weekends either, hopefully I get some free time soon and can crack on with this save!

[B.W.G]

Doing well in China

[GazTheDoood]

Great work in China so far mate, hope you get some time to get some FM in your life soon.

[sc91]

Brilliant on both fronts, still can't believe the Bender signing, unbelievable coup!

[duffy89]

Doing well in China

Cheers dude

Great work in China so far mate, hope you get some time to get some FM in your life soon.

Ta, Gaz, should hopefully squeeze in some time tonight with an update tomorrow!

Brilliant on both fronts, still can't believe the Bender signing, unbelievable coup!

Cheers mate! I know, I still can't believe it!

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

October & November

Jiangsu Sainty – Fixtures

Jiangsu Sainty – League Table

So after 2 wins and 2 losses, the season has come to an end. Somehow we’ve finished in 6th place, something I never could have imagined when I took over and we were sitting rock bottom on 6 points. The players really rallied well and our new signings made a huge difference, I’m delighted with our efforts.

I really feel that with a couple more signings we should be able to challenge for the title next year.

Jiangsu Sainty – FA Cup

There was still the FA Cup to play for and this is how the 2 legged final played out:

Game over! A fantastic performance from the lads and Odinakachaku in particular, he takes home the match ball after bagging a hatrick.

This final was effectively over after that first leg but I was still delighted with the way we played away from home, securing a great victory and winning the Chinese FA Cup!

A new shiny trophy to add to the collection, and my first in Asia:

This was also an extremely pleasant surprise:

So we’ve gone from bottom of the table to playing in the Champions League, not bad for my first few months in charge! I think I was extremely lucky with the war chest that was handed to me on my arrival and we wouldn’t have had such a great season had it not been for these boys:

Jiangsu Sainty – The Fantastic 4

Sven Bender - MC

Solid. As. A. Rock. Wouldn’t expect anything else from this lad, he had an absolutely brilliant half season and was a true leader on the pitch.

George Khoza - MC

Unfortunately George had a few injuries so only played the 9 games for us but when he did play boy did he play well. He’s provides some real magic in midfield and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do over the course of a full season, hopefully with no major injuries.

Li Guofeng - ST

Li was brilliant for both club and country this year and gives us real presence up front. Bagged a fair share of goals and formed a great partnership with this lad:

Obinna Stephen Odinakachaku - ST

This kid is goals galore. He averaged over a goal a game in his first half season for us at Sainty and is lethal in this league. I’d be delighted if he can keep that scoring record up for next season.

China – Fixtures

We had some World Cup qualifying action this month a win against Bahrain and a draw against Iran sees us go top of the qualifying table:

There’s 8 points between ourselves and third place, Iran, now so its all but a formality that we qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

Those last fixtures also saw this happen:

Fair play to you lad, you always put in a good shift for me. Here he is in all his glory:

[WarroOxford]

Fantastic work, duffy! Inspired me to try the Tetradecagon Challenge too! Starting off with Witbank Spurs, hoping to have similar success to you, but not expecting it.

[duffy89]

Fantastic work, duffy! Inspired me to try the Tetradecagon Challenge too! Starting off with Witbank Spurs, hoping to have similar success to you, but not expecting it.

Thanks very much mate! Forameuss' tetradecagon is fantastic, I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Good luck with Witbank, they always seemed decent when I was in South Africa, sure you'll be a big success there!

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

December & January

Not much match action in these 2 months for club or country as we hit the off season but we do find out who we’ll be up against in the group stages of the CL and I’ve got some time to bring in a few transfers before the new season kicks off in February.

Jiangsu Sainty – Champions League Draw

So here’s who we’ll be up against. I’ve had a quick browse of the teams and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t qualify from this group. First game up is away to the Mariners and I can’t wait to kick off this CL campaign!

Jiangsu Sainty – Transfers

There was to be no war chest this season unfortunately but I was still given around 500k to play with. The board expect a title challenge this season and to be honest, so do I. Here’s who I brought in ahead of the new season:

Islam Abdel Latif – GK - Free

I really hate this rule about only signing Chinese goalkeepers but we needed a new no.1 and this is the best I could get! He seems solid enough though and is definitely an upgrade on our current keeper.

Feng Junhong – DR/WBR - Free

I’m really happy with bringing Feng in on a free. He’s still only 20 and will be pushing to start at right back next season.

Guo Zhiguo – DL/DC/ML - £500K

I spent all my transfer kitty on this kid but we desperately needed some quality at left back and I was delighted to pinch him from Guangzhou. He can also cover centre-back if needed and like Feng, above, is only 20.

Zheng Long – AML/ML/AMC - £100

This is a great signing in my opinion, and yes, that says £100! Zheng’s contract was running down with Shadong and I didn’t hesitate in snapping him up. He’s always been fantastic for the national team and despite being 32 is still quality at this level. He’ll be starting on the left for me next season.

Hussain Al-Thawadi – WBR/MR/AMR - Free

Hussain will be my Asian foreign player so he can play alongside Bender, Khoza and Odinakachaku. We were in desperate need of a right mid and I think Hussain can do a good job at this level.

Hao Junmin – MR/AMR/MC/AMC - Free

How could I pass up the opportunity to sign China’s all time most capped player and top goalscorer on a free? Hao is a bit of a hero and while he may not start every game for me I reckon he’ll make a strong contribution to our team next season.

So that rounds up our transfer business ahead of the new season. Overall I’m delighted, I was desperate for some class on the wings and we’ve got that in Long and Al-Thawadi now.

On a side note, anyone remember this guy? Just spotted him as I was searching for players!

He’s actually looking ok! If there weren’t these restrictions on foreign players, I’d probably bring him in just for old times sake!

[B.W.G]

Good with your CL group but be careful of Chunnam as the Korean sides are normally quite good.Some good signings made,Zheng Long is definitely a bargain at £100

[AK22]

Well done on your FA Cup win

[deltablue]

Another strong set of signings

[pearcey_90]

Congrats on making the ACL by winning the cup . Looks like a very tough group so hopefully you can make it out

[duffy89]

Good with your CL group but be careful of Chunnam as the Korean sides are normally quite good.Some good signings made,Zheng Long is definitely a bargain at £100

Yeah think they'll be the main challengers here! Haha thanks! £100. Why even bother? I guess they could get 100 scratchcards or something.

Well done on your FA Cup win

Cheers AK!

Another strong set of signings

Thanks mate, lets hope they perform!

Congrats on making the ACL by winning the cup . Looks like a very tough group so hopefully you can make it out

Cheers Pearcey, I don't really know what to expect here. I think we should do ok but who knows?

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

February

Our season officially kicked off this month as we started the CL group stages and had the Chinese Super Cup to play for. The league itself starts next month, in March. On the international front, we were to start off our Asian Cup Qualifying too.

Jiangsu Sainty – Champions League

February saw us start our CL campaign but unfortunately we didn’t quite get the start I was hoping for. We didn’t play particularly well and we weren’t quite at match fitness yet. I thought we were going to hang on for a draw before Alan Forrest (yes that’s James’ brother) grabbed a winner for the Mariners.

Here’s how the table looks after that first game:

Bottom, but we still have a long way to go.

Jiangsu Sainty – Super Cup

Yeehaw! What a way to kick off the new season! We played brilliantly against Guangzhou and I was delighted for Zheng Long to bag a goal too.

I struggled to find a pic of the Super Cup but funnily enough, I did find this photo of when Jiangsu Sainty won the Cup in 2013 against who else but Guangzhou! Freaky!

China – Asian Cup Qualifying

Not the best way to kick off our Asian Cup campaign as we could only get a point against the U.A.E. At least Saudia Arabia were beaten, they are the team to watch out for in my opinion.

Here’s the table after the first game:

[am_walters]

Congrats on the cup win, mate.

Building what looks to be a solid squad over there!

[duffy89]

Congrats on the cup win, mate.

Building what looks to be a solid squad over there!

Cheers dude, I'm definitely onto something good here!

[duffy89]

[FM14] It's not you, it's me. I just can't do club monogamy anymore!

Jiangsu Sainty & China PR – 20/21

duffy89 - Tetradecagon Challenge

March

Jiangsu Sainty – Fixtures

A busy month for us as we started off our league campaign and continued our CL group matches. Overall it was a fantastic month; the last 2 results in particular were stunning. 13 goals in 2 matches shows how well we’re playing at the moment. I wasn’t too disappointed with losing out to Shenhua in our second league match considering I was playing a weakened side so as to prepare for the CL matches.

We’re now top of our CL group and looking good for getting through the group stages on top spot.

Here’s how the league and CL tables look:

China – World Cup Qualifying

Just the one game with China this month, a qualifier against whipping boys of the group, Lebanon. A brilliant hatrick from our own boy Li Guofeng helped us win comfortably.

That win means this:

Fantastic news! I thought China had qualified for the 2002 WC (just checked and they did) so think FM has this one wrong. Nonetheless I’m delighted to have qualified with 2 games to go! Here’s the table as it stands:

South Korea have rallied round recently and can still make the automatic spots but they seem destined for the playoffs. I’ve been very surprised by Bahrain and they look good for qualification.

[Reinoud]

It's going great in and with China!

[AK22]

Fantastic! Qatar here you come