Crazy Canuck on FM14 World Tour - Job Retraining

[Murrayzoster]

Excellent career so far Rancer. How far do you think you can take Shanghai? And where do you think you'll move onto next once you have taken them as far as you can?

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2020 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Standings | Fixtures

An amazing season overall. We were in 1st at times, but we got draws instead of wins down the stretch and we had no chance against Hengda in the 2nd match. It was still a fantastic season overall. We really improved and we scored loads of goals.

Squad | Transfers

Our squad got stronger as my scouts find better foreigners. We sold my first YP at Kitchee which I felt was a good financial decision, given the strength at DM (as you can see, his YP replacement played quite a lot of games, and we have another good young DM in the youth team). I finally got rid of Lu Xu temporarily to Ajax of all teams. He's playing for their reserve team fwiw.

I also signed Yapp Hung Fai for the sole reason of making sure he doesn't retire and have the HK team lose a good goalie.

GK - Han Rongze | Yapp Hung Fai

DR - Ren Jing | Joe Anderson (YP7a)

DC - Li Jiong (YP6c) | Yang Fan

DC - Da Silva

DL - Zheng Zheng

DM - Sean Tse | Wu Shaohua (YP6f)

MR - Sabban Khalaf | Zheng Baoxiang

ML - Gao Dan

AMC - Mohsen Ahmadi | Emmauel Ledesma | Dou Shi

ST - Chen Zhipeng | Huang Guangtai | Li Jinhui

ST - Fernando Lopez

Standout performance obviously goes out to Fernando Lopez. He was brilliant. Our Iranians and Da Silva also contributed a lot to our success. Our Chinese/HK group is also very strong, and with 2 YPs playing lots of games, and a few more knocking on the door, I think we have what it takes to be great if we can keep the core together.

Now, if we could get rid of Xu Dong and Jiang Jiajun somehow...

Club Info | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

Made money thanks to less player wages and about a ~$150,000 increase in gate receipts due to our success. Turnover should be a bit closer to expenditure next year thanks to money from the AFC Champions League. Chairman invested $4 million less than last season, which should make him happy, and use that money on another mansion or yacht or whatever.

Awards

• Chinese Foreign Player of the Year - Emmanuel Ledesma
  
• Chinese Golden Boot - Fernando Lopez
  
• Manager of the Year - Ricky Nakano
  
• Team of the Year - Da Silva, Sabban Khalaf, Emmanuel Ledesma, Fernando Lopez
  

Goals

• I honesty believe we can win the title next season if everyone comes back.
  
• I don't know how well we will do in the Champions League, but I hope to do well! If we can go wire to wire with Hengda, we can do well in the Champions league.
  
• Hopefully we can get some high quality foreigners. Ledesma will leave and Da Silva might leave too if he doesn't want to renew his loan for another season. Either way he will be shortlisted and I hope I can sign him on a free or something. It's a big asset that we have Internacional as a parent club to loan us quality youngsters. Kudos as well for my ass man for finding these players to loan.
  

Career

2013/14: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2014/15: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2015/16: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, 2015 AFC Cup, Manager of the Year

2016/17: kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, HKFA League Cup Grand Final, Manager of the Year

2017/18: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, Canbo Senior Challenge Shield, HK FA Cup, Manager of the Year

2018: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Joined May 26, 11th-place finish, TOSHIBA FA Cup Finalists

2019: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 5th-place finish

2020: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 2nd-place finish, AFC Champions League qualification, Manager of the Year

[rancer890]

Excellent career so far Rancer. How far do you think you can take Shanghai? And where do you think you'll move onto next once you have taken them as far as you can?

I honesty think we can win the CSL soon, and make an impact on the AFC Champions League. Although we only spent $13 million on wages (that's 7th in the league), we have found some quality players and spending our money wisely (we do have a $25 million budget if I really want to use it). Khalaf was actually only making $200k a year when he wanted a wage increase, and I bumped his salary 600% to $1.2 million. I don't mind giving people wage increases. If they help me win, they deserve it.

In comparison to other clubs Guangzhou and Shanghai Shexin (UAE tycoon) have $40 million in player salaries, and 3rd to 6th (Guizhou, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shandong) have between $13.5 million and $20.5 million.

As for goals, other than winning the league title, I want to win the Champions League. I think we can do it soon if we keep everyone together. I also want to get them to the top of Asia rep wise. Jeonbuk in the K-League Classic is 3.5 stars. My club is currently only 2 stars. Guangzhou is a 3 star club. And thirdly, believe it or not, we have 0 players on the Chinese national team, I would like to change that.

I left Kitchee because I accomplished everything and I felt I couldn't get them further. Shenhua is a fun challenge, and as long as I'm happy and still have goals, I'll stay. The money and budgets also helps of course. I don't fancy taking a pay cut and budget cuts.

For specific clubs, I would like to go to the LA Galaxy or Seattle in MLS, or a job in eastern Europe next. I would like it to be a big club. The biggest job offered to me so far is Greek club Panathinakos, which is a 3 star league. Biggest job in terms of historical context would be IFK Goteborg. But I want a move to LA/Seattle, Shakhtar, or a big club in Russia.

Brazil would be nice except I love playing short seasons, and the Brazilian season is anything but short.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2020 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League - The Youths

Note: I will only discuss youths from my personal intakes.

Graduates

DC - Li Jiong (YP6c)

DM - Wu Shaohua (YP6f)

I think that Li Jiong is a good player. He struggled at times but I felt he learned a lot and improved a ton.

I can see Wu Shaohua taking over as starting DM soon but he will split time with Sean Tse.

Knocking on the door

DR - Joe Anderson (YP7a)

DL - Yuan Guangliang (YP6d)

ST - Huang Weilong (YP7b)

Anderson and Yuan are two very good young players. Anderson might make our bench, and Yuan proved that he can do well in the CSL with Tianjin.

Huang is probably the most exciting prospect yet. I'm going to release some of our strikers and give him a chance. He scored 17 goals and 9 assists in 29 games for the U19s, and 20 goals and 9 assists in 31 games if you include the U19s Cup.

So close, but so far

DR/DL - Mou Jindong (YP7c)

DL - Xu Xiaochen

It's not because they're bad players, but it's because of our depth chart at the position. It's going to be hard because they're behind our senior players, as well as Anderson and Yuan.

--

The rest of my youths aren't great and I don't think they will make an impact because I'm set at those positions and/or they're not good enough to be at a top CSL club.

[rancer890]

Something tempting came up. I actually went for a job interview.

Job interview offer

Of course, I didn't get it.

Aw well, back to Shanghai.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2021 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Expectation: Top Half Finish

CSL TV Rights: $83.06k (guess CCTV isn't really paying much for rights...)

Transfer Budget: $12.5 million

Wage Budget: $29 million (currently spending $12,125,947)

CSL has moved down from 7th to 8th. HK league has dropped 5 spots to 19th.

In terms of reputation, we are up to 6th from 8th.

I also got a new 3-year contract from Shenhua, which I accepted.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2021 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Off-season

Not a very busy off-season. I think we got what it takes to win with our current team!

Transfers

Li Duo - It's a real coup to acquire a player of Li's caliber. Originally a Guangzhou Hengda youth, he has spent time with Beijing as well as Jiangsu of course. He hasn't scored more than 13 goals a season, but I don't need him to. He's also a Chinese international with 4 goals in 17 caps. Not bad on a free!

We also renewed Da Silva's loan for another season. I think we have the strongest team that Shenhua has ever assembled.

==

Of course, we are also in the Champions League group stage.

We are with:

• Kashima Antlers (Japan)
  
• Buriram United (Thailand)
  
• FC Seoul (Korea)
  

[rancer890]

Former Club Watch

Kitchee Sports Club (Hong Kong)

[TABLE=class: grid]

[TR]

[TD]Seasons[/TD]

[TD]Div.[/TD]

[TD]Pos.[/TD]

[TD]Senior Shield[/TD]

[TD]FA Cup[/TD]

[TD]League Cup[/TD]

[TD]Season Playoffs[/TD]

[TD]Asia (AFC Cup)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2018/19[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2019/20[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]3[/TD]

[TD]Runners-up[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]Winners[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2020/21[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]2[/TD]

[TD]Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]Runners-up[/TD]

[TD](2020) Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2021/22[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD](2021) Second Round[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Raware]

Going steady rancer ...getting itchy feet at Shenhua already though?

[rancer890]

Going steady rancer ...getting itchy feet at Shenhua already though?

Thanks Raware.

Not itchy feet per se, but if there's a team that has the financial resources and wants my services, I certainly wouldn't reject them outright. Of course I want to succeed at my current club, but like players, managers want to move up in the football world too. If there's an attractive offer, I will have a listen and go from there. I did sign an extension until 2023, so I won't get any interviews unless a team has the money and is serious about my services.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2021 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Youth Intake

Good junior coaching now. Hope for the best.

Youth Intake

YP9a - AMC Cui Haijun - another AMC who my ass man considers the top prospect of the batch. Still very raw, but we will see.

YP9b - AMC Tian Lin - two good AMCs in the same intake. This guy could be a good backup.

YP9c - ST Chen Yuantong - decent ST. Not really high on him. The fact that I will always want to have one foreign ST means there's one less starting spot for a ST.

YP9d - GK Zhang Shiluo - now this guy is a bit interesting. His attributes aren't that bad and he's still young. He could be at least a backup eventually, and who knows, maybe a starter.

I have a bunch of other youngsters who I want to sign, but they're mostly for depth purposes. Not sure if anyone from this intake can make it.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2021 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Standings | League Fixtures | Cup Fixtures | Past Positions

It was an amazing season, and to finish off, we had to beat Changchun Yatai and Shenxin would have to somehow lose their match against Guangzhou Hengda on the last day of the season (we hold the tie-breaker). And then they somehow did lose after we did our part. And thus we are champions.

It wasn't exactly smooth sailing, because we had problems early in the season, but we had a fantastic run despite a couple hiccups (including lost points against Shenxin), and a slight change in tactics to create a bit more offense did the trick. Shanghai East Asia could have made it 1-2-3 for Shanghai teams, but they bottled it on the final day and won't get Champions League soccer next season.

CFA Cup was brilliant as well, although we had some fixture congestion because of our success in the Champions League. It was brilliant to beat Beijing over 2 legs. We earned a domestic double the hard way.

AFC Champions League

A fantastic result for a fantastic club like Shanghai Shenhua as we win the Finals on penalties against Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal. It was an amazing display of high quality soccer as two teams battle it out for a trophy while the ref channels his inner Howard Webb. We trailed a couple times but clutch moments from Sabban Khalaf after a free kick goal from Zheng Zheng made the exciting penalty shootout possible. It was a great game where both teams weren't going to sit back, park the bus, and hope for a win.

We were dealt a very tough Group F who had the 2020 winners in J-League side Kashima Antlers, the always tough Koreans FC Seoul, and Thai side Buriram United. We had a real struggle against all 3, but we did enough to finish 2nd.

The knockout rounds were all high scoring affairs as you can see. My team isn't built to be a defensive juggernaut, so might as well unleash the goal scoring potential in all competitions, including the ACL. It's not often, especially in the knockout rounds, to see scores that equal 6 to 8 per match. It was a very tough and grueling time as we had to face Yokohama F Marinos of the J-League, another meeting with FC Seoul, who beat us up in the Group Stage, and a tricky Saudi side in Al-Fateh before the Finals.

Squad | Transfers

Having signing only one player wasn't best for preparation, considering the fact that other teams improved. So we took a risk and got an expensive signing in terms of wages in Otkur, and got a new goalie in Wang Jun. Goalie was never a big problem for us, as I always felt like our defense doesn't know what passing means and it gives the other team free chances, but it's a hot commodity since goalies can only be Chinese. So it would be logical to get the best ones just to prevent the other teams from getting them as well as strengthening your own team of course.

Goalies - Wang Jun and Han Rongze were both very good in the season. Han did a good job in the first half before becoming a backup to Wang Jun. Both of them got a cap for China in a friendly match, which I think is very well deserved.

Defense - As always it was inconsistent as times, but thankfully it was better more often than it was worse. The MVP here would have to be Otkur. He was very consistent, and maybe had 1 or 2 bad games. Joe Anderson was our MIP (Most Improved Player).

Midfield - Our Iranian duo of Khalaf and Ahmadi are insanely good, and I gave Ahmadi an 800% wage increase ($200k to $1.6 million) until 2023. I won't mind paying my players if they perform. Ahmadi is an obvious choice for MVP, joining the 20-20 club. With 3 goals and 10 assists, Zheng Baoxing is our MIP.

Forwards - Our key to our attack is the dynamic duo of Fernando Lopez and Li Duo. I'm quite sure Li Duo will want a new contract that will make him a millionaire soon, and deservedly so. His scoring rate was decent in the league, but in the ACL and the FA Cup he was dominant. He's a great clutch player. Fernando Lopez needs no introduction. He's our MVP. There's no MIP because well, no one really improved!

GK - Wang Jun | Han Rongze

DR - Ren Jing | Joe Anderson (YP7a)

DC - Otkur | Yang Fan | Qu Xiaoting

DC - Da Silva | Li Jiong (YP6c)

DL - Zheng Zheng | Yuan Guangling (YP6d)

DM - Sean Tse | Wu Shaohua (YP6f)

MR - Sabban Khalaf | Zheng Baoxiang

ML - Gao Dan

AMC - Mohsen Ahmadi | Dou Shi | Su Chanhui

ST - Li Duo | Chen Zhipeng

ST - Fernando Lopez | Huang Guangtai | Huang Weilong (YP7b)

I would say overall co-MVPs are Ahmadi and Lopez. Overall MIP is Joe Anderson, although Wang Jun could certainly make a case since he never played a league game for Shandong.

Club Info | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

Gate receipts increase 4 times from $2 million to $8 million, while $2 million in prize money really help. We will get taxed though, so I might ask for a new stadium or to buy the current one to try to avoid it. Last season I asked for facilities so it would show a loss in the accounting (even though I fully know that the chairman will just invest again to show neutral profit at the end of the month) and avoid it.

Awards

• Chinese Player of the Year - Mohsen Ahmadi
  
• Foreign Player of the Year - Mohsen Ahmadi
  
• Golden Boot - Fernando Lopez
  
• Manager of the Year - Ricky Nakano
  
• Team of the Year - Sabban Khalaf, Mohsen Ahmadi, Fernando Lopez, Zheng Zheng (subsitute)
  

Goals

• Let's keep winning! It was fantastic to complete the season with a treble.
  
• It's going to be very tough to repeat as the champions of the Champions League. I don't know if we can do it again, because there's so many different variables that could make the difference between winning and losing. We would not have even gotten out of the Group Stages if we didn't get a result against Burinam United. But I will put my team against anyone
  

Career

2013/14: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2014/15: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2015/16: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, 2015 AFC Cup, Manager of the Year

2016/17: kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, HKFA League Cup Grand Final, Manager of the Year

2017/18: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, Canbo Senior Challenge Shield, HK FA Cup, Manager of the Year

2018: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Joined May 26, 11th-place finish, TOSHIBA FA Cup Finalists

2019: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 5th-place finish

2020: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 2nd-place finish, AFC Champions League qualification, Manager of the Year

2021: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, AFC Champions League, Toshiba FA Cup, Manager of the Year

[SRL88]

Well that was close .

[rancer890]

Well that was close .

Too close for comfort. Guangzhou scored in the 85th minute to give us the title.

Good thing we won that other game against Shenxin.

I nearly forgot we also have the Club World Cup! So I'll make a standalone update for that soon. (Do those games count in the overall scoring record? Lopez might get more than 43. ).

[Raware]

Excellent season . Lopez looks a real star. How highly do you rate him compared to all of the other players you've had in all of the saves that you've played? Also, what face pack are you using? I'm liking the look of those

[rancer890]

Excellent season . Lopez looks a real star. How highly do you rate him compared to all of the other players you've had in all of the saves that you've played? Also, what face pack are you using? I'm liking the look of those

He's up there with the best that I have ever managed. I don't really know how to compare, because I don't remember anyone. I do remember a striker I had with Reading though, in FM11 or 12. Lopez is way too good for this league, but I'm happy to just keep loaning him till I get somehow get him permanently.

I think he's top 5. My favourites would have to include that Reading striker, Javier from Real Oviedo, and my son.

As for the facepack, click here!

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2021 Club World Cup

One thing I nearly forgot about being Champions is the Club World Cup. This year, it's in Mexico.

Competitors

Monterrey (CONCACAF)

Real Salt Lake (???)

Auckland City (OFC)

Shanghai Shenhua (AFC)

Internacional (CONMENBOL)

Club African (CAF)

Manchester City (UEFA)

I have no idea why Real Salt Lake are in the CWC. They did not win anything. All games at Estadio Azteca.

Playoff

Real Salt Lake 5-0 Auckland City

Quarter-Finals

Monterrey 2-2 (p) Real Salt Lake

Shanghai Shenhua (e) 2-1 Club African

Club African were a bit tricky, but we couldn't beat them till extra time, which meant we had to face Internacional on 3 days rest.

Semi-Finals

Shanghai Shenhua 1-4 Internacional

Real Salt Lake 0-2 Manchester City

We lost. Not surprised, but it was good experience for us. But unfortunately we couldn't play Lopez or Da Silva because they were contracted to Internacional.

3rd-Place

Shanghai Shenhua 4-2 Real Salt Lake

It was a fantastic result against a team from MLS. We dominated this game and we got a solid 3rd behind the two big confederations.

Finals

Manchester City 3-1 Internacional

Overall I was very pleased with the tournament. We showed that we are the 3rd best team and we got some nice money out of it. Unfortunately, Mohsen Ahmadi will be out 4-5 months with a broken foot so it's a big blow for us. Time for Dou Shi and Su Chanhui to show me how good they are.

=====

Chinese Super League All-Star Game

It's a friendly, so nothing is at stake here. I didn't play friendly though...

Shanghai Shenhua 7-0 CSL All-Stars

A dominant win.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2022 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Expectation: Title Challenge

CSL TV Rights: $77.71k

Transfer Budget: $12.25 million

Wage Budget: $29 million (currently spending $12,601,084)

Our club reputation has increased one full star, from 2 stars to 3 stars, which is pretty amazing. We move from the 7th highest rep in China to 2nd.

CSL moves up 2 spots from 7th to 5th in the league rankings. HK stays at #19.

I might not post a transfer update, mainly because I actually haven't signed anyone. No point spending just to spend.

[Raware]

He's up there with the best that I have ever managed. I don't really know how to compare, because I don't remember anyone. I do remember a striker I had with Reading though, in FM11 or 12. Lopez is way too good for this league, but I'm happy to just keep loaning him till I get somehow get him permanently.

I think he's top 5. My favourites would have to include that Reading striker, Javier from Real Oviedo, and my son.

If there was a jealous emoticon, I'd use it!!! Still waiting for my son...or even a great youth player to come through my ranks.

[rancer890]

If there was a jealous emoticon, I'd use it!!! Still waiting for my son...or even a great youth player to come through my ranks.

I'm greedy but I'm hoping for another one!

[rancer890]

Former Club Watch

Kitchee Sports Club (Hong Kong)

[TABLE=class: grid]

[TR]

[TD]Seasons[/TD]

[TD]Div.[/TD]

[TD]Pos.[/TD]

[TD]Senior Shield[/TD]

[TD]FA Cup[/TD]

[TD]League Cup[/TD]

[TD]Season Playoffs[/TD]

[TD]Asia (AFC Cup)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2018/19[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2019/20[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]3[/TD]

[TD]Runners-up[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]Winners[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2020/21[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]2[/TD]

[TD]Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]Runners-up[/TD]

[TD](2020) Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2021/22[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Finalists[/TD]

[TD]Finalists[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[TD](2021) Second Round[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2022/23[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

It was a fantastic season for Kitchee as they won the title for the first time since the 2018/19 season. Hopefully they can turn this into a good 2023 AFC Cup campaign because they just missed out on the 2022 version.

[rancer890]

2022 World Cup in Qatar

Our only representative at the World Cup in Qatar was Iranian Sabban Khalaf. I didn't really follow it (I'm a bit busy with other things ) but here's the results.

Group Stages:

A - Austria, Egypt, Qatar, Mexico

B - Germany, Colombia, Czech Republic, Costa Rica

C - Netherlands, Ivory Coast, Brazil, New Zealand

D - France, Uruguay, Sweden, Iraq

E - Argentina, Armenia, South Korea, Nigeria

F - Italy, Portugal, Morocco, USA

G - Japan, England, Denmark, Chile

H - Croatia, Ghana, Spain, Australia

Second Round

Colombia 2-0 Austria

Egypt 0-2 Germany

Netherlands (e) 2-1 Uruguay

France 2-1 Ivory Coast

Portugal 2-1 Argentina

Armenia 1-3 Italy

Japan 2-1 Ghana

England 0-1 Croatia

Quarter-Finals

Colombia 0-4 France

Germany 1-0 Netherlands

Portugal 4-1 Croatia

Italy 4-1 Japan

Semi-Finals

France 2-3 Italy

Germany 2-0 Portugal

3rd Place Playoff

Portugal 0-2 France

Final

Italy 2-0 Germany

So, a good effort by Italy to win the World Cup. Probably the 3 biggest shockers are Armenia making the World Cup and advancing to the 2nd Round, and Brazil and Spain not making it out of their groups.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2022 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Youth Intake

Crap intake. And I can't improve junior coaching either.

Youth Intake

YP10a - AMC Hu Zhongyu - you do know that I have 4 possible AMCs on my senior team and 3 more on my youth team right? You had 3 Shanghai clubs to pick, and you chose the one with the most depth at your position....

Other kids are poor but I will sign some anyway, because I want the bodies for my youth team. Let's just pretend that this youth intake didn't happen.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2022 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Standings | League Fixtures | Cup Fixtures | Past Positions

It was a lot less tense fortunately, as we won the league with 2 games to spare. Tycoon backers Shenxin and Hengda were both very tough, but we managed to pull it out and win the league again. Shenxin might be the new Hengda though, because the Guangzhou club chairman has withdrawn his funding.

Cup wise we did a great job winning it as well. It was an amazing run and we did just enough since during that time we also had to worry about other competitions...

AFC Champions League

We had a very tough group with FC Seoul, Sanfreece, and Central Coast Mariners, but we did enough to win the group. The knockout stages weren't as wild as before, but we did what we had to do and got the job done.

The Finals were fantastic. We had to face Guangzhou Hengda and I would not want it any other way. It's a great match for us and for Chinese football. We defend our title with a 3-1 victory.

FIFA Club World Cup

Another ACL win means another appearance at the CWC. We start off with a solid win against CAF Champions ES Tunis, but then we go self-destruct against the UEFA champs Marseille, losing 8-0. It was an awful match, and I'm more used to scoring 7 or 8 goals against someone rather than being scored on that many.

Another 3rd place playoff, against Internacional again, who shocked the world with a 5-0 loss to Monterrey. In a battle of squads low on morale and energy, we park the bus and secure an impressive 1-0 victory to secure 3rd place in the competition for a 2nd straight year.

CSL All-Star Game

What's left for this season in the annual game between the CSL champs and the All-Star team. I treated this game like every other competitive match, and beating a group of all-stars has a lot of bragging rights as well. We didn't fit out our best team, because a lot of players were banged up and tired, but we did enough to end of the 2022 season with a win.

Squad | Transfers

A lot of the team was the same, but I did make a couple transfers to give the team more depth. I wanted to sign both on a free at the end of the year, but bids were coming from other teams, and I couldn't let them have the players I wanted.

GK - Wang Jun | Han Rongze

DR - Ren Jing | Joe Anderson (YP7a)

DC - Otkur | Yang Fan | Sean Tse

DC - Da Silva | Li Jiong (YP6c)

DL - Zheng Zheng | Du Kang

DM - Zhang Fang | Wu Shaohua (YP6f)

MR - Sabban Khalaf | Zheng Baoxiang

ML - Gao Dan

AMC - Mohsen Ahmadi | Dou Shi | Su Chanhui (YP8a)

ST - Li Duo | Chen Zhipeng

ST - Fernando Lopez | Huang Weilong (YP7b)

My personal awards:

Player of the Year - Sabban Khalaf. Most consistent this season and had 30 assists.

Young Player of the Year - Sabban Khalaf.

Most Improved Player - Huang Weilong (YP7b). I put him in a position to succeed and he did really well with 13 goals in 33 games in a season where Lopez wasn't as dominant as last season (nor was I expecting Lopez to). It's a testament to his hard work when he went down with a torn hamstring and will probably not reach his potential. I say scoring 13 goals is good output for any striker who isn't a regular starter.

It's going to be fantastic to see Lopez coming permanently. I signed him on a free in July. He will be making $1.6 million next season on a short one-year deal which I'm definitely willing to renegotiate for a long term deal when his contract is nearly up. Couldn't get Da Silva though but we did extend his loan again.

Club Info | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

It doesn't say here, but the team is Continental rep now. We also made good profit but I'm not sure if we will get taxed on it, but hopefully it's not too much. Taxation among player is pretty severe (it's around 40% for players making over $400k, and even the ones below seem to get taxed 33%) so I hope for clubs it's not like that...

Awards

• Chinese Player of the Year - Sabban Khalaf
  
• Chinese Foreign Player of the Year - Sabban Khalaf
  
• Chinese Young Player of the Year - Gao Dan
  
• Manager of the Year - Ricky Nakano
  
• Team of the Year - Sabban Khalaf, Li Duo (sub)
  

Goals and notes/observations

• Winning the quadruple is fantastic. I don't think I have won 4 pretty big trophies before in a season! But of course, the biggest accomplishment is winning consecutive ACL titles. I still remember the heartbreak at Kitchee when we lost in the Finals and we never really came close to those 2 great Asian campaigns. There was a bit of doubt from myself whether I could win another ACL title, but I'm ecstatic that we did it. I think we have what it takes to challenge on all fronts next season if we are healthy.
  
• I feel that we have to increase the club rep in addition to the league. We are a 2 star league. We have to increase it by a star, although even the top Asian leagues are only 2.5 stars. I do think with our success and Guangzhou's success we can improve the club rep. An all-Chinese ACL final is massive for the league and both clubs.
  
• My contract ends at the end of the 2023, and I will have to admit I have applied for a lot of jobs and got some interviews. But I want to stay because we have a great group of players. Acquiring Fernando Lopez permanently is a massive win for the club and definitely makes me want to stay. From the start, I want to have fun playing FM and I'm having fun here, so unless there's a better option I would like to stay
  
• And speaking of Lopez, he won't get a callup from Argentina, and he loves the club, so maybe if he can stay a few more years...he can play international football for someone else! Although it does take 8 full years + a few extra months to get Chinese citizenship...
  
• Looking at my reputation, I am now World Class.
  

Career

2013/14: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2014/15: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2015/16: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, 2015 AFC Cup champions, Manager of the Year

2016/17: kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, HKFA League Cup Grand Final, Manager of the Year

2017/18: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, Canbo Senior Challenge Shield, HK FA Cup, Manager of the Year

2018: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Joined May 26, 11th-place finish, TOSHIBA FA Cup Finalists

2019: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 5th-place finish

2020: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 2nd-place finish, AFC Champions League qualification, Manager of the Year

2021: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, AFC Champions League winners, Toshiba FA Cup, Manager of the Year

2022: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, AFC Champions League winners, Toshiba FA Cup, Chinese FA Super Cup, Manager of the Year

[Raware]

What a fantastic season! Asian dominance is on the cards now! Great news about Lopez too

[rancer890]

What a fantastic season! Asian dominance is on the cards now! Great news about Lopez too

A bit of luck and a bit of skill for our two year Asian dominance.

ACL wasn't easy this year or last, and I'm sure it's definitely going to be a challenge next year. But if we are healthy, we can win everything. The great news is that the squad average age is only 23 so most guys aren't even in their prime yet!

And it was a great feeling to see Lopez sign with us rather than sign a new contract with Internacional.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2023 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Manager Ricky Nakano signs new 3-year contract extension

Shanghai - Chairman Wu Xiaohui and two time AFC Champions League winning manager Ricky Nakano have agreed in principle to a new 3-year contract extension which will keep the 34 year old with Shanghai Shenhua until December 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed. His previous contract was set to expire at the end of the year.

"I'm very excited to agree to a multi-year contract extension with the club," Nakano said in statement, "I'm grateful for Mr. Wu for giving me the opportunity nearly 5 years ago, and I'm excited to stay at the club for the foreseeable future. The club has accomplished a lot of great things and I hope we can continue our winning ways. Success starts at the top with Mr. Wu, and with his backing and my new contract, we are showing everyone that we are committed to winning."

==

I will earn $325,000 a season, up from $250,000.

And I got $12 million transfer budget and a $37.5 million wage budget. Which is enough for me. I'm not going to spend all of it, but it gives me flexibility to spend if I have to.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2023 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Expectation: Win it

CSL TV Rights: $88.66k

Transfer Budget: $11.99 million

Wage Budget: $37.49 million (currently spending $16,721,356)

We have the 8th highest rep in Asia now, and still 2nd in China behind Guangzhou. Our board has decided though that the minimum expectation is to win the league, which is understandable given the big increase in wage budget. I think we can do it.

The CSL has moved to 4th, up one spot. We are the highest rated 2 star league in Asia.

HK is also on the upswing: they moved up 3 spots from 19th to 16th.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2023 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Off-season

We signed 3 players, but 2 were on the team last year. So just one new player.

Transfers

Fernando Lopez - As said already, I got Lopez permanently. His attributes are going up and I hope he can do well this season and we can sign him to a long term extension.

Zhang Songyi - Zhang is a young CB who spent time with Jiangsu for 3 seasons. He has good talent and we're pleased to have him for the next 2 seasons.

Yang Fan - Yang returns after I couldn't find any other targets at CB. I wanted a 1+1 contract, but his agent wanted 2 years and the option. It's no big deal to me. He's not a great player, but with Li Jiong moving on, I needed depth. Yang provides that depth and familiarity.

Outgoing transfers it's just Sean Tse. He made a lot of money last season and I wanted to cut some salary. We're going to spend over $17 million in salaries, and last season we only spent $12 million.

===

ACL: We're in a group with Pohang, Urawa Reds, and Thai club Muangthong United. It's going to be hard!

[rancer890]

Former Club Watch

Kitchee Sports Club (Hong Kong)

[TABLE=class: grid]

[TR]

[TD]Seasons[/TD]

[TD]Div.[/TD]

[TD]Pos.[/TD]

[TD]Senior Shield[/TD]

[TD]FA Cup[/TD]

[TD]League Cup[/TD]

[TD]Season Playoffs[/TD]

[TD]Asia (AFC Cup)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2018/19[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2019/20[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]3[/TD]

[TD]Runners-up[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]Winners[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2020/21[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]2[/TD]

[TD]Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Semi-Finals[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]Runners-up[/TD]

[TD](2020) Quarter-Finals[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2021/22[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Finalists[/TD]

[TD]Finalists[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 4th Round[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[TD](2021) Second Round[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2022/23[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Winners[/TD]

[TD]Winners[/TD]

[TD]Loser Stage 1st Round[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[TD]N/A[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]2023/24[/TD]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD](2023) Second Round[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Kitchee celebrated a fantastic treble in the 2022/23 season. Unfortunately, they're out of the 2023 AFC Cup, falling to Viet side Da Nang in the 2nd Round.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2023 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Youth Intake

Youth Intake

I don't think this year's crop is very excited about being chosen, looking at their morale.

It's my first year with excellent junior coaching, but only one really good prospect.

Liu Bing (YP11a) - Not a fantastic prospect, but he is a CB, which I need.

Oh, and speaking of CBs, someone is actually developing pretty nicely from the 2022 intake...a youngster called Shen Jun. If you notice from the 2022 intake screenshot, he only has 2 star potential. Now, he's 3.5 star potential and developing very well. How much more he can develop remains to be seen, but there is some hope from the '22 class.

[rodesire]

The intake does indeed seem sad to turn out for you. Speaking of over-developing youngsters, I have had a few over the years, maybe assman's JP skills are low?

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2023 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Standings | League Fixtures | Cup Fixtures | Past Positions

We nearly blew it in the league. We had a very long winning but then we faced this year bogey team: Guizhou Renhe. They beat us 5-0 in the league, and in the TOSHIBA CFA Cup Final as well...I added the friendlies in the cup fixtures so I can safely say I have avenged last year's loss against Marseille somewhat with a friendly win in Shanghai.

AFC Champions League

Unfortunately, we sucked in the ACL. We lost once, but we got 3 draws, and we got knocked out.

CSL All-Star Game

After our awful performance to the end the season in the CFA Cup, it's good to finish the 2023 season with a big win. I wasn't holding back.

Squad | Transfers

It's a highly paid squad, but didn't produce on the continental stage. Some costs will have to be cut, but I'm more likely to increase wages before decreasing the overall salary...

GK - Wang Jun | Han Rongze

DR - Joe Anderson (YP7a) | Ren Jing

DC - Otkur | Shen Jun

DC - Da Silva | Zhang Songyi

DL - Du Kang

DM - Zhang Fang | Wu Shaohua (YP6f)

MR - Sabban Khalaf | Zheng Baoxiang

ML - Gao Dan

AMC - Mohsen Ahmadi | Su Chanhui (YP8a) | Cui Haijun (YP9a) | Dou Shi

ST - Li Duo | Chen Zhipeng

ST - Fernando Lopez | Chen Yuantong (YP9c) | Huang Weilong (YP7b)

It's funny how Da Silva asked for $600,000 a year last season, and now it's $62,000. Either way, it's good to have him permanently.

Club Info | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

$6 million were used for youth facility upgrade, so discount that and we technically made a profit. Technically because the chairman invested $20 million to keep the finances even at the bare minimum. I'm also very excited that we got a new parent club in Nurnburg. $3.62 million will really help.

Awards

• Chinese Player of the Year - Li Duo
  
• Chinese Foreign Player of the Year - Mohsen Ahmadi
  
• Chinese Golden Boot - Fernando Lopez (2nd place)
  
• Manager of the Year - Ricky Nakano
  
• Team of the Year - Otkur, Sabban Khalaf, Mohsen Ahmadi, Li Duo, Fernando Lopez (sub), Wang Jun (sub)
  

Goals and notes/observations

• We have to get a deep run in the ACL. Our finances weren't very good since we couldn't make it past the group stages. Of course, making the CWC the last years really helped our finances. Hopefully the money from Nurnburg will help. It's a big increase from Sassuolo, who paid us under $2 million.
  
• I think we do have to cut salary. Guys like Ren Jing ($1.9 million) and Chen Zhipeng ($150k) will help, but Otkur ($2.1 million) is a real killer on the wage budget. I'm not exactly sure where or how to get adequate replacements, but I'll try...
  
• I think I might need to take a more proactive approach to getting youngsters into the first team. That means bypassing the feeder clubs (we have none and they're useless anyway). Of course, I need youngsters in positions I could use more depth in first. And this is also good financially because they're much cheaper than paying for other youngsters.
  

Career

2013/14: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2014/15: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2015/16: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, 2015 AFC Cup champions, Manager of the Year

2016/17: kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, HKFA League Cup Grand Final, Manager of the Year

2017/18: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, Canbo Senior Challenge Shield, HK FA Cup, Manager of the Year

2018: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Joined May 26, 11th-place finish, TOSHIBA FA Cup Finalists

2019: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 5th-place finish

2020: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 2nd-place finish, AFC Champions League qualification, Manager of the Year

2021: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, AFC Champions League winners, Toshiba FA Cup, CSL All Star Game, Manager of the Year

2022: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, AFC Champions League winners, Toshiba FA Cup, Chinese FA Super Cup, CSL All Star Game, Manager of the Year

2023: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, Chinese FA Super Cup, CSL All Star Game, Manager of the Year

[rancer890]

The intake does indeed seem sad to turn out for you. Speaking of over-developing youngsters, I have had a few over the years, maybe assman's JP skills are low?

Assman JP is 10, but my HoYD is 15/17 JPA/JPP so I think we are getting the best we can.

On the bright side though, Gao Dan is 2 stars and he's a solid contributor. So I guess it's important to look at the games in addition to the star recommendations.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2024 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Expectation: Win it

CSL TV Rights: $100k

Transfer Budget: $11.66 million

Wage Budget: $33.04 million (currently spending $20,435,968) - that's over $4 million from the start of last season if you're counting...cutting salary hasn't worked out. The budget limit also went down $4 million...

We are still the 2nd most reputable club in China, and still behind Guangzhou. But at least we are both 3-star clubs now. No change for both China (4th) and HK (16th) among Asian league competitions.

[pezza1]

Really excellent career so far Rancer! Are you not tempted to leave Asia now? It seems like you have won everything there anyway!

[rancer890]

Really excellent career so far Rancer! Are you not tempted to leave Asia now? It seems like you have won everything there anyway!

Thanks pezza.

I'm actually not that itching to leave. I have gotten a ton of job interviews, but I have turned down 95% of them because they either have no money or can't pay players millions. I think it would be dumb of me to move from Shenhua with 8 figure budgets to a club that only has 7 figure wage budgets and 6 figure transfer budgets. An exception to that would only to be MLS.

I would also like to get Lopez Chinese citizenship, but that means staying for another 3.5 years (fwiw, for Da Silva, I would need to stay 4.5 years). I seriously think he would be sold quickly by an AI manager. He loves the club and there's enough money to resign him.

I would probably resign and leave if (1) Lopez gets sold over my head (not that likely imo), or (2) there's a job too good to turn down. So far, there's nothing interesting out there. I am signed till December 2026 after all. I'm in no rush to leave. Our premature exit in the ACL has left a bitter taste in my mouth and I want to have a deep run this season.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2024 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Off-season

With the disappointment in Asia in 2023 in our rear-view mirror, it's time to go forward to 2024. As I said before, I wanted to cut salary, but to stay competitive, I did the exact opposite!

Transfers

It was important to get some new players to defend our title and have a bounceback year in the ACL. Good players from my years at the club include Chen Zhipeng, Ren Jing, Wu Shaohua, Zhang Songyi (who only lasted a season), and Dou Shi. Ren Jing and Wu Shaohua will resume their careers at Beijing Guo'an.

Da Silva - He's back on a free and on very manageable wages too.

Liu Zhikang - With Ren Jing leaving the club I made Liu my #1 target to replace him. Jiangsu was also the club I got Li Duo from, so I hope Liu works out well too.

Huang Wei - We strengthen our CB strength with the former Guangzhou player. It's a 3 year contract for a 30 tear old, and I still remember the bad deal with Otkur, but $1.3 million is a figure that I can stomach for 2 good years and 1 really bad one.

Zhang Yu - With Han Rongze's contract expiring, it's time to find a new 'keeper. Zhang has played consistently at Chengdu, and I probably could have gotten him at the end of the season on a free, but I felt that signing him now would be better. He obviously won't play every game, but he's somehow I can develop. Cup games and less stressful would be his assignment this season.

And in other news, we have signed Fernando Lopez to a big 3 year, $9.25 million contract.

====

In the ACL, we are up against Bangkok Glass (Thailand), Ulsan (Korea), and Kashima Antlers (Japan). We did not draw at Thailand this season, winning 4-0. Ulsan will be tough because they beat the Antlers 7-3.

====

And here's something different. I have brought Spreadsheet Manager in FM.

I did not include the youth players that make the minimum $1500 a season. Hopefully this will help with my planning for future seasons, but don't expect the 2025 salary to be less: I do want to resign Khalaf and Gao.

[rodesire]

Yay, innovation and spreadsheets! Seriously though, your wages are spiraling out of control, so well done on doing something to prevent it!

[rancer890]

Yay, innovation and spreadsheets! Seriously though, your wages are spiraling out of control, so well done on doing something to prevent it!

Thank NHL CapGeek for the spreadsheets.

I wouldn't call it spiraling out of control. Yes, it's pretty bad when Expenditure is twice as large as the income, and yes the wages play a big part in that, and of course labour costs are the most variable in any workplace, but I think we're doing okay. I only have one really, really bad contract (Otkur), and maybe another (Mohsen Ahmadi) if he keeps getting injured. And I guess you can count Huang Wei in 2026, but it's only $1.3 million which isn't awful for an expiring.

But wages were always going to increase. Take Fernando Lopez. I had him at $2.9 million with a 10% wage kicker until 2025. I give him 10% more upfront in exchange for an extra year of control and no annual wage increases. And don't forget, I need to preserve cap space (around $1 million extra) for Li Duo for 2026 and beyond.

I do like the spreadsheet. I didn't realize I had a lot of yearly wage increases, so it's nice to have something to look at in-depth than the basic salary projection in FM.

[rancer890]

An interesting offer from Sparta Prague: Linky

Facilities:

• Top facilities (all 3 of them)
  
• Excellent Junior Coaching
  
• Extensive Youth Recruitment
  

Pros:

• A good history of winning.
  
• A club that developed Cech, Rosicky, and Nedved must be decent on the youth front
  
• A good step from China into a top flight European league (very important for my next job, but of course there's always exceptions -- like if I got offered a job by my German parent club )
  
• Signing players from Iceland (Chairman's home country) will certainly be interesting.
  
• Less lax foreign restrictions
  

Cons:

• I'll be leaving China and Shenhua, where I'm a club legend (Fernando Lopez will definitely get sold before he can get Chinese citizenship)
  
• Don't think the chairman at Praha will personally invest money to avoid making losses every month
  
• New AI manager will certainly gut the team, which I find annoying
  
• Less money to spend in general (I wouldn't touch much of that transfer budget anyway, and I usually don't like allocating transfer budget to wages)
  

A couple other interesting ones were Steaua and Metalist. Whether or not I take my talents to Prague, I did well at Shenhua so far, with not one, not two, but three championships. But I did apply for another job, which is slightly better than Praha...so more news on that later.

[rodesire]

I would go for Steaua. There is usually a tycoon lurking in there which makes it harder. At the same time their Euro coefficients are really good, so you'll have more European places than in Prague.

[rancer890]

I would go for Steaua. There is usually a tycoon lurking in there which makes it harder. At the same time their Euro coefficients are really good, so you'll have more European places than in Prague.

I rejected Steaua already.

I'll be staying at Shenhua until the end of the season at least. Buggered up the interview.

[rancer890]

Former Clubs Watch

Because the graph function doesn't work it seems like, I'm going to use trusty Excel...

It's another great season for Kitchee, winning 3 trophies and nearly sweeping all of them. They also have a striker who is 1.5 years from getting HK citizenship, so it's nice to see HK getting some new talent. He'll be 26 when he gets it so he will be in his prime years (hopefully).

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2023 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Youth Intake

We have furthered upgraded our Junior Coaching to Exceptional. Although we still have Average youth recruitment (no option to upgrade that..), I feel that our youth talent is getting better. I also swapped my ass man (14/10 JPA/JPP) - who I have recently fired, for my HoYD (15/17). I think the results are good.

Youth Intake

Even though I'm signing guys as low as 1.5 star potential, I think they can at worst be good rotation players, and youths are the best way to get talent at low cost. Gao Dan is 2 stars, and Zheng Baoxing is 1.5 stars, and they do well, so these youngsters are worth a look at least.

However, our exceptional junior coaching did produce one very good player at a key position for any Chinese team: a Chinese Striker.

YP12a - Yao Xidi - For a 16 year old, he's very good by Chinese standards. Good Finishing ability, solid key mental attributes for a striker, and he's got good pace. I think he's someone I can slot into a backup spot behind Lopez and Li right away. Definitely someone I need to train correctly and make sure he's in a position to succeed.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2024 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Standings | League Fixtures | Cup Fixtures | Past Positions

Not your typical champions this season, when two of the four games you lose are 9-1 and 7-0. But still a league title is a league title. We got knocked out of the Cup early, but that's no big deal to me.

AFC Champions League

We won our group relatively easily, and we did a fantastic job in the knockout stages, especially against Al-Hilal in the Semis where we scored 2 goals in 3 minutes to a big win. Unfortunately, former Shenhua player Park Tae-Young scored 2 goals and Joe Anderson got sent off as we lose a close one 4-3.

CSL All-Star Game

A solid win, and Yao Xidi scored his first goal, so it's all good.

Squad | Transfers

It's a strong team, and we're going to rely a bit more on our talented youngsters and homegrown players.

GK - Wang Jun | Zhang Yu

DR - Joe Anderson (YP7a)

DC - Huang Wei | Otkur

DC - Da Silva | Shen Jun | Liu Bing (YP11a)

DL - Du Kang

DM - Zhang Fang

MR - Sabban Khalaf | Zheng Baoxiang

ML - Gao Dan

AMC - Mohsen Ahmadi | Cui Haijun (YP9a) | Su Chanhui (YP8a)

ST - Li Duo | Yao Xidi (YP12a)

ST - Fernando Lopez | Chen Yuantong (YP9c) | Huang Weilong (YP7b)

We have a nice mix of veterans and youngsters. It's more about acquiring depth from other teams or through my youth team, probably from the latter.

Club Info | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

Nothing much has changed, outside of a nice profit thanks to the money from Nurnberg.

Awards

• Chinese Foreign Player of the Year - Sabban Khalaf
  
• Chinese Golden Boot - Fernando Lopez
  
• Chinese Young Player of the Year - Cui Haijun (YP9a)
  
• Manager of the Year - Ricky Nakano
  
• Team of the Year - Wang Jun, Huang Wei, Otkur, Sabban Khalaf, Cui Haijun (YP9a), Fernando Lopez, Li Duo
  

Goals and notes/observations

• Much of the same, except add a Champions League win of course!
  
• It's going to be very important for us to keep working on getting our young players playing time and experience. Cui Haijun (albeit thanks to injuries to Ahmadi) really grew as a footballer and even got caps for China. Our two young strikers Yao and Chen, as well as Shen and Liu could always improve.
  
• Lopez wants a new challenge (I don't blame him), but I promised him that we would win the league title next year. It's not a given despite our success, but it's a goal that achievable (compared to winning the ACL for example). If I can win the league, offer him a new contract until the end of 2028, I think it should be good enough to get him Chinese citizenship.
  
• It's nice to be the best manager in Chinese football history, but I'm still 3rd in Asia's best managers. Unfortunately, a lot of my league and cup wins were at Kitchee, which are a lower rep league than the Chinese and Korean leagues, so I still have ways to go to get there
  
• I'm always open to new jobs, but I have a great situation at Shenhua, with new goals and targets to achieve every season. With Lopez very close to citizenship, I might just stay until he gets it and examine my options afterwards.
  

Career

2013/14: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2014/15: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, Manager of the Year

2015/16: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, 2015 AFC Cup champions, Manager of the Year

2016/17: kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, HKFA League Cup Grand Final, Manager of the Year

2017/18: Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) - Won league title, HKFA League Cup, Canbo Senior Challenge Shield, HK FA Cup, Manager of the Year

2018: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Joined May 26, 11th-place finish, TOSHIBA FA Cup Finalists

2019: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 5th-place finish

2020: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - 2nd-place finish, AFC Champions League qualification, Manager of the Year

2021: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, AFC Champions League winners, Toshiba FA Cup, CSL All Star Game, Manager of the Year

2022: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, AFC Champions League winners, Toshiba FA Cup, Chinese FA Super Cup, CSL All Star Game, Manager of the Year

2023: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, Chinese FA Super Cup, CSL All Star Game, Manager of the Year

2024: Shanghai Shenhua (China) - Won league title, Chinese FA Super Cup, CSL All Star Game, Manager of the Year

[DavidBeckham]

Stunning career in Asia so far! Having achieved so much at Shanghai Shenhua, would be great to see you move on to pastures new

[rancer890]

Stunning career in Asia so far! Having achieved so much at Shanghai Shenhua, would be great to see you move on to pastures new

The one final thing that stops me from leaving is how close Lopez is to Chinese citizenship. It's January 16, 2025 and there's only 888 (oh lucky Chinese numbers ) days to go! It takes 2920 continuous days (8 years) to be eligible fwiw. I would love to leave China with a legacy of bringing a talented foreign striker into the Chinese team. He'll be miles better than anyone else and he'll still only be 27. I really want the Chinese team to make a World Cup.

Nottingham Forest and Fiorentina (actually the second time they have offered in my Shenhua career) have offered me a job, but I rejected both. I would have rejected Forest anyway though. I usually don't manage in England (and don't really want to tbh). If Fiorentina gave me the job the first time a long long time ago I would have taken it in a heartbeat.

And the other thing imo that I have going with Lopez is that his personality is 'Fairly Loyal' and he has me and the club have favoured personnel/club. So IMO I don't think it would too hard to not keep him as long as he makes more money than his previous contract.

[rancer890]

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. - China - 2025 Wanda Plaza CFA Super League

Wanda Plaza CFA Super League Expectation: Win it

CSL TV Rights: $113k

Transfer Budget: $12.36 million

Wage Budget: $33.06 million (currently spending $21,266,551)

We are still a 3 star club but we have Continental rep.

The CSL has moved up 2 spots to 2nd in the continent as a 2.5 star league. The Zain Saudi League are in the top spot, while the K-League Classic are in 3rd. J-League 1 has fallen 2 spots from 2nd to 4th and are now only a 2 star league. The HK league remains in 16th as a 1.5 star league. Hopefully it's possible for an Asian league to be a 3 star league, and hopefully its the CSL.

[rancer890]

Former Clubs Watch

Key Players: GK Han Rongze, ST Lassina Fofana (125 days until eligible for citizenship), ML/AML Tomaso Serra (former Livorno youth player)

Despite getting knocked out early in the 2025 AFC Cup, Kitchee continue their dominance in the Hong Kong league, winning their 4th straight league title, as well as their 3rd straight FA Cup. It's also great to see that Han Rongze went back to Kitchee after I released him.