Way Of The Dragon - Part 2

[Raware]

Tai Po - November 2017/18

Tai Po

03.11.17 - Hong Kong First Division - South China v Tai Po : 0-0 : Probably our toughest fixture of the season, a trip to South China started our November off as both us and the home side were very evenly matched so it was no real surprise that the game ended 0-0.

07.11.17 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Rangers (HKG) : 3-0 : Our 2nd and final game of November saw us welcome Rangers (HKG) to Tai Po Sports Ground as we easily disposed of them to continue our tremendous early season form.

November League Table : 2 wins out of 2 games this month extends our lead at the top of the table to 8 points although South China seem to have picked their form up this month and after what happened last season, we need to be mindful of complacency.

[Raware]

Tai Po - December 2017/18

Tai Po

05.12.17 - League Cup Main Stage 2nd Round - Tai Po v Wing Yee : 7-4 : A crazy game saw ourselves and Wing Yee play out an 11 goal thriller at our place in the League Cup 2nd round as we raced into a 4-0 lead after just 40 minutes and looked to be cruising into the next round. Wing Yee never gave up though and fought back well to actually pull it back to 5-4 at one stage but our quality shone through as we netted twice more to win the game with such an incredible score line!

09.12.17 - Senior Shield Quarter Final - Yokohama (HK) v Tai Po : 1-2 : A brace from Yang Zengqi, his 11th and 12th goals of the season, was enough to give us the win and put us into the Semi Final of the Senior Shield.

31.12.17 - Senior Shield Semi Final - Tai Po v South China : 2-1 : We were drawn against our rivals South China in the semi’s and with Yang Zengqi picking up a knock in training a few days earlier I wasn’t too optimistic. But the 2 strikers that came did well as they both grabbed a goal to dump Shaolin Temple out of the cup and put us into the final of the competition that has continued to elude me.

December League Table : No league action for us this month so the table stays the same with us sitting pretty at the top. All of our games we’re in cup competitions as we progressed to the Main Stage Quarter Final of the League Cup while we also progressed to our first Senior Shield final since I’ve been in charge .

[Raware]

Tai Po - January 2017/18

Tai Po

07.01.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Chung v Tai Po : 0-2 : We started the new year as we ended last year, with a win as Yung Kwok Leung bagged his 2nd goal of the season and Lee Hong Lim put the ball into the back of his own net to give us all 3 points.

14.01.18 - Senior Shield Final - Citizen v Tai Po : 0-2 : We finally put to bed our apparent curse in this cup as we finally won it after beating Citizen thanks to goals from Cheng Zecheng and Yang Zengqi .

20.01.18 - League Cup Main Stage Quarter Final - Yokohama (HK) v Tai Po : 0-1 : A solitary Xie Pengfei ensured that we disposed of Yokohama (HK) to book our place in the Semi Final of the League Cup .

27.01.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Sun Hei v Tai Po : 0-0 : We ended the month with a poor display and lucky draw at Tsing Yi Sports Ground as we failed to score and finished the game with just 10 men.

January League Table : This month saw us finally win the Senior Shield after going out in the early rounds in the past few years. We also made it to the League Cup Semi Final while we also remained undefeated in the league and still stay top of the table, although our lead has been reduced to 7 points now.

[deltablue]

Good job in the cups, as well as being so comfortable now in the league.

[Raware]

Good job in the cups, as well as being so comfortable now in the league.

Thanks delta . We're looking good at the halfway stage of the season and look as if we can put last seasons 'last day of the season disappointment' behind us

[Raware]

Tai Po - February 2017/18

Tai Po

03.02.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Eastern v Tai Po : 0-2 : Our busy month started with a trip to **** Kok Stadium as we faced Eastern who have been performing well so far this season. They were no match for us though as Wei Chao put us into the lead after just 1 minute with his 5th goal of the season while Chung Kam Ki hit his 4th goal of the season to secure all of the points for us.

10.02.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Kitchee : 1-0 : Wei Chao’s 2nd goal of the month in as many games was enough to give us the win over Kitchee and extend our unbeaten run to 18 games in all competitions this season .

13.02.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Group G - Tai Po v Albirex : 1-0 : Once again Albirex were drawn in our Asian Confederation Cup Group for the 2nd successive year as this time we managed to beat them thanks to the in form Wei Chao who netted his 7th goal of the season.

17.02.18 - League Cup Main Stage Semi Final - Tai Po v Kitchee : 1-0 : Wei Chao’s 4th goal in as many games this month was enough to book our place in the League Final…or at least I think it was. This is the League Cup after all which has confused me over the past few seasons!

20.02.10 - Asian Confederation Cup Group G - Da Nang v Tai Po : 1-1 : We made the trip to Vietnam as we faced group opponents Da Nang and after just 2 minutes we were in front thanks to Yang Zengqi’s 14th goal of the season. The home side responded just 12 minutes later though as Dang Van Minh Tan coolly placed the ball into the top corner of our net from a free kick as we finished the game 1-1. A decent point for us away from home.

24.02.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Yokohama (HK) : 3-1 : With games coming thick and fast now I had to make a few changes to the squad that played in the Asian Confederation Cup 4 days earlier but the players that came in did well as our left back got himself a brace while Yang Zengqi netted his 15th goal of the season.

27.02.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Group G - Selangor v Tai Po : 0-4 : We finished the month off with a journey to Malaysia as we trounced Selangor 4-0 thanks to goals from Lee Ka Yiu, Wei Chao, Liu Yusheng and Yu Wai Ting .

February League Table : Another unbeaten month for us (now it’s 23 games in all competitions that we’re undefeated in) saw us extend our lead at the top of the league to 12 points with a game in hand, reach the final of the League Cup and sit top of our Asian Confederation Cup group at the halfway stage . It was also nice to see Wei Chao finally hit the kind of form that saw him lead our goal scoring charts a couple of seasons ago as he hit 5 goals this month for us.

[Rikulec]

Absolutely phenomenal in the league, great in the cups too. Keep it up!

[rancer890]

Too easy.

How's the HK national team? Alexander Akande should be close to citizenship at least?

[Raware]

Absolutely phenomenal in the league, great in the cups too. Keep it up!

Thanks . We're definitely ripping the league up

Too easy.

How's the HK national team? Alexander Akande should be close to citizenship at least?

It's been easy so far .

The HK national team is doing ok. They capped an amazing Australian, Connor Pain who had duel HK and Australian nationality. He did really well, then was released by his Australian club, I tried to sign him but he wasn't interested and now he's retired! . Was he on your save? I've never heard of him. As for Akande...he's done ok for Kitchee and has been capped 28 times for HK while scoring 4 goals.

[Raware]

Tai Po - March 2017/18

Tai Po

06.03.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Yuen Long v Tai Po : 1-3 : With no Confederation Cup games for us this month we could concentrate on matters closer to home while also taking advantage of resting some key players who played a lot of games last month. With our trip to Yuen Long I rested a few players and gave a couple of academy players a spot on the bench…and it was one of those academy players that stole the headlines from Yang Zengqi who netted a brace during this game as Ng Chun Kwan made his professional debut for us by coming off the bench and netting his first goal for the club to round off a 3-1 win for us.

10.03.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Citizen v Tai Po : 0-1 : Yang Zengqi’s 18th goal of the season from the penalty spot on 15 minutes was enough to give us all 3 points.

16.03.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Sun Pegasus v Tai Po : 2-1 : We were looking in control of this game and as if we would make it 26 games in all competitions undefeated but our young defensive midfielder let both himself down and us down as he lost his head and picked up 2 yellow cards in 6 minutes which ultimately cost us the game as Sun Pegasus went on to beat us 2-1 and inflict our first defeat in 25 games on us .

31.03.18 - League Cup Final - Tai Po v South China : 0-0 : A typically tough game against South China saw both of us play out a cautious game in the final as we cancelled each other out. It was our turn for some luck this time though as a few seasons ago we lost the final because South China were the higher ranked team…now we are as we retained the League Cup thanks to our higher ranking .

March League Table : Apart from the surprise defeat to Sun Pegasus it’s been a great month for us as we sit 11 points clear at the top of the table, won the League Cup by beating South China on a technicality and had an academy player make his debut and score on it too. Talking of debut’s…Yu Wai Ting (our young 17 year old striker) made his international debut for Hong Kong and scored a hat-trick! Hopefully this will be the point at which he pushes on now and really improves .

One more piece of news for us this month was that our chairman is looking to step down and relinquish control of the club. It might be nice if he did…then we might get a nice, rich chairman who is willing to put some money into the club! .

[rancer890]

Connor Pain is still on the HK team in my save! Well he's not very good anymore at 35 but he won 58 caps for HK. After his Melbourne Victory career he went to HK with Kitchee and Biu Chun where he's still on the team.

Hope you find a better chairman than mine. At Kitchee I got some foreigner who immediately took out a $4 million loan.

[Raware]

Connor Pain is still on the HK team in my save! Well he's not very good anymore at 35 but he won 58 caps for HK. After his Melbourne Victory career he went to HK with Kitchee and Biu Chun where he's still on the team.

Hope you find a better chairman than mine. At Kitchee I got some foreigner who immediately took out a $4 million loan.

He looked like a great player but he just refused to sign for me or anyone else for that matter and he just dwindled away into retirement at around 25-26. Shame really

Got a new chairman...he didn't invest and took out a loan Not a $4 million loan though at least!

[Raware]

Tai Po - April 2017/18

Tai Po

03.04.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Group G - Albirex v Tai Po : 3-1 : We beat our Singaporean opponents in our previous Group G meeting in February but this time around we failed to produce a display like that as we went down 3-1 to suffer our 1st defeat of the group stage.

07.04.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v South China : 2-0 : After disappointment in the Confederation Cup 4 days earlier we were back in league action as we welcomed South China to our place knowing that a victory would seal the title for us. South China put up a brave fight but in the end it was us that grabbed all of the points and the league title as we took our chances when they came thanks to an own goal from the highly rated Tam Tze Kin and Yang Zengqi’s 21st goal of the season…meaning that we clinched the title in front of our rivals with 4 games still to play!!!

10.04.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Group G - Tai Po v Selangor : 0-0 : A goal less draw with Selangor wasn’t enough to confirm our qualification from the group but it means that a draw against Da Nang in our final group game will be enough for us to qualify.

14.04.18 - FA Cup Quarter Final - Kitchee v Tai Po : 0-0 (0-3 aet) : Kitchee held out for 90 minutes to take the game to extra time but seemingly ran out of gas as we showed our fitness by smashing in 3 extra time goals which puts us in the Semi Final of the FA Cup .

17.04.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Wing Yee : 0-0 : The corresponding fixture earlier in the season saw strugglers Wing Yee frustrate us and they managed to do the same in this game as we had to settle for a point.

20.04.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Rangers (HKG) v Tai Po : 1-2 : Yu Wai Ting’s 5th goal of the season and Yang Zengqi’s 24th goal of the season was enough to give us the win as we further strengthened our place at the top of table.

24.04.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Group G - Tai Po v Da Nang : 0-0 : All we needed was a point and that’s what we managed to get as we drew 0-0 with Da Nang to finish top of our group and confirm our qualification to the next round .

27.04.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Tai Chung : 2-0 : Xie Pengfei’s 3rd goal of the season and a career 1st for our young and rising centre half Wai Ka Fai gave us all 3 points.

29.04.18 - FA Cup Semi Final - Wing Yee v Tai Po : 0-1 : Wing Yee looked as if they were going to frustrate us again as they have twice already this season but winger Yu Jianfeng popped up 3 minutes into injury time to snatch a winner and put us into the final of the FA Cup to give us a chance of a domestic clean sweep .

April League Table : This month saw us emphatically re-claim the title that we lost on the last day of last season as we walked the league and claimed it with still 4 games to go . While also winning the league, we’ve made it to the final of the FA Cup meaning that we still have a chance of cleaning up all domestic silverware while we also topped our Confederation Cup group which pairs us with Kelantan in the 2nd round .

We also had this years youth intake which has produced another exciting batch of players, most notably some exciting forward players as Chan Ka Wai, Sun Kwok Kei and Woo Chi Wai all look as if they’ll be able to progress to the first team and push for a place .

And one other important piece of news for us was the situation regarding our chairman. Last month there was talk about him stepping down from his role…that’s all been cleared up now as he stepped down and new chairman Hiryuki Shimokawa has taken over the club. While it’s nice that the old chairman has now gone (he didn’t put any kind of financial backing into the club) the new one has stated that there will be no investment which is slightly disappointing. At least he’s cleared our debt though by taking out a loan.

[Jason the Yank]

On pace for a quadruple.

[Raware]

On pace for a quadruple.

Three won...one to go

[Raware]

Tai Po - May 2017/18

Tai Po

08.05.18 - Asian Confederation Cup 2nd Round 1st Leg - Tai Po v Kelantan : 1-0 : Yang Zengqi’s 25th goal of the season was enough to give us a great win and great lead going into our 2nd leg in 7 days time.

12.05.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Sun Hei : 2-0 : With this league game sandwiched in between our 2nd round Confederation Cup clash with Kelantan I chose to rest quite a few players as we’d already sown up the league last month and needed our best squad fit and ready in 3 days time. So in came GK Xing Minghui for a rare start as well as Mak Yiu Kei, Ma Siu Kwan and Li Cong in our final league game of the season. It was our usual suspects who grabbed the goals for us though as Yang Zengqi netted his 26th goal of the season and Wei Chao scored his 11th goal of the season to end our league campaign on a real high .

15.05.18 - Asian Confederation Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg - Kelantan v Tai Po : 1-1 : After a great win in the 1st leg we faced a tough trip to Malaysia for our 2nd leg and it looked as if our task was to get tougher as Kelantan took the lead just before the half hour mark. Wei Chao smashed the ball into the opposing net 5 minutes before the break though to put us back on level terms as that’s how the game ended, putting us into the Quarter Final of the Confederation Cup! .

20.05.18 - FA Cup Final - Eastern v Tai Po : 1-2 : We ended our season with a chance to claim an unprecedented Quadruple as I surprised a few people by giving a first career start to our recent new 14 year old youth intake Sun Kwok Kei. That decision payed off as he scored just 13 minutes into his debut (I’d like to take the credit but it was my staff that advised me to start him) to put us into the lead and become our youngest ever goal scorer! Wang Zhengyin doubled our lead on the hour mark before Eastern pulled one back just 2 minutes later to give us a nervy last half an hour but we managed to see the game out to claim an outstanding Quadruple!

May League Table : A great end to the season for us saw us win our remaining league game, win our 2nd round Confederation Cup game over 2 legs while also claiming the FA Cup for a 3rd successive year! .

We also completed the signing of exciting Japanese winger Yumemi Kanda this month as he joins us on a free transfer on a 2 year contract.

[Jason the Yank]

I was thinking of the Asian Confederations Cup instead of the Senior Challenge Shield, but hey.

[Raware]

I was thinking of the Asian Confederations Cup instead of the Senior Challenge Shield, but hey.

What's the difference?!

[Raware]

Tai Po - Season Review 2017/18

Tai Po

*I forgot to take screenshots at the end of the season so some aren’t there i.e League Progress*

Hong Kong First Division : An incredible season for us saw us take back the league title in early April with still 4 games remaining as we clinched it in front of our rivals South China . A superb response after losing the title last season .

Asian Confederation Cup : We topped our group and qualified for the 2nd round which saw us beat Kelantan to book our place in the Quarter Final. Due to the nature of the Confederation Cup though, we don’t play our Quarter Final until the start of next season.

Hong Kong FA Cup : We beat Eastern in the Final to claim our 3rd straight FA Cup .

Hong Kong League Cup : We lost this cup a couple of seasons ago to South China despite drawing in the final due to being the lowest ranked finalist…this year it was South China’s turn to taste the bitter pill as despite drawing with us, we claimed the cup due to being the higher ranked team .

Hong Kong Senior Shield : We finally managed to clinch this cup after falling so many times at the early stages in previous years.

Transfers : We released 5 players this season which freed up some of the wage budget allowing me to bring in 5 players as Xie Pengfei, Li Cong and Yumemi Kanda joined us on free transfers while Lee Ka Yiu joined us from rivals South China on a free after his contract expired and Leung Kam Fai joined us from HKFC also on a free.

Squad : The squad of players did fantastically well as they showed that they were the best in the land by claiming all of the available domestic trophies! New signing Lee Ka Yiu was definitely a factor in our domination this season as he ran the midfield while our defence was as mean as could be as they conceded just 7 goals in the league! Youngster Chung Kam Ki showed his rapid ascent as he claimed the Young Player of the Year award while Yang Zengqi showed his remarkable progress by racking up 26 goals in all competitions and claiming the Top goal scorer award.

Finances : Thanks to the new owner coming in he’s cleared our debts (well, he’s taken out a loan) which puts us back into the black…around £200k into the black to be exact.

My views of the season… : Could it have gone any better?!?! Winning the league by a country mile and winning the FA Cup, League Cup and Senior Shield while also making it to the Quarter Final of the Confederation Cup…it doesn’t get any better than that!

My aims for next season… : We’ve set the bar extremely high now after completing the quadruple so next season will be a tough one in trying to replicate this season. The board aren’t that bothered about the domestic cups now though (from their “not important” expectation messages) and are more focused on us winning the league and making progress in the Confederation Cup so that’ll alleviate the pressure on us slightly as I’ll be able to field some of the younger players in the cups and keep our more senior ones fit and fresh for league and continental games. To continue our dominance though and our push for continental glory, additions are definitely needed for next season and given that our scouting range and wage/transfer budget has increased, I might just do that during the summer .

Career Summary

Season   Team               League          		              Position   Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14  -		    - 						-	 -
2014/15  Tai Po             Hong Kong First Division                    3rd      -
2015/16  Tai Po             Hong Kong First Division                    1st      League winners, FA Cup winners
2016/17  Tai Po		    Hong Kong First Division			2nd      FA Cup winners, League Cup winners
2017/18  Tai Po		    Hong Kong First Division			1st	 League winners, FA Cup, League Cup, Senior Sheild winners

[Nottingham Forest]

Time for a move?

[deltablue]

Good luck in the rest of the Confederation cup.

[Raware]

Time for a move?

Normally I'd be considering it but I've only been at Tai Po for 4 years plus we're getting some good youngsters coming through the ranks. However, if we start completely dominating then I may look to move

Good luck in the rest of the Confederation cup.

Thanks delta. We could still meet South China...

[AK22]

Triffic season, there. Could clean up next season with the Confed Cup too

[Raware]

Triffic season, there. Could clean up next season with the Confed Cup too

Thanks AK . Gonna be tough but sweeping up all of the competitions that we were entered in would be a decent achievement! Think I've only done it once and that was on FM08 with Fukien...I think.

[Raware]

Tai Po - Pre-Season 2018/19

Tai Po

League expectation

-------------------------

Hong Kong First Division : Board expectation - Title challenge : Media expectation - 1st (out of 12)

Cup expectations

---------------------

Asian Confederation Cup : Be competitive

Hong Kong FA Cup : Not important

Hong Kong FA Cup : Not important

Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield : Not important

Transfer budget : £110k

Wage budget : £18.3k p/w

Current wage bill : £12.8k p/w

Season tickets sold : 0

My views for the season ahead… : The pressure is on us slightly to repeat what we achieved last season so to help us the chairman has trebled our wage budget whilst giving us £110k to spend! . As I said at the end of last season, with our scouting range being increased I’ve wasted no time in taking advantage of that as I’ve brought in 3 quality players so far; those players being Brazilian goalkeeper Rodrigo, Zambian international striker Mukuka Mtonga and Hong Kong international Ling Man Ho all on free transfers. Yang Zengqi also gained HK citizenship which frees up another foreigner spot for us .

[rancer890]

Mtonga is going to be awesome in the HK league.

And Rodrigo should be getting his citizenship by oh, 2025/26 or whereabouts.

[Raware]

Mtonga is going to be awesome in the HK league.

And Rodrigo should be getting his citizenship by oh, 2025/26 or whereabouts.

I'm hoping Mtonga will be . Him and Zengqi up front for us should get a few goals!

Not long to wait for Rodrigo then!

[Nottingham Forest]

I agree that Mtonga looks good.

[Raware]

Tai Po - August 2018/19

Tai Po

11.08.18 - Friendly - Tai Po v Fire Services : 3-0 : We started last seasons pre-season off with a fixture against the HK Police…this season we kick it off against the Fire Service as Wang Zhengyin opened the scoring for us before new signing Mukuka Mtonga showed us what he is capable of as he netted a brace

18.08.18 - Friendly - Tai Po v Fu Moon : 5-0 : Another goal from Wang Zhengyin, one from Yang Zengqi, one from Yung Kwok Leung and another brace from Mukuka Mtonga easily disposed of 2nd Division Fu Moon in our 2nd pre-season game.

25.08.18 - Friendly - Tai Po v HKFC : 2-0 : Our 3rd and final pre-season game saw us welcome amateurs HKFC to Tai Po Sports Ground as Wang Zhengyin netted his 3rd goal in as many games while Wei Chao completed the scoring for us 7 minutes before full time.

A decent pre-season for us albeit against far weaker opponents than us saw us come through it with no injuries while a couple of players particularly impressed me, namely Wang Zhengyin who scored in every game and our new signing who I have very high hopes for, Mukuka Mtonga as he grabbed 4 goals in 3 games. Time to get the new season up and running next month now! .

[Raware]

Tai Po - September 2018/19

Tai Po

02.09.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Rangers (HKG) v Tai Po : 0-3 : We started the season off with a trip to Sham Shui Po Sports Ground as we faced Rangers (HKG) in our opening game. Yang Zengqi wasted no time in starting where he finished last season as he scored after just 3 minutes to make it 1-0. Our captain Yung Kwok Leung made it 2-0 11 minutes later before Yumemi Kanda completed the scoring for us on 34 minutes to tie up the victory for us.

15.09.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v South China : 3-0 : An early season clash with our fierce rivals South China saw us make mince meat out of them as a brace from Mukuka Mtonga and another from our captain Yung Kwok Leung ensured that we showed Shaolin Temple our ambitions for the coming season.

18.09.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Quarter Final 1st Leg - Ahed v Tai Po : 1-3 : We made the long journey to Beirut for our Quarter Final 1st leg clash against Ahed with a little bit of optimism as we felt we were more than a match for them and that proved to be the case as goals from Yumemi Kanda, Wang Zhengyin and Mukuka Mtonga meant that we left Lebanon in a very strong position for the 2nd leg.

21.09.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Chung v Tai Po : 2-5 : Sandwiched in between our Confederation Cup games with Ahed was a trip to Kowloon Bay as we faced minnows Tai Chung in a game that many were expecting us to win. Win we did but I wasn’t expecting us to run riot on goal as Mtonga hit 2 and Zengqi hit a hat-trick .

25.09.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Quarter Final 2nd Leg - Tai Po v Ahed : 1-0 : With us sitting in a strong position thanks to our 3-1 win in the 1st leg, we didn’t need to push on in this game so we set ourselves up to play defensively and invite Ahed onto us, hoping we could catch them on the counter attack if they did come at us. They didn’t really offer anything though as they found it tough to break us down as we showed our class by hitting them on the counter attack and grabbing a goal thanks to Lee Ka Yiu, meaning that we won the overall tie 4-1 on aggregate .

29.09.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Sun Pegasus : 3-0 : Our final game of the month was against Sun Pegasus who were the only team to inflict a league defeat on us last season. There was no repeat of that this time around though as new signing Mehrdad Nazeri opened the scoring for us on his debut, Yang Zengqi hit his 5th of the season and Xie Pengfei opened his account for the season to seal a comfortable 3-0 win for us.

September League Table : An outstanding start to the season for us as we won all of our games including both of our Confederation Cup games, leaving us sitting top of the table and into the Semi Final of the Confederation Cup!

Our new signings have wasted no time in settling in as our goalkeeper Rodrigo looks exceptional at this level, Mukuka Mtonga has already got himself 4 goals while Mehrdad Nazeri scored, set a goal up and claimed man of the match on his debut . Our young Chinese goalkeeper Xia Minghui also claimed HK citizenship this month meaning that we can sign another foreigner if we wish now we have an extra allocation spot .

[rancer890]

Man it's not even fair with the talent you have compared to the other teams in HK.

[Raware]

Man it's not even fair with the talent you have compared to the other teams in HK.

South China have a couple of players that would probably get into my team...but that's about it! . The squad is definitely shaping up nicely

[Raware]

Tai Po - October 2018/19

Tai Po

02.10.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Semi Final 1st Leg - Salmiya v Tai Po : 2-2 : We couldn’t have started the month off any tougher as we faced Kuwaiti giants Salmiya in the Semi Final of the Confederation Cup at Thamir Stadium. Out of the 4 teams remaining, ourselves, Salmiya, Wehdat, and South China, we were definitely playing against the best team left in the competition so to get a 2-2 draw away from home is a fantastic result for us and gives us every chance of getting something in the 2nd leg.

06.10.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Kitchee v Tai Po : 0-1 : Games after a long journey home from continental fixtures are always tough and we looked as if we were tired when we made the trip to **** Kok Stadium. But thanks to Ling Man Ho’s 1st goal for us since joining on a free transfer from South China, we managed to take all of the points and continue our 100% record in the league.

20.10.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Sun Hei : 3-0 : A nice 2 week break gave us a chance to get a good rest and get some players fully fit after a grueling few games, although it took us a while to get back into the swing of things as Sun Hei held out until 69 minutes before Mukuka Mtonga, Yang Zengqi and Wang Zhengyin got the goals for us to give us the win.

23.10.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg - Tai Po v Salmiya : 6-4 : An incredible return leg saw 10 goals fly in during the course of this match as it was us, thankfully, that scored more of the 10 goals meaning that we booked our place in the final of the Confederation Cup where we’ll meet Wehdat!

27.10.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Happy Valley v Tai Po : 1-2 : Our deadly duo up front, Yang Zengqi and Mukuka Mtonga scored both of our goals while both hitting the 10 goal mark for the season as we rounded the month off with a win at Happy Valley.

October League Table : Another superb month for us already sees us open up a 10 point lead in the league with just 7 games gone while we booked our place in the Confederation Cup final after beating the much fancied Salmiya . Our new signing in goal, Rodrigo has conceded just 10 goals in 14 games while goals are flying in at the other end with both Yang Zengqi and Mukuka Mtonga already on 10 goals a piece .

[AK22]

Just the fourteen goals in your Confed Semi. Yawn.

[rancer890]

6 league goals in 3 games is totally unacceptable from the Tai Po supporters.

SORTITOUTRAWARE.

[nie jem frytek]

Time to leave?

[Raware]

Just the fourteen goals in your Confed Semi. Yawn.

Yeah, it was a bit of a boring game!

6 league goals in 3 games is totally unacceptable from the Tai Po supporters.

SORTITOUTRAWARE.

It's completely unacceptable! I expect a double hat-trick from Mtonga and another hat-trick from Zengqi!

Time to leave?

It could be. I'll finish this season and then maybe have a look at what's available. Or I could just stay

[Raware]

Tai Po - November 2018/19

Tai Po

04.11.18 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Yokohama (HK) : 3-1 : We fell behind early on after Boakay Eddie Foday put the visitors ahead but within a minute we were back on level terms thanks to Mukuka Mtonga as he skinned 3 players before rifling the ball into the top corner of Yokohama’s net. Mtonga doubled his and our tally just after the half hour mark before Chung Kam Ki completed the scoring for us to wrap up all of the points.

10.11.18 - Asian Confederation Cup Final - Tai Po v Wehdat : 3-0 : A momentous occasion for Tai Po Football Club saw us face Wehdat of Jordan in the final as they beat South China in the semi final to deny us an all Hong Kong Final. We totally dominated and deservedly claimed the clubs first ever Confederation Cup after we easily disposed of Wehdat thanks to a brace from Yang Zengqi and a solitary strike from Mukuka Mtonga. .

November League Table : Just the one league game for us this month sees us continue our 100% record as it’s now 8 out of 8 for us. Perhaps the most important piece of news for us though was us claiming the Confederation Cup when no-one gave us a chance! Especially nice after a disappointing campaign last season. I’m on the clubs legend list now as well .

[Nottingham Forest]

Easy Easy Easy!

[Jason the Yank]

So does that mean you get to go to the AFC Champions League next season?

[Raware]

Easy Easy Easy!

It could be time to move on soon...

So does that mean you get to go to the AFC Champions League next season?

Unfortunately not . If it did I'd definitely stay and have a crack at the Champions League...well, a crack at getting humiliated in it anyway! I do recall in an earlier edition of FM (FM07/08 I think) that if you did win the Confederation Cup you did qualify for the following seasons Champions League which I did a couple of times. Although obviously once you got knocked out of the Champions League you had to wait until you won the Confederation Cup again before you had another chance in the Champions League. (I think rancer can confirm this too)

[Raware]

Tai Po - December 2018/19

Tai Po

04.12.18 - League Cup Main Stage 2nd Round - Tai Po v Tuen Mun : 5-0 : We showed no sign of letting up after claiming the Confederation Cup last month as we battered Tuen Mun in the League Cup as Yang Zengqi bagged a hat-trick while Yumemi Kanda and Wei Chao also got in on the scoring action to book our place in the next round.

08.12.18 - Senior Shield Quarter Final - Tai Po v Sun Hei : 3-2 : More cup action for us only this time it was in the Senior Shield as we raced into a 3-0 lead against Sun Hei. The visitors pulled 2 goals back in the 2nd half to give us a nervy ending but we managed to hang on and book a place in the semi final.

30.12.18 - Senior Shield Semi Final - Kitchee v Tai Po : 0-1 : Our semi final opponents were Kitchee who haven’t had the best of times in recent years and are a far cry from what they were when I started this save. Saying that though, they put up a good fight against us although ultimately it was us that got the win thanks to Mak Yiu Kei’s 78th minute header.

December League Table : The usual December no league action for us as the table remains the same but it was good progress in the cups for us as we progressed to the Senior Shield Final while also making it to the League Cup Quarter Final.

Yang Zengqi got his reward this month for the excellent performances he’s been putting in for us as he’s been called up to the China squad but some bad news is that Mehrdad Nazeri failed to show up to training (it says the first time but this was the 4th time this month). I have a feeling he might be on his way .

[rancer890]

Unfortunately not . If it did I'd definitely stay and have a crack at the Champions League...well, a crack at getting humiliated in it anyway! I do recall in an earlier edition of FM (FM07/08 I think) that if you did win the Confederation Cup you did qualify for the following seasons Champions League which I did a couple of times. Although obviously once you got knocked out of the Champions League you had to wait until you won the Confederation Cup again before you had another chance in the Champions League. (I think rancer can confirm this too)

I can confirm but iirc HK get an ACL prelim playoff spot so there's a chance to win the ACL in FM15.

[Raware]

I can confirm but iirc HK get an ACL prelim playoff spot so there's a chance to win the ACL in FM15.

Oooohhh...really?!?! I did already have a challenge in mind for FM15 but the chance to play in the ACL with a HK side maybe too good to ignore

[rancer890]

Oooohhh...really?!?! I did already have a challenge in mind for FM15 but the chance to play in the ACL with a HK side maybe too good to ignore

Well, if wiki is a reliable source, then yes it's true.

[a.panda]

Well, if wiki is a reliable source, then yes it's true.

It's so true it happened already in February. HK was one of the lowest ranking in the Asian coefficient list so they entered at 1st qualifying round. 12/13 champions South China got to the 2nd quali round before being kicked out by a Thai side. South China's chairman was so up for the task he changed almost all foreign players in the winter window, and they just got thrashed And then he got into some corruption cases and resigned

It'll be Kitchee's turn next year if AFC doesn't change anything.

Great job at Tai Po btw! I once played a similar save as you but went to Kitchee after two years and reigned HK for the next five years and I never won AFC Cup with any HK side

[deltablue]

Congratulations on your Confederations win. How long until you move on?

[Raware]

It's so true it happened already in February. HK was one of the lowest ranking in the Asian coefficient list so they entered at 1st qualifying round. 12/13 champions South China got to the 2nd quali round before being kicked out by a Thai side. South China's chairman was so up for the task he changed almost all foreign players in the winter window, and they just got thrashed And then he got into some corruption cases and resigned

It'll be Kitchee's turn next year if AFC doesn't change anything.

Great job at Tai Po btw! I once played a similar save as you but went to Kitchee after two years and reigned HK for the next five years and I never won AFC Cup with any HK side

Thanks for that explanation . Since leaving HK a few years ago obviously I don't go to any HK games now and I've lost touch slightly with what's happening in the HK leagues now so you're explanation was helpful.

Congratulations on your Confederations win. How long until you move on?

Thanks delta. I'll play out this season and then probably see what becomes available. I'll probably only leave though if the right offer/club comes along.

[Raware]

Tai Po - January 2018/19

Tai Po

05.01.19 - Hong Kong First Division - Eastern v Tai Po : 0-1 : A late own goal from Jovo Pavlovic gave us all of the points in a surprisingly tight game.

13.01.19 - Senior Shield Final - Tai Po v Eastern : 2-0 : We met Eastern in the league 8 days ago as we played out a rather close game…this time around though it wasn’t that close as Wang Zhengyin and Mukuka Mtonga grabbed the goals for us to help us claim the Senior Shield for a 2nd successive year .

19.01.19 - League Cup Main Stage Quarter Final - Sun Pegasus v Tai Po : 1-3 : More cup action for us but this time it was in the League Cup as we made the journey to Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground to face Sun Pegasus. We were always in control of this game even without having the majority of the possession as Mukuka Mtonga, Lee Ka Yiu and Yu Wai Ting got the goals for us which puts us into the semi final.

January League Table : We stay top of the league as we sit 10 points clear with a game in hand and while we’re not even halfway through the season yet, I have to say that we’re looking good and think that it’ll take a huge effort for anyone to stop us .

We claimed the Senior Shield this month for a 2nd successive season after beating Eastern while we also made it to the League Cup Semi Final after knocking out Sun Pegasus. We also made another signing as Yona Chansa joined us from Power Dynamos for a club record £15k after being recommended to us by our other Zambian, Mukuka Mtonga. Two Zambian’s in the squad now so they should form a good friendship and keep each other from feeling unsettled and home sick.

[Raware]

Tai Po - February 2018/19

Tai Po

05.02.19 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Tuen Mun : 0-0 : We started our busy month off (which sees us play 7 games this month) with a visit from strugglers Tuen Mun. I think everyone, including myself was expecting a comfortable win for us especially after we battered them 5-0 a couple of months ago but Tuen Mun came with a game plan and played it out perfectly as they frustrated us and stopped us from scoring to put an end to our 100% start to the season. We’re still unbeaten though .

09.02.19 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Citizen : 1-1 : We wanted to bounce back after the disappointing draw with Tuen Mun 4 days earlier but again we looked to struggle as Citizen were good value for their lead and should of in fact won the game. Luckily for us though, Yu Wai Ting popped up 2 minutes into injury time to rescue a point for us and maintain our unbeaten start to the season.

12.02.19 - Asian Confederation Cup Group F - Tai Po v Kelantan : 2-2 : After winning this competition last season we were back in it ready to defend our title as we were drawn into Group F alongside Kelantan, Maziya and Woodlands. Our first game saw us take on Malaysian outfit Kelantan at our place as we both weren’t shy in finding the net. The away side raced into a 2-0 after 24 minutes leaving me to rip into them at half time. That seemed to do the trick as we came out in the 2nd half looking like a different side as Wang Zhengyin smashed in a brace to leave us having to share the points in our opening group game.

16.02.19 - League Cup Main Stage Semi Final - Tai Po v Rangers (HKG) : 2-0 : A fairly comfortable win for us in the end as Xie Pengfei and youngster Yu Wai Ting got the goals for us to seal our place in the final of the League Cup. We did pay a price though as both of our strongest defenders Ling Man Ho and Lai Hau Hei both picked up injuries during the game .

19.02.19 - Asian Confederation Cup Group F - Woodlands v Tai Po : 1-3 : After drawing our opening Confederation Cup game with Kelantan we needed to get off the mark with a win quickly and we did just that as Wu Chi Shing, Yu Jianfeng and Wang Zhengyin got the goals for us which puts us top of the group after 2 games.

23.02.19 - Hong Kong First Division - Tai Po v Tai Chung : 4-1 : We battered Tai Chung 5-2 in our previous league encounter this season and it was no different this time around as we trounced them 4-1 .

27.02.19 - Asian Confederation Cup Group F - Maziya v Tai Po : 1-0 : We made the journey to the Maldives to play against a very inferior side in the form of Maziya…at least I was told they were inferior. The home side did a real number on us as I think we, including myself, went there expecting to win by 4 or 5 goals. Instead we faced a long trip home back to Hong Kong on the back of our first defeat in the group stage.

February League Table : A bit of an indifferent month for us, something we’ve not been used to in recent times as we drew our first 3 games, managed to win our next 3 but then lost to minnows Maziya in the Confederation Cup. Couple that with the news that Mehrdad Nazeri left the club (I decided to release him after he complained about being unable to settle and failed to turn up to training on at least 9 occasions after being seen out on the town the nights before), it’s been a turbulent month. Hopefully with Nazeri gone now it can settle the squad down once more.