retired_blondie_524

Thanks Axeman

retired_blondie_524

Monday 2nd April 2007

The board are pleased with me, not only are we handily placed in the table for one of the two promotion places but the monthly loss is down to 301,000 RMB, the loss when I first took over was 2.12M RMB!

4/04/07 away at Chengdu Wuniu (National 1st division)

With Jiangsu visiting Nanjing in a clash of the top two we must take advantage of this trip to 10th placed Chengdu. Bertiin Tomou takes a seat on the bench and Zhang Shu replaces the injured Zhenxing on the bench. We controlled the first half but just couldn't find the way through. Chengdu managed just two way off target shots in the first 45 minutes and we fared little better with only 2 out of six troubling the keeper.
I threw all three substitutes on after 53 minutes trying to shake things up, Zheng on for Liuxi, Shu for Lliang and a big ovation for Tomou replacing Jinxu. Tomou missed a good chance two minutes later and then Siyuan blazed wide of an empty net on 66 minutes. Tomou split the defence on 76 and drove home but the linesman's flag was up before finally Bai Long had us all off our seats, netting a 20-yard free kick with five minutes left. There was desperate drama in the 94th minute when Kai was a full stretch to turn away a shot and it trickled agonizingly along the goaline before Baffoe was able to hook it away.
Chengdu 0-1 Zhejiang
Chengdu scorers: none
Zhejiang scorers: Long 85
Att: 4,010

The clash of the top two results in a 0-0 draw leaving us to grab second place and Guoli's 1-0 win over Sichuan enables them to climb over Nanjing on goal difference. International move up to fifth with a 5-0 win at Nancheng. Jiangsu are now the only unbeaten team with six wins out of eight while at the other end Jiucheng have yet to win but have drawn five out of eight.

7/4/07 home vs Shanghai Jiucheng (National 1st division)

Entertaining bottom side Jiucheng must result in a good win I impress upon the players. Tomou partners Siyuan up front while Zhang Shu replaces Liang, Jinxu and Liang drop to the bench. Shu opens the scoring from the spot after Siyuan was felled in the box six minutes into the game. Tomou doubled the lead just before the half hour when he vollyed Liuxi's teasing cross into the far corner and only a fantastic save prevented Siyuan from scoring just before the break.
Liuxi was brought down in the box seven minutes into the second half but this time Shu put the penalty straight at the keeper but it was three on 65 minutes when Tomou pinched the ball on halfway and broke clear. He drew the keeper before slipping it to substitute Wang Jinxu to slot into the empty net. Bai Long collected his fifth goal of the season in injury time when he bent a 25-yard free kick round the wall and into the top corner.
Zhejiang 4-0 Jiucheng
Zhejiang scorers: Shu 8 pen, Tomou 29, Jinxu 66, Long 91
Jiucheng scorers: none
Att: 4,774

Another 1-0 win sees Jiangsu remain top four points clear of us and it's a further three points back to International (2-1 winners over Guoli) and Hunan who won 3-1 at Changbo.

retired_blondie_524

Monday 2nd April 2007

The board are pleased with me, not only are we handily placed in the table for one of the two promotion places but the monthly loss is down to 301,000 RMB, the loss when I first took over was 2.12M RMB!

4/04/07 away at Chengdu Wuniu (National 1st division)

With Jiangsu visiting Nanjing in a clash of the top two we must take advantage of this trip to 10th placed Chengdu. Bertiin Tomou takes a seat on the bench and Zhang Shu replaces the injured Zhenxing on the bench. We controlled the first half but just couldn't find the way through. Chengdu managed just two way off target shots in the first 45 minutes and we fared little better with only 2 out of six troubling the keeper.
I threw all three substitutes on after 53 minutes trying to shake things up, Zheng on for Liuxi, Shu for Lliang and a big ovation for Tomou replacing Jinxu. Tomou missed a good chance two minutes later and then Siyuan blazed wide of an empty net on 66 minutes. Tomou split the defence on 76 and drove home but the linesman's flag was up before finally Bai Long had us all off our seats, netting a 20-yard free kick with five minutes left. There was desperate drama in the 94th minute when Kai was a full stretch to turn away a shot and it trickled agonizingly along the goaline before Baffoe was able to hook it away.
Chengdu 0-1 Zhejiang
Chengdu scorers: none
Zhejiang scorers: Long 85
Att: 4,010

The clash of the top two results in a 0-0 draw leaving us to grab second place and Guoli's 1-0 win over Sichuan enables them to climb over Nanjing on goal difference. International move up to fifth with a 5-0 win at Nancheng. Jiangsu are now the only unbeaten team with six wins out of eight while at the other end Jiucheng have yet to win but have drawn five out of eight.

7/4/07 home vs Shanghai Jiucheng (National 1st division)

Entertaining bottom side Jiucheng must result in a good win I impress upon the players. Tomou partners Siyuan up front while Zhang Shu replaces Liang, Jinxu and Liang drop to the bench. Shu opens the scoring from the spot after Siyuan was felled in the box six minutes into the game. Tomou doubled the lead just before the half hour when he vollyed Liuxi's teasing cross into the far corner and only a fantastic save prevented Siyuan from scoring just before the break.
Liuxi was brought down in the box seven minutes into the second half but this time Shu put the penalty straight at the keeper but it was three on 65 minutes when Tomou pinched the ball on halfway and broke clear. He drew the keeper before slipping it to substitute Wang Jinxu to slot into the empty net. Bai Long collected his fifth goal of the season in injury time when he bent a 25-yard free kick round the wall and into the top corner.
Zhejiang 4-0 Jiucheng
Zhejiang scorers: Shu 8 pen, Tomou 29, Jinxu 66, Long 91
Jiucheng scorers: none
Att: 4,774

Another 1-0 win sees Jiangsu remain top four points clear of us and it's a further three points back to International (2-1 winners over Guoli) and Hunan who won 3-1 at Changbo.

retired_blondie_524

:eek:
oops!! double post :o

retired_blondie_524

Thursday 12 April 2007

The board have told me how pleased they were with the manner of our last win and Zhang Shu has made the Chinese First Division team of the week for his first start.

14/04/07 away at Anhui Laomingguang (National 1st division)

Another must win game as we travel to second bottom Anhui. Mia Liang has damaged his shoulder so Shu keeps his place and Gao Lellei is on the bench after an eight month layoff with cruciate ligament damage. We're off to a flyer when Siyuan's header puts Tomou away behind the defence and he coolly buries it after only three minutes. Tomou returns the favour just six minutes later when his byline dragback finds Siyuan whose looping header creeps just inside the post. Two minutes before the break Shu converts the penalty given when Siyuan was upended and Long completes the first half rout when he hits an eighteen yard rocket in injury time.
With half an hour left Jinxu replaces Tomou, Haotian gets his second ever appearance and Leili gets a runout in place of Shu. Bai Long demonstrated why it's lethal to give away free kicks near the box as he cracked in another 25-yarder on 78 minutes and a defensive mix-up handed the ball to Jinxu to fire in number six with nine minutes left.
Anhui 0-6 Zhejiang
Anhui scorers: none
Zhejiang scorers: Tomou 3, Siyuan 9, Shu 43 pen, Long 45, 79, Jinxu 82)
Att: 219

The top side Jiangsu only won 3-1 at Jiucheng so we've both got a goal difference of +14 but are separated by four points. International win 2-1 at Nanjing and Hunan 3-0 at home to Yanbian to remain three points back.

Our fourth straight win has the board very happy again and it was a record score for the club.
Hu Yunfeng, boss of Nanjing has been on the radio saying that International must be strong promotion candidates after there fine display in beating his side.

retired_blondie_524

Wednesday 18th March 2007

Zhang Shuai, Zheng Kewei, Yang Siyuan and Bai Long have all been selected in the Chinese First Division team of the week.

home vs Xi'an Anxinyuan (National 1st division)

After scoring ten without reply in the last two games I have to field the same squad for the visit of the 11th placed side. We took the lead on 22 minutes when Long allowed Kewei to take a free kick on the edge of the area and he fired home his first of the season but the visitors equalised on the half hour after Liuxi gave away a penalty.
Siyuan rapped the crossbar halfway through the second half before Long restored our lead with 11 minutes left when he got in front of his marker and powered home Erkang's deep cross. We wrapped it up in injury time when Tomou outpaced the defence and slipped it to Jinxu to score his fifth of the season.
Zhejiang 3-1 Xi'an
Zhejiang scorers: Kewei 23, Long 79, Jinxu 92
Xi'an scorers: Haitao 30 pen.
Att: 4,791

Jiangsu march on with a 3-0 win over Anhui while International thrash Chengdu 4-0, the top three sides are now beginning to show their superiority over the other teams as we near the half way stage of the season.

21/04/07 away at Jilin Yanbian (National 1st division)

After an early game of head tennis on the left wing Erkang finally got it through to Tomou who slotted it inside the near post with only 2 minutes gone. Kewei had a goal chalked off on 16 minutes before the home side equalised on 34 minutes when the defence failed to clear a cross. We only took four minutes to restore our lead when Siyuan left everyone behind and nodded in Shu's cross from six yards. Shu almost adds to that just before the break but Yanbian's keeper managed to palm it over.
Three minutes into the second half Zhang Shu picked up his second yellow card and leaves us to battle for virtually the whole half with 10 men. Yanbian really started to press and Kai pulled off a fantastic save to deny them an equaliser with 30 minutes left Despite all the visitors efforts our 10 men clung on for the win.
Yanbian 1-2 Zhejiang
Yanbian scorers: Chao 35
Zhejiang scorers: Tomou 2, Siyuan 39
Att: 11,511

Jiangsu remain top despite dropping two points at Xi'an in a 1-1 draw while International keep pace with a 2-1 victory at Jiucheng.

retired_blondie_524

Monday 23rd April 2007

Zheng Kewei and Bai Long are selected to this week's Chinese First Division team of the week.

28/04/07 home vs Yunnan Lijiang (National 1st division)

Today we entertain 10th placed Lijiang in the TV game. Zhang Shu is suspended so Gao Leili has to take his place as the only fit left-sided midfielder we have left, he hasn't done too well in his two substitute outing but there's nothing left in the locker. Tang Xiaofei comes onto the bench. The TV pundits have us down as red-hot favourites saying they can't see Lijiang getting a win anywhere let alone here. Hua Erkang on his 100th career appearance is picked out as a key man, in the 13 games he's played in this season, we've only conceded 11 goals.
Our first chance is spurned when Tomou is upended in the box after five minutes, he dusted himself off and hit the penalty straight into the keeper's arms. Despite our domination the only other chance of the half was Bai Long's 30-yard rocket in injury time which squirmed away but rolled wide of the post.
We piled on the pressure and finally got the breakthrough just before the hour mark when Kewei rose above everyone to head home Erkang's free kick at the far post. That was to prove to be the winner in a desperately poor match, we certainly missed any creative spark from the left. Leili was taken off after 65 minutes and Fengbo took a knock and was replaced by Xiaofei playing out of position. I might try to address that in the summer transfer window.
Zhejiang 1-0 Lijiang
Zhejiang scorers: Kewei 57
Lijiang scorers: none
Att: 4,954

Our 7th straight league victory takes us top by a point as Jiangsu surprisingly slip up at home, going down 2-1 to Yanbian. International keep pace in third with a 2-0 win over Anhui.
I had to ring up Wang Zheng, manager at Yanbian and tell him what a good job he had done.

Tuesday 1st May

The board are satisfied with my performance, this months loss was 683,000 RMB. Former striker Orlando scored the runner-up for Hunan in the Goal of the Month competition, his third in nine substitute appearances, he's yet to make a start.

5/05/07 away at Hunan Xiangjun (National 1st division)

Reserve left back Yang Xu comes in for his first start of the season as Fengbo is out with bruised ribs, Shu returns after suspension.
After Siyuan and Long had already come close to scoring, Bertin Tomou was put through by Long and calmly finished in the bottom corner with just four minutes on the clock. Both Long and Tomou missed good chances to extand the lead before the break when Shuai had to be withdrawn with a knock.
Hunan started the second half brightly and equalised ater a goalmouth scramble in the 52nd minute. We were back in front on the hour when Tomou slid it across the face of the goal and Liuxi arrived at the back post to tap it in from two yards but within minutes Tomou had turned villian. His wayward ball across the back four left kai rushing out to prevent a 2 on 0 break and Jin Tao chipped him for a 40-yard equaliser. I made the decision with 10 minutes left to replace defensive midfielder Kewi with Qian Feng and switch to 4-3-3 to try and force the win but that caused our downfall with Agbo got inside the space between midfield and defence. He powered past young Li Haotain and slamed in the winner with four minutes left.
Hunan 3-2 Zhejiang
Hunan scorers: Agbo 52,87, Tao 63
Zhejiang scorers: Tomou 5, Liuxi 61
Att: 13,451

Our first defeat in eight games doesn't cost us top spot as Jiangsu suffer their second successive defeat as they lose 1-0 at Lijiang. International leap over them into second with a 1-0 win at Xi'an.

Next week marks the halfway point of the season and we visit Jiangsu with a chance to put distance between us.

retired_blondie_524

Tuesday 8th May 2007
Ma Liang has returned to full training after four weeks out with a shoulder injury.
Zhang Shu is named in the Chinese First Division team of the week.
I reject the third bid we've had for Jiao Fengbo, we're looking to improve our left side, not sell our left back mainstay.

Wednesday 9th May 2007

Tianjin TEDA, second in the Super League offer 160,000 RMB up front for Zhang Shuai and 450,000 RMB over two years which we reject out of hand as he's far too valuable to let go.

TNS retained the Welsh Premier last night when they beat second place Bangor City 3-1 to add to the Challenge Cup they won last Saturday beating Carmarthen. John Toner finished top scorer with 16 and Wilde trailed in two behind.

away at Jiangsu Shuntian (National 1st division)

Despite not being fully 100% Jiao Fengbo returns to left back with Yang Xu as cover for him on the bench, Ma Liang is not quite fit enough to make the bench.
We took the lead after only four minutes with a brilliant move, Fengbo's deep cross was nodded down by Liuxi to an unmarked Long and he rifled it into the top corner. Siyuan had several chances but couldn't score before Kai made a super stop on 20 minutes. Four minutes later though it was two when Shu put Tomou away and he slipped the ball under the keeper for his fifth of the season. Kai made a point blank save with five minutes of the half left and Tomou added his second in injury time when Liuxi's crashing drive was parried out and Tomou was first to react.
Jiangsu finally pulled one back with a breakaway goal on 56th minutes and began to pile on the pressure. Zhejiang hold firm and we finished the first half of the season with a convincing win.
Jiangsu 1-3 Zhejiang
Jiangsu scorers: Tongliang 57
Zhejiang scorers: Long 4, Tomou 24, 45
Att: 4,857

Pre season promotion favourites International kept up the pace with a 3-1 win over Yanbian.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Henan| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Zhejiang | | 15 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 33 | 14 | +19 | 34 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | International (CHN) | | 15 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 34 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Jiangsu | | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 12 | +13 | 30 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Guoli | | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 13 | +11 | 29 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Sichuan | | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 28 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Hunan | | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 24 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Nanjing | | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 22 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Hailifeng | | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 23 | -8 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Yanbian | | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 21 | -3 | 17 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Lijiang | | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 14 | -4 | 17 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Changbo | | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 16 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Nancheng | | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 15 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Chengdu | | 15 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 20 | -11 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Xi'an | | 15 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Jiucheng | | 15 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 25 | -13 | 10 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Anhui | | 14 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 31 | -24 | 6 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
Leading scorers so far for Zhejiang Lucheng
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Bai Long | 15 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 74% | 1.89 | 0.56 | 50% | 7.40 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | Fgn | Bertin Tomou | 8 (1) | 6 | 4 | - | 66% | 0.40 | 2.42 | 55% | 7.56 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S7 | | Wang Jinxu | 9 (7) | 5 | 2 | - | 70% | 0.43 | 1.40 | 41% | 6.94 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Yang Siyuan | 15 (1)| 4 | 5 | 1 | 67% | 0.38 | 1.90 | 41% | 7.06 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | | Shen Liuxi | 16 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 75% | 3.26 | 0.51 | 34% | 7.13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MC | Lst | Zhang Shu | 6 (1) | 2 | 3 | - | 70% | 3.86 | 1.47 | - | 7.71 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | Unh | Qian Feng | 0 (6) | 2 | - | - | 70% | - | 2.63 | 60% | 6.33 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DMC | | Zheng Kewei | 16 | 2 | - | - | 77% | 2.49 | 0.46 | 36% | 7.31 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Trn | Cui Wenyi | 0 (2) | 1 | - | - | - | 2.31 | - | - | 6.50 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | Wnt | Jiao Fengbo | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 71% | 4.55 | 1.49 | - | 7.27 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_blondie_524

12/05/07 away at Sichuan Guancheng (National 1st division)

For the visit to 5th placed Sichuan, relegated from the Super League last season, Ma Liang returns to the bench.
It was 12 minutes into the game when the Sichuan keeper dallied too long on a backpass and Siyuan managed to toe poke it away straight to Tomou who stroked it into the empty net. Zhejiang and Tomou doubled their tallies after 32 minutes when Jinxu was brought down in the area and Tomou converted the spot kick. Sichuan clawed one back when no-one spoted Sun Xiaoxuan arriving late into the box and he headed a deep cross into the net for his first of the season. Barely a minute later Kai failed to hold onto a curling shot across him and it fell to Xinxin to turn in the equaliser.
Sichuan really battered us in the second half and it was a desperate rearguard action as we clung on for the point. Cui Kai got the M.o.M. award for some brilliant saves.
Sichuan 2-2 Zhejiang
Sichuan scorers: Xiaoxuan 39, Xinxin 40
Zhejiang scorers: Tomou 12, 32 pen
Att: 4,822

International's 4-0 thumping of Lijiang takes them top, two points above us while five points back are Jiangsu, beaten 4-0 by Hunan and Guoli who drew with Jiucheng 2-2.

Tuesday 15th May2007

Hua Erkang and Zhang Shu were both selected in the Chinese First Division team of the week

Reading an English magazine I picked up at the airport I saw that Sam Allardyce has just been appointed England manager, Manchester United had taken the Premiership by a few points from Liverpool and Chelsea while Aston Villa turned over Spurs 2-1 in the FA Cup final. Meanwhile AC Milan have retained the Serie A title completing the double with them already holding the Italian Cup.

Thursday 24th May 2007

I have been offered a job in the native land of my father, not much of one but it could be the start of something big.
Ottavio Cutillo, chairman of Italian Serie C2/B side Cavese has offered me a job as manager. They finished fourth bottom of the league and are currently involved in a relegation play-out with Sansovino where they have won the away leg 3-1.
Ottavio regrets that the club's financial situation is perilous and the €27,000 wage bill is way above budget but he can offer me a one year rolling contract worth €400 p/w.
If I want to get into Italy at ground level you cannot get any more ground level than this! I have to make my mind up fast though as the second leg of the play-out is on Sunday. Could this be my big break?

retired_blondie_524

Friday 25th May 2007
Always up for a challenge I decide I can't pass up this offer to get a toe hold, however small, in Italy. I ring Song Weiping and tell him I never really liked Chinese food anyway. I think in my short time in China I have improved Zhejiang, their losses have been reduced by three quarters and some of the players I signed will be stars there for some time.
I stop to pick up the dossier the Cavese chairman has faxed me and head for the airport.
On the flight I study the file on my new club. Cavese play in Cava dei Tirreni at the Stadio Simonetta Lamberti which is a 16,000 all-seater stadium. Their league record this year was 8-13-13 having scored 36 and conceded 37, their top scorers were Alberto Castioni with 15 from 37 appearances and Francesco Sanetti on 10 from 31 appearances.
The club are €1.25M in debt with the wage bill €8,500 a week over budget although the losses have been almost halved this season to just under €500,000. There's no assistant manager and only two coaches. This will be no easy ride but I have faith in my ability.

27/05/07 home vs Sansovino (Serie C2/B play-out leg 2)

Sansovino finished one place below Cavese with a 9-9-16 record and a -16 goal difference. In the first leg Cavese won 3-1 with goals from Castioni (31), Cristallini (38) and Costntini (39 pen). All I can do is let my coaches pick the team and I'll give them some of my old TNS tactics.
In the second minute Sansovino went ahead when Serafini dribbled past my two central defenders and hit a rocket into the top corner from the edge of the box. Sanetti started off looking the liveliest of our forwards and it was him who equalised on 23 minutes when he connected with Marsilli's pass and looped a header into the far corner off the net. Alberto Castioni was twice denied by great saves and we went into the break level on the day but 4-2 ahead on aggregate.
We remained in control in the second half but it wasn't Castioni's day as he is denied time and time again. With 20 minutes left I threw on Francis Ibekwei who had recently been be languishing in the reserves. He repaid me by sealing the win in injury time, latching on to my other substitutes Nicolò Farri''s pass and slotted it wide of the keeper.
Cavese 2-1 Sansovino
Cavese scorers: Sanetti 23, Ibekwei 91
Sansovino scorers: Serafini 2
Cavese win 5-2 on aggregate
Att: 4,132

That's the number one target achieved, survival in Serie C2/B. Now I have to cut the wage bill while trying to move us up the table.