retired_blondie_524

Sunday 11th May - Super League
Wuhan Huanghelou v Dalian Shide

The much-anticipated clash with last year’s runners up, the bookies favourites to go one better this year. But is it a pointer that they have been the runners up in 2005, 06 and 07 ? Despite the own goal Cai Xi keeps his place in an unchanged side.
Five minutes it took for deadly Zou You to get on the end of Yao's swirling cross and power it past the stunned Dalian keeper but the visitors showed their class when equalising less than 20 minutes later. A poor clearance from a free kick by Cai Xi fell to Zhai Yanpeng and he just took two paces to get into the box before curling it inside Kai's far post. Dalian couldn't dominate us though and we were always dangerous on the break as it proved with five minutes left of the half. Zhiyong smashed a long ball down the wing for Fangzhuo to chase, he easily outpaced the defense to the ball cut inside and drove it across the keeper's body into the far corner.
Within seven minutes of the restart Jung-Kyum's free kick allowed Fangzhuo to drift away from his marker and head home for 3-1. There was complete pandemonium on the hour when Long steered the ball into Zou You's path and he ran on unchallenged into the box before jinking effortlessly past the keeper, burying it into the open net. With 15 minutes left the stadium was silenced by the sight of Zou You being carried off on a stretcher. Oh Seung-Bum scored his first goal for Dalian with three minutes left but it didn't seem to matter anymore, everyone was waiting for news of Zou You.
Wuhan 4-2 Dalian
Wuhan scorers: You 6, 61, Fangzhuo 44, 52
Dalian scorers: Yanpeng 24, Seung-Bum 88
Att: 10,415

The win moves us up to second, four points behind leaders Shandong. Shenhua's 4-3 win at Shenyang sends them third, behind us on goal difference. Four points covers second to 12th at the moment, such is the inconsistency of most sides.

I emerge from the dressing room to face the press. They're not really listening as I say that if Vladimir Petrovic's Dalian are going to finish better than runner-up then they better start playing like title challengers. All they want to hear is my next comment.
"The club doctor has just told me that Zou You has just taken a knock on the knee and will be fit for our next game."
The Dalian players on the way out to their bus didn’t appreciate the cheer that went up.

retired_blondie_524

Monday 12th May 2008

Liu Zhiyong, Meng Yao, Wu Wei'an, Zou You and Dong Fangzhuo were all selected to the CSL team of the week.

The local paper carries a big picture of Zou You with my comment underneath "The best 1,000,000 RMB I ever spent". Zou now has a league leading 13 goals from eight appearances.

Shandong have offered 750,000 RMB plus Chinese international No.1 keeper Yang Cheng for Fangzhuo. It's very tempting but Dong has such a good partnership going with Zou You and Kai's form is so impressive that I have no option but to reject the offer.

Wednesday 14th May - Super League
Henan Jianye v Wuhan Huanghelou

The only change is Yuan Weiwei replaces Cai Xi as we visit the 16th placed side.

Although the scoreline might suggest otherwise this was a dire game. Henan started the brighter but after Zou You was carried off in the 19th minute for the second time in as many games it just went to pieces. There was no shape or rhythm and it looked as though it might end 0-0.
Substitute Li Ruokun broke down the win in the 53rd minute and his cross was met perfectly by Wei'an to nod in his first of the season. The game didn't improve after that but Wuhan pinched two right at the end. Zheng Bin's 89th minute free kick was parried out to Jiang who drove it right back across the keeper into the net and as we entered injury time a long ball over the top was picked up by Ruokun who beat the keeper on his post side.
Henan 0-3 Wuhan
Henan scorers: none
Wuhan scorers: Wei'an 53, Jiang 89, Ruokun 90
Att: 7,637

Shandong remain top after beating Liaoning 2-0 and Shenhua are third after a fine 3-2 away win at Shenzhen. Bejing won 4-1 at International and Dalian are fourth after a 2-0 win over Zhongbang.

The news on ZouYou isn't quite as bad as we feared, he has concussion though and the doctors reckon he could be out for up to two weeks.

On TV when I got home I watched the re-run of the tonight's UEFA Champions League final where Liverpool beat Arsenal 8-7 on penalties after a 1-1 tie.

Saturday 17th May 2008

Dalian are up to second after the early TV games sees them win 2-1 at Beijing when the later game allows Shenhua to jump into third with a 2-0 win over Chongqing.

retired_hvporter

I'm liking this story - keep it up :thup:

Eerie how your career path has followed mine in real life, from UK to China to Italy...Now, do I follow you and go back to China this year?

retired_blondie_524

with the success I'm having this time round in China, I'd book the next flight there Gav

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Sunday 18th May - Super League
Wuhan Huanghelou v Shandong Luneng

We could have really done with Zou You today to take on the league leaders, we'll just have to hope that Li Ruokun can fill his boots.
We take the lead after 21 minutes when we get our first free kick of the season just outside the 'D' of the area. Bai Long sprinted up having waited 10 games for this opportunity and just as he did for me at Zhejiang he made no mistake in finding the top corner. There's not much creative work going on but we hold firm in defense to reach the break ahead still.
The league leaders press hard for an equaliser in the second half and there's not much chance of us adding to our score. The defense holds firm for a change and we hang on for a famous victory.
Wuhan 1-0 Shandong
Wuhan scorers: Long 22
Shandong scorers: none
Att: 11,428

The win puts us within a point of Shandong and ahead on goal difference of Dalian and Shenhua.

Thursday 22 May 2008

The club doctors have told me the Cui Kai has strained his wrist and could miss up to two weeks but Kai has been in my office begging for a course of painkilling injections to get him through this weekends game against mine and his old club Zhejiang. I agree but only for this match.

Saturday 24th May 2008

In today's two TV games Dalian go back to the top with a 4-0 win over Tianjin while Liaoning drew 0-0 with Shenyang.

Sunday 25th May - Super League
Zhejiang Lüchen v Wuhan Huanghelou

Cui Kai has had his injections and plays as does Zou You who is a bit shaky but keen to play.
I'm pleased by the reception I get back at Zhejiang for the first time. A quarter of an hour gone and Zou You gets his second assist of the season when he flicks the ball through for Fangzhuo, he outpaces Baffoe and slides it under the on-rushing Zhejiang keeper. Seven minutes later he repeats the feat finding Fangzhuo on the edge of the area and he fires it into the roof of the net.
Wu Mingkun pulls one back on 52 minutes when he got away from his marker and then fired back across the keeper into the opposite corner. Three minutes later it was all square when Shen Liuxi hit a curler into the roof of the net from 25 yards. With 25 minutes left we retook the lead when Wei'an floated a corner in and Liu Zhiyong put a spectacular overhead kick into the net through a crowed box. Five minutes later it was four when Zou You latched on to Zhonghu's long ball and drove it into the bottom corner. That was the signal for both Zou You and Fangzhuo to be withdrawn. The Zhejiang fans weren't quite so welcoming when Yuan Weiwei converted a 92 minute penalty to complete the rout.
Zhejiang 2-5 Wuhan
Zhejiang scorers: Mingkun 53, Liuxi 56
Wuhan scorers: Fangzhuo 16, 24, Zhiyong 66, You 72, Weiwei 92 pen
Att: 4,975

The win lifts us up to top spot on 23 points ahead on goal difference of Dalian with Shandong, who drew 0-0 against Zhongbang, a point behind.

retired_blondie_524

Thursday 29th May 2008

Liu Zhiyong, Meng Yao, Wu Wei'an and Zou You were selected in the CSL team of the week.

Saturday 31st May 2008

Shenhua move clear at the top after their 4-1 win in the TV game against International while Shenzhen's 2-0 win over Guangzhou sees them take third place.

Sunday 1st June - Super League
Wuhan Huanghelou v Liaoning Zhongyu

Zhu Huiqian makes his Wuhan debut replacing Kai in the net in the only change.
Chances were definitely at a premium here with Wuhan just shading the half. Fangzhuo is carrying a slight knock and is replaced by Ruokun at half time.
There still hadn't been a really clear cut opportunity when a dreadful backpass in the 71st minute was picked up by Ruokun who wasted no time slipping it to Zou You; he outpaced the two central defenders and calmly slotted home number 15 for him. After that Liaoning folded and our forwards wasted several good chances to extend the lead. We finally wrapped it up in the 92nd minute when Long's deep corner found Jiang on the edge of the area and he drove it through the crowd into the net.
Wuhan 2-0 Liaoning
Wuhan scorers: You 72, Jiang 92
Liaoning scorers: none
Att: 11,383

The win takes us back to the top and Dalian's 0-0 draw at Changchun lifts them to second above Shenhua on goal difference. Shandong's 1-1 draw at Bejing leaves them fourth.

Wednesday 4th June - Super League
Wuhan Huanghelou v Shenyang Ginde

Huiqian remains in goal for the visit of 14th placed Shenyang as Kai isn't quite fully fit.
Zhao Xuri almost broke the net in the tenth minute when he cracked in his first ever goal for Wuhan with a 20-yard free kick. Jung-Kyum's free kick 10 minutes later was powered into the net by Yao but a few well placed passes carved us open a few minutes later as the visitors pulled one back. Shenyang were back on level terms two minutes after that when Huiqian found too many bodies in front of him as Xiangchuang's cross drifted in and he was powerless to prevent it going in.
Wuhan pounded the visitors all second half long but couldn't find the incisive ball. Shenyang put everyone behind the ball and nearly all our shots ended up coming from defensive midfielder Zhao Xuri who had to power them in from 20 or 30 yards.
Wuhan 2-2 Shenyang
Wuhan scorers: Xuri 10, Yao 20
Shenyang scorers : Xiangchuang 23, 25
Att: 11,334

A game we threw away really costs us top spot as Dalians 4-0 win over Shenhua moves them top on goal difference. Shenzhen's 2-0 win at International leaves them a point behind the two of us.

Thursday 5th June 2008

Both Cui Kai and Bai Long have been called up to the Chinese U21 side.

retired_blondie_524

As the CSL appears to shut down for a month here’s the latest table
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Wuhan | | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 35 | 20 | +15 | 27 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Dalian | | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 9 | +16 | 27 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Shenzhen | | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 13 | +9 | 26 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Shandong | | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 6 | +12 | 24 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Shenhua | | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 24 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Tianjin | | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 21 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Zhongbang | | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 20 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Changchun | | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Beijing | | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Liaoning | | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 15 | -1 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Chongqing | | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 20 | -7 | 14 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Guangzhou | | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 16 | -5 | 13 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Zhejiang | | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 21 | -10 | 12 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Shenyang | | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 23 | -10 | 11 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | International (CHN) | | 13 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 32 | -16 | 10 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Henan | | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 21 | -15 | 6 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_blondie_524

note that for some reason FM2006 doesn't seem to be handling the g.d. correctly - We should be second

retired_blondie_524

oops ! just looked at rules and the CSL uses results between teams before g.d.

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 14th June 2008

In the Chinese FA Cup 2nd round 1st leg first division Xiamen produce a shock traveling to Tianjin and winning 1-0 and D1 side Guoli make the most of home advantage by beating CSL 4th placed side Shandong 1-0.

Monday 16th June 2008

Boosted the coffers by selling young 18-year-old full back Wei Jun to Chongqing for 2,000,000 RMB. The transfer will go through when the transfer window opens on July 26th.

Wednesday 18th June 2008

Xiamen hang on to a 0-0 draw at home to Tianjin in the CFA Cup 2nd round 2nd leg ousting them from the cup. Shandong are out as well only drawing 1-1 at home to Guoli, going out 2-1 on aggregate.

Looking at 'World Soccer' magazine and saw that Cavese had finally finished third in Serie C2/B and had won the play-off final 3-2 on aggregate against Bellaria to gain promotion to Serie C1. That's both Zhejiang and Cavese that have won promotion after I left them and TNS aren't doing too shabby either, having just picked up their fourth consecutive Welsh Premier League title.

Monday 30th June 2008

Having spent most of the break fending off offers for Fangzhuo and Wei'an, some of which have reached 14M RMB, Wu Wei'an has gone public and told everyone he fancies a move to a bigger club to win major trophies. I've told the press he's not going anywhere until the end of the season, Wuhan will win the CSL if we don't break up the squad.

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 12th July 2008

As the CSL starts up again the first TV game results in a 1-1 tie between Bejing and Liaoning while the later game sees Shenzhen go top by beating Dalian 2-1.

Sunday 13 July - Super League
Shanghai Zhongbang v Wuhan Huanghelou

Wuhan start off a bit ring rusty and have to rely on Kai to produce a few fine saves and the linesman's flag to rule out a ninth minute Zhongbang goal. They slowly stepped it up and eventually took the lead in the last five minutes of the half when a give-go move between Zou You and Fangzhuo leaves Zou You free at the edge of the six yard box, he duly sends the ball into the roof of the net. Referee Shuqiao went card crazy showing five yellows to us and three to the home side.
Zhongbang mange to equalise though just before the hour when Kim Jung-Kyum's wayward pass drifts across the area and leaves Dong Xin a simple tap-in. We had the better efforts late on but tireness was setting in and even Zou You put a breakaway straight into the keepers arms.
Zhongbang 1-1 Wuhan
Zhongbang scorers: Xin 59
Wuhan scorers: You 43
Att: 6,413

The draw leaves us a point behind Shenzhen but a point ahead of three teams, Dalian, Shandong (3-0 winners at Chongqing) and Shenhua who won 4-0 against Henan.

Tuesday 15th July 2008

I'm still working on improving the defense but without success as not many seem to fancy Wuhan's run-down facilities, meanwhile though I pick up Tianjin's Zhang Xinxin for 750,000 RMB rising to 900K RMB. Zhang is comfortable at left wing or forward but will probably end up backing up You and Fangzhuo.

Wednesday 16th July - Super League
Wuhan Huanghelou v Bejing Guo'an

Just before the game I get the news I've been waiting for, we've struck a deal with Liaoning. Going to Liaoning is defender Yuan Weiwei, who has been inconsistent for us, in exchange for an initial payment of 3,500,000 RMB plus their Korean centre back Lee Ji-Nam who we hope will slot in with Jung-Kyum to improve the defense.
An attacking Bejing line-up strikes first when Huang Bowen bends one into the top corner from 25 yards. Within five minutes we're level when Longs shot is blocked and it falls to Fangzhuo to lash in his 10th of the season. Despite us having the better of it then, Bejing go ahead in first half injury time when Kai dwelt on Wei'an's backpass and Yunlong nipped in to net.
Just four minutes into the second half Wei'an's teasing cross found Zou You and his flicked lob gave the Bejing keeper no chance. It was Wei'an, showing why a possé of clubs are chasing him, who put us ahead on 56 minutes. Long's goaline cross was flicked over everyone by You at the near post and Wu Wei'an was all alone at the far post to guide it in. The supporters were left blinking in disbelief at the chances both teams were contriving to mess up before Wuhan sealed it iin injury time, Zhonghu's long ball was collected by Vicente, making a rare appearance and he quickly lobbed the keeper from 18 yards.
Wuhan 4-2 Bejing
Wuhan scorers: Fangzhuo 21, You 50, Wei'an 57, Vicente 91
Bejing scorers: Bowen 17, Yunlong 45
Att: 11,273

Shenzhen's 5-2 win at Henan keeps them a point clear of us while Shandong, 2-1 winners against Shenhua and Dalian's 6-1 hammering of Chongquing keep pace with us.

The top sides are all starting to fire the goals in the second half of the season.

Sunday 20th July - Super League
Wuhan Huanghelou v Tianjin TEDA

After a dour start the breakthrough is made on 21 minutes when Bai Long bundles his way past the Tianjin defense and slides it to Zou You; his crisp shot billows the net before the keeper moves. Tianjin equalise just after the half hour when they drift a corner out to the edge of the area and Wang Sheng's snap shot finds its way into the net through the crowd. Wuhan are soon ahead again when Xuri's long ball seeks out You and his deft flick finds Fangzhuo away and clear; his strike gives the keeper no chance.
Wuhan bombard the visitors in the second half but fail to secure another goal but at least the defense holds firm.
Wuhan 2-1 Tianjin
Wuhan scorers: You 21, Fangzhuo 38
Tianjin scorers: Sheng 33
Att: 11,327

As Shenzhen haven't a game the win takes us top with Dalian following second, a point behind after their 2-0 win over Guangzhou. Gameless Shenzhen and Shandong are third and fourth.

That win was our 10th game unbeaten and people are starting to think we might be able to mount a serious title challenge.