The Shanghai Nights Adventure [FM15]

Went back to BEC to raid it for Avram Grant. Big addition and a man I know I can trust to help me in China.

No surprise to see you took the job in China Good move for Grant

It was a real tough choice to leave BEC, love my time there. Had to get Grant back in the mix.



So going for an upgrade on my coaching badges.

My first season in charge, the job was going to be about getting the squad of players who had underachieved last season and really since Lippi retired to push themselves further and compete for the league title. My aim for the season was to re-arm the club and get them into Champions League football.



League Fixtures -.A successful season in the league. We didn't go through my typical mid season blip were injuries and cup runs caught up with us. It was quite the opposite. Highlight has to be putting 7 goals past Henan. The League Table won by a nice margin of 22 points. Very happy win the league in my first season here, not that easy as it might suggest. Shandong led the league for quite the early part, they slipped up towards the end and allowed us in.

Chinese FA Cup - Picked up another trophy, we played very well. We beat last seasons winner Renhe to claim the trophy. We played some lovely football. Also was nice to give a run to the youngsters in the early part of the competition.

CSL All Star Cup - League sides have had an interesting time against the All Star sides. We played well and a nice way to end the season off.

Transfers - Dueramae I was really keen to bring with me to China. The lad is class and the fact he also won't count as a foreigner due to his dual nationality with Hong Kong only served the club well. We kept him fresh and his injury problems did not materialise, whether that is down to management or the physio's facilities here is whether to be seen. Sadly for Thailand their manager didn't want him in internationals which meant he was kept fresh for us. Long term target Diaz was brought in to complement our outstanding Italian contingent, sadly he was onfire this season. Huszti was brought in to cover the left wing back roll but he looked lethargic at 33 and is on his way out at the end of the season when his contract expires. Lookout for James Eronna, he has the potential to be something special. The rest were Chinese players brought in to add and boost the numbers in the squad.

Finances - Having a Chairman who enjoys pumping money into the club is a good thing, means the book are always going to balance. However I'm not going to chuck money away for no reason. Must spend wisely.

Squad - The likes of Elkeson, Lin and Diamanti were the main stays on the side, they were a different class in this league. Look out for Wu Lei, he was fantastic. Our playmaker who was easily at home in the center of midfield or in the hole. There is a lot of talent in this squad and it is pleasing to see. Hardest will be to constantly improve the Chinese contingent at the club.

Youth Intake - The top three players will no doubt be excellent additions to the club in the future. They were offered contracts straight away. The rest I look to release.



Key Player Profiles:

Alessandro Diamanti - The Italian international play maker was sensational for us this season. Provided 15 important assists for us. Had to be managed carefully due to the nature of the leagues fixture calendar. Signed a new deal with the club too.

Elkeson - Played in the hole and upfront. Wherever he played he either scored or assisted. Simply a class above at this level in China. Had to be managed too, suffered fatigue midway through the season.

Gao Lin - His stats won't set the world alight but he was phenomenal for us. He only missed a few games all season and was unhappy when I said I was going to rest him. Great loyal player. Marvellous achievement to get to 100 international caps too. Hopefully he will produce the goods next season too.

Wu Lei - Our play-maker and all round hatrick specialist. Is a great player, expect to see China use more of him as the years go on.



Career Overview

2014 - BEC Tero Sasana F.C. - League Winners and FA Cup Winners
2015 - BEC Tero Sasana F.C. - League, League Cup, Royal Cup and AFC Champions League Winners
2016 - Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club - League, CFA Cup and CSL All-Stars Winners



Next Season

The aim is to make a dent in the Champions League and win the league and defend that crown.

Good season

You put up the wrong screenshot for Wu Lei

Hahaha so I did Johno, thanks for the heads up. Corrected now.

No worries Lei looks pretty good there Has there been any interest in him?

Nothing. It is quite surprising, some real gems here and nothing from Europe. Movement seems to be South Korea ---> Europe / Qatar / UAE

BTW ... I can't edit my club above due to the fact that none of the Chinese club appear in the selection option, hence why I can't update season stats either.

End of the season and I've just completed my next coaching badge. Undecided if I should consider going for the next badge. Time will tell if I do.

The club's reputation has taken a bit of a battering in recent times before my arrival. That one poor season has seen the club drop drastically in the club rankings within Asia, despite the successes of last season the club has not progressed much, if there is another successful league season hopefully the club will progress further.

End of season league review. Bossing it really, players were fantastic all over the place.

Favourites for a reason.

Another decent season

What logos you using?

Cheers Johno. I am using these: http://sortitoutsi.net/forums/topic/9299/default-logos-2014-megapack

Cheers

So the latest news coming out of the club is that the board have agreed to boost the facilities. In the long run this will benefit us greatly. Will be now attracting a higher calibre of player. We are now chasing Willian at Chelsea. I am confident I can seal the deal when the Chairman invest more money into the club.

New deal and managed to sort out some luxury packages for us. New senior affiliate, training facilities and a feeder club. Lovely.

Linking up with a big club over in Europe means we get some cash whilst they get our power of merchandise. Good deal all round.

No transfer budget? Good link with Verona

Splashed the cash, not had as much as others have had in previous years but used it reasonably well. Gilardino and Diamanti are likely to leave at the end of the season, Gilardino for definite. So some wage cap will be freed but want to replace those guys with real quality big named players.

Ahhh How big is their wages? I'm sure you can fit few players in.

Only have £381k spare haha

EDIT: Exciting news due soon after the completion of the season.

Not the exciting news yet ... BEC the old club managed to win the league this season. Was nice to see this pop up. Had a disappointing first season after I left but seemingly the new manager has found his feet there.

Here is the big news. A massive signing for the club. Will be coming in to likely to replace Diamanti who is struggling more and more with picking up niggles here and there. Rarely played by Chelsea so he will be coming to us with a lack of real playing time but he's a class act and will boss the Chinese league.

I fancied taking look at another striker after Gilardino is now retiring at the end of the season. Carroll won't be a dominant force out here. If I cannot get this man, and unless there is a superstar of a striker I won't be signing another. I will go with my Nigerian youngster who has been at the club since I signed him when I first took over.

My second season in the job, the aim this time around was going to be about getting the squad of players who had performed well last season to compete on all fronts. The board just wanted league and Champions League progression but the other trophies we competed were just as important. In the Champions League we were looking to progress deep into the knock-out stages.



League Fixtures - We had a real successful campgain. I know the screenshot is missing the early fixtures, weird. Henan suffered another hiding from us. Goals went in from all directions. Wuhan also suffered at our hands when they conceded five. Lot of high scoring games. Didn't really go through a bad patch as such, we managed to ride games out. At one stage we were looking for an undefeated season. Injuries and fatigue caught up with us. The League Table won by a secure margin of 12 points. Very happy with defending the league, not that easy to do. Many a club made it tough for us. Shandong is a club we just seemingly cannot shake off. They were hounding us all the way till the end.

Chinese FA Cup - Another trophy we defended this season. Took out some of the bigger sides along the way. Never really pushed that hard by sides so we were able to stroll through most of the fixtures without worry.

CSL All Star Cup - Picked up where we left off last season. Nice victory for us. An important one.

AFC Champions League - Club back in the Champions League and back winning a trophy they won under Lippi in 2013. We played some real outstanding football. Ulsan of South Korea were by far the toughest team, I thought for some time we weren't going to get past them. In the end we did and we sailed through the final. Second Champions League trophy for me.

Super Cup -Great way to kick off the season with a solid 4-2 victory over Shandong. It gave us important momentum that could help us kick start our season.

FIFA Club World Cup - We had to play one of the big sides at some point and we played Juventus in the Semi Finals. Media and people expected a walkover by Juventus, but we always rise to the big occasions and we took them all the way to the deep end of extra time. On another day it could easily have been us. We played amazing just was not to be. We ended third and deservedly so, we outclassed USM Alger.

Transfers - I brought the Italian / Chinese dual international wing back Tegon back to the club. Was frustrated he wouldn't sign a deal first time around but when he left he was happy to sign one. Played quite a few times this season and developed nicely. Looking for him to play a bigger role next season. South Korean international midfielder Yun Il-Lok was a big of a random buy. Needed another player in midfielder, high profile and of Asian nationality to fill my foreign quota. He played reasonably ok. Actually really disappointed with him. If he starts off poorly again I will look to sell him. Lacina Traoré was a signed to keep the board happy. I was hoping for a better production of him, but sadly I didn't really get it. He was lucky that Diaz was injured so he got chances. If someone comes in for him, he will be on his way. The rest signed were promising Chinese players to help develop the club's Chinese base for the future.

Finances - Spending the chairman's money wisely I said. Spend it I did. Made some shrewd signings but also in improving the infrastructure at the club. Lot of staff changes and facilities upgrades have meant we haven't turned a real profit over this season. League and Cup successes have meant things have worked well and money has come into the club.

Squad - The squad is ageing. This squad image was taken after retirements but still the same. Lot of outstanding performances. Now need to develop the youngsters in the squad to meet the standard and expectations of the old guard.

Youth Intake - The top four players will no doubt be excellent additions to the club in the future. They were offered contracts straight away. These guys look promising despite what the stars might suggest early. The future is looking that little bit brighter for the club. The rest I haven't bothered with.



Key Player Profiles:

Alessandro Diamanti - The influential Italian was produced some memorable performances when he was fit. Getting him fit was a task, he seemed to pick up niggles all over the shop. In the end we found a way to manage wit him. Old Avram Grant was keen for us to hang on to him for another season so we will be doing so. He's likely going to retire at the end of the season too.

Jorge Pereyra Díaz - Breakthrough season for Jorge Pereyra Díaz. He was excellent when called upon but he did suffer from niggles and that really affected him having a longer run in the first team. I am hoping with the retirement of players and the shipping out of others, next season he might well play a far greater role for the club.

Gao Lin - The recently retired 100 capped Chinese international was once again instrumental for us. Did not score as much for us in the league but his influence elsewhere is what was crucial for us. On the continent he was outstanding and now that he's retired from international duty it will only serve the youngsters in the club well.

Kittitat Dueramae - The man I have much trust in. Dueramae is starting to progress as I first hoped. He really controlled the middle of the park for us and we have manage to manage his health well so he's been on the pitch more this season.



Career Overview

2014 - BEC Tero Sasana F.C. - League Winners and FA Cup Winners
2015 - BEC Tero Sasana F.C. - League, League Cup, Royal Cup and AFC Champions League Winners
2016 - Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club - League, CFA Cup and CSL All-Stars Winners
2017 - Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club - League, CFA Cup, Super Cup, AFC Champions League and CSL All-Stars Winners



Next Season

The aim is to continue to develop the club's legacy in Chinese football as well on the continent. The challenge will be to defend the Champions League trophy again. I'm not looking to move at the moment. I would ideally like to stick my contract out until its due up at the end of next season. Ideally looking to move to the Middle East or Australia.

Useless but interesting, the last big gate for the club was when I played against them with my old club BEC.

The greatest manager in Asian football history. Not to bad. Pity I have never heard of the managers below me.

Another good season Not a bad result against Juventus

Never heard of those managers either

Quality piece of dominating here! There are some big names in that managers list... characters wise