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First Pre-Season with Eastern:
Hello! In this post, I begin my first full (hopefully) season in Hong Kong with Eastern. We came in with two months left last season and were unable to revive the then-reigning champions from their season slump. Fifteen matches have been played, seven of which have been competitive fixtures.

First off though, two pre-pre-season news bits. The awards from last season were revealed and our expectations were set for the forthcoming season, those items can be seen below.

Last Season's Awards:


This Season's Expectations:


So, into the 2023-24 season. It began with a solid enough pre-season, with us facing six opponents and coming away with six victories; some interesting team names about, including Azzurri (4–1), Swiss XI (4–0) and Outdoor (5–0). As for transfer activity, I mentioned in my previous post that a squad rebuild was necessary and new signings were needed, I managed to do just that and we completed eight new signings; all bar one arrived for the start of pre-season.

First through the door was Gambian international Mohamadou Sumareh, a versatile midfielder who I've had an eye on since my days in Indonesia with Persib and now I've finally signed him; he will be squad depth though, won't feature much due to the foreigner limit, which, by the way, is so very annoying. Talking of the squad limit (five in squad, four starting), we have ten foreign players but only six are in my first-team plans with the other four in as squad players. Next in was Yeung Chun Hung I ("I" as we have another Yeung Chun Hung ("II" - cb) whom we've promoted from the youth), a left-winger from South China who had a great season for the new champions.

Namibia international Clinton Britz was signed on 1 July 2023, an exciting midfielder who has performed very well so far. Left-back Li Ngai Hoi and Indonesian goalkeeper Wempy Obure arrived soon after, Obure was going to my number one as I said in my past post but a future signing made that a no-go. Left-sided winger Tam Ho Ming came next on a free, back-up. Young striker Leung Nok Hang arrived on loan from Singaporean side Balestier Khalsa as depth, but he is from Hong Kong which is handy. Our last incoming was a familiar face.

Goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud came in on a free transfer. You may recognize him as he was my main goalkeeper at my last club, Persib. The Singaporean was a key player for me at Persib, thankfully (for me) his contract expired after I left Indonesia and he was unattached all this time. So, despite signing Obure I just couldn't say no to Mahbud who is, probably, too good for this league but he likes me in his favoured personnel so I guess that helped. One worry is that he got homesick on two occasions in Indonesia, hopefully that doesn't happen again in Hong Kong.

Ten outgoings, only one of note was Kwan Kwok Keung who I didn't want to lose but he refused to sign a new contract. His loss, we've found his replacements with ease while he remains without a club.

Transfers:


The competitive season started in September 2023. We kicked off the league campaign in blistering style as we obliterated Tai Po by six goals to zero on their own patch, a quite magnificent opener. Young centre-back, just promoted from the youth ranks, Yeung Chun Hung II shockingly bagged a brace while fellow CB Leonardo Muñoz also scored. Cameroon youth international François Nguidjol and Chan Ho Yin also got in on the act. We followed that up with another fantastic display, this time beating promoted Hong Kong 4–0. Leung Chun Hung I, Clinton Britz and two penalties from Chan Ho Yin made the difference.

A Senior Challenge Shield defeat was sandwiched in-between two friendly wins (vs. Kowloon City and R&F), we exited the competition at the first hurdle after a frustrating performance against Hong Kong Rangers. We returned to league action with a narrow home victory over Pegasus, Tam Ho Ming grabbing the all important goal. At this point we sat in second place, won three from three but three points off leaders Southern District who had played a game more and had won four out of four. They were our next opponents.

In an already huge fixture, we visited the leaders and came away with the points thanks to a dramatic late winner from substitute loanee Leung Nok Hang. Top of the table. A double header versus Sun Hei came next, the first kick-starting our League Cup season. We won 2–1 in the cup, despite resting our entire team due to the upcoming league meet days later. Leung Nok Hang and Leung Ming Kit got on the scoresheet. A crucial win as you only play two matches in the group stage (group of three; top team goes through to semis, bottom two go into second stage with chance of still reaching semi-finals).

The league meeting with Sun Hei arrived next to end the month. We sadly lost this one 3–2, despite leading 0–2 after sixteen minutes through Leung Nok Hang (three in three) and Britz. Our first loss and first goals conceded in the league. Disappointing. So, after five league games played, we sit top of the table on goal difference ahead of Southern District. Despite the season lasting from September to May, there is only twenty matches played; only fifteen to go!

Results:


League Overview:


Squad Statistics:


Lastly, a few awards/records have happened throughout these two months. Those can be seen below.

Record Win:


Yeung Chun Hung II - Youngest Scorer:


Yeung Chun Hung I - Goal of the Month (September):


Chan Ho Yin - Player of the Month (September):


Team of the Month 1 (September):


Team of the Month 2 (October):


Thank you for reading my career post! The next will be in two more months of competitive action.

P.S. Sorry for the slow updates recently, I've been busy with other things but should be back on track now.
P.P.S. I have activated the Australian A-League in the save and, thankfully, I (seemingly) haven't got the 'all jobs become available' bug that sadly others like @Shedender and @Dan got. An A-League job is now a future possibility.

Cheers,
R96Skinner.

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Career so far:
2016–2017 | Albirex Niigata (S) | (Singapore/1) | Trophies: 3 / Awards: n/a / Promotions: n/a / Relegations: n/a. resigned
2018–2023 | Persib | (Indonesia/1) | Trophies: 3 / Awards: 9 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0. resigned
2023– | Eastern | (Hong Kong/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: n/a / Promotions: n/a / Relegations: 0.

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Trophies won:
2016 | Albirex Niigata (S) -- (Singapore) League Cup.
2016 | Albirex Niigata (S) -- (Singapore) S. League.
2017 | Albirex Niigata (S) -- (Singapore) League Cup.
2021 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Super League.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Super Cup.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Super League.

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Awards won:
2018 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, June.
2019 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, August.
2020 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, July.
2020 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, October.
2021 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Year.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, May.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, July.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, August.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Year.

Beginnings in Hong Kong:
Welcome back to Journeyman's Journey! In this update I begin my tenure as boss of Hong Kong Premier League side Eastern, a side who were reigning champions from the previous season but sit fourth bottom and struggling as of my appointment. Fixtures came thick and fast with a match roughly every three days, bar one week (which despite added rest, we played twice in three days!), from start to end. How did I fare?

Our career with Eastern began in terrific fashion as we beat runaway league leaders South China in the FA Cup semi-finals, we were behind due to a Lok Wing Chung own-goal until the 70th-minute as we won a penalty which Chinese striker Chen Qí duly converted. It remained at one-one until the first minute of stoppage time when Chan Ho Yin stepped up from the midfield area to unleash an incredible long range strike which flew into the net. An unbelievable strike, one of the best I have seen on Football Manager. (see it below)

We followed that up with a win against fellow strugglers Hong Kong Rangers, Chen scoring again along with midfielder Chan Chun Lok. Next came a seven-goal thriller with Pegasus, but one we were on the wrong end of as we lost 3–4; shocker of a performance (bar Chan Ho Yin who got a hat-trick), Pegasus weren't much better but took home the points. Then we played our first, but Eastern's fourth, AFC Cup encounter in Group H against Global of the Philippines. We lost 2–1, despite Chen giving us a lead. The club returned to winning ways with a convincing display versus BC Glory Sky (0–3).

Another surprise struggling side was Kitchee, a team we played next and were inflicted a defeat the same size of that we gave BC Glory Sky, 0–3. Citizen were our hosts on 22 April 2023 and we were again involved in an entertaining fixture, with this one ended tied at three apiece. Disappointing result but in fairness to the players, they showed great spirit to come from three goals down to draw. Impressive, but played horribly beforehand. Yadanarbon of Myanmar were our following continental opponents and they beat us by two goals on our patch.

Due to all the cup competitions in Hong Kong (five in all), we had numerous games in hand hence the ridiculous scheduling of fixtures and the fact we meet Kitchee once again. We again lost to them but it was a more closer encounter this time around, but a 90th-minute Chung Ka Lok goal condemned us to a loss. Painful. That wouldn't be the last match-up with Kitchee though, as we would face them a couple of weeks later in the FA Cup final. Some excitement to end this rather dower season for Eastern supporters.

We kicked off cup final month with a match with second place Metro Gallery and narrowly lost out by a single goal, Abdullah Al-Ruwdan scoring fairly late on. As of the final day of the league campaign, we remained where we started with the club, in 8th. Safe from relegation but not moving up. However, thankfully after a win over BC Glory Sky on Matchday 20 we leapfrogged two clubs to move to 6th which I will take after some awful form. Next came elimination from the AFC Cup following a goalless draw with Thailand club Muangthong United.

One match to go. The FA Cup final! Could we end the season on a real high?

First, that goal from Chan Ho Yin:




^^Click "Show Spoiler" before scrolling down. ^^



A tough beginning to life at Eastern in Hong Kong. Going by their form before I took over, not much changed so we didn't really make them worse but nor did we improve them which is frustrating. We showed potential with that great win over league champions South China, but the rest of the season summed it all up. It's clear to see this squad needs a lot of turning around, hopefully a busy transfer window is in store. Talking of which, I have already signed three players which you can see below. Competitions overview and squad statistics are also below.

Results:


Competitions Overview*:

* = I was only in charge of three of them: Premier League, AFC Cup and FA Cup.

Squad Statistics:


So, the three signings. First snapped up was Thai international right-back Sarot Pakbud, he has already featured for us. He was a free agent, we signed him on trial as trialists can play in the Premier League and he impressed so he signed permanently. Next was Yeung Chun Hung on a free from league champions South China. One of the players of the season in the league, got the most assists. Joins in the summer. A real coup.

Lastly, for now I hope, signed was goalkeeper Wempy Obure. Eastern's current 'keepers are pretty woeful imo, so decided to take somewhat of a punt on Indonesian Obure from Persik. I know him, he played a lot against me when I was with Persib and he always played well; 6k fee. Hopefully that's just the beginning of my incomings. I need to twiddle around with the foreigners, at the moment we will have too many to play next season so will be looking to move some on. A lot of change is needed, but a few players already in the squad have impressed and will play better in a better team, I reckon.

Signing #1 - Sarot Pakbud:


Signing #2 - Yeung Chun Hung:


Signing #3 - Wempy Obure:


That's all! Thank you for reading, I'll return with Update #2 with Eastern after the first two months of fixtures in 2023/24.

Cheers,
R96Skinner.

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Career so far:
2016–2017 | Albirex Niigata (S) | (Singapore/1) | Trophies: 3 / Awards: n/a / Promotions: n/a / Relegations: n/a. resigned
2018–2023 | Persib | (Indonesia/1) | Trophies: 3 / Awards: 9 / Promotions: 0 / Relegations: 0. resigned
2023– | Eastern | (Hong Kong/1) | Trophies: 0 / Awards: n/a / Promotions: n/a / Relegations: 0.

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Trophies won:
2016 | Albirex Niigata (S) -- (Singapore) League Cup.
2016 | Albirex Niigata (S) -- (Singapore) S. League.
2017 | Albirex Niigata (S) -- (Singapore) League Cup.
2021 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Super League.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Super Cup.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Super League.

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Awards won:
2018 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, June.
2019 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, August.
2020 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, July.
2020 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, October.
2021 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Year.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, May.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, July.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Month, August.
2022 | Persib -- (Indonesia) Manager of the Year.