(LLM, China!) The Great Leap Forward

[Promotion]

This game will be played on Football Manager 2012, with a large database and the following leagues loaded: England, Spain, Italy, China, India, South Korea

26th December 2010 - Touchdown in Tianjin

I got out of the car at quarter to nine, outside the huge 60,000 seater Olympic Center Stadium, known to the fans as 'Water Drop'.

The last couple of weeks seemed very hazy, only a fortnight ago I had been working as under 17s manager at Leyton Orient, when at the club's winter fan's dinner, I met Dou Mhenzing. The Songjiang Tianjin chairman had taken to me very quickly, and the next day I was invited to a meeting at the Royal National Hotel.

He was very straight with me, explaining that his previous manager and staff had been taken away by government officials for their part in a match fixing scandal, and he wanted a new manager to come in and straighten up the club. I had assumed that he was going to ask me to put him in contact with Leyton Orient's manager, Russell Slade, but then he produced the contract.

He explained to me that he had been following my success with the youth team at Leyton, having come second in the league the year previous, and wanted a manager who would be willing to consolidate in the Chinese First Division and build up a team from a youth background, and saw me as the best candidate for the job. I was shocked, but as a single person in my early thirties, saw a move to China and a chance to manage as too good to turn down.

Two weeks later, I was standing outside the colossal stadium, ready to meet Mr Dou. He had explained on the telephone that he would meet me at the stadium and introduce me to Hao Haidong, a former Chinese international footballer, who would help me to find staff for the club so that we could move in the right direction. Mr Dou stepped out of the stadium with Mr Hao, we shook hands and went inside, getting down to business quickly.

I explained to Mr Hao that I would need an assistant who spoke English, as I was still very much a fledgeling in Mandarin. He immediately suggested a Mr Li Hui, assistant manager at Sangao, and got the man on the phone. I offered him a contract and he said he would consider it, noting to me that we would have to pay a £1,000 fee to Sangao to terminate his contract.

Next, we spoke to some coaches who he suggested would be available for free, and be able to keep the team sharp and improve their abilities. Mr Zou Yucheng was toted as a great youth coach with an attacking mentality. Mr Song Li was next, another coach known for working with youngsters and a great talent for coaching goalkeepers. Finally we contacted Sun Zhouli, a coach at Tianjin (our rivals) who was working as a youth coach, with a good fitness knowledge.

Zhang Gousheng was our first choice for physio, and Zhang Kun for scout. Next, we got out the papers which the previous regime had used to keep notes on players. Mr Hao was translating for me, and I explained to him that I would be looking to build a team around pace and teamwork.

I felt that we should start working from these records and move fast to shift dead weight and bring new players in. We transfer listed a number of players who we felt would be unable to fit into this lineup: Guo Chunquan, Song Tao, Chen Haozhuang, Wu Lei, Liu Tao, Feng Yang, Lian Chen, Rong Yu, Wang Hao, Wang Peng, Li Jichou and Yu Rui. I promoted Zhang Tong from the reserves and Zhang Han from the youth to the first team, feeling that they would provide inexpensive cover as we may start the season with a very small squad.

The next few days could prove to be very interesting.

[Promotion]

28th December 2011 - Meeting the Media & Building The Squad

The inevitable press conference came, but the press consisted of a single journalist, a Mr Zhang Zeng from The Tianjin Football Messenger. I felt that I did pretty well, not giving away any transfer targets (not that I had any to give away), I explained that I would be learning Chinese as quickly as possible, and that the league would be my focus as we would need to avoid being pulled into a relegation battle.

I spent most of the morning inundated with phone calls about Lian, Song, Wu and Yu, accepting a number of offers for each of those players. The staff who I had made offers to all signed on, so I decided to spend the afternoon setting up a good training regime and looking at Zhang Kun's scout records.

Clement Lebe was his highest recommendation, a free agent, veteran Cameroonian defender with great physical presence and a good passing ethic. I asked my team to contact the player's agent and offer him a contract. Wang Kai, a 21-year-old midfielder currently contracted to Hangzhou was his second suggestion. I contacted Hangzhou with regards to his availability and they informed me that they would want £18,000 and a sell on fee. This represented half of my transfer budget but I felt it was worth it. I made an offer to the player, which he informed me he would consider.

Lian Chen was the first player to leave, for £500 to Locomotive. Wu Lei followed him out of the door, for £1000 to Yanbian. Song Tao was the 3rd departure, for £2,000 to Xinye.

Next, the training. I decided to go for a heavy workload with a focus on teamwork. We would be playing an attacking 4-1-4-1 formation with an emphasis on possession and build-up play, so teamwork and passing would be key.

30th December 2011 - Big Departure

I arrived at the ground to some great news on the fax machine, after battling my way through the hail. My first major sale, Yu Rui, left for Sydney FC for the fee of £20,000. This would cover Wang Kai's arrival, just about, if he chose to sign.

2nd January 2011 - Big Signing

Clement Lebe would be the first player brought in however, on a free. The Cameroonian defender contacted me himself and told me he would arrive on January 2nd to the airport. The local media once again wanted to know everything about the player, but I explained to them that they'd be better off learning about him on the pitch.

Wang Kai arrived the same day on my first money deal, for £18,000. I had been previously unaware, but he had also broken the club's transfer fee record.

The media dug up his injury history, but I explained to him that I was confident the worst was behind him, and we would be looking towards the future and not dwelling on the past.

[Promotion]

7th January 2011 - The Hail Keeps Coming

I thought the weather was bad in England, but China has it bad. Every day of the previous week, hail had been raining down on my car when I got into work, and when I left work, I was really surprised the players could train in such weather, but they seemed to take it in their stride.

My scout suggested a number of options for players to look at, but none of them seemed to fit the requirements I had laid out. I had a meeting with Mr Dou in which we addressed the budget, and I agreed to forego some of the wage budget for a bit more of a transfer kitty - around £150,000. We also discussed getting a parent club, and I suggested that any income source would help, Mr Dou agreed and said the board would look at some options.

I needed a goalkeeper, some wingers, a backup striker and a left back, and decided to look at the loans as well as the markets for some of these players. As a prior youth coach, I was quite aware that clubs would want to send their good youngsters out on loan, so I decided to take a look at what was available.

I decided to scout Su Jingyu, a 23-year old striker available for £2000 with a reputation for a clinical finish, Chu Jinzhou, a pacy striker available on loan from Tianjin, Cheng Xiaopeng, a 25-year-old goalkeeper who had fallen out of favour at Nancheng, Li Guang, a pacy left-back at Yanbian, Qing Chen, a 20-year-old left-back at Hohai University, Ying Hao, a 16-year-old left back currently out of contract, Zhang Chenhou, a 20-year-old winger out of contract known for being fast, and Liang Hao, a technical right-midfielder.

10th January 2011 - Wheeler-Dealing

I made offers for Su, Li and Qing, as well as Jinzhao on loan after reviewing my scout's reports, and proposed some friendlies. Aware that the league didn't open until April, I knew I had plenty of time to test things and get people playing together, but would need to have friendlies set up to do so.

I decided to propose a cup with some smaller teams in February, inviting HB Yingli, JL Huichan and CD Wanderers. They all accepted, pleased to play at the Olympic venue, I hoped that these games would be a good way to raise morale in the squad as well as look for some gems in the lower leagues.

[Promotion]

15th January 2010 - Playing Hardball

My scout suggested I take a look at 24-year-old Leo Gamalho, a Brazilian striker whos contract had just ended. After intense negotiations with his agent, we reached something agreeable and his agent said he would discuss with his player.

Our offer for Li was accepted, as well as our offers for Su and Qing, offers were made to those players which I hoped would bring two more faces to the club. Su came very quickly and arrived the same day as discussions began to sign a contract.

Jinzhou became my first loanee, the striker arriving from the top League with a thirst for first-team football.

Qing agreed a deal on the telephone with Mr Hao, and said he would arrive the next day, and Li followed soon after. I could tell my reporter friend would be on my doorstep later after what felt like a very good morning.

As Yu Rei had left, I had to nominate a new Vice-Captain. I chose Wang Kai as he had shown some leadership in training.

[Panpardus]

Nice start, Promotion.

Good luck in China.

[RizzleKicks]

Very good start.

I hope everything goes well in China