neilhoskins77 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 South Korea's six games winning and unbeaten streak were both new Asian Games Football Tournament records. The phone rang fairly frequently on the Friday, and it wasn't just with news about team selection, injuries and alike. It's because Friday 3rd October was also Transfer Deadline Day in Hong Kong. From our side of the table, there was no intention to bring anyone into the squad. This was partly due to me already being pretty satisfied with the squad I had at my disposal for the season, but also because the Board had already warned me that any requests to sanction any further wages would likely be refused, as we're already overspending on the allocated wage budget. We received two offers for players, both very early in the day. Our 23 year old striker, Hung Kwan Yeung, was the subject of an offer from Tuen Mun. Our reserve left back, Chan Hin Kwong, was the object of desire from Yuen Long. Neither bid contained a transfer fee, and neither merited more than half a second of thought before being rejected firmly. Several clubs were linked with interest in midfielder in Tam Lok Hin. A reporter called me to ask what I thought of the possibility of him leaving Tsing Yi Sports Ground in this transfer window. Once more, I was firm, telling the reporter that there was zero chance of that happening. Our opponents in our next game, Sun Hei Sports Club, did dip into the market though, signing a player we'd been looking at ourselves in pre-season, Congo International left back, Michel de Buisson. We'd narrowed it down to de Buisson or Thalison, and eventually went for the Brazilian, a decision I don't regret in the slightest. We'd get a close look at de Buisson when he made his debut against us the following day. The only other action on Deadline Day would be the announcement of the latest Hong Kong Senior International squad. Two players were called into that squad initially, Shay Spitz and Helio, and would be joined by a third after a withdrawal, with Tse Tak Him also named to join the squad for away Friendlies with Bahrain and Oman. We also have two players in the age group squads, Si Chi Ho, and Brian Fok. ------------ Saturday 14th October 2014 - Hong Kong League, First Division Tsing Yi Sports Ground, Tsing Yi The Citizen Athletic Association v Sun Hei Sports Club Changes are needed for the match against the club currently occupying the bottom place in the League Table, but at least they haven't had to travel far, only across the corridor from the home dressing room, and temporarily into the visitors facilities. Toby Down is missing, which opens up a space for the return of Fernando. That in turn means another change is required, as one of the other foreign players will need to be left out today. It's Russo who is rested, as Sham Kwok Fai is fit enough to come back into the line up at right back. With Festus Baise suspended, Brian Fok is also brought into the side to play at centre back. With most of the players doing their own thing in South Korea to prepare for their own important match, I managed to watch some of the game live via a link of dubious origin on my laptop. The visitors tried to exploit the space behind our defensive line in the early minutes, Reinaldo Peres latching onto the long ball forward, but not having the pace to take advantage, Helio and Brian Fok both getting back and dispossessing him. Normal service was resumed in the 9th minute, Shay Spitz cutting inside from the left and finding Fernando, the forward waiting for Taina to time his run, and then weighting a pass into him. Taina pulled the trigger, and Qiu Shengjiong got a hand to it, but couldn't keep it out. The wingers were showing their finishing skills, and Spitz added his name to the scoresheet in the 15th minute. Wu Wei'an found him on the edge of the box, and Spitz hit a very early shot, that caught the keeper cold, and found the bottom corner of the net. Fernando wasted a 28th minute chance to extend that lead, Vratislav Lokvenc finding him with a reverse pass, and the Brazilian sent his shot across the face of goal but past the far post. Half time arrived with the two goal lead intact, but the second half wouldn't be plain sailing. Our second half problems started just about ten minutes after the break, right back Sham Kwok Fai, on his return from injury, took a knock, and had to be replaced. With no right back on the bench, and none of the other defenders on the park capable of playing there, we had to ask Tam Lok Hin to be a hero, and put in a performance in a position he's never played before. Just past the hour mark, and Sun Hei bluffed, knowing we were trying to protect our stand in right back, they made a run at our left back instead, with Jing Teng leading Thalison a merry dance on the flank. He got his cross in, and Ye Jia met it with a half volley, putting the ball through Tse Tak Him's legs, luckily for us, from a slightly offside position, and I do mean slightly. They couldn't run at Thalison much more though, because he also took a knock, and we had to take him off. Some more reorganisation was required, Shay Spitz coming back into the left back role, Si Chi Ho coming on to play in midfield, and Lam Ka Wai moving out to the left wing. It was time to batten down the hatches, Yuen Tsun Nam lifted forward a free kick, Ye Jia pulled down the ball on the edge of the box, and attempted to lob Tse Tak Him who was off his line, the keeper producing a superb save to push the ball away from danger. A late substitution was made, and we parked the bus to see out the game. A very pleasing result, the players not letting factors put them off their play, and they showed some tenacity, and some good defensive play. The Citizen Athletic Association (2) 2 Sun Hei Sports Club (0) 0 Scorers : Taina (9), Shay Spitz (15) Attendance : 743 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai (inj - Tam Lok Hin 56), Helio (capt), Brian Fok, Thalison (Si Chi Ho 72); Wu Wei'an, Lam Ka Wai; Taina, Fernando, Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc (Young Ho Wang 88). Man of the Match : Helio (Citizen) ------------ A nice win for the lads back in Hong Kong, and we're up into fourth place in the League with the schedule now around a quarter of the way through. We're three points behind leaders, Kitchee, a point behind the surprise package, Yokohama FC, and level on points with South China. But now I have a Final to worry about. ------------ Saturday 14th October 2014 - Asian Games Football Tournament Final Gimpo Stadium, Gimpo Bahrain Under-23's v South Korea Under-23's The team is back to the lineup that has consistently been selected throughout this Tournament, with Lee Ki-Je back at left back after his suspension, and Ji Dong-Won passed fit to play in the Final. Our fast start caught Bahrain by surprise, and we threatened to overwhelm them in the opening minutes. What limited time on the ball they did have, they wasted by trying to launch it upfield, but Jing and Jang dealt with everything comfortably. Meanwhile when we had the ball, we passed it around with a fluency that we'd come to expect, and picked them open in the 5th minute, Ki playing the ball around a defender, Nam staying onside, and his shot across goal found the net off the inside of the post. Ten minutes later, we bust through their defence once again, Son playing it to Ki, and he played a diagonal pass that Kim let run, and Nam fired home his second, a low shot that keeper Abbas Ahmed will no doubt be furious found it's way past him. A constant theme remained, Son still unable to find the net, Ki finding the forward in the 20th minute, but Son missed the target, perhaps his best chance so far. Ki was tearing Bahrain apart, in the 25th minute he linked up with Nam once again, the winger finding the net too, but this time he had started his run just too early, and was flagged offside, pretty annoyed he had been denied a Final hat-trick. A third goal would surely put the game beyond the Bahrain side, and it came in the 28th minute from the tournaments top scorer, Ji this time playing the killer pass square across goal, Kim firing home clinically. 3-0 at the break, and the second half was set to be an early celebration. Bahrain had made changes to try and spark themselves into some kind of a fightback, but we were the ones threatening more goals, and on the hour, we got one from an unlikely source, right back Min Sang-Gi's attempted cross had too much on it, and flew over the keeper's head into the far corner of the net. The opposition did manage to get a goal back to give themselves the tiniest glimpse of hope, Qambar curling a pass in for the run of Ismail Abdul-Lateef, and the pacey striker ran off the shoulder of Jing Hyun-Soo, and slid the ball low into the net to pull the score back to 4-1. Their hopes of any kind of comeback were thwarted when they lost Osama Faraj, who had only been on ten minutes as a sub, to injury. All their changes made, they had to continue with 10 men, and I was happy enough that the game was won to made a trio of changes with 20 minutes left. Nam tried to get his treble with a free kick that had Abbas Ahmed scrambling across his goalmouth, and in the final five minutes, Kim hit a swerving shot from distance that had the keeper beaten, but struck the upright. At last an attendance worthy of the word had turned out to see the team, and they were rewarded with seeing the side win the Asian Games Football Tournament for the first time since 1986. Bahrain Under-23's (0) 1 South Korea Under-23's (3) 4 Scorers : Nam Tae-Hee (5,15), Kim Shin-Wook (28), Min Sang-Gi (60) Attendance : 2,164 Kim Seung-Gyu (capt); Min Sang-Gi, Jing Hyun-Soo (Kim Joon-Soo 70), Jang Hyun-Soo, Lee Ki-Je; Ki Sung-Yeung (Kwon Kyung-Won 70), Lee Jong-Seong; Nam Tae-Hee, Ji Dong-Won (Moon Chang-Jin 70), Son Heung-Min; Kim Shin-Wook. Man of the Match : Nam Tae-Hee (South Korea) ------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdoyle9293 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Emphatic win in the final of the Asian Games tournament and the club side is going very well too. The writing is as immaculate as ever, I'm sure a senior national side or a bigger club from Europe will snap you up eventually, the form's been way too good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Glad you're still enjoying the story jdoyle. Hopefully you're right about my future prospects..... The job is done in South Korea, and as well as lifting the title, Kim Shin-Wook wins the golden boot for the tournament with a superb eleven goals from seven games. He was also second in the average rating rankings, while Nam Tae-Hee lead the assists chart with eight, Ki Sung-Yeung finishing joint third with five. With a flight scheduled for Monday morning to take me back to Hong Kong, I was asked to report to the South Korean FA's headquarters on the Sunday evening. There is was met by some dignitaries and the manager of the Senior team, Hong Myung-Bo, a 45 year old who played 135 times for his country. He looked a bit sheepish as he explained in perfect English that it's pretty much a given that the Under-23 national job is vacated once the Asian Games are finished, due mainly to there being no further games for the foreseeable future. He went on to explain that there was no reason why I couldn't re-apply for the position, and thanked me for my efforts at the Games. Re-apply I did, but I also applied for several other Under-23 jobs that had been made vacant too. For now, I don't have an International job, and I'm free to concentrate on the season ahead with Citizen. It goes without saying that I hope to be back in the International game as soon as possible. When I returned to Hong Kong, I met with Chung, who told me that Sham Kwok Fai has suffered a thigh strain, and will miss another month of action. Thalison will not miss any time at all though. There is an International break, so no game this weekend coming, but four of the squad do play some football. Brian Fok plays 57 minutes, and Si Chi Ho gets 13 minutes in Hong Kong Under-21's home defeat by the Philippines, losing 2-1. The following day both Helio and Shay Spitz play the full 90 minutes for the Senior's, but neither was able to make much impact, as Hong Kong lost 3-0 to Bahrain. The fortunes were reversed in midweek, with the Under-21's winning 2-1 at home to Turkmenistan, defender Brian Fok having a pretty good game, playing the full 90 minutes on the occasion of his fifth age group cap, Si Chi Ho playing 53 minutes before being substituted. The Seniors didn't fare so well at all, both Helio and Shay Spitz again playing the full 90 minutes in a 4-1 away defeat to Oman. As the International break comes to a close, and the League prepares to resume, around half a dozen jobs at International level come up, a variety of Senior and age group positions. I apply, of course, and wait to hear if I'm considered for any of them. Meanwhile, it's second at home to fourth in the League, as we take the trip to visit Yokohama FC. ------------ Saturday 18th October 2014 - Hong Kong League, First Division Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground, Tseung Kwan O Yokohama FC v The Citizen Athletic Association With Sham Kwok Fai injured again, the team needs to be changed around once more. Russo comes back in again at right back, Festus Baise returns from suspension. That means Brian Fok returns to the bench, while Chan Hin Kwong is on the bench as well today, his versatility a bonus as he can play anywhere down the left flank. Russo's return means one of the foreigners has to come out of the lineup, and that will be Fernando, who is replaced by the fit again, Toby Down. Our goalkeeper, Tse Tak Him, makes his 150th appearance for the club today. It was a very quiet start to the game, and it was almost twenty minutes in before anything of real note happened. Morimoto tried to head the ball to Tsuyoshi Yoshikate, but Lam Ka Wai picked off the attempt on the halfway line, and sent a first time ball into the left channel for Shay Spitz to chase. The winger reached the ball easily with his pace, jinked past a defender and reached the byline. He cut the ball into the near post, where Toby Down arrived, and the midfielder tried to jam the ball in from close range, Tsubasa Shibuya at full stretch managed to keep the ball out, and Morimoto hacked it clear. In the 28th minute, a good spell of passing, and Vratislav Lokvenc held up the ball just outside the box, before playing in Taina. His inconsistency in front of goal raced to the surface again, as he tried a sidefooted shot, but got it all wrong and was way off target. We were the more creative of the two sides on the park, even creating our hosts first opportunity on goal for them too, Lokvenc attempting to get to Au Yeung Yiu Cheung's 33rd minute corner ahead of Yoshikate, and managing only to bundle the ball into the back of his own net to hand the lead to Yokohama. Five minutes later we were almost two goals down, Yoshitake dropped a lofted pass over our defensive line for Kenji Fukuda, the strikers low shot at goal was blocked well by Tse Tak Him, who did an even better job to stop the second effort too, despite being on the floor. Our miserable first half continued in injury time, as Shay Spitz injured himself trying to set up an attack. While he lay on the floor, Yokohama counter attacked quickly, and again our keeper prevented us going two behind, making another fine save from a low driven shot by Fong Pak Lun. Spitz declared himself fit to continue the game, though our physio wasn't so sure. At a goal down, and with no-one jumping out at us to take his place on the bench, it didn't seem like there was much choice. While we were still the ones in charge of the ball for long spells, Yokohama were quick to counter attack us when we didn't use it well enough. Lam Ka Wai's attempt to put the ball out wide on the right for Taina was easily intercepted, Fong Pak Lun getting past Russo and finding Fukuda, who cleverly let the ball run to get past Tse Tak Him, but burying his shot into the side netting. Fukuda got past Festus Baise all too easily in the 66th minute, but Helio made an outstanding last ditch tackle to prevent him getting a shot away. In the 70th minute, Thalison tried to find Spitz with a long ball down the left wing, but Gilson Dias headed it away, Morimoto and Yoshitake combined, and Fong Pak Lun took control of the ball on the left with the freedom of that side of the pitch. His left foot shot was low and hard, Tak Him getting hands to it, but not able to keep it out, an we were two down with twenty minutes to go. Now with nothing left to lose, I showed my hand, and made changes. There was major reshuffling made, Spitz leaving the park, and Lam Ka Wai went out to the left. Festus Baise moved up from centre back to centre midfield, and Brian Fok came on to join Helio at the back. Toby Down also came off, with Tam Lok Hin his replacement. The changes made an immediate impact for us, Tam Lok Hin getting into the box on the right, his cut back went too far, but from a central position 25 yards out, Festus Baise drove his shot at the target. Shibuya beat the ball away, but Taina was lurking, and from an almost impossible angle, he swept the ball just inside the far post to bring us right back into the game. We weren't finished either, as in the 78th minute, we got ourselves on terms. Helio headed a ball upfield and found Wu Wei'an, and he shipped the ball onto Lokvenc. Holding off two defenders, he sent a pass low to Lam Ka Wai, who still had plenty to do, but he dropped his shoulder to cut inside his defender, and drilled his shot low into the far bottom corner, his first goal of the season, and a very timely one too. That goal ripped the heart right out of the hosts, but we'd used up the tank just getting back this far, and quite frankly, I was satisfied with a point that had looked damned unlikely twenty minutes before. Yokohama FC (1) 2 The Citizen Athletic Association (0) 2 Scorers : Taina (71), Lam Ka Wai (78) Attendance : 257 Tse Tak Him; Russo, Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison; Wu Wei'an, Lam Ka Wai; Taina, Toby Down (Tam Lok Hin 70), Shay Spitz (inj - Brian Fok 70); Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Lam Ka Wai (Citizen) ------------ We'll get another crack at Yokohama in a few weeks on neutral ground when we face them in the Challenge Shield competition. The news on Shay Spitz wasn't good, he boarded the bus back to Tsing Yi with ice packed right around his upper leg. The physio is pretty sure he's pulled the hamstring, and that means he's out for around six weeks. It's a tough break for him, and for us, there's no doubt whatsoever that we're a better side when Shay is on the park. With the transfer window closed, I've got my hands tied behind my back, and that doesn't sit well with me. It was dominating my thoughts about what I was going to do when we arrived back at our ground on the bus. I wasn't in the mood for talking much, there was a lot on my mind. So I sighed when Yu Chung Hang, the clubs Managing Director, told me that there was a gentleman waiting upstairs to see me. 'Is it urgent?' I enquired. 'He said it was, but really Neil, I have no idea what it's about, he wouldn't even tell me who he is.' was the reply I got. I trudged up the stairs, expecting an agent representing a Brazilian player in all likelihood, ready to tell me what a great deal I was about to get on 'one of South America's hottest new players', who somehow couldn't get a club in his homeland at all. That wasn't what I got. What I got was a face to face with a man who was about to make me an offer, and that offer would prove to be one to turn my football management career upside down in an instant........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 As I reached the second floor where my office is situated, I saw a smartly dressed man sitting in the chair in the open plan area outside. He stood up when he saw me, and held out his hand in greeting. 'Neil, I'm pleased you were able to spare me some time today, I appreciate it's always very busy on a match day for a Manager.' His English was good, almost perfect, but I couldn't quite place his accent. 'My name is Alexey Sorokin' my guest introduced himself, and quite possibly spotted the brain rattling look on my face, as I was sure I knew the name, but was actually still very much in the dark as to who this surprise visitor was, and what he actually wanted. 'I'm the CEO of the organising committee for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia' he continued. Still very much in the dark, and obviously with a facial expression that required further explanation, he went on. 'I'm here to talk to you about your application to be the Manager of our Senior national team.' Ok, now my brain was working at a hundred miles an hour. 'Surely you could have just called me to say thanks but no thanks' I managed to say, after what had seemed like an eternity, to me at least. 'Sure I could' he replied, 'But I can't discuss terms in a professional manner, and get you to sign a contract over the phone too, plus I thought it would be good to meet with you and learn some more about you if we're going to be working together.' Now I really was stuck for words, these people had not only taken my application seriously, when I had held out very little hope of a reply at all, but they were actually offering me the job, when I thought I'd be lucky to get a look in for the Azerbaijan or Moldova jobs, which I'd also applied for at the same time. 'Are you seriously offering me the job?' I asked, with the amazement of the situation unfolding in front of me quite clear. 'Neil, I don't know why you're so surprised at this, your reputation precedes you after the Asian Games. The football you had those lads playing was great to watch, and achieved within very little time, we wanted to get in early as we know that you applied for other vacant roles. A look at the history of the Managers of our National Team will tell you that it has been some time since we had a younger, hungry, Manager in the role. In fact, we haven't had a man in charge under the age of 50 since Valery Gazzaev was in charge for 18 months, and that was back around 12 years ago now. Capello, Advocaat, Hiddink, they are of course established world class Managers, but they were never going to be long term solutions. We are hosting the World Cup in four years time, and this summer we were knocked out in the Quarter-Finals by Chile. Then Mr Capello retired from the role straight after our Euro 2016 Qualifier with Turkey last weekend. As soon as your application arrived in front of the committee, we knew this was a great opportunity, for all concerned. Granted, the Russian fans may take some winning over should we appoint a Manager they don't know of, but we're very relaxed about it. Trust me Neil, if you can get our players to play they way you have so far with the age group side in Luxembourg, and the Asian Games squad in South Korea, we believe that together, we can achieve great things, and managing small clubs like this one here, will be a thing of the past for you, with no disrespect intended at all.' He had me, and what's more, he knew he had me too. Sorokin opened his briefcase, and slid a contract across the table. £4,000 a week to be manager of the side currently ranked 13th in the FIFA World Rankings. I couldn't say no to this opportunity, and I knew if I did, I'd likely regret it. I tried to play it cool of course, telling Mr Sorokin that I'd need a little time to think it over. And think it over I did....for roughly the amount of time it took him to walk from my desk to the office door, where I halted his progress by calling him back, and signing the contract right there and then. He chuckled to himself, reached across the desk to shake my hand, welcomed me to the Russian setup, and then sat himself back down. 'Your first games in charge will be in the November International break, where we have two friendly games lined up' he told me. I reached for me diary to check the Citizen fixture schedule, but he had done his homework, 'It's the week after the Hong Kong League shuts down for it's mid season break' he smiled. 'Ok, great, who do we play?' I replied. It was the moment the reply left his mouth that the enormity of what had just happened fully engulfed me, and had me doubting this was even happening all over again. 'A home double header, Italy first at Lokomotiv Stadium, followed by Spain at the Luzhniki Stadium four days later.' I tried to control the wide eyed look on my face, 'Great, a nice easy start then.' He laughed, and told me that the real business was of course the Qualifying Group for the 2016 European Championships to be held in France. So far, Russia had played three games, losing 2-1 away to Ukraine, before bouncing back with home wins over San Marino (4-0) and Turkey (2-1), before Capello took his leave. The other nations in our Group were Iceland and Liechtenstein. Right now, Iceland top the Group with a 100% record, while Ukraine, Russia and Turkey all have 6 points, and Liechtenstein and San Marino are still on zero. My first goal is simply to Qualify for the Finals themselves, and the expectation deems that doing that via the Playoffs would be acceptable too. My first competitive game would be at home to Liechtenstein in March, before a June double header that would be vital to our chances of Qualification, a trip to Iceland, followed by the home return with Ukraine. 'I'm going to return to Moscow, and get everything sorted out for you, you'll be needed there during the week for a press conference, but we'll announce the news of your appointment later this evening. I know your contract here is only for one year, and we would never dream of interfering and suggest you quit, but we would urge you to think long and hard about what happens next in regard to your club career. Be in no doubt Neil, your profile is about to go through the roof, and we have no intention of stopping you from continuing to be a club manager too, in fact we actively encourage it. But we would prefer that it would be with a, shall we say, higher profile club, and we'll do what we can to assist you in that too. Just something for you to think about.' He shook my hand once more, said he'd see me later in the week in Moscow, and left the office and the stadium to go and get a flight. I sat back in my office chair, gradually allowing my brain to come to terms with the dramatic turn of events in the last 45 minutes or so, events that were about to change my life, there was no doubt about that. I started planning logistics and things like that, almost as they entered my head. It's a flight time of 10 hours approximately from Hong Kong to Moscow, and I started looking at the fixtures that were already planned out, and working out where they clashed with Citizen matches. I hadn't taken Mr Sorokin's words lightly, but I didn't consider them a warning either. I had every intention of seeing out my season in Hong Kong at least, and then next summer, well, we'd see where that took me. Later that day, just hours before the Russian FA made the announcement of my appointment, I fielded emails from the Japanese and Mexican football associations, both also offering me the jobs that I had applied for with them at age group levels. Without telling them the reason why, I replied to both briefly, letting them know that while I was grateful for their offer, circumstances meant that I would be withdrawing my interest in the roles. For me, the whole thing had been a few hours of absolute madness, and to add to that theme, I didn't get as much as a look in for the jobs with Azerbaijan or Moldova, but was, apparently, good enough to manage a much bigger footballing power. Go figure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFuller Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Whoa! That's a big step up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilDave Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 That's a huge gig, well done sir! Bit surprised you're only taking home £4k per week though - presumably Capello bled the coffers dry before taking his pension... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 Whoa! That's a big step up! A huge step up Chris. I wasn't expecting it this early, I was hoping to get the job with Azerbaijan or Moldova, and I wasn't particularly confident of that either. Too good a chance to turn down, easily the highest rank job I've had while documenting the save for a story in these forums. Think the biggest rise I've had previously was back on FM'10 when I went Lurgan Celtic (NIR) > Dunfermline Athletic > Leeds United > PSV Eindhoven > Denmark. That's a huge gig, well done sir! Bit surprised you're only taking home £4k per week though - presumably Capello bled the coffers dry before taking his pension... Thanks EvilDave. I would imagine that's the case, and I hope he spends some of that money on a personality..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 My first visit to Moscow, and it was a fairly brief one. I arrived to meet the members of the Russian FA, who had approved my appointment as manager of the Senior national team in Russia, and was then whisked away for a press conference. The questions came thick and fast at a packed conference room in a Moscow hotel. I wouldn't use the word 'hostility', but there was certainly an under current and feeling that I had no business being in this room and managing this nation's football side. Q: You're making a huge leap up the football ladder, what makes you think you're the man who can bring success to Russian International football? A: I'm very confident in my abilities as a manager, and it goes without saying that there are some fantastic players in the Russia setup. Hopefully together we can play football that the fans and you guys in the media will enjoy watching, but ultimately, will also bring some success here. Q: But you don't speak any Russian! How can you expect to get your message across to players who you can't communicate with? A: That's correct, I don't speak any Russian, yet here we are, holding a press conference, and you're clearly getting the message of what I'm saying. Why would you think it would be any more difficult on a matchday? That said, of course I'll be looking to pick up the language as soon as possible, and maybe one day we'll do one of these in your language. Q: Were you surprised when the Russian FA responded to your application positively, and offered you the role? A: Not quite as surprised as you guys I reckon! No, in all seriousness, I was slightly surprised, but only due to my experience and age. I'm glad neither has been held against me, and I'm really looking forward to getting started with the job and seeing what we can do. Q: You just mentioned your experience, or lack of to be more precise. In a managerial career that has spanned less than 18 months, you've managed barely more than 40 games so far, surely you can see why there would be sceptics to your appointment to the top job in Russian football? A: You've been on my Wikipedia page haven't you? Every manager has to start somewhere. My starting point was at the lower end of the football scale, and I've been given a fantastic opportunity at one of the top jobs, and I intend to work my backside off to make this work. I'm not going to get bogged down with questions about my experience. Maybe you should look at it another way. Yes, I've managed just over 40 games, but nearly half of them have been International level games, and I already have two titles under my belt. How many managers out there can claim that? Q: But the football you've been managing is barely more than park football! This is not the park football now, in Russia we expect our team to be a football super power, so how will you deal with highly paid players with huge reputations at some of Europe's largest clubs, who will now be asked to play for a manager they know nothing about? Surely this will make gaining respect in the dressing room very tough, and it could compromise the team's ability to qualify for Euro 2016 from a competitive Group? A: You have every right to expect that from your national side, and it's my intention to deliver it. Of course this isn't park football, and I realise that, though I think you're doing a little bit of a dis-service to the clubs I've served. Managing players of the skill level that are available to me in the Russia setup will be a new experience for me, but I hold the same qualifications as the other managers at other top nations. Sure, they likely won't know who I am right now, but they'll almost certainly have been in that position before, and they'll learn my methods and systems just like they've done with every other manager they've worked under. Once we start doing that, I'm very confident we'll get the results we want, and that you expect, from our competitive games, and we'll get Russia into the Finals. Q: What kind of football can we expect to see you getting the players to employ? A: You mean you've never seen my teams play? I'm insulted! You guys are supposed to be journalists, don't you cover the Cypriot Lower Leagues or the Hong Kong League? I like to place the emphasis on attacking, and I like my players to work hard, pressing the opposition high up the field, forcing them into mistakes, and giving them very little time on the ball. My sides usually dominate possession, and play the ball to feet, even at the back. Q: What do you think you can realistically achieve in France at Euro 2016? A: Hang on a second, just a few minutes ago you guys were casting doubts that we could make the Finals at all, and now you want me to tell you that we're going to win it, or guarantee we'll be in the last four? Why don't we just concentrate our efforts on getting out of what we have to acknowledge is a difficult Group, with four very good sides including ourselves in the hunt for a place in the Finals. Once we've done that, then we can have a look at what we can do in the Finals themselves and beyond. Q: We've had many false dawns in Russian football, with several of our teams labelled as 'golden generations', but never managing to live up to expectations and deliver the major title that the nations football fans crave. Where do you place Russia's football in the pecking order at the moment. A: No doubt there is plenty of money in the countries domestic football right now, but where there is plenty of money, there is usually plenty of foreign players in the domestic game, and that can mean that the young Russian players who should, or need, to be playing top level club football, may not be getting the time on the park that they have in the past, which in turn means they may not get the big move to the top clubs who are traditional European super powers. Those players need to be playing in the Premier Division, and in turn the Champions League and the Europa League. Once that happens, they'll come into the National setup with no fears, and Russian football will flourish. Let's not pressure these players unduly, let them take their learning curve, support them, praise them when it's due, but not build them up on pedestal's only to knock them down if they make a mistake occasionally. Just one more question now guys, we need to move on...... Q: What do you know of the players in the Russia setup at the moment, and which players will you be looking to build your team around? Capello was often accused of picking players who were too old, and looking too much into which club they were playing for. A: I've only been in the job for 48 hours, and genuinely only knew this was going to happen a few hours before the announcement was made, so I have had only limited opportunity to do my homework so far. In Capello's last squad, there was no-one over the age of 32, which I don't consider particularly old. You have to strike a balance of course, and when you have a goalkeeper of the quality of Igor Akinfeev to call upon, it would be tempting to build a side from the back. But there's plenty to be excited about going forward too, with players like Alan Dzagoev, and Alexandr Kokorin who I know is having a fantastic season with Dinamo Moscow. Overall, I'd say that we're pretty well equipped to compete, but of course it's one thing saying it in a press conference, and another thing getting it done on the pitch and making sure the results go our way. I won't be picking my squad from reputation or transfer market value, I'll be picking the squad based on players who will work hard, will fit into the systems I want us to be able to play, and are preferably playing regular First Team football at their club. Thanks for your time ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure I'll be getting to know you all better over the coming months. With that, I left my first press conference as the manager of the Russian side, and there was even a smattering of applause as I made my way out of the conference room. Alexey Sorokin was there to meet me, and lead me off to my next task for the day, a hectic day, as I would be flying back to Hong Kong the following day to prepare Citizen for this weekend's League match. Sorokin assured me that the press conference had gone well, and that I may even have managed to get one or two members of the press 'onside' after that session. On the flight back to Hong Kong, my hopes of getting some sleep were ruined, my mind racing with ideas. So far, I'd amassed a very good win percentage by using two formations, tactics, systems, call them what you will, pretty much exclusively. The 4-2-3-1 had been very successful so far, and even when I'd needed to 'park the bus', that was literally a defensive variation of our regular tactic. Such reliance on one tactic was unlikely to wash at top level International football, although I was quite happy that my regular system would have it's place. But when we faced the better nations, as we would of course, then we needed to be ready with not just 'plan b', but quite possibly 'c & d' as well. I've not actually found myself in a position as yet where I've had two good out and out strikers competing for position in any of my line ups, so playing more than one striker has not been necessary. That will, of course, change very quickly with Russia, and the idea of a 4-1-3-2 or 3-5-2 started to appeal to me. I had a lot of work to do before I could start thinking about the first squad selection for next months Friendly matches, but I had a club match with Citizen coming up, and that needed to be my immediate focus of attention. ------------ Saturday 25th October 2014 - Hong Kong League, First Division Meong Kok Stadium, Meong Kok Eastern Athletic Association v The Citizen Athletic Association Changes would be needed for today. Not least because Ricardo Herensperger is unhappy with his lack of playing time, and when he came to my office, I couldn't really give him a valid reason why he wasn't playing that didn't involve the foreign player limit. Thalison gets a rest, meaning a first outing of the season for left sided local player, Chan Hin Kwong. In midfield, Wu Wei'an will now be partnered by Ricardo Herensperger, with Lam Ka Wai playing on the left to replace the injured Shay Spitz. On the right, Taina is given a rest, with Tam Lok Hin playing on that flank, a move that allows Fernando to come into the line up and play behind Vratislav Lokvenc. Eastern are near the foot of the table, where they were predicted to be in pre-season. But after a very quiet start to the game, that was becoming a midfield battle, two individual lapses in concentration contributed in handing Eastern a 29th minute lead. On the right flank, Liao Lisheng curled a through ball into the edge of the box, but Festus Baise had a good three or four yard head start on Dylan MacAllister. However, the defender didn't chase the ball down properly, seeming to wait for Helio to deal with it, allowing the Australian striker to get ahead of him and reach the ball. Enter mistake number two, from Tse Tak Him, who didn't get his body properly behind MacAllister's shot, and the ball spun off him, and into the air, before finding the net off the underside of the cross bar. I wasn't happy that we had fallen behind, the players always knows this when I'm seen marshalling the edge of the technical area. They rectified the situation pretty quickly. In the 33rd minute, a free kick into our box was headed clear by Helio, and he found Vratislav Lokvenc on the edge of the centre circle in our own half. The big striker moved into the right channel with the ball, at a pace quick enough to keep us ahead of the retreating defenders, but also slow enough to allow our other forwards to join him upfield. When one of the defenders did manage to get in front of him, he rolled the ball back to Wu Wei'an, who picked out Fernando near the penalty spot, who took one touch to control the ball, and then shot a half volley on the turn, low into the bottom corner of the net. The turnaround was completed in the 43rd minute, another play from the back, and we went straight through the middle of the park, Ricardo Herensperger and Wei'an involved before finding Lokvenc. While the striker isn't finding the net at the moment, he's certainly still contributing, this time sending a short diagonal pass in for Fernando, who surprised the keeper by shooting early, and beating the keeper from the edge of the box. Half time, and a slender advantage. I told the players they had done a good job so far, but I wanted a little more out of them. It took just 51 seconds of play after the restart to get that little bit more. Tam Lok Hin's cross from the right edge of the box was aimed to the far post, where Lam Ka Wai was beaten to it. The header clear only found Herensperger just outside the box, and the Argentine quickly picked out Fernando in a central position, around 15 yards out. There was never any danger of him not shooting, and his shot arrowed into the top corner, his first goalscoring performance of the season results in a hat-trick. In the 72nd minute, Herensperger, who had been a little quiet, showed a touch of class in the centre of the park. Lokvenc was tackled from behind and sent crashing to the floor, the ball rolling free. Herensperger reached it first, with three other defenders converging on him from different directions. He dragged the ball away from one, nutmeged another, and beat the third with a drop of the shoulder. It was sublime from the youngster, and the visiting fans behind the goal showed their approval. He sent the ball to Wei'an, who then squared the ball to Fernando. He let fly once again, beating the keeper, but the shot struck the base of the post, and kind of sticking there. It took a couple of go's for Paulo Cesar to hold onto the ball, only just doing so before Lokvenc arrived on the scene. In the 82nd minute, Eastern showed they hadn't quite finished yet, as Wong Chin Hung curled a diagonal ball from the left over our defensive line, trying to exploit the pace of MacAllister. The striker ran in on goal, but shot from the edge of the box, when going around Tak Him looked the best option. The keeper pushed the shot away, and Russo even managed to prevent it going out for a corner. I made all three of my changes with just over five minutes remaining to shore up the lead, and we were pretty comfortable through to the final whistle. Three points in the bank on the road, and we push our way up to third place after other results. Eastern Athletic Association (1) 1 The Citizen Athletic Association (2) 3 Scorers : Fernando (33,43,46) Attendance : 883 Tse Tak Him; Russo, Helio, Festus Baise, Chan Hin Kwong; Wu Wei'an (Brian Fok 84), Ricardo Herensperger; Tam Lok Hin, Fernando (Toby Down 84), Lam Ka Wai; Vratislav Lokvenc (Hung Kwan Yeung 84). Man of the Match : Fernando (Citizen) ------------ The fans were very happy with that result, and now around a third of the way into the season, it would be fair to say that we were exceeding expectations in the League. The first of the Cup competitions starts next weekend, and hopefully we can show that we're a club that can challenge for trophies. Our opponents would be Yokohama FC, who had just lost at home in the League to South China, a result that has allowed us to take third place off them for the time being at least. [i][u]Hong Kong League, First Division Standings. Up to & Including Sunday 26th October 2014.[/u][/i] [i]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | [/i] | 1st | | Kitchee | | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 | +12 | 19 | | 2nd | | South China | | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 16 | [b][i][color="#FF0000"]| 3rd | | Citizen | | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 14 | [/color][/i][/b] | 4th | | Yokohama FC (HK) | | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 12 | | 5th | | HKFC | | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 9 | | 6th | | Southern District | | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 8 | | 7th | | Sun Hei | | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 7 | | 8th | | Sun Pegasus | | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 7 | | 9th | | Rangers (HKG) | | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 6 | | 10th | | Tuen Mun | | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 17 | -4 | 5 | | 11th | | Eastern | | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 21 | -9 | 5 | [b]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [/b] | 12th | | Yuen Long | | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 15 | -7 | 3 | [b]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Its looking not too bad in the League and as for Russia, good luck with them sir. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share Posted August 6, 2015 Thanks Mark. Good to have you along on this one, the League form is pretty pleasing right now. Russia will surely be a whole new challenge though. Once again, four players from Citizen are selected in the Hong Kong League First Division's competition for Team of the Month. Our representatives this time are Tse Tak Him, Helio, Wu Wei'an and Lam Ka Wai. This time we are the club with the most selections for the monthly honour. We get our first Cup game of the season, and another trip to Meong Kok, the neutral venue for another clash with Yokohama FC. ------------ Saturday 1st November 2014 - Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield, First Round Meong Kok Stadium, Meong Kok Yokohama FC v The Citizen Athletic Association We do have some history in this competition, winners in 2011, and runners-up in 2013. A strong side is selected for this Cup game, with the Board having certain expectations of us. Taina was rested for the last match, but returns for this game, with Vratislav Lokvenc the foreign player who makes way, Fernando moving to the striker role, and Toby Down reinstated to the team to play behind him in the support role. From the off, we caused the Yokohama defence trouble. Inside 30 seconds, Taina was taken off his feet with a tackle to the right of the box, but their keeper, Tsubasa Shibuya, easily collected Wu Wei'an's free kick into the box. The fans who had travelled to the game wouldn't have to wait too long for an opening goal though. Festus Baise played a lofted ball through the middle of the park, and Fernando headed it into the path of Taina. The winger got to the byline, and cut it back into the middle, where Toby Down brought a superb point blank save out of Shibuya, but the ball bounced right back to Fernando, who slammed the loose ball low into the corner of the net. Within three minutes, we'd managed to extend our advantage. Helio broke up play just inside his own half, and via Russo, put Taina into space on the right. This time the winger gave the ball short to Wei'an, who used Fernando to get the ball into the box, where Taina swept home a second goal, putting us two up inside ten minutes. We continuted to dominate possession, and the game, Wei'an sending a 16th minute shot wide of the target when he should have scored. At the other end of the park, Yokohama didn't trouble us until midway through the half, Li Shu Yeung latching onto a ball over our high defensive line, Tse Tak Him coming off his line quickly and blocking his shot, Helio hacking the ball clear. A few minutes later, Toby Down took the wrong option when he had the chance to play Fernando in, but Chan Tsz Wai took too long to make up his mind what to do with the ball, and Fernando took it from him, the shot just a little too high though. A third goal looked inevitable, and it seemed to have arrived on the half hour, Down sliding a through ball between their defence, and Fernando lifting his shot over the keeper, but his run was a little mis-timed, and he was flagged offside. Instead it was Taina who netted a second goal of the game, collecting the ball in acres of space from Wu Wei'an's diagonal pass, and firing in off the far post. Taina nearly had a hat-trick before the break too, Fernando finding plenty of room on the right after a counter attack, and he found Taina, who hit a low shot off the base of the upright. Clearly the Yokohama boss wasn't happy with his players first half showing, using all three of his changes at the break. The difference for his team was virtually zero though, as we continued to have the best of the match, and in the 65th minute, Lam Ka Wai played a pass into space on the left channel of the box for Wei'an, but his shot went right across the face of goal. That move signalled the last involvement in the match for Ricardo Herensperger, who had been pretty quiet, and was substituted, Tam Lok Hin replacing him. In the 69th minute, Yokohama finally cut us open. Wei'an's pass from midfield was cut out, and in two passes, they were through our defensive line, Lau Cheuk Hin playing the ball to Hui Ka Lok, who ran off Baise's shoulder in on goal, and crashed his shot right under the cross bar, high into the net. If that gave Yokohama hope of finding a way back into the match, those hopes lasted only around two minutes. Lam Ka Wai had struggled to make any impact on the match down the left, but he netted the fourth goal, a passing move involving Down and Fernando ending with the latter sending a backheeled pass into the path of Ka Wai, and he closed in on goal, and sent a shot through the keepers legs to effectively finish the match as a contest. The two creators of that goal both came off with around five minutes left, and Ka Wai almost finished the game with another strike, forcing a brilliant one handed stop from Shibuya with just a few minutes to go. The win puts us into the Quarter Finals, where we'll face Southern District, again on the neutral territory of Meong Kok Stadium, right in the middle of what was supposed to be our mid-season break. Yokohama FC (0) 1 The Citizen Athletic Association (3) 4 Scorers : Fernando (7), Taina (10,31), Lam Ka Wai (71) Attendance : 360 Tse Tak Him; Russo, Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Chan Hin Kwong; Wu Wei'an, Ricardo Herensperger (Tam Lok Hin 65); Taina, Toby Down (Si Chi Ho 85), Lam Ka Wai; Fernando (Hung Kwan Yeung 85). Man of the Match : Taina (Citizen) ------------ The fans were ecstatic with our win over this season's surprise package club, and Hong Kong manager, Kim Pan-Gon was also at that game too, running his eye over some players he may be looking to involve in the International set up in the future. Taina once again picked up plaudits for his performance, and the Brazilian winger is fast becoming a fan favourite here. His goalscoring would look even more impressive if he wasn't so wasteful on occassion. So far, the tactic of rotating the foreign players every one or two games is working well, and hopefully will continue to be something the players will accept. That will become a little easier to manage when our injuries clear up, and Chan Siu Yuen is the latest to return to training. We'll travel to face Tuen Mun Sports Association, our last game before the 'mid-season break', that was fast looking less like a break, as the draw had just been made for another Cup, one that I didn't even realise we were playing in. The draw is made for the First Round of the 'Main Stage' of the Hong Kong League Cup, where we would face Tuen Mun again. ------------ Thursday 6th November 2014 - Hong Kong League, First Division Tuen Mun Tang Shiu Kin Sports Ground, Tuen Mun Tuen Mun Sports Association v The Citizen Sports Association The rotation continues for this game, Russo is left out, Sham Kwok Fai plays at right back, and this allows Thalison to return at left back, with Chan Hin Kwong dropped from the matchday squad, and Chan Siu Yuen brought onto the bench. The midfield and forwards stay the same, meaning that Vratislav Lokvenc is the second foreign player to miss out for this match. With Tuen Mun having a poor start to the season, and currently just one rung off the bottom of the table, we're heavy favourites to beat them today. Both Helio and Sham Kwok Fai were lucky to avoid bookings within the first five minutes. After the latter of those challenges, our opponents midfielder, Lai Pak Fai, needed to lead the park for treatment, and we nearly exploited the temporary gap, Toby Down finding Fernando, and the striker waited for support, before finding Lam Ka Wai, who took a shot from a sharp angle that was pushed away by Siu Leong, and we couldn't make anything happen from the corner. Kwok Fai didn't quite manage to get to the 15 minute mark before the ref took his name, tugging back an opponent by his shirt when they tried to launch a counter attack. He made amends by being involved heavily in the opening goal in the 25 minute, linking well with Taina down the right, and the Brazilian found his countryman, Fernando. The striker stepped inside his marker, and fired what appeared to be a pass towards Down on the edge of the six yard box. He cleverly let it run, fooling the keeper, and the ball trickled slowly across the line and into the bottom corner of the net to hand us the lead. By the half hour mark, Helio had also been booked, and half our defensive unit were now walking the tightrope, so to speak. I made a note to keep an eye on that later in the game. While the right side of our back four were having some issues, there were no problems for Thalison on the other side of the pitch, who was having a storming game, making some great tackles and linking well with the midfield. He combined both of these assets on 30 minutes, winning the ball, and launching a quick counter that ended with Wu Wei'an side footing a shot that he would have liked to get a lot more power into, as the keeper made a pretty easy save. When we did get a second goal in the 33rd minute, both sides of the team were involved. Thalison and Ka Wai made the initial inroads on the left, before eventually spreading the ball into midfield. Down held the ball up and allowed Kwok Fai to make his move forward, and his pinpoint cross picked out Fernando, who volleyed in from close range. Down missed a superb chance to make it a 3 goal cushion at the break, his shot bringing out a top draw save from Siu Leong. The second half started at a pretty slow pace, and that suited us just fine, considering we weren't in a position where we needed to chase the game. And our position improved some more in the 63rd minute, some more precise passing on the left wing, and the ball was gradually switched across to the right. Taina feigned inside and outside, before earning a yard of space against his marker, and crossing to Tody Down, who finally netted his well earned first goal of the campaign. Slick and precise passing was all well and good, but when the opposition win the ball off us, we need to make sure we do a better job of falling back into position and defending. Our failure to do that properly in the 67th minute left Au Wai Lun free to head a ball into the left channel on for Yiu Ho Ming, and he had all the time he wanted to put the ball across goal and inside the far post to bring Tuen Mun back into the match. I wasn't particularly happy with the way the game was now progressing, as we were starting to look second best, and my biggest concern was one of my two booked defenders would mis-time a challenge. I removed them both from the equation in the 75th minute, and got even more annoyed when the hosts looked to really make a game of it in the 77th minute. Siu Leong's clearance upfield was won far too easily in the air in the middle of the park by Feng Tao, and his flick on exploited a gap between Festus Baise and Thalison. Their right winger, Shen Feng raced onto it, and hammered a shot that beat Tse Tak Him at his near post, and now it was back to 2-3 on the scoreboard. Now our lead looked flimsy, and I put the bus in position, parking it very neatly in front of our goal. Maybe the change in tactic gave us an opportunity to get back our concentration, and focus on simply defending the slim advantage that we had left. Tuen Mun failed to trouble us again for the remainder of the match, and Down came off as injury time started in a move designed purely to waste some time on the clock. We'd won again, but this time we had really rode our luck in the latter stages. Tuen Mun Sports Association (0) 2 The Citizen Sports Association (2) 3 Scorers : Fernando (25,33), Toby Down (63) Attendance : 786 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai (Chan Siu Yuen 75), Helio (capt - Brian Fok 75); Festus Baise, Thalison; Wu Wei'an, Ricardo Herensperger; Taina, Toby Down (Tam Lok Hin 90), Lam Ka Wai; Fernando. Man of the Match : Fernando (Citizen) ------------ So we hit the League's break on a six game unbeaten run, reasonably secure in 3rd place, five points behind leader Kitchee and South China, but with a game in hand on both. We also have that game in hand on Yokohama FC who are fourth, and a point behind us. Defending Champions from 2013/14, the Sun Pegasus club are fifth, and also hold a game in hand on the clubs around us, but they're seven points back from us at the moment. Our next League match will not be until the new year now, but 2014 isn't quite over for Citizen, as there are Cup games to play at the end of this month and early in December. Of course I won't get a break at all, as there is an International double header coming up, and I've got to pick the squad for Russia...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdoyle9293 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Cracking form and great news to have cracked a huge international job at senior level for Russia. Going great guns in Hong Kong, too. Well played. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Thanks very much jdoyle. Fingers crossed I can get the form in Hong Kong to be replicated with Russia. I took a long spell of thinking time before announcing the Russia senior squad for the first time since being appointed to the job. In the past, with Luxembourg and South Korea's age group sides, I had already set in stone exactly how I saw the team playing. As already discussed, that likely wouldn't do the trick with Russia, so I elected to go with a squad that had more flexibility included, not just players that could be interchanged with other players to give options in selection, but players who could fit multiple different positions to allow more flexibility in the formation. The Russian media are known to be, well, challenging. I was expecting a pretty tough time, no matter what I did with the squad, but as it happens, they seemed reasonably happy on the whole. Their biggest bone of contention was the inclusion of Alexey Berezutskiy, while Sergei Ignashevich was left out. I was actually surprised they saw this as an issue at all, as Ignashevich is now 35 years old, though I'm certainly not writing off the prospects of him ever being included again. He is still playing well, but not as well as Berezutskiy, who has been included with his twin brother, Vasily. All three are playing with CSKA at the moment, so something to think about for the future. Their other 'gripe' was uncapped Zenit St Petersburg keeper, Juri Lodigin, also being left out. They believe he should have been included ahead of Lokomotiv Moscow stopper, Guilherme. The Brazilian keeper who now qualifies for Russia under residency rules, is playing better then Lodigin by quite some way right now. I learn that the media were not too happy with Guilherme's inclusion when Capello was picking the squad either, so I won't be worrying about it too much. [u][b]Russia Senior Squad for the International Friendlies versus Italy & Spain on Friday 14th and Tuesday 18th November 2014.[/b][/u] [i]| Name | Age | Position | Club | Height | Value | Caps | Goals | [/i] [b]| Vladimir Gabulov | 31 | GK | Dinamo Moscow | 6'3" | £3.8M | 10 | 0 | | Igor Akinfeev | 28 | GK | CSKA Moscow | 6'1" | £12.25M | 79 | 0 | | Guilherme | 28 | GK | Lokomotiv Moscow | 6'6" | £4.7M | 0 | 0 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Alexey Berezutskiy | 32 | D (RLC) | CSKA Moscow | 6'3" | £650K | 53 | 0 | | Vasily Berezutskiy | 32 | D (RC) | CSKA Moscow | 6'2" | £825K | 81 | 2 | | Roman Shishkin | 27 | D (R) | Lokomotiv Moscow | 5'9" | £5M | 21 | 0 | | Sergey Parshivlyuk | 25 | D (R) | Spartak Moscow | 5'11" | £5.25M | 7 | 0 | | Vladimir Granat | 27 | D (LC) | Dinamo Moscow | 6'0" | £4.4M | 9 | 0 | | Georgy Schennikov | 23 | D (L) | CSKA Moscow | 5'10" | £5.25M | 18 | 0 | | Taras Burlak | 24 | D (C) | Rubin | 6'3" | £4.9M | 4 | 1 | | Dmitry Kombarov | 27 | D/M (L) | Spartak Moscow | 5'11" | £7.75M | 30 | 3 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Denis Glushakov | 27 | DM, M (C) | Spartak Moscow | 6'0" | £6M | 36 | 1 | | Arthur Yusupov | 25 | DM, M (C) | Dinamo Moscow | 5'11" | £4.7M | 12 | 2 | | Pavel Mamaev | 26 | DM, M/AM (C) | Rubin | 5'10" | £6.25M | 17 | 1 | | Alexandr Kolomeitsev | 25 | M (C) | Kuban | 6'0" | £4M | 2 | 0 | | Victor Faizulin | 28 | M (C), AM (RLC) | Zenit | 5'9" | £6M | 9 | 3 | | Alexandr Samedov | 30 | M/AM (R) | Lokomotiv Moscow | 5'10" | £4.9M | 21 | 2 | | Alexandr Ryazantsev | 28 | M/AM (RC) | Zenit | 5'11" | £4.7M | 2 | 0 | | Denis Cheryshev | 23 | M/AM (L) | Lokomotiv Moscow | 5'10" | £6M | 9 | 1 | | Alan Dzagoev | 24 | AM (RLC) | CSKA Moscow | 5'10" | £10.5M | 27 | 8 | | Alexandr Kokorin | 23 | AM (L), ST (C) | Dinamo Moscow | 6'0" | £8M | 23 | 2 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Alexandr Kerzhakov | 31 | ST (C) | Zenit | 5'9" | £1.7M | 91 | 39 | | Welliton | 28 | ST (C) | Botafogo (BRA) | 5'9" | £2.5M | 4 | 1 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b] I needed an assistant manager to help me out with the Russia Senior squad, and there was one man who was willing to help out who has forgotten more about football in the old Eastern Bloc than most people have ever known. Now 69 years old, Gadji Gadjiev has a career in management and backroom staff roles that has already lasted in excess of 40 years. In 1972, he became manager of Dinamo Makhachkala, a role he would hold for four years, before moving on to coach Russia, where he was in charge of the nations 1988 Gold Medal Winning campaign in the Seoul Olympic Games. He resumed club management in Makhachkala in 1999, when he became the manager of Anji, a club he would end up having a long association with. His five year spell saw Anji appear in the Russian Cup Final in 2001, before moving on to manage Krylja Sovetov for three years, his first season in charge saw another runners-up place in the Russian Cup, and a superb 3rd place in the Premier Division. A one year spell at Saturn, and 18 months out of the game later, he returned to Anji for a second spell in charge, this time lasting only for the 2010/11 season. He lasted only 6 months with Volga Novgorod, and a year in a second spell with Krylja Sovetov. Anji hired him once more at the midway point of the 2012/13 season, for his third spell in charge, again a brief one, though at least this time they allowed him to stay on as assistant manager when they pulled the plug on his reign in charge. Now he's back in the International fold. On the day International duty for us begins, the latest FIFA World Rankings are published, pushing us up one notch from 13th to 12th place. Back in Hong Kong, manager Kim Pan-Gon names his squad for the away Friendly with North Korea. To my annoyance, he names Shay Spitz alongside Helio, despite the winger not yet being fully recovered from his injury. I had no desire to annoy my winger, or to hamper his International career, so instead of withdrawing him from the squad, I insisted he plays no more than 45 minutes. In Russia, the subject of a new Captain was something that needed dealing with. It was pretty clear to me that Igor Akinfeev was the perfect for the role, and Alan Dzagoev was named as his deputy. This news was pretty well received by the rest of the squad, with most players very happy with the new Captain. It's a fully fit squad to choose from, with one exception, defender Vladimir Granat missing with a concussion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 ------------ Friday 14th November 2014 - International Friendly Lokomotiv Moscow Stadium, Moscow Russia v Italy I introduce the lads to the 4-2-3-1 that I've had success with to date, as we line up to face an Italy team that had just replaced us as the 13th best in the World. There are sections of this Italian team that look top drawer, like Gianluigi Buffon in goal, and Giorgio Chiellini in defence. There are other parts of it that don't look so good however, like a strike force of Dani Osvaldo and Fabio Borini. For our part, I select what I consider to be my strongest side available from the 23 man squad we have for these fixtures. The 4-3-1-2 that the Italians were lining up in would give them a numerical advantage in the middle of the park, but would see them struggling for numbers out wide. Their plan of going right through the middle almost bore fruit in the 22nd minute, Florenzi and Osvaldo linking to play in Giacomo Bonaventura, the midfielders shot bringing out a low save from Igor Akinfeev. True to the formations, when we had joy going forward, it was in the wide arrears, particularly on the right, where Roman Shishkin was always eager to spring forward to assist his attack minded team mates. On the half hour mark, our lack of numbers in the middle cost us, as Alan Dzagoev was double teamed, and lost possession. Claudio Marchisio quickly sent the ball to the feet of Fabio Borini, and he slipped the ball between our centre backs, and released Bonaventura, who made it to the edge of the box, before lifting the ball over Akinfeev, and finding the net. With a near full house in the Lokomotiv Stadium, there was never any danger of our heads dropping at this point, and the lead lasted only ten minutes. Shishkin and Alexandr Samedov made ground down the right, and brought the ball inside, to the 'keen to make amends' Dzagoev. He quickly found Alexandr Kerzakhov, and the lethal striker smashed a first time shot that left Buffon helpless, his 40th goal for his country, and he pinches in a little closer to the all time mark of 42, held by Oleg Blokhin from the old Soviet days. Our time in an even game was limited however, as Italy struck right back, with more than a little fortune. Giorgio Chiellini sent a very long, flat, throw in, into our box from near the corner flag. Vasily Berezutskiy managed to climb highest, and head the ball, but only headed it right against Dani Osvaldo, who couldn't have got out of the way if he tried, and would be pleased about that too, as the ball pinged off him and straight beyond Akinfeev and into the net. The windy, wet, and cold conditions that had been a feature of the first half, were still prevailing when the second half got underway. There were no immediate changes from either side, and there was little in the way of action until ten minutes after the restart, Dzagoev managing to clear the wall with a free kick from 20 yards, but Buffon held the slippery ball as it arrived at ankle height. An alert Leonardo Bonucci, managed to prevent Kerzhakov from benefitting from Alexandr Samedov's flick on moments later. Italy blinked first when it came to changes, but it was hardly a downgrade, as Marco Veratti replaced Marchisio. Shortly after, I made some adjustments of my own, four changes made at the same time, as I searched for a bit of hunger from the players, particularly in the midfield. All I achieved was parity, but not on the scoreboard, and with less than ten minutes to go, I made my final two changes. That wouldn't go too well, as within a minute and a half of coming on, Alexandr Ryazantsev would go straight back off, picking up a knock that wouldn't allow him to continue. With all six permitted changes made, we'd have to finish with ten men. Yet it was with a numerical disadvantage that we would have our best chance to square the game, Denis Cheryshev sending over an 88th minute corner to the near post, Kerzhakov getting there in front of Bonucci, but striking the post with his poke goalwards from close range. We failed to manufacture another opportunity, and my opening game at this level is a defeat, but one we can say we've learnt from, and thats what Friendlies are for. Russia (1) 1 Italy (2) 2 Scorers : Alexandr Kerzhakov (40) Attendance : 27,297 Igor Akinfeev (capt); Roman Shishkin, Alexey Berezutskiy (Taras Burlak 62), Vasily Berezutskiy, Dmitry Kombarov (Georgy Schennikov 62); Alexandr Kolomeitsev, Pavel Mamaev (Arthur Yusupov 62); Alexandr Samedov (Alexandr Ryazantsev 83 - (inj - 84)), Alan Dzagoev (Victor Faizulin 83), Alexandr Kokorin (Denis Cheryshev 62); Alexandr Kerzhakov. Man of the Match : Leonardo Bonucci (Italy) ------------ The mood amongst the squad was a little downcast after that defeat, though I have to say, I didn't feel that way myself. I thought we'd competed well for a first game in a new formation, and I was confident that on most other days, and against most other opposition, that kind of performance would have yielded a satisfactory outcome. Alexandr Ryazantsev is a doubt for the game next week against Spain, as he is suffering from a dead leg. Pavel Mamaev declared himself downhearted with our outing, while the press, well, ultimately it was a defeat, so the knives were out quickly, with a bandwagon emblazoned with 'we told you so' gathering pace through the streets of Moscow. The more we lose, the more the press will feel vindicated in their opinions that I'm not up to this job. The only answer, is to make defeats a very rare event, if at all possible. If we're going to avoid defeat aginst the current dominant force in World football, we'll need to do so without our new Captain, and with a new call up in midfield, as both Igor Akinfeev and Victor Faizulin leave the squad with a strained wrist and a cold respectively. Jury Lodigin, who the press had campaigned to be included in the original squad, now joins the camp, joined by now veteran attacking midfielder, Andrey Arshavin. The formation Italy had opted for against us had me wondering what we could do to counter act Spain's own brand of football, and some tweaking took place before the second fixture. The flat back four reverted to three centre backs, with a holding midfielder protecting them, four across midfield to provide us with some width as I had no desire to play as narrow as the Italians had. One support striker supporting a lone striker in front of them. That was the plan to go with at the Luzhniki, on an evening when the temperature dropped to -7c by kick off. ------------ Tuesday 18th November 2014 - International Friendly Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow Russia v Spain Taras Burlak joins the Berezutskiy twins in a trio at the back, with Pavel Mamaev in the holding role just in front of them. The four across the middle of the park, including three 'Alexandr's'. Samedov is on the right, Kokorin on the left, and Kolomeitsev is in the middle, joined by Denis Glushakov. Just in front of them will be Alan Dzagoev, with Alexandr Kerzhakov once again up front. With Igor Akinfeev having left the squad, Vladimir Gabulov starts in goal today. The Spanish have a strong starting lineup for this game. As the snow flurries fell in the freezing temperatures, the Spaniards almost got off to a flying start against us, Juan Mata delivering a corner into the six yard box, Javi Martinez rising between a cluster of defenders to glance a header towards the top corner, Alexandr Samedov had stayed on his post, and headed the ball off the line. We were having plenty of the ball, and doing a decent job overall, until the midway point of the half, Mata and Samedov once again involved, the Spanish midfielder cruising past our winger on our right wing, and he sent a low cross into the near post, Andres Iniesta meeting it perfectly with a powerful low shot to give Spain the lead. We almost levelled right away, Alan Dzagoev sending in a corner that Taras Burlak couldn't quite reach, but Vasily Berezutskiy did send goalwards, Reina holding it easily. We had the numbers in midfield to compete, but not necessarily the skill level, as Mata, Iniesta and Isco were a class unit. Iniesta nearly got his name on the scoresheet for a second time in the 39th minute, ghosting past a defender and getting into the box, this time trying to dink a shot over Vladimir Gabulov, who caught the ball comfortably. When half time arrived, we were still a goal down, but I couldn't say I was particularly disappointed with how we were playing. I didn't make any changes at the break, but I was pretty happy to see Andres Iniesta replaced at the break, though Thiago Alcantara isn't a very big downgrade at all. Ten minutes into the second half, Sergio Ramos sent a high looping cross over from the touchline. Gabulov didn't deal with it well, and was fortunate it fell from the sky against the cross bar and not into the net, Mata slamming home the loose ball, but he was offside. With twenty minutes left, Dzagoev's free kick hit the wall, which took all the pace out of it. Reina collected the ball and sent Spain right down the field on a counter attack, which ended with Fabregas cutting us open with a pinpoint pass, and Thiago side footing beyond Gabulov and into the corner of the net. With the chance of a result looking slim, the changes were ringed, five made in the first stoppage after the restart, including Guilherme coming on for his debut in goal. While we were still competitive enough, we just couldn't break down a defence that was so well organised, and the closest that either side came to adding to the scoreline could potentially have been in injury time, Spain considering themselves unfortunate not to be given a penalty, as Gerard Pique went to ground trying to get on the end of a David Silva corner. It could be argued that the 0-2 scoreline was a touch harsh, another on top would've been bordering on criminal. We'd have more chances, and more shots on target, despite being on the wrong end of a 42-58 split on possession, so I wasn't too disheartened at all. I was aware though, that two home defeats, no matter who you're playing, is never a good way to start your International career with a nation who place a very high emphasis on winning. Russia (0) 0 Spain (1) 2 Scorers : None Attendance : 39,571 Vladimir Gabulov (Guilherme 71); Alexey Berezutskiy, Taras Burlak, Vasily Berezutskiy (Vladimir Granat 71); Pavel Mamaev (Arthur Yusupov 71); Alexandr Samedov, Alexandr Kolomeitsov, Denis Glushakov, Alexandr Kokorin (Denis Cheryshev); Alan Dzagoev (capt - Andrey Arshavin 86); Alexandr Kerzhakov (Welliton 71). Man of the Match : Cesc Fabregas (Spain) ------------ International duty has come to an end, with Alexandr Ryazantsev declaring himself downhearted that we couldn't break down the Spanish, and the press insisting that there needs to be a big improvement next time there are Internationals on the calendar. I don't agree with them at all as it happens. The next games are in March, a home Qualifier with Liechtenstein, followed by a Friendly with Hungary. With all due respect given, that's hardly Italy and Spain, and if we play like we did in either of the two matches we've just played, against the weaker opposition, we'll be just fine I think. Guilherme is delighted to have finally made his International debut, albeit only 20 minutes of action, but the press weren't overly impressed with that either and I can't help but wonder if their issue is more with South Americans playing for Russia after earning residency, rather than specifically with Guilherme, or Welliton. Both Helio and Shay Spitz feature for Hong Kong in their 1-0 defeat away to North Korea. The centre back plays the full game, while Spitz plays just the 45 minutes as requested. He got back to the club the day before me, and by the time I'd arrived, he was injured again. He strained his groin in his first training session back at the club, and will miss another month or so of action. Thankfully, we only have Cup games in that time frame, but it's clear that our left winger is certainly worthy of the label 'injury prone', and we'll have to look at managing him carefully I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share Posted August 9, 2015 The sports pages in the Hong Kong dailies suggest that at Citizen, we're running low on bodies, and that the absence of Shay Spitz will cause problems on the left side of our team. They appear to have conviniently forgotten that we've already been without Spitz for two spells this season, and we managed, though as pointed out previously, I believe we're a better side when he's in the lineup. ------------ Tuesday 25th November 2014 - Hong Kong League Cup, Main Stage First Round Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Siu Sai Wan The Citizen Athletic Association v Tuen Mun Sports Association The League Cup, an over complicated tournament by the look of it. The teams enter at the 'Main Stage', but if they are knocked out, then move into the unfortunately named 'Loser Stage', where they will get a second chance to reach the Second Round. Our Board could care less about this tournament, and suggest that success or failure, our season won't be judged on what happens in this League Cup. With the game taking place at a neutral venue, for the first time under my management, we play at the 9,000 seat, single tier, horseshoe shaped, Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, right next to the Bay. The national team have used this ground on occasion. This is not an unfamilar stadium for the club though, as we used it as a temporary home around five years ago while our own ground was redeveloped. While the Board are not really bothered about this Cup, I see it as an opportunity to put a trophy in the cabinet, at a point of the season where we're not stretched with fixtures. So, I continue with the rotation that has been going well up to now. Sham Kwok Fai comes out of the team, and Russo returns to the back four. Ricardo Herensperger also comes out of the team, Toby Down dropping back into centre midfield. Fernando drops back from striker into the support role, allowing Vratislav Lokvenc to be recalled, which means Taina is rested, Tam Lok Hin playing on the right side. The first moment of any real note came around the 20 minute mark, and wasn't a good one, Wu Wei'an forced to come off the park with an injury. I had just one centre midfielder on the bench, though I didn't have any qualms about pitching Si Chi Ho into the match. 90 seconds later, we were ahead. Ng Ming Chun attempted to run the ball out of defence for Tuen Mun, but literally ran into his own team mate, Yiu Ho Ming. The ball fell right to Toby Down, who released Tam Lok Hin into the box, and his diagonal pass across the box was met with a surprisingly deft touch by Vratislav Lokvenc, who got himself back on the goal trail by lifting the ball over the keeper and finding the back of the net. That lead lasted only around four minutes, Yiu Ho Ming sent into space on the left wing, and his cross should have been comfortably caught by Tse Tak Him. His shouts for the ball were either misunderstood, or ignored, by his centre backs, and he only managed to push the ball into the air. Chao Pengfei didn't complain, as he was left with a simple header to level the scores. With as much of the ball as you could ever wish to have in a football match, we weren't managing to be clinical enough in front of goal, and the game was still level at half time. After another quiet spell, we regained our lead in the 64th minute. Si Chi Ho made his mark, primarily on the shins of Chan Kin Chung. Their midfielder wanted far too much time on the ball, and Chi Ho went straight through him with a tackle that the ref deemed fine. He reached the loose ball first, and fed Fernando, who sent the ball wide to Tam Lok Hin. He needed two attempts at the cross, but on that second go, found Toby Down around the corner of the six yard box, who thumped a low shot that gave the keeper no chance at all, and after we'd waited several months for the English midfielder to open his goalscoring account, he has now netted for a second game in a row. We had the ball in the net once more in the 78th minute, Fernando headed across goal, Lok Hin applied the finish, but was in an offside position when he did so. That would be his last involvement, as he was replaced right after, Russo moving forward from full back for a spell on the wing, and Chan Siu Yuen coming on, while Lam Ka Wai made way for Chan Hin Kwong to get some rare game time. Moments after the changes, we had another goal ruled out, this time Russo was offside before centring the ball for Lokvenc to half volley home. We'd been so much more dominant than the score line suggested, having the ball for two thirds of the match, creating over 20 scoring chances while our opponents managed just two. The Citizen Athletic Association (1) 2 Tuen Mun Athletic Association (1) 1 Scorers : Vratislav Lokvenc (22), Toby Down (64) Attendance : 50 Tse Tak Him; Russo, Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison; Wu Wei'an (inj - Si Chi Ho 21), Toby Down; Tam Lok Hin (Chan Siu Yuen 78), Fernando, Lam Ka Wai (Chan Hin Kwong 78); Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Tam Lok Hin (Citizen) ------------ That victory would come at a cost. Wu Wei'an suffered a sprained ankle, and will miss around two months of football. We have enough to cover it right now, and it looks like Ricardo Herensperger will now get some kind of run in the First Team. With Spitz already missing, the press are now convinced we're going to struggle, and our form will start to suffer. I paid no attention to them at all, until we lose another player later in the week, as Toby Down damages his shoulder while lifting weights, and the physio estimates we'll lose him for up to six weeks. This is blow, as Down was now starting to hit some form and show his true potential, in fact, I believe he wasn't too far away from a potential call up to the Hong Kong set up, the 20 year old had improved that much over the course of the season. The draw was made for the Second Round of the League Cup, and we would face Hong Kong Football Club. The only amateur club in the First Division, they had started the season well, but then gone off the boil dramatically, and up until their League Cup win over Sun Hei last week, hadn't won for over two months. A look at their squad told the story. A 15 year old in goal, two centre backs in the squad that were both over the age of 50! Seven players in the squad that had already announced their intention to retire come the end of the season. No wonder we were heavy favourites. This would become our next match, a week after our win over Tuen Mun, and three days ahead of our Senior Challenge Shield Quarter-Final against Southern District. While the build up to the match continued, my name was linked with two jobs in Europe, no doubt due to my position with Russia, and almost certainly nothing to do with Citizen's form. ------------ Tuesday 2nd December 2014 - Hong Kong League Cup, Main Stage Second Round Meong Kok Stadium, Meong Kok Hong Kong Football Club v The Citizen Athletic Association We seem to have played more games at the Meong Kok Stadium than we have at our own home ground so far this season, though the pitch doesn't look so good today, missing a fair bit of grass, particularly in the goalmouths, which are basically mud. Hong Kong FC have drafted in a 29 year old Japanese keeper for this match. He's 5'9, not very good, and has conceded twelve goals in the four League matches he has played in so far. Their back four consists of a trio of teenagers, alongside their 53 year old Dutch captain, Marlon van der Sander. Needless to say, I was pretty confident that we could 'get at' their defence a bit. We'd make a couple of changes ourselves too. Brian Fok was in to start at centre back with Helio, and Festus Baise moved into the midfield with Ricardo Herensperger, replacing the now injured pair of Wu Wei'an and Toby Down. Right winger, Taina, is left out once more, Tam Lok Hin continues in his role on the wing for this match. As soon as we got the ball and started running at their defence, there was a feeling that this would be a good day for us against this side. And so it proved, with barely two minutes on the clock. Thalison loves to go forward on the left wing, and he eased past their right back far too easily. His cross was deep, and to the back post, where Tam Lok Hin won it easily in the air, heading it back across goal, and taking out their entire defence in the process. Lam Ka Wai had the fairly simple task of taking the ball on the bounce and dispatching it into the net. Our opponents were architects of their own misery to a large degree, wasting the ball on so many occassions, even in the opening stages. Their other Dutchman, Freek Schipper was next to do that, his free kick into the box far too long his team mates, and Tse Tak Him caught it easily. He distributed it to Thalison, who sent it forward with a raking pass to Vratislav Lokvenc. The Czech striker held it up, and found Fernando, who rolled it into the path of Tam Lok Hin, and he found the net with a shot across goal that went in off the upright. HKFC's problems weren't helped when their very very veteran centre back, picked up a booking just 8 minutes in. The 20th minute brought confirmation of just how bad their keeper is. Lam Ka Wai beat their beleagured right back with a burst of pace, and attempted a cross. It was too close to the goal, and Lokvenc and Fernando both stopped chasing. Issey Maholo got it all wrong, and the ball bobbled embarassingly past him after at least three bounces. Lam Ka Wai didn't even both celebrating that one. We couldn't even say that we were winning the game by setting a quick tempo, as we were virtually walking around the park with the ball. As the first half drew to a close, we got the pick of the goals for the day. Lam Ka Wai was in possession on the left corner of the box, and sent a short lofted cross to the centre edge. Lokvenc chested the ball down for himself, and then hit a volley that Maholo managed to lift an arm to wave at, and it was 4-0. This wasn't even a contest, and HKFC brought on two of their 'youngsters' at the break, aged 39 and 37 respectively. It made no difference at all, and we had a fifth goal within ninety seconds of the restart. Even Festus Baise, who's playing style would generally be described as 'agricultural', was looking like a playmaker of genuine quality against this lot. He spread the ball wide left to Lam Ka Wai, and he cut inside his marker and drove a rising shot beyond Maholo into the top corner to complete his hat-trick. As HKFC burned their last change, I made all three of mine together in the 63rd minute, keen to give a couple of players a run out, and to protect a few more that were now considered vital to us ahead of another Cup match on Saturday. It was Thalison, Lam Ka Wai and Lokvenc who were all replaced. Two of the replacements combined for the sixth goal in the 70th minute. Chan Hin Kwong, who had come on as left winger, sent across a corner, and Hung Kwan Yeung glanced home with a header, the 23 year old's first Senior goal of his career, which I was delighted to see. We couldn't quite keep hold of the clean sheet, in the 85th minute, Kwok Ka Ho hit a pretty hopeful ball down the middle of the park from the corner of his own area. Brian Fok apparently had no idea that Lawrence was chasing him down, and the sub striker took the ball off him just outside our area, and strolled in alone, slipping a shot beyond Tak Him to at least remove the zero from the scoreboard. More of a concern than that goal was Russo pulling up lame with two minutes left. He finished the game, but was hobbling badly, and it looked like we had another injury concern on our hands as a penalty for our progression in the League Cup. Hong Kong Football Club (0) 1 The Citizen Athletic Association (4) 6 Scorers : Lam Ka Wai (3,20,47), Tam Lok Hin (5), Vratislav Lokvenc (44), Hung Kwan Yeung (70) Attendance : 355 Tse Tak Him; Russo, Helio (capt), Brian Fok, Thalison (Sham Kwok Fai 63); Ricardo Herensperger, Festus Baise; Tam Lok Hin, Fernando, Lam Ka Wai (Chan Hin Kwong 63); Vratislav Lokvenc (Hung Kwan Yeung 63). Man of the Match : Lam Ka Wai (Citizen) ------------ It's a pulled hamstring for Russo, and a lay off of between five and six weeks our physio estimates. The injuries are now starting to pile up a little bit, and two of them are to our foreign brigade as well. At least that means I won't have to worry about the rotation policy for a while now. Our progress in the competion earns us another trip to the Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground in mid-January, where we'll face South China in the Quarter-Finals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 I can't believe I haven't commented on this. My apologies for not doing so. Your detail work is really excellent and adds quite a bit to the work. Again, my apologies for not being better on feedback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 No apology necessary at all Ten Three. I don't know how you find the time to read and support everyone else's work on here, as well as composing your own superb and popular stories, regardless of your recent change in circumstances, which of course, I hope right's itself very soon. Thanks for the feedback, glad you're enjoying the story. The day after the win over HKFC, was the final day of the 'Free Transfer Window'. I was pretty convinced that the Board would block any attempts to bring in any bodies, as they were already unhappy with the amount the wage budget was being stretched. Nonetheless, I put out some offers, and managed to bring in two new players, both on short term deals until the end of the campaign. Liu Tsan Shu is a 22 year old attacking midfielder, who failed to make the grade with South China. He has had a spell in the lower levels with Tai Chung, and is a very diminutive player, standing just 5'7 tall, and weighing less than 9 stones. He is however very skilfull, and is also known for being pretty accurate with his long range shooting. Joining him at the club is 18 year old centre back, Clement Benhaddouche. A French national, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, he was a youngster at Kitchee, but they released him at the end of the season. He's a bit raw, and needs some work on his game to play regular First Team football, but he is young enough to improve, and I believe he could be capable of making the grade. He has been capped at Under-19's by Hong Kong. In the last 10 days or so, I have had two interviews for jobs elsewhere in club football. The first interview was with a club in the top tier of football in Azerbaijan, and the club involved were Qarabag FK Agdam, who are currently in the relegation zone midway through the season in Europe's 53rd most reputable League. That interview went well, but I didn't get the job, as they instead hired former Arsenal captain, Tony Adams, who has experience in managing in the country with FK Qabala for about 18 months at the start of the decade. The other job I've interviewed for was in Latvia, with four times national Champions of the country, FK Ventspils. Their season has just finished, and they have ended up a very disappointing 6th place in the ten team division, albeit only 7 points behind the Champions. This is a third season in a row that they haven't won the League, and lifting the Latvian Cup was enough to secure UEFA Europa League football for the club, starting next summer, but not enough to keep Oleg Kubarev in a job, sacked after just one season. The transfer and wage budgets on offer would far exceed anything I'd ever work with here in Hong Kong, and I'll have an interesting decision to make should I get offered the job, with no decision yet made by the Board at the Latvian club. The League is currently ranked 48th most reputable in Europe. ------------ Saturday 6th December 2014 - Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield, Quarter-Finals Meong Kok Stadium, Meong Kok Southern District v The Citizen Athletic Association I mean, seriously, I may as well just move my office here. Russo's injury means Sham Kwok Fai comes in at right back, while Festus Baise returns to his more usual centre back role with Helio, and Brian Fok drops back down to the bench. Tam Lok Hin moves from the right wing role where he has been deployed in the last few games, partnering Ricardo Herensperger in the midfield, allowing the return of Taina on the right. New arrival, Lie Tsan Shu takes a place on the bench. We started quickly, and seemed to have found the weak spot early on, as we attacked again and again down the right flank. In the 6th minute, Sham Kwok Fai found Fernando with a throw in. He waltzed past two players, and crossed from the byline. Che Runqiu headed away from around three yards out, but the ball went to Ricardo Herensperger on the edge of the box. The Argentine midfielder showed remarkable composure, a lot of young players would have skied a shot from there. Not him, he sent right back into the danger area, and to the feet of Vratislav Lokvenc. With his back to goal, and two defenders around him, there was no chance of a goalscoring opportunity for himself. But Taina was square, and unmarked, and Lokvenc found, the fan favourite winger sweeping the ball in from five yards out to hand us the lead. The supporters love this lad. In the 13th minute, from the other side of the park, Thalison found Lokvenc with a curling cross. This time there was a scoring chance, and Lokvenc shot on the turn, rattling the upright, but he was offside in any case. Five minutes later, and Helio cuts out a pass on halfway, and free Taina. He breaks free of his marker, and switches play with a superb cross field pass. Lam Ka Wai wins it in the air, and Fernando get a touch, a faint one, but enough to divert the ball into the net. But he was also offside. Midway through the half, and a passing move that pulled the Southern District defence all over the park. Our entire midfield unit contributed, with Herensperger quarterbacking the move. It ended with Taina playing in Fernando, and he struck a vicious shot, that Zhang Chunhui turned away, with his face. Yeah, the ball hit him right in the nose, and bounced just past the post off him. It took a moment or two to shake that one off. Still a goal to the good at the break, I encouraged the players on. Southern District went for broke, and used all three of their changes at the interval. As the hour mark past, we finally found a way to get our second goal. Taina moved the ball inside to Herensperger, who shrugged off a challenge, and advanced down the park, before finding Lokvenc. He held the ball up, and held two defenders off, and slid the pass through to Taina, who had run undetected off his wing and beyond the defensive line. His shot curled around the keeper, and into the corner, and we had a two goal lead. In the 66th minute, we had another potential injury issue, as Thalison limped out of the game. Now I was starting to get concerned, Sham Kwok Fai moved from right to left, and Chan Siu Yuen came on at right back. I don't think the defensive reorganisation can be blamed for the goal we conceded in the 70th minute, we simply got caught cold on the counter attack. Herensperger tried to lift a ball wide to Taina, but it hit a defender and bounced to Dieguito. He sent a quick, long ball through to Jonathan Carril, who ran off the shoulder of Festus Baise, held off the defender as he got into the box, and slotted into the net to pull Southern back into contention. That lasted until the 81st minute, where we finally settled the match, and booked our place in the Semi-Final, a corner from Lam Ka Wai, and even a defender with a handful of his shirt couldn't prevent Lokvenc getting to the ball, crashing an unstoppable close range header in off the underside of the bar. I changed my midfielders around, which included a club debut for Liu Tsan Shu. Another nice win for us, which was a club record sixth consecutive victory. It's also a tenth match unbeaten. Southern District (0) 1 The Citizen Athletic Association (1) 3 Scorers : Taina (6,61), Vratislav Lokvenc (81) Attendance : 1,137 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai, Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison (inj - Chan Siu Yuen 66); Ricardo Herensperger (Liu Tsan Shu 81), Tam Lok Hin (Si Chi Ho 81); Taina, Fernando, Lam Ka Wai; Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Vratislav Lokvenc (Citizen) ------------ Luckily, Thalison's knock was just an impact injury, he's fine, and he won't miss any game time. Our place in the Semi-Final means we have met the Boards aim for this competition, but we are presented with a superb opportunity to get into the Final, as when the Semi-Final draw is made, we are paired with Yuen Long, a team struggling near the foot of the table, and with no real form to back up their chances of beating us. Sun Pegasus will face South China in the other pairing, and the Semi will be our next match, after a three week gap. It's yet another trip to Meong Kok, and that will be the day after Boxing Day. Another new body will join the club in early January, though this signing is regarded as one for the future. 15 year old Leung Nok Hang will join from Hong Kong's Police Force club, and the teenager can play in centre or attacking midfield. One for the future or not, if our injuries continue to mount up, then the 15 year old may well be called upon. Fernando is going to miss around three weeks after picking up a virus, and being sent home. On the same day, Brian Fok is ruled out for around two months, suffering a double hernia in training. The job in Latvia passes me by, another 'no thanks'. At least I'm not getting passed over for people who have no reputation in the game, as they hand the job to legendary Ukrainian striker, Andriy Shevchenko. In Hong Kong though, the 'injury crisis', is fast becoming an epidemic. The latest to suffer is Ricardo Herensperger, the young midfielder twisting his ankle while turning in training, and estimated to be out for between 6 and 7 weeks. The two defeats for Russia in the Friendlies have seen the nation drop three places in FIFA's World Rankings for December, from 12th place down to 15th. Italy, Croatia and Norway are the nations that have overtaken us. On Christmas Eve, the Hong Kong FA named their squad of players to represent the Hong Kong League in their annual two legged fixture for the Hong Kong/Canton Interport Cup. This game takes place each year, and the League XI face Guangdong Province for the Cup. Four players from our squad have been selected. They are Helio, Thalison, Taina and Lam Ka Wai. The first leg is scheduled for Sunday 28th December, the day after our League Cup Semi-Final tie with Yuen Long, with the second leg due to take place on New Year's Day. Fortunately, they are still available for our game, or we would have been in huge trouble. Chan Ho Yin, the manager of Yuen Long, attempted some mind games in the run up to the match. It fell on pretty much deaf ears, with the only reply he earned being that in his position, it might be more wise to come up with a game plan to get his club out of relegation trouble, rather than engaging in a war of words. ------------ Saturday 27th December 2014 - Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield, Semi-Final Meong Kok Stadium, Meong Kok Yuen Long v The Citizen Athletic Association Our final game of 2014, and it would also mark my 50th game of my management career. A major Semi-Final was a pretty good way to celebrate both, as long as we won of course. Our injury situation had improved a bit, and so had the pitch at the Meong Kok Stadium. The attendance had certainly done so as well, as the thick end of 3,000 people were here for this match. As far as the team selection went, it wasn't as difficult as you might think, as I had most of the selection decisions made for me. Russo was still out, so Sham Kwok Fai would play at right back again, though the other defensive positions were at full strength. Lam Ka Wai and Tam Lok Hin, both of who had spent time covering on the wings, would partner up in centre midfield, with Taina on the right, and Shay Spitz fit enough to take his place on the left after a one hour outing for the Reserves last week. Fernando had recovered from his virus sufficiently to start, though I knew he wouldn't be able to go for the full ninety. Vratislav Lokvenc rounded out the side up front. For the first time this campaign, we wouldn't have a full compliment of five foreign players starting the match. The bookies were barely taking bets on us taking our place in the Final, but the game started in typical Semi-Final fashion, with nerves clearly on show, and players really wanting to make sure that they weren't the one who made a crucial mistake. We weren't on the back foot, but neither were we pushing forward in our usual fluid way either. In the 10th minute, Festus Baise had to be alert to stop a long ball over the top finding Anselmo, the defender at full stretch to stop that one finding it's target. He gave the ball to Thalison, who went to Lam Ka Wai in the middle. He sent a long ball of his own, this one did find the target, which was Shay Spitz. The acceleration of our winger was enough to get him beyond a defender and into the box, but his sharpness was quite there yet, his attempted shot just an inch the wrong side of the far post. By the midway point of the half we were looking much more like our usual selves, and took the lead in the 25th minute. A move from the back that involved almost the entire team, but was controlled by Lam Ka Wai, the midfielder finding Vratislav Lokvenc, who rolled the ball to Fernando. He used his footwork to earn his space, and then thumped his shot from the edge of the box into the top corner. It should have been two within five minutes, firstly Lokvenc held up the ball and played in Taina, who forced a save from Lee Yangxuan, who turned the ball behind for a corner. Then, from Spitz' delivery, Lokvenc just cleared the cross bar with a header, the striker pretty annoyed at himself for failing to find the target. A goal to the good at the break, and not yet assured of their place in the Final, I told the players to take a quick look around on their way back onto the park, and see just how many fans had turned up to support them today, and make sure they sent them home happy. I was hoping a quick goal or two would allow me to get Fernando, and maybe one or two others off the park pretty soon, and allow them to rest up before returning to League action early in the new year. That didn't happen though, in fact, all the third quarter of the game was memorable for was the ref seemingly remembering he had his cards in his pocket, as he booked Helio very early in the second half for a bit of a nothing challenge. I don't know if Fernando was keen to come off, but he was doing as much as anyone to try and get the match beyond doubt, his 67th minute diagonal pass cutting out no less than four Yuen Long players and finding Spitz, but he took too long to pull the trigger, and his effort was deflected behind. Finally we did get the crucial second goal in the 71st minute. Taina tricked his way past a defender on the right touchline, and swung in a cross that the keeper flapped at, and pushed up into the air. Fernando just simply wanted it more than Li Hang Wui, and got above the defender to apply the finish. That was good enough for me, and I immediately took the Brazilian forward off, he'd more than proved his fitness, and had all but won us the match and sent us into the Final. But Yuen Long hadn't quite given up the fight just yet, and Chu Siu Kei made a rampaging run through the middle of the park, before picking out Yeung Chi Lun, but his shot went across the face of goal and way off target. With less than ten minutes left, and the last of the subs preparing to come on, Lokvenc made his next telling contribution, taking control of Lam Ka Wai's pass into his feet on an angled run, and lifting it over the keeper and inside the far post. 3-0, and the place in the Final was all sewn up. There was still just about time for us to lose the clean sheet, we do almost always find time for that. Gerard spinning away from Tam Lok Hin in midfield, and then curling a through ball over the head of Festus Baise and into the path of Georges Malock, who raced in on goal, and steered the low shot past Tse Tak Him and into the bottom corner. Our fans behind the goal let off all manner of streamers and fireworks when the final whistle blew after two minutes of injury time, as we reached the Final of this competition for the third time in five seasons. Yuen Long (0) 1 The Citizen Athletic Association (1) 3 Scorers : Fernando (25,71), Vratislav Lokvenc (84) Attendance : 2,846 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai (Chan Siu Yuen 84), Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison; Lam Ka Wai (Si Chi Ho 84), Tam Lok Hin; Taina, Fernando (Liu Tsan Shu 72), Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Fernando (Citizen) ------------ Clearly, Chan Ho Yin's attempts at amateur mind games had failed to come up trumps for him on Semi-Final day, and it was all I could do to stifle a laugh when I heard that he'd said in a press conference that his players may well have been distracted by the off field build up to the match. We'll face South China in the Final, two late goals from Dhiego Martins get them from a goal down with 10 minutes left, to 2-1 winners against Sun Pegasus, but the striker is a doubt for the January 11th showpiece, as he injured his elbow in the Semi-Final. The Hong Kong League XI are mauled 4-0 by Guangdong Province in the 1st Leg of the Interport Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdoyle9293 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Top, top writing as per Neil. Deserved form to match it, too. Good luck in the final! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenthreeleader Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 You are doing very well writing in an area of the world where we don't get many stories. I do like your matchwriting style. Good matchwriting isn't easy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 Top, top writing as per Neil. Deserved form to match it, too. Good luck in the final! Thanks again for your kind compliments, jdoyle. I'm happy to hear you're still following and enjoying the story. I think South China will be a tough prospect in the Final. You are doing very well writing in an area of the world where we don't get many stories. I do like your matchwriting style. Good matchwriting isn't easy. I like to try my hand in the 'path less often trodden' as I believe EvilDave termed it to me once. I know from my own experience, I've often been compelled to try Leagues after reading stories from other members of this Forum. I think the stories in this section fall primarily into two categories. They're either match accounts (where I fall in), or stories based around characters. If you're doing the former, then they need to be detailed at least in my opinion. I try and cover other Leagues and Internationals etc, to make the read a bit more interesting too. Inspired a bit by the Awards that were just done, I think I may have a go at the latter too, though right now, I'm only formulating ideas for it. We'll have to see how that goes. Appreciate the feedback from you as always Ten Three. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 The good news across Europe for club managers and supporters is that Pep Guardiola has left Bayern Munich. The bad news for International managers, is that he has left to become the new manager of Spain. As if the national team weren't already enough to handle as it is, they now looked like the firm favourites for Euro 2016. So, Pep will be reunited with some of his former protégés from Barcelona in his new role, and this news, and 2014 coming to a close, has my mind wandering back to this time last year, where I was in my early stages of the role with Akritas Chlorakas, and I wonder how they've been getting on in season 2014/15. They're competing in the Cypriot Second Division B2. This Division consists of just 8 clubs, and is effectively split into three. The top two will get promoted, the bottom three will get relegated, and the three in between will stay where they are. You would assume that the three clubs who came up would all be aiming for that middle of the table safe ground. With just fourteen games in the League season, a good start is essential. Akritas, now under the management of 48 year old Savvas Paraskeva, got that, facing and beating, the two teams that were promoted with them, Spartakos and THOI, in their opening matches. Then life got tougher, as they lost their next three. They then came up against ES Digenis Voroklinis twice in a week, drawing in the League, and defeating them in the First Round of the Cypriot Cup. A defeat against League leaders, and neighbours, Pafos, brought them to the halfway mark, before they completed the double over Spartakos. They were unable to do the same against THOI, a goalless draw was their latest game in mid December. As it stands, they're in 5th place with 11 points from 9 matches. THOI are bottom, winless, and with four points, Spartakos and Digenis both have 8 points so far. A lot of the players who had been regulars in my side last season had gone, and quite a few of those still there were struggling to get their game, Christos Nikolaou and Konstantinos Marinou amongst them surprisingly. I also thought it would be worth taking a look at how Luxembourg Under-19's have done since I left my role with them in August. I'm disappointed to say that the answer is not well, not very well at all. They played a home Friendly in September, losing 3-0 at home to the Faroe Islands. They moved into October, where they would compete in the First Qualifying Round of the UEFA European Under-19 Championships, which they had done so well to progress from last year. There would be no such repeat performance in 2014. Drawn into Group 1, which was hosted by Bulgaria, they lost all three games, and failed to score a goal in the process, losing to Turkey (0-4), Norway (0-3) and the hosts themselves (0-2). They finished the year with a Friendly double header, going down 0-2 at home to Iceland, before finally registering their first goals, and win, since I left, beating Andorra at home (2-0). South Korea Under-23's have played no further matches since I left in October. As the calendar year finishes, my career record looks decent for the short amount of time it's been going..... ------------ Game Time : 548 days. Jobs/Roles : 5. GP : 50. Wins : 33. Draws : 8. Losses : 9. Goals For : 136. Goals Against : 76. Goal Difference : +60. Win % : 66%. Honours :- 2014 : Akritas Chlorakas (CYP) - 2013/14 Cypriot Third Division Champions 2014 : South Korea (KOR) - 2014 Asian Games Gold Medallists ------------ As the New Year arrives, our injury issues are starting to clear up at a pretty good rate, as both Russo and Toby Down are back in full training several days before our return to League action. We're kicking off 2015 with a home match, our first for three months, the 2-0 win over Sun Hei in early October, and I wasn't even there, I was in South Korea for the Asian Games Final. The last time I'd been at a game at the Tsing Yi Sports Ground was the win over Yuen Long on September 28th. What we really could have done without, was the second leg of the Interport Cup. Three of my players started, Helio, Thalison and Taina. The latter two both came off at the interval, but Helio played the entire match, and then announced that he had a cold, and would miss Saturdays return to League action. The Captain has been ever present till now. Another pre match media slanging session develops the day before the game, this time actually caused by the media themselves. In my press conference I'm asked about the plaudits that Hong Kong Rangers have been receiving for their quick passing game. I reply that they have a style that's easy on the eye, though I still believe we're a better team, and hope we'll prove it on Saturday afternoon. Opposition manager, Lee Chi Kin, sees only the bad in those comments, replying that he doesn't need to be told by a rookie manager that he's doing a good job, and that he has no interest in my opinion. Nice words from an 8 year manager who has won the square root of nothing. ------------ Saturday 3rd January 2015 - Hong Kong League, First Division Tsing Yi Sports Ground, Tsing Yi The Citizen Athletic Association v Hong Kong Rangers FC Russo is back, replacing Sham Kwok Fai in the right back role, who drops back down to the bench. With Helio missing for the first time this season, Chan Siu Yuen partners Festus Baise at centre back. In a bit of a boost to the squad, Toby Down returns to the matchday squad as well, sitting on the bench for this one, the midfield and forwards all remaining as they were for the win over Yuen Long. Both Thalison and Taina are fine to play, showing no ill effects from their 45 minutes of football representing the Hong Kong League XI just about 48 hours ago. The pitch at Tsing Yi looks good, but in the early stages, we didn't. From the right back spot, Law Hiu Chung lifted a huge ball down the park, and cleared our defence, picking out Ivan Mateso. The striker angled his run across Festus Baise to prevent him doing much about him, and hit a shot that Tse Tak Him blocked well. Mateso picked up the loose ball, but his second effort was off target. Midway through the half, in theory, our job should've got easier. Fernando found a lot of space in the central area outside the box, and sent a pass into the space for Vratislav Lokvenc. The Czech striker is a big fella, giving you some kind of idea of the force behind Tomas Red's bodycheck, Zdeno Chara would've been pretty proud, in attempt to stop the striker reaching the ball. It was a fairly easy red card for Red, and the centre back took a walk. They sacrificed a man from their midfield to fill the gap at centre back, but as we all know, sometimes, playing against ten men can actually be more challenging, as it's harder to get the opposition to step out of their defensive mindset. Lam Ka Wai took the free kick, but cleared the bar, and Hong Kong Rangers were clearly settling into a defensive outlook. We didn't get any joy against their reduced numbers throughout the remainder of the first half, and it was still goalless at the break. With an hour on the clock, Law Ka Yun hit a free kick for Rangers straight into the wall, and with players moved forward for the set piece, we had a chance to counter attack. Lokvenc carried the ball forward deep into enemy territory, but the big striker isn't blessed with pace, and by the time he laid it off left to Shay Spitz, it looked like the chance to counter attack effectively had passed. Not quite though, as the winger switched the ball to the right for Taina. The Brazilian had two defenders right on him, and sent a short pass back down the line to Russo. Only our full back will ever know if he was trying to pick out Lokvenc and got too much on it, or if he'd spotted a keeper who was too far off his line and frantically shouting orders at his defenders. Either is fine, the ball flew 40 yards, clearing the mass of players in the box, and dropping under the cross bar to put us ahead. Russo was taken off, along with Tam Lok Hin with just about 15 minutes left, Sham Kwok Fai and Toby Down coming into the match. Lokvenc rattled the post with a header from Taina's corner as Rangers were forced to break their defensive ranks now, and it was us who spent the last ten minutes making sure we didn't come unstuck against the numerically disadvantaged side. On the touchline, when the whistle blew to end proceeding's, I was delighted inside, we'd come through a test, but showed no emotion to that effect. I shook the hand of Lee Chi Kin, and strode towards the changing rooms. The Citizen Athletic Association (0) 1 Hong Kong Rangers FC (0) 0 Scorers : Russo (60) Attendance : 804 Tse Tak Him; Russo (Sham Kwok Fai 74), Chan Siu Yuen, Festus Baise, Thalison (Chan Hin Kwong 81); Lam Ka Wai, Tam Lok Hin (Toby Down 74); Taina, Fernando, Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Russo (Citizen) ------------ We'd cruised through that game, and not in a good way either. The players appeared to play with a mentality that they just needed to show up to defeat a side like Hong Kong Rangers. I won't allow an attitude like that to fly, and the players were suitably surprised when I handed them their backsides in the dressing room after the match. 'You think a performance like that is going to cut it next weekend when we face South China in the Cup Final?' I asked. 'What about the week after when we play them again in the League? You guys need to understand something. The honeymoon is over, we're half way through the season now, and teams are going to start figuring us out. So, you guys have had success with this formation, but now you need to learn to take it to the next level, or we need to find another way, which comes with a whole lot of tactical training, and drill after drill on the training park when we should be resting for big games. Your choice!' I challenged them. Lee Chi Kin wasn't happy with the red card for Tomas Red, at least, that's what he told me after the match. When it came to the press conference, he had changed his stance significantly, suggesting the ref had made the right call. He sounded like a man more concerned about getting a fine from the FA than a man who wanted to defend his players. The questions for me focused on the row that had sparked before the game, and I was asked if I was surprised we had managed a win given my obvious admiration for Rangers play. I smiled, and shook my head. 'You guys don't get it do you? Just because I think a side plays nice football, why does that automatically mean that I don't think my own players can find a way to beat them? I know you need to find a story somewhere here, but you're reaching, and I won't allow you to try and cause rifts between myself and my peers cos you're getting bored of writing about us winning!' With that, I left the press conference, and went to take a shower. It had been a testing Saturday afternoon. Our unbeaten run in the League now stretched to seven matches, though we have yet to convince the majority of people that we had any Title credentials. Our total unbeaten run is twelve games in all competitions, a new club record. Kitchee won again, as did South China, but there was a fly in the ointment for the South China club. Their next game was against us in next weekends Cup Final, and they were already without Dhiego Martins. Now they would be without another of their Brazilian stars, as Ticao picked up a red card, and will also miss the Final through suspension. That news was a real bit of news for us. It looks like Sim Ho Fai, our young striker who has played no part in the First Team except a couple of games on the bench, is going to be leaving the club in the newly opened Transfer Window. Three clubs have offered to take him off our hands, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to keep him here. His leaving won't really make any difference to the wage bill, but the fact that most of the squad now have only six months remaining on their contract might do. The club made a profit of £25k last month, though that was primarily due to a hand out from the Board. Yes, I'm overspending on the Boards budget, but even if the wage bill disappeared entirely, this club would still run at a loss. The build up begins to our midweek match, a Tuesday night fixture at home to Hong Kong FC. Once more, the press go with a line of questions that invites a war of words, and easily fills the column inches. This week's loaded question involves the Hong Kong FC side and their 'vast array of experience'. This time, I play the game with them. 'You say experience, I say age' I shot back. Why would I do that, when just days before, I'd gone on record as saying I found there attempts to start wars between the managers tedious, you might ask? Well, because this week, it suits me. After all, while they are writing about me taking pot shots at Ha Shing Chi's retirement home at HKFC Stadium, they are not digging deep enough to find out about the two jobs I was interviewed for in Europe in recent days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 I attended two more interviews, both I'm sure, were once again secured on the back of my job with Russia, rather than anything that was going on here in Asia. The first interview was in Kazakhstan, where Kazakh Super League club Kayrat Almaty were considering me for the job. They play at the National Stadium, and have just finished the 2014 season in third place, which means they will have European football next season. It's been ten years since they won the League, and in that time this is only the second season they have managed a top three finish. Their training sessions would be a nightmare, with ten different nationalities in the First Team squad that only has 17 players. While the interview again went well, they appointed former Slovakian national team manager, Vladimir Weiss. The other interview was in Latvia, and was for the job with top tier club, FC Daugava Daugavpils, who had just finished the 2014 season in fifth place in the ten club League. I have to admit to being a little surprised that I wasn't offered the job here, though that's not to say I would definetly have taken it either. They appointed Georgian manager, Tamaz Pertia. ------------ Tuesday 6th January 2015 - Hong Kong League, First Division Tsing Yi Sports Ground, Tsing Yi The Citizen Athletic Association v Hong Kong Football Club Sham Kwok Fai comes in at right back for Russo, in the only change to the starting lineup as we face HKFC. This is our final League match for a month, and I wanted a win to keep up the pressure on the top two and give ourselves a shot of keeping this a three club race. In the 21st minute, Taina sent in a free kick from the left wing that found Vratislav Lokvenc at the near post. The crowd that had showed up rose to their feet in expectation, waiting for the net to bulge, but Lokvenc wanted too much time and too many touches to get the ball under control, and the defence scrambled the ball away. That wasted chance would look even more important just a few minutes later, as Beni curled a ball into the path of Jason White, who, at 43 years of age, didn't have the pace to blast away from defences, but didn't need it this time. His starting position got him away from our defence, and he blasted a shot goalwards. Tse Tak Him got a good hand to it, trying to push it over the bar, but not getting the elevation on the save to manage that, and pushing the ball into the air, and having to watch as it crept over the line, barely reaching the back of the net. We attacked our visitors right from the restart, and quickly levelled the game, Shay Spitz and Thalison combining well down the left, and Spitz sent a short, low cross into the path of Fernando, who swept home an immediate reply to bring the game level. Lam Ka Wai took a knock in the build up to that goal, and the game was getting feisty, with five bookings in the first half hour alone, three of them to my players. The goal had pushed our confidence back up, and we nearly went in front just three minutes after the equalising goal, Taina hitting a snap shot against the post after Lokvenc had played him in. But the lead was coming, and it came in the form of a counter attack in the 34th minute. Freek Schippers, booked moments early for decking Lokvenc with a tackle, tried to catch out Tak Him by whipping a free kick low towards the near post. The keeper caught it easily, and sent us on the counter attack as the HKFC players tried to get back into position. It was Festus Baise who made the telling pass, splitting the opposition with a deep pass to Fernando. His pass towards Taina was a 50/50 ball, but the winger made it his, and got it to Lokvenc, who having already missed one good chance, wasn't wasting another, firing into the roof of the net from 6 yards out to put us ahead. It could have been a two goal gap at the break, neat and precise passing put Spitz in with a chance as half time drew close, but Chu Wai Kwong pushed it away one handed. 'Concentration' would be the key word for the second half, and I was confident that as long as the players didn't rest on their laurels, we'd finish the job and earn the three points today. Ninety seconds into the second half, we looked to be most of the way through the job. The back four passed the ball around patiently, snaking back and forth across the pitch, almost daring the HKFC forwards to try and take the ball off them. Lam Ka Wai, ignoring the knock that he was carrying, curled a ball to the feet of Lokvenc, and the striker held it up long enough to allow Fernando to join him, and his first touch gave him the room to get in on goal, and curl a low shot into the bottom corner and make it look comfortable. Five minutes later, I reckoned we were comfortbale enough to allow Lam Ka Wai to come off the park, and he was substitued in the 51st minute, with Toby Down coming on for what would be some valuable match time for the midfielder on his way back from injury. That didn't work out to plan, as Down lasted just 9 minutes before crashing to the turf following a tackle, and leaving the park, replaced by Si Chi Ho. I was annoyed that I'd now potentially seen two players get injured at the hands of some tackling that was becoming more and more agressive. I was even more annoyed that it was my players retaliations that were attracting the yellow cards. In the 65th minute, the score was put beyond doubt, Fernando and Lokvenc again doing some great work at the sharp end of the attack, and the latter slipped a pass infield to Tam Lok Hin, who gratefully accepted the opportunity, shooting over the keeper's shoulder and into the top corner to make it 4-1. I was keen to make sure I didn't lose anymore key players with the Cup Final looming large, and took Thalison off in the 73rd minute, Chan Hin Kwong coming on in his place. We were still creating chances, but the hunger to finish them now appeared to be diminished greatly. In fact, the only goal still to come went to HKFC, via the same combination that had got them in front in the first half, though this time they had a lot more help. Beni's long ball from right back seemed to catch out Festus Baise a bit, and he mistimed his jump and missed the chance to head it clear. Still, Tak Him should have collected it easily, but fumbled the ball to the feet of White, who hadn't score all season before today, and tapped home from close range to get his second of the evening. We had the all important win, but at what cost? The Citizen Athletic Association (2) 4 Hong Kong Football Club (1) 2 Scorers : Fernando (26,47), Vratislav Lokvenc (34), Tam Lok Hin (65) Attendance : 739 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai, Chan Siu Yuen, Festus Baise, Thalison (Chan Hin Kwong 73); Lam Ka Wai (inj - Toby Down 51 - (inj - Si Chi Ho 60)), Tam Lok Hin; Taina, Fernando, Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc (capt). Man of the Match : Fernando (Citizen). ------------ Ten bookings in that match, five to each club. So I couldn't go about shouting that Ha Ching Shi set up his team to deliberately go out and injure players. Unbelievably, that's exactly what he did though. despite the fact that it was actually two of my players who were now going to miss some action. Toby Down's return to fitness is cut short by a sprained ankle, and he will now be out for around two months, which is a bitter blow. Lam Ka Wai damaged his elbow after hitting the floor following a tackle in the lead up to our first goal. He's going to be out for about three weeks, which rules him out of our Cup schedule, including the Senior Challenge Shield Final. Combine that with Sham Kwok Fai getting a booking that will rule him out of Sunday's game as well, and all of a sudden, we're looking a bit short of players. That situation was helped enormously, particularly in midfield, by Wu Wei'an returning to training the next day, ahead of schedule from a sprained ankle suffered in late November. I'd have to be pretty careful with the Chinese midfielder. Striker, Sim Ho Fai, leaves the club on the Thursday. He's been allowed to go to Wing Yee on a Free Transfer. His new club play at the Meong Kok Stadium, so it's almost a dead cert that we'll be seeing him around. Our fans are not too disappointed to see the striker leave, as they believe he lacked the quality required to be effective in the First Team. The Hong Kong Stadium, which clearly didn't have much thought given to it's name, will host Sunday's showpiece Final, and initial reports suggest that the crowd will be somewhere around 12,000 strong. The game is also being shown live on TV in Hong Kong. ------------ Sunday 11th January 2015 - Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield Final The Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po The Citizen Athletic Association v South China Athletic Association Russo came back in at right back, and Helio resumes his role as the Captain, now well rested after his tough schedule, and back in the lineup for today. The inclusion of those two meant that I couldn't look to include either Ricardo Herensperger or Wu Wei'an, in the the starting team, or on the bench, without dropping one of my three primary forwards. There was no reward there for me as far as I could see, so it would be Tam Lok Hin and Si Chi Ho who would start the match in centre midfield. The bench looked lacking any real options, Young Ho Wang and Clement Benhaddouche both drafted in just to give us a full compliment of players. It was a fairly cautious start by both clubs, and it was the 17th minute before the first chance was created. Russo delivered a corner that Sasa Kajkut headed back to the veteran full back. Rather than attempt another delivery, he played it short to Tam Lok Hin, and some good interplay with Fernando saw a pass in towards the penalty spot, where Vratislav Lokvenc held off a defender, and blasted a shot that Tsang Man Fai managed to turn around the post, though I'm not sure how much he knew about it. That looked like it was about as good as it was going to get, when midway through the half, Tam Lok Hin tried to get on the end of a square pass from Lokvenc. He was second favourite for the ball, and made a rash tackle that he didn't need to make on the edge of the oppositions box, felling Joao Emir with a truly awful tackle that earned him nothing but a straight red card and an ear bashing as he walked past me on his way to the changing rooms. I was left with a dilemma. The best thing to do would be to move Festus Baise into midfield, and bring off Fernando or Lokvenc for a centre back, but taking one of those two off would severley hamper our chances of causing South China any problems at all. I opted to move Fernando back into midfield instead, leaving Lokvenc to fend for himself up front. With a man advantage, our opponents started to exploit the space they were finding, Chan Siu Ki making ground down the left, cutting back into the middle, and finding Vincent Weijl, who shot a little earlier than he might, and his effort skimmed the top of the cross bar. Two minutes later, Weijl found himself in an almost identical position, after Joao Emir picked him out with a lofted through ball. This time, he kept the ball under the bar, and found the top corner. It was looking grim from where I was stood. With seconds left before the break, it could have got worse. Joao Emir fired a free kick into the wall, and got to the loose ball first. He sent it to the left corner of the box, and found Chan Wai Ho, who jinked back inside a flat footed Russo, and hit a shot across goal that bounced back off the upright, and half a yard out of the reach of Weijl. Tam Lok Hin was in tears in the changing rooms, but he didn't get too many players who were ready to forgive and forget his reckless challenge, not just yet anyway. I was too busy trying to pick up my teams spirits. 'I don't want to see your heads drop. We're not out of this, and I want to see you fight. That's the minimum we owe the fans who have come to watch us in this Final today, when they could have stayed at home and watched on TV!' My players were fired up for the start of the second half, and less than 7 minutes after the restart, we were back in the match. We played out from the back, and Festus Baise sent a long ball into the right channel for Lokvenc. The striker chased the ball down, and held it up, waiting for support. The first to arrive was Taina, and the Czech striker tee'ed up the ball for him, and the winger lashed it into the far top corner from a good 25 yards out. The South China fans behind the goal looked on in disbelief as our players celebrated in front of them. Our joy wouldn't last, as just after the hour, Shay Spitz tried to force a pass that really wasn't on, and South China hit us with the pace of category five hurricaine. Jack Sealey sent the ball right for Sasa Kajkut, and he crossed into the middle, where Chan Siu Ki was unmarked, and headed home to put them back in front. I was looking at my bench, and looking at my options, when we unexpectedly pegged our opponents back once more midway through the half. Taina got the ball on the right, and the defence converged on him, but he played a clever pass in for Fernando, and he was the one who attacked the space on the right, before squaring it to Lokvenc. The striker smashed a low shot that found it's home just inside the far post, and put the South China fans back in their seats once more. But more problems were on the horizon, and just five minutes later, Fernando had to come off injured. Liu Tsan Shu came on for him, and we reorganised, with Russo, Helio and Thalison forming an all Brazilian back three, Festus Baise going into a midfield duo with Si Chi Ho, and Tsan Shu would play in the attcking midfield role with the wingers either side and Lokvenc up top. I didn't expect it to be quite so effective as it was. Helio got up highest to head a goal kick back upfield, and Tsan Shu reached the ball first, and he drove at the defence, before sliding a pass between the centre back, Lokvenc getting onto it with a perfectly timed run, and lifting the ball over the advancing keeper to break South China's hearts and spirits with little less than ten minutes remaining. When they needed a response, they couldn't muster one, and I was really killing the clock and giving seconds on the park when I burned my remaining changes with seconds left. Our name was on the trophy, and I was delighted to see Helio lift it aloft in front of our fans, and a national TV audience. The Citizen Athletic Association (0) 3 South China Athletic Association (1) 2 Scorers : Taina (52), Vratislav Lokvenc (68,81) Attendance : 12,384 Tse Tak Him; Russo (Chan Siu Yuen 90), Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison; Tam Lok Hin, Si Chi Ho (Chan Hin Kwong 90+2); Taina, Fernando (inj - Liu Tsan Shu 72), Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Vratislav Lokvenc (Citizen). ------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 With a week until our next game, the squad and staff were given permission to party through the night and celebrate the club's first trophy for four years. The club won £30,130 for winning the Shield, and £4,500 was distributed between the squad as a bonus. In the changing rooms after the game, Tam Lok Hin was given an official warning, then told to dry his eyes, and go and celebrate with the rest of the squad. The lad made a rash decision that could have cost us dearly, but all was well that ends well, and he was clearly distraught at what he'd done. The Board were delighted with the unexpected success, and the fans were over the moon that this unfashionable club had picked up the first silverware of the campaign, and we were very much in the hunt for some more too. I know the Russians expect me to move onto bigger and better things at the end of the season, but right now, despite the fact that I've been going for jobs elsewhere, this might be the best place for me to be. It's already been an enjoyable season, and it might get even better yet. Tam Lok Hin gets an extra two matches on his ban, which wasn't entirely unexpected. Southern District have offered to take Ricardo Herensperger on loan for the remainder of the season. Even the fact that they offered to pay his entire salary of £450 a week wasn't going to convince me. While Herensperger may not be first choice right now, down to his status as a Foreign player as much as anything else, I have no doubt about his abilities and I think he still has more than a bit part to play in the rest of this campaign. After our big day against South China, we had another game against them straight away, as they would get an immediate chance to gain revenge in the League Cup fixture. ------------ Sunday 18th January 2015 - Hong Kong League Cup, Main Stage Quarter-Final Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Siu Sai Wan South China Athletic Association v The Citizen Athletic Association With Tam Lok Hin suspended, a change is required in midfield, and the only options I have are to move Festus Baise into midfield and bring in a change at centre back, or push Wu Wei'an back into action earlier than would be classed as ideal. I went for the latter, which meant one of the other foreign players would need to sit out. That would be Russo, and Sham Kwok Fai would start at right back in the Brazilian's place. South China would be closer to what they would consider as full strength, with both Dhiego Martins and Ticao available for selection today. I was expecting a pretty major backlash from our opponents, but not quite the one I got, when Ticao was lucky to avoid a booking within 30 seconds after clattering Shay Spitz out on the left touchline. It was even more unexpected when we tore through the South China defence in the 11th minute to open the scoring. Si Chi Ho and Wu Wei'an had started well in centre midfield, and they played some neat passing that also involved Fernando, before the ball went into the channel, where it was Vratislav Lokvenc's strength rather than pace that won him the ball. He managed to make a yard of room too, and got in a cross to the near post, where Fernando popped up to volley home emphatically to hand us the advantage. Still, I expected the storm to arrive from South China, and still, they didn't really manage to produce that, and five minutes after opening the scoring, we added to it. Play began from the back, and eventually went down the left, where Spitz was thoroughly enjoying himself. He whipped a cross on the run into the middle, and again it was Fernando who was picked out, and he directed the ball past the keeper low down past his feet to make it 2-0. This stadium holds around 9,000, but there were less than 100 in there today, emphasising how poorly regarded this Cup is held in Hong Kong. Still, I was delighted to see us giving the club who have handed us our only League defeat to date, a torrid time. And in the 37th minute, we moved three goals clear. Again the ball was played to feet from the back, this time down the right, and the ball went to Taina just inside his own half. With Fernando by now hobbling, the defence focused their attention on Lokvenc, which would prove to be a mistake. Taina angled the through ball between the defenders and Fernando raced through and into the box, going in on a diagonal run, and placing his shot out of the keepers reach and into the far top corner to complete a first half hat trick. With the job looking near enough done, I told Fernando to sit out the second half. He wasn't entirely overjoyed about that, but with a break on the horizon before some important League games, I wasn't prepared to take a risk with a player that was becoming more and more vital to us by the week. Liu Tsan Shu came on in his place. The second half was a much quieter affair than the opening 45 minutes, and the first action of the half came on the hour, where South China caught us cold on the break and pulled a goal back. Taina and Sham Kwok Fai failed to get a cross into the box between them on the right, and Kwok Kin Pong sent it upfield, picking out Dhiego Martins near halfway. He gave it to Ticao, who sent it wide to Vincent Weijl. He got all the way to the byline, and floated a cross to the far post, where Dhiego Martins arrived and finished with a powerful downward header into the bottom corner that gave Tse Tak Him no chance. We nearly reinstated our three goal lead just moments later, a long throw from Wei'an caused confusion, Taina's shot was blocked but went back to him, and he sent a second effort snap shot at goal, that Tsang Man Fai was more than a little fortunate to get around the post, he didn't know a great deal about it. From the corner, South China launched another counter attack, very similar to the one that got them their goal. This time, it was Vincent Weijl at the far post, but his shot came back off the cross bar and we breathed again. Taina and Wu Wei'an both came off with around 10 minutes left, Spitz moving to the right to allow Chan Hin Kwong to play on the left, and Festus Baise going into midfield to allow a Senior pro debut for teenager, Clement Benhaddouche in defence. Ticao missed a glorious chance in the 87th minute to make the final few minutes interesting for our opponents, but he blazed his shot over the bar when clean in on goal. Benhaddouche picked up a yellow card in injury time, showing that he wasn't prepared to shirk a tough challenge. We'd beaten South China for the second time in a week, and would move into the Semi-Finals of the League Cup. While the Board didn't care less about this Cup, I was eyeing up our second piece of silverware of the campaign. South China Athletic Association (0) 1 The Citizen Athletic Association (3) 3 Scorers : Fernando (11,16,37) Attendance : 98 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai, Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison; Wu Wei'an (Clement Benhaddouche 80), Si Chi Ho; Taina (Chan Hin Kwong 80), Fernando (inj - Liu Tsan Shu 45), Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Fernando (Citizen). ------------ Our Quarter-Final win earns us a Semi-Final date with Sun Pegasus at the same venue as our win over South China. The match is scheduled for Sunday 15th February, when we due to meet them in a League match. That First Division game is now rescheduled for the Thursday before, creating another double header on the fixture list. We haven't beaten them in any of our last three fixtures against them, though I was only in charge for one of those, the 2-2 draw at their place on the opening day of the campaign. The Champions are way off the pace in the First Division at the moment, 15 points behind leaders Kitchee, and sitting just below the mid table line in 7th place with 10 points. Fernando suffered no ill effects from his knock, in fact there was more concern that he might start suffering from 'big ego syndrome', as the press were falling over themselves to praise his performance against South China. There was also some media attention for Clement Benhaddouche, who was interviewed by the local press after his debut, and declared himself delighted to be getting some First Team opportunities so early after arriving at the club, and said he was determined to put in the work to get his game to the level that made it impossible to leave him out. It's always good to read that kind of thing from a young player. Another centre back keen to make his mark on the First Team was Brian Fok. He's back in training after missing five weeks with a hernia injury. Ricardo Herensperger is also back in training after his twisted ankle, but both would have to wait until the mini break was over now, as our next game was just 48 hours after the win in the League Cup. The run of Cup matches continue with the start of our Hong Kong FA Cup campaign, and a return to the Meong Kok Stadium, the neutral venue for our tie with Hong Kong Football Club. ------------ Tuesday 20th January 2015 - Hong Kong FA Cup, First Round Meong Kok Stadium, Meong Kok Hong Kong Football Club v The Citizen Athletic Association It was a slightly weary, but unchanged side, that took to the park for our third meeting of the season with HKFC. In the previous two matches with them, we'd outscored our opponents by 10-3, but the majority of the first half in this one would be frustrating to say the least. We dominated the match, pinning HKFC into their own half, as they adopted a counter attacking strategy that was very short on counter attacking intent. For our part, we struggled to break them down and create any real goalscoring chances. The first real chance we did get came right on half time, and Vratislav Lokvenc smashed it into the net from 15 yards out, meeting Taina's cut back from the byline, and giving the keeper no chance with a shot that would've been painful to be on the end of had it gone into the crowd. The second half didn't offer much in the way of relief for the HKFC defence, as we pushed forward looking for the goal that would likely kill off the match. That goal came 20 minutes after the break, Taina catching out the defence by sending a free kick out to the left for Thalison, rather than deliver into the box. The big Brazilian full back made ground, and sent in a cross that was perfect for Lokvenc, and he guided his header inside the near post to put some distance between us and our opponents. Five minutes after the goal I made a treble change, with Chan Hin Kwong replacing Thalison at left back, and Wu Wei'an and Si Chi Ho both coming off, with Liu Tsan Shu and Chan Siu Yuen coming on, the latter going into centre back, with Festus Baise pushing into midfield. Lokvenc thought he'd become the second Citizen player in successive games to net hat tricks in the 76th minute, when he dispatched the ball into the top corner of the net, but he was slightly offside when Fernando played him in. HKFC didn't manage a single shot on target in the whole match, and we cruised into the next round, significantly more comfortably than the scoreline suggested. Hong Kong Football Club (0) 0 The Citizen Athletic Association (1) 2 Scorers : Vratislav Lokvenc (45,65) Attendance : 360 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai, Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison (Chan Hin Kwong 70); Wu Wei'an (Liu Tsan Shu 70), Si Chi Ho (Chan Siu Yuen 70); Taina, Fernando, Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Vratislav Lokvenc (Citizen). ------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 The latest ranking for Asian Competitions are released, and they make quite interesting reading. When I arrived here, the Hong Kong First Division was ranked 30th out the Asian Leagues, but has now pushed itself up a couple of spots into 28th over the last few months. The Japanese J-League remains at number one, with South Korea's K-League Classic up into second place. The Saudi Professional League jumps into third place, overtaking both the Qatari Stars League, and India's Hero Super League, who round out the top five. China's Super League is still 6th, the UAE Professional League makes good progress, up from 13th to 8th, and the Kuwaiti Premier League jumps from 15th to 11th, ahead of Japan's J-League Division 2, Australia's Hyundai A-League, and Malaysia's Liga Super. The Second Division in Hong Kong moves up four spots from 71st into 67th place. In the Cup Competition Rankings, top of the pile is the Coupe Suruga Bank, which is the annual match between Japan's J-League Cup winners, and South America's holders of the second tier continental Copa Sudamericana. The second ranked Cup is a bit of a surprise, as it's the North New South Wales State Knockout Cup in Australia. Third place goes to Japan's Emperor's Cup. The Korean FA Cup, Saudi Crown Prince Cup, and Saudi Champions Cup all move up the rankings, while Japan's League Cup and Australia's Hyundai A-League Grand Final Series move down. The Chinese FA Cup drops out of the top ten, replaced by the Saudi Super Cup. The Presidents Cup from the UAE moves up four spots to go into 13th. The highest ranked Cup competition in Hong Kong is now the Senior Challenge Shield that we've just won, which has moved up from 55th place to sneak into the top 50 in 49th spot. That's followed by the Hong Kong FA Cup, up from 61st place to 57th place, and then the Hong Kong League Cup, which has moved up from 73rd place into 62nd. The club's win in the FA Cup match has now established a new club record of 12 wins in a row. It's a fantastic achievement from the players, but with the business end of the season approaching, and the club still involved in two Cups and the League, fixture pile ups are inevitable, and our small squad is going to have a challenge to keep that run going. But at least the injury problems are starting to clear up, and the latest to return to training is Lam Ka Wai, who has missed a few weeks with a damaged elbow. Our last two matches have been attended by members of Hong Kong's International staff, who as well as keeping an eye on Helio and Shay Spitz, who are already involved in the Senior setup, have also been checking in on some of our younger players for the age group squads. The Under-22's Asian Nations Cup is upcoming in India, and two of my players are called into Hong Kong's squad for the Tournament. Both Si Chi Ho and Brian Fok will be involved when the national team's age group representatives take part in Group C, against China, Iran and Jordan. The end of January brings the end of the Transfer Window, and while we have no plans to bring any players in due to the club already overspending on the wage budget, our players are being targeted by other clubs. The bidding starts early, with Brazilian Fourth Division club, Aparecidense, making a bid of just over £10,000 for Fernando. The bid isn't immediately rejected, but instead, is negotiated, the Brazilian club told they need to come up with closer to £50,000 to purchase him. They leave the negotiation when they're quoted that figure. The club we share our ground with, Sun Hei Sports Club, don't look too far in their efforts to find a midfielder, as they ask for Ricardo Herensperger on loan for the rest of the season. That decision is an easy 'no' to give. Defender, Chan Siu Yuen is the target for Tuen Mun Sports Association, but their offer to take him on a Free Transfer is rejected. South China and Sun Pegasus are taking part in the Asian Confederation Cup, and that leads to some changes in our schedule. Our First Division match with Sun Pegasus was supposed to be played on Tuesday 10th February is now pushed back a month. The League Cup Semi-Final with them was due for Sunday 15th February, but has been brought forward by a day. Our match scheduled for the following Sunday against South China, has also been brought forward by a day to the Saturday, due to them having a Confederation Cup match on the Tuesday. The Goal of the Month Award for January is given to Fernando, for the second goal of his brace against Hong Kong FC on January 6th. The press make an attempt to build a feud between myself and Kitchee Sports Club's manager, Ricardo. We face the league leaders next, and a win would send us above them and into top spot. I'm asked about the state of the pitch at the Meong Kok, the press pointing out that it's poor condition will likely impact on our passing game. 'It not in good condition, and maybe the League should do something about it. This is football, not rugby after all.' The opposition's manager is quick to reply to my comments. 'I don't know why Neil is concerned about the pitch, it's the same for both sides of course.' I'm given the right to reply, and attempt to make the situation a little more light hearted, while still getting in my dig against Kitchee. 'I'm not surprised by that reply, anyone who has seen a Kitchee match this season knows how little the ball is actually on the deck. My chairman has actually told us to send the staff up on the roof of the stand at Meong Kok during the match. He reckons we could catch enough football's to sell to pay for Cristiano Ronaldo to come and play for us next season.' ------------ Monday 9th February 2015 - Hong Kong League, First Division Meong Kok Stadium, Meong Kok Kitchee Sports Club v The Citizen Athletic Association With Si Chi Ho away at the the age group Asian Nations Cup, there is an immediate return to the side for Lam Ka Wai, who will partner Wu Wei'an in midfield. Aside from that, we're unchanged for this important match, which signals the half way point of our League campaign, my first fixture against Ricardo's five time Hong Kong Champions club. But it was us who got the better start, and took the lead, with just six minutes on the clock. Wei'an sent in one of his trademark long throws from the left touchline, and Vratislav Lokvenc shoved his way into position to get on the end of it. His attempt to flick the ball on came off his head at a funny angle as he battled to be underneath it, and went towards the edge of the box, where Shay Spitz took it on the rise, the shot deflecting slightly in front of the keeper, and rising high into the roof of the net. Ten minutes before the break, we created a golden chance to take a two goal advantage. Slick passing got the ball to Spitz on the corner of the box, and he squared it for Lokvenc, but it was an uncharacteristically poor finish, as he side footed his shot the wrong side of the post. The first half brought no indication of the bad tempered second half that was to follow. One player from each side was booked in the first half, and the second half brought yellow cards for one more from each team in the first ten minutes after the restart. Midway through the second half, Tarres carried the ball over halfway, and dropped a ball over our defence, with To Hon To racing onto it. Tse Tak Him came off his line and made a fine point blank save, the ball fell to Wan, and he squared it for Nigerian striker, Alexander Akande, who was onside despite the protests of our players, and he swept the ball into the now unguarded goal to level the match. Taina was struggling with an injury, and a substitute was being prepared when the winger went to the right touchline to take a throw in. He took it short to Sham Kwok Fai, got it back, and then sent it through the legs of a defender to get it back to the full back. He sent a cross to the near post, where, not for the first time in the match, Lokvenc got in front of a defender, and glanced his header between the near post and the keeper to reinstate our lead. The go ahead goal did nothing to improve the tempers, and the next ten minutes saw three more cards dished out. Taina and Wei'an both came off, Festus Baise pushed into midfield and Chan Siu Yuen coming on to play centre back. With no right winger on the bench, Liu Tsan Shu came on and pushed out to the right. With a little more than five minutes left, Fernando halted a counter attack with a foul just inside his own half, and escaped punishment from the ref. He didn't escape punishment entirelty though, Kitchee dished that out themselves. Gao Wen sent it to Akande, and he nudged it on into the path of Li Ngai Hoi, who took control on the left corner of the box, and sent it over the head of Tak Him, and found the far corner of the net to level the game once more. There was still time for a winner, and two more bookings. Liu Tsan Shu played a one-two with Lam Ka Wai, and sprinted into the box. He never made up his mind whether he was going to shoot, or send it square across the box, and in the end he did neither, getting to the byline and trying to shoot when it was too late and hitting the side netting from an impossible angle. It's a 2-2 draw, which keeps us firmly in the race, despite the media saying that sooner or later we'll start tumbling down the table. The draw ends our long winning run, but we're still unbeaten in nine League matches. Kitchee Sports Club (0) 2 The Citizen Athletic Association (1) 2 Scorers : Shay Spitz (6), Vratislav Lokvenc (74) Attendance : 1,522 Tse Tak Him; Sham Kwok Fai, Helio (capt), Festus Baise, Thalison; Wu Wei'an (Chan Siu Yuen 78), Lam Ka Wai; Taina (inj - Liu Tsan Shu 78), Fernando, Shay Spitz; Vratislav Lokvenc. Man of the Match : Jang Kyung-Jin (Kitchee). ------------ Taina has pulled his hamstring, and is going to be out for around six weeks, at what is now a crucial part of the season. We could just about live with that, but when the following day brought more injury news, we had problems. Brazilian left back Thalison, has torn his groin muscle while sprinting during training, and will now be out for about three months. And Festus Baise picked up at booking at Kitchee, his fifth of the season, so he'll miss our next match. [b][u]Hong Kong League, First Division Table. Up to & Including Tuesday 10th February 2015[/u][/b] [i]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | 1st | | Kitchee | | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 9 | +17 | 26 | | 2nd | | South China | | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 25 | [b][color="#FF0000"]| 3rd | | Citizen | | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 24 |[/color] [/b] | 4th | | Southern District | | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 17 | | 5th | | Yokohama FC (HK) | | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 16 | | 6th | | Sun Pegasus | | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 18 | -1 | 14 | | 7th | | Sun Hei | | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 17 | -1 | 13 | | 8th | | Rangers (HKG) | | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 10 | | 9th | | HKFC | | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 19 | -7 | 9 | | 10th | | Tuen Mun | | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 25 | -7 | 8 | | 11th | | Eastern | | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 8 | [b]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [/b] | 12th | | Yuen Long | | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 22 | -10 | 7 |[/i] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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