The Battle for First Place!
Can we rocket forward?
Please note that you can find the latest standings and selected statistics on this splash page.
The Battle for First Place!
I really felt the pressure in this one.
We went way out to Shaanxi in the west to face Shaanxi Changan, who happen to be the only team ahead of us in the standings.
And we completely demolished them.
We scored 3 goals in quick succession in the first half, and let Shaanxi try to play catch up.
They didn’t do very well, even though they won the possession battle. We had 23 shots to their 6. They wound up passing the ball aimlessly around for long stretches of the match, whereas we initiated strong and quick attacks every single time we had the ball.
Suphanat Muenata chimed in with two goals, the second coming in the 92nd minute to make it a 4-0 route.
The biggest question for us now is not whether we can win this league or not. Rather, the question is whether Mueanta, Rovaglia, or Delfi should be thought of as our best offensive player. All three are simply incredible, and I feel very blessed to have them all on the same team at the same time.
Rovaglia won the Player of the Month award for October, so I guess he gets the nod for the time being. Both Mueanta and Delfi have scored more goals this season, however.
Oh - and I just so happened to win Manager of the Month. Not too bad!
Chairman Guo’s Cash
Well, we’re not doing all that well financially.
That tax bill in the transfer window really hurt us. I mean, it hurt us really badly. Losing out early on in the Conference League didn’t help things much, either.
Thankfully, though, we’ve got Uncle Moneybags on our side.
Chairman Guo didn’t say much to me, as usual. He blew a bit of cigar smoke in my face as I sat in his office, gave a cackle of a laugh, and told me that he’d take care of our financial problems.
And, just like that, we wound up with 182 million RMB more in the bank.
It’s not going to last long, unfortunately. At least I know we won’t have to sell players to balance the books.
Chairman Guo did take the time to tell me that the board have been happy with our performances so far. They are a bit worried about some of the less expensive loan deals we’ve made for our unused players, though I think that will improve in future years. They’re also delighted that we beat Shandong in the first round of the Chinese FA Cup.
The fans are also happy, though they think my transfers stink. But they don’t know anything. We’re building up for the future, not just trying to sign expensive players today.
Meanwhile, our squad’s cohesion is slowly improving. More of our players are becoming influential, and more of the “others” are joining our core social group. I think the only weakness in this team is in defense, and I’ve got a feeling that we’ve got some good youngsters who need more game time to prove themselves.
Life is going quite well.
Guangxi Pingguo Hailiao
We’re back at home for this one, taking on Guangxi Pingguo Hailiao.
They’re a poor side, and we’re on a big winning streak. We should be able to win this one without any problems, even if we do start a few untried youngsters.
Please note that you can find the latest standings and selected statistics on this splash page.