Two coaches replaced after four rounds, tough start for China League One coaches

Written by Cheng Shan Only four rounds into the new China League One season, two coaches have already left their positions. On April 6, Ningbo team coach Yang Lin was dismissed; on April 15 late night, Shijiazhuang Gongfu Club announced that 58-year-old coach Niu Hongli ended his 296-day coaching tenure in Shijiazhuang. At the end of June last year, Niu Hongli replaced Zhang Hui as the head coach of Shijiazhuang Gongfu, leading the team to fifth place in China League One by the end of the season. However, in the first four rounds of the new season, Shijiazhuang Gongfu only achieved one win and three losses, suffering two consecutive defeats in April. Especially on April 12, losing 0-1 at home to Foshan Nanshi, who had started with three consecutive losses and ranked third from bottom, completely exhausted the club's patience.

Niu Hongli's dismissal was actually not unexpected. After all, Shijiazhuang Gongfu had 29 players leave the first team during the winter transfer window and brought in 30 new players, completely rebuilding the team that finished fifth in China League One last season. Although the Shijiazhuang city government provided sports industry development guidance funds to support the club, with additional bonuses promised for promotion to the Super League, the heavily reshuffled team performed poorly at the start. The club did not give Niu Hongli more time for磨合. Particularly in the home match against Foshan Nanshi, who also had a poor start, Shijiazhuang Gongfu had 15 shots with 7 on target but scored nothing, while Foshan Nanshi only had 2 shots with 1 on target and took away the three points.

Before Shijiazhuang Gongfu changed coaches, Ningbo team, bottom of China League One after three consecutive losses at the start, had already changed coaches earlier. The Ningbo team, relocated from Shanghai, hired former coach Yang Lin at the end of January, who led the team to avoid relegation in 2023, to replace the Bulgarian foreign coach Yankovic. Although Yang Lin faced strong opponents including Guangdong Guangzhou豹 and无锡吴钩 at the start, after three consecutive losses, he could only transition to the technical director position, with his coaching tenure lasting only 40 days. Afterwards, Ningbo team invited Li Weifeng to take over as the "firefighter".

Only four rounds into this year's China League One season, two coaches with poor results have already been dismissed, highlighting the残酷生存 environment for coaches. If we include Foshan Nanshi, who announced new coach Zhang Chiming three days before the start of this season's China League One, and Nanjing City team's Spanish coach Rodney, who officially亮相 just before the first round on March 14, actually four coaches have been changed within just one month. Similarly,陕西联合, Foshan Nanshi, and苏州东吴, who are second from bottom in the league, are likely to be热门 teams for imminent coaching changes.

In the recent two seasons, the frequency of coaching changes in China League One has been quite high, especially during the initial stages.

After four rounds last season in China League One, Dalian Kuncheng dismissed Oscar, the former陕西联合 team Spanish coach who took over in mid-January. Zhao Faqing, who successfully led the team from China League Two to China League One in 2024, originally transitioned to first-team顾问 in mid-January but returned to the head coach position after three months. Moreover, just five days before the start of last season's China League One,定南赣联 and陕西联合 also made "last-minute coaching changes". The前者 appointed Liu Jianye as coach, while the后者 recruited Dutch assistant Giovanni from the Curacao team.

In the 2024 season, Shijiazhuang Gongfu also changed coaches early. At that time, they had one draw and one loss in the first two rounds. Spanish coach Juan Carlos, who had been in position for only 33 days, was dismissed before the third round. Assistant coach Liu Cheng led the team for two China League One matches until April 5, before the fifth round of China League One, when the club announced the replacement as Bulgarian coach Yankovic.

In the 2024 season, coaching changes across China League One were frequent. Starting from Juan Carlos's dismissal on March 23 to April 30, as many as seven teams in that season's China League One had changed coaches, almost half of all China League One teams.