China

smithy · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:18 pm

CHINA SACKS WOMEN'S FOOTBALL COACH

March 20th 2008

China's Football Association has decided to end bitter infighting on the women's national team by firing French coach Elisabeth Loisel.

Football association leaders met in Beijing earlier this week and decided to fire Loisel , 44 , less than five months after giving her the task of leading the team to a silver medal at this summer's Beijing Olympics , the reports said.

An association official declined to confirm the reports to AFP but said that an announcement would be made in the coming days.

Sina.com , a popular news website , said the decision brought to an end the darkest period in the history of Chinese women's football , marked by poor results and public disputes between the coach and team officials.

Loisel has endured a fractious relationship with players and officials during her five months in the job , with problems coming to a head after China finished ninth in the recent Algarve Cup in Portugal.

The coach went on vacation in France following the Portuguese tournament and had been expected to report back here for team duty next week.

The association will have to pay Loisel 800,000 yuan ( 113,000 dollars ) in compensation for ending her contract early , according to the Beijing news , which quoted an official as saying " we would rather pay the money than have her back "

Loisel took over in October 2007 after her predecessor , Swedish coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors , abruptly quit after a poor run in the Women's World Cup last year and amid reports of disputes with association bureaucrats.

Loisel , the former French national coach , blamed her problems in China on the teams general manager Zhang Jianqiang whom she accused of sabotaging her work.

China is now searching for their fifth women's football coach since the Athens Olympics less than four years ago.

According to media reports , the association now plans to appoint a Chinese coach.

weipenguigumbi · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:46 pm

I have to say I saw this one comming, the Chinese fed has serious issues. They want the benefits of the knowledge of a Western coach, but they want to tell them what to do at every turn, its kind of counterproductive and extremely frustrating for the coaches they hire.

Tony Diciccio (USWNT '99 coach) talked about his interview for the Chinese job during this WWC. At one point he said they said they were worried about hiring a western head coach (which they had never done before) because they were afraid they may not be hard enough on the players and that the only western employee they had liked was a trainer that beat the players as discipline. The other announcer guy thought he was totally joking but he said he was being totally serious. He didn't get hired and he was a huge name at the time so I'm assumming he turned it down because he was a bit appalled by the situation.

The situation probably improved a bit since the Swedes were hired, but you got the impression that after the WWC cup they just wanted to get the hell out of dodge and quitting was not really because of the "family reasons" they stated.

I seriously wonder if they are going to be able to get another Western coach anytime soon. I think they pay well and that's what gets the coaches over there, but once they get going they figure out its far more of a headache than what it's worth.

I think China's team is going to remain in free fall, partly due to lesser talent, but mainly due to the Chinese Feds inability to allow there program to evolve like the rest of the Women's International Teams are doing.

shlj · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:56 pm

I think Loisel did not adapt to their culture as well.
My intercultural class teacher used to tell us about cardinal sin in China and she did most of them...

weipenguigumbi · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:23 pm

Your probably right that she didn't handle situations culturally correctly, and that may have been part of the problem, and Loisel in a general sense may just be a difficult person to work with. But I really don't think the Swedes were. I think the Chinese Fed hires coaches and thinks the coach is just their to take instructions from them, and that may be how they coach in China or the East, but it's not how Western coaches operate, they expect nearly full control of their teams. Cultural understanding is a two way street. Loisel may have been guilty of cultural faux pas's, but I also don't think they understood what she expected from them (coaching freedom) and what every Western coach will and has expected from them. They seem to expect improvements, while giving their coaches little freedom to make adjustments as they see fit, and when the team doesn't improve they blame the coaches, which is absolutely ridiculous. In the future if they want a Western coach who will actually stick around and help their team grow, they'll need to figure this out because a yesman isn't likely to give them the improvements they want for their team. And they probably do need a Western coach, just like the USWNT needed a European coach, they both need to evolve like the other teams have, or they'll continue their downward spiral.

twmcat · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:01 pm

Good post weipen Wink

And I believe Cardinal Sin is a Catholic priest, isn't he? Very Happy

shlj · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:23 pm

I agree there is a big contradiction for the chineses to hire some western coach and stick to the chinese way ath the same time.
We all know that it is not the most open society, I american teachers in shanghai back in 2000 and they said freedom of speech was restricted, we se that with the Olympics looming they are trying to shut up all opposition. Sadly football follows the same evolution of their society

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