Although he did not lead the team to defend the Chinese Super League title against all odds, Taishan boss Choi Kang-hee made a series of effective transformations to Shandong Taishan after joining the team. He has once again demonstrated his outstanding coaching ability by developing a team that was originally in the lower reaches of the league into the runners-up, which has been unanimously recognized by the domestic media and fans. Next, Shandong Taishan will prepare for the AFC Cup final, and if they can beat Shanghai Shenhua to win the championship, they will not only finish the season as champions, but also directly qualify for the AFC Champions League next season.
After the end of the Chinese Super League, most of the players from other clubs are on vacation, except for some players who have been selected for the national team to participate in the World Cup qualifiers. The management of each team is also keeping a close eye on their favorite prey, ready to strengthen the lineup for the team. Shandong Taishan is expected to complete its first signing this offseason. Recently, some online media outlets reported that Shandong Taishan has completed a two-year contract extension with head coach Cui Kangxi, with a total salary of 60 million RMB. If this news is true, Cui Kangxi will become the first highest-paid head coach in the Chinese Super League. The fact that Shandong Taishan are still willing to offer such a hefty contract extension to coach Cui Kangxi after the Chinese Super League's gold dollar soccer bubble bursts shows their recognition of Cui's coaching ability.
Recent reports in the domestic media suggested that the Chinese Football Association (CFA) might invite Cui Kangxi to replace Yang Kovic as the new head coach of the national team and lead the team in the World Cup qualifiers if the national soccer team fails to perform well in the World Cup qualifiers. However, before Shandong Taishan traveled to Incheon United for their AFC Champions League group game away from home, Choi Kang-hee told a press conference that the rumors with him coaching the national team were completely false, indicating that Choi himself would like to remain in Shandong Taishan for a long time to guide the team and would not want to get involved with the national team. In order to convince the Korean coach to continue to coach Shandong Taishan, the club will naturally give him a sizable annual salary.
With Shandong Taishan's first signing of the off-season about to be completed, Shandong Taishan fans have reason to believe that next season the team will be led by head coach Cui Kangxi to reclaim the Chinese Super League trophy and topple Shanghai Harbor, who won the title this season. Shandong Taishan will also continue to invest more in bringing in the players needed to lay a solid foundation for winning the title, according to the ideas of Cui Kangxi's coaching team. At the same time, some of the best young players from the Luneng Football School will also be given more opportunities to play under Cui Kangxi's guidance. These young players represent the future hope of the national football team, Cui Kangxi this way to help the development of Chinese soccer.
