After the 10th round of the China First Division League on May 13th, Jiangxi Lushan's report card looked particularly dismal, with a record of 2 draws and 8 losses that left the team's head, Xiao Feng, doubly perplexed: "What's going on here? But we can be sure that the club will never sit back and do nothing."
Looking back at last season, Jiangxi Lushan had fallen to the bottom of the table. Of the four promoted teams in the new season, Yunnan Yukun, Dalian Yingbo, and Chongqing Tongliang Dragon are firmly in the top three of the standings, while Qingdao Red Lions, though not in the top, are difficult to beat easily. Therefore, it seems reasonable that Jiangxi Lushan and Wuxi Wuhu continue their last season's rankings of bottom one and two. The relegation safety line in China's first division is usually around 30 points, but at present, Jiangxi Lushan only accumulated 2 points in the first 10 rounds, the next 20 rounds to get 28 points, the difficulty is self-evident. April 22, Jiangxi Lushan team announced the replacement of the coach, the original coach Li Qiang dismissed.
"I really don't know how it happened, alas. But we will never give up and must fight for relegation." The team principal had this to say, "Staff adjustments, including internal and external reinforcements, are imperative. When the time is right, we will take action."
In recent years, due to environmental influences, some Chinese A-teams have opted for a low-cost mode of operation. Jiangxi Lushan team is also in this trend and chose the same path. Nevertheless, compared with similar teams, Jiangxi Lushan team's investment cost is not the lowest. At present, the relevant departments of jiangxi province has invested nearly 10 million yuan to the club, according to the agreement, the club investors also need to match the corresponding investment. This means that Jiangxi Lushan's investment in a season is at least 20 million yuan, far more than some of the relegation competitors.
Now, Jiangxi soccer has been supported at a higher level and highly recognized by the CFA. Starting from last month, the top management of the CFA, including Song Kai and Xu Kiren, have conducted intensive on-site research on Jiangxi soccer. Meanwhile, the improvement of Jiangxi's soccer environment has also attracted new capital injection. Currently, Jiangxi has three professional teams, in addition to Jiangxi Lushan in the first division, and Ganzhou Ruishi and Jiangxi Dark Horse Youth in the second division. These two teams have also received strong support from the local government. Currently, the provincial support is limited to Jiangxi Lushan in the first division. If Jiangxi Lushan succeeds in relegation this season, then all will be for the best.
