On May 20, nightfall, the Chinese Super League powerhouse Nantong Jiyun shocked the soccer world with an announcement that David Patricio's coaching duties would come to an end, and that he would be given the new role of technical director, while Zhu Qi would take over the heavy responsibility of the head of the first-team Chinese coaching team. Following in the footsteps of Shandong Taishan, who announced the appointment of Cui Kangxi on May 16, Nantong Zhiyun's move marks the second coaching change in the Chinese Super League this season. It is worth noting that Nantong Zhiyun's head coach Yi Ren became the first club in this year's Chinese Super League to take the initiative to seek change after the departure of Hao Wei.
Nantong Zhiyun's performance in the early part of the season has been at a low ebb, and after 8 rounds of fixtures, the team is at the bottom of the league with only 6 points from 1 win, 3 draws and 4 losses. However, considering the youthfulness of the team's squad, such a report card doesn't seem too bad. on May 19th, Nantong Zhiyun shook hands with Shenzhen at home 1-1, a draw that seemed to ignite the fuse for Patricio's departure. It is worth mentioning that Patricio has been working diligently since joining Nantong Zhiyun in 2019, from youth training coach to first-team head coach, and has won soccer glory for Nantong Zhiyun with his passion and persistence. The club fully recognizes his contribution and expects him to continue to shine in his new position.
Zhu Qi, this name is not unfamiliar to Shanghai fans. As a star player in the early days of Shanghai Shenhua's professionalization, he played a key role in the 1995 First Division Championship. Since then, he has played for teams such as Sichuan Quanxing and Shanghai COSCO, and has been selected for the Chinese Olympic team and the Chinese national team.2022 In July, Zhu Qi, a Nantong native, was invited to join Nantong Zhiyun as deputy general manager.
However, there seems to be a certain amount of risk involved in this change of manager for Nantong Zhiyun. Zhu Qi has seldom been involved in professional soccer since his retirement, and especially lacks experience in coaching the first team in the professional league. It is reported that Nantong is actively searching for a new coach, Zhu Qi may just be a temporary transition candidate.
