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Coach Aloisi pays the price for Chengdu Rongcheng’s incredible title choke
John Aloisi has been sacked as Chengdu Rongcheng manager after the club lost its grip on the Chinese Super League title, despite once holding a 12-point lead. Chengdu’s collapse allowed Dalian Yingbo to win its first league title, prompting senior club leaders to depart as well.
Chengdu lost their final four matches and needed only one point from those games to secure the championship. A 3-2 defeat by Shandong Taishan on Sunday handed the title to Dalian, which finished ahead on head-to-head record after beating Chengdu twice. Aloisi, appointed for this season, leaves alongside his coaching staff; chairman Wang Lei and general manager Wu Bo have also resigned.
In short
- Chengdu surrendered a 12-point lead and missed the title.
- Dalian Yingbo won its first Chinese Super League championship.
- Manager John Aloisi and two senior executives have left.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Sacking Aloisi can be defended as accountability for a collapse of historic scale: Chengdu squandered a 12-point lead, lost four straight matches and needed only one point from them to clinch the title. A new manager may help restore confidence and show supporters that the club’s leaders take such a failure seriously.
The case against
Aloisi’s dismissal may be an excessive response to a late-season run of defeats, especially if the club’s problems also involved wider leadership or squad factors. Keeping him could have preserved continuity and allowed him to build on the strong campaign that put Chengdu 12 points clear, while the chairman and general manager’s departures suggest responsibility was not his alone.
Explained simply
The Chinese Super League is China’s top men’s football division. Its title is decided by the league standings, with teams level on points separated by tie-break rules that include their results against one another.
Chengdu Rongcheng and Dalian Yingbo were the main contenders for this season’s championship. Dalian’s two wins over Chengdu mattered because the teams finished level on points, so their head-to-head record put Dalian ahead.
A club’s manager oversees the team’s coaching and match preparation, while the chairman and general manager lead its wider organisation. Changes in those roles can follow a major sporting setback, and may affect how a club plans for the next season.