No fix, just a really bad game, team says

Jiangsu Sainty's lackluster performances over the course of the past three rounds was enough to increase the gap between it and Guangzhou Evergrande to five points after it blew a chance to pull into first place in the CSL standings. Provided to China Daily

Jiangsu Sainty suddenly under fire from its fans after a frustrating series of draws

Jiangsu Sainty apologized for its performance and asked for patience from fans after a 1-1 tie with struggling Shanghai Shenxin at home on Saturday.

The game was Sainty's third draw in a row since it let slip a chance to surpass league leader Guangzhou Evergrande with a 3-3 draw against Shandong Luneng on Aug 5. Sainty now sits five points behind Evergrande.

A crowd of more than 20,000 grew upset during the match against Shenxin - which is 14th in the Chinese Supper League - and boos erupted in the second half.

"Our opponent played much better than us, and this game might be the worst one since I took over the team," Sainty coach Dragan Okuka said after the game.

He asked fans to remain objective.

"I hope the public can keep a rational view of our team's ability," said the 58-year-old Serb. "Beijing Guo'an hasn't won in seven games. Look at Shanghai Shenhua, which has Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, as well as Luneng. It really hasn't been easy for us to get to be ranked where we are today.

"We used to be very close to Evergrande, and we are still in good position in the league now. The competition will be much fiercer as the league is approaching the end of the season, and the bottom teams are also fighting against relegation. It's almost impossible to win 4-0 or 5-0 as we did at the beginning of the season.

"I hope fans can understand us, and keep supporting us when the team is having a difficult time. Those that do are the real fans."

Players asked fans to respect the team after a rash of micro-blog complaints, and the club issued a statement.

"We apologize to fans who came to our game in the hot weather as our team's performance didn't reach their expectation. The club and team are sincerely willing to accept all the well-meant criticism, and will spare no effort to prepare for the remaining matches," the club wrote.

General manager Liu Jun said he told players not to get too caught up in praise or criticism, and denied the match was fixed.

"I can't agree with the match-fixing accusations, we have no reason to do that," Liu said. "There is no one who would dare to fix a game now. The way Shenxin played really made our players uncomfortable, and we will analyze the game carefully and work hard to play well in our next game against Henan Jianye."

tangzhe@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/21/2012 page22)