While China was focused on Guangzhou Evergrande’s loss to Bayern Munich overnight, that quickly changed as a story broke on Sina Weibo that Beijing Guoan were parting ways with manager Aleksandar Stanojevic.
Considering Stanojevic met the goals set out for him before the season, finishing in 3rd place in the league, reaching the Round of 16 in the Asian Champions League, and making it into the semifinal of the CFA Cup, the firing came as a complete shock to fans and media alike. If true, the split is especially surprising because the club and manager agreed to a contract extension in mid-September.
So far the story hasn’t been confirmed by anyone at the club, but it appears that this isn’t just media rumor mongering. The reason most often given for Stanojevic’s firing is the 0-1 defeat to Guangzhou Evergrande in the home leg of the CFA Cup semifinal. Indeed, many were frustrated with Stanojevic’s perceived weak man management abilities at numerous points throughout the season, however the overall results were better than expected.
With less than two months before Guoan’s first match, it appears for the second winter in a row, the capital club is searching for a new manager and facing a number of questions.
