Cardoso was appointed Kitchee academy head in August 2023, after impressing owner Ken Ng Kin when advising the club in his previous consultancy role with Double Pass Group.
First-team coaching duties were quickly added to his remit, after a poor start to the 2023-24 season resulted in Kim Dong-jin replacing Alex Chu Chi-kwong as boss.
There was an initial uptick, but Kitchee unravelled after the winter shutdown. Two early year Sapling Cup matches were “a disaster”.
“From there it snowballed, and we didn’t have cohesion,” Cardoso said. “Finally, [league and FA Cup semi-final defeats] against Eastern [in May] destroyed our team and our belief.
“Because of the age of our squad, some were physically dropping towards the end.”
Cardoso was responsible for “about 50 per cent” of the summer recruitment that has left him with a more sprightly playing group.
Along with his football ideals, Cardoso’s leadership is founded on “honesty”.
“When a player doesn’t play, we explain the decision to him,” Cardoso said. “Sometimes, the players don’t like me, but I make decisions to try to win games, not to keep everyone happy.
“I am honest, so I can go home, be with my family and sleep in peace. Having everyone happy and winning games would be the perfect world, but it doesn’t exist in football.”
https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3286860/hong-kongs-best-teams-should-play-chinese-super-league-kitchee-boss-cardoso-says