Former Chinese international midfielder Li Ming, newly installed general manager of Dalian Shide, believes the struggling giants can get their championship challenge back on track.

Li, who is also an assistant coach of the national team, replaced Lin Lefeng on Monday with the club in fifth place in the China Super League four points adrift of leaders Shandong Luneng.

"I will not give up. There is still another half of the season remaining. I believe the team is capable of fighting for the title," Li said.

The eight-time Chinese champions suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat to newly promoted Zhejiang Lucheng at the weekend, and Lin is believed to be carrying the can as expectant fans and club officials grow impatient with the team's poor form.

"This season the club has failed to improve and has failed to attract foreign players," said a statement on the club's website. "The team has lost points to smaller clubs on many occasions, including to a newly promoted, bottom ranked club."?

Li said the club would make extra efforts to keep the squad competitive, including increasing investment and new overseas players.

"Dalian has not shown any improvement over the past few years. But we are on the rise from the beginning of the new season.

"I believe as long as we make the right adjustments, the team will move to another level."

Although the most successful club since the league's inception in 1994, Dalian's dominance has been broken by Shandong, Shanghai and now an emerging Changchun team.

The departing Lin is considered a scapegoat for Dalian's recent struggles.

"Someone has to take responsibility. Lin is in the position to take charge of the club's decisions. So he has to go," a senior official from the club told Titan Sports.

Some players, who refused to be identified, told the newspaper the poor performances actually have nothing to do with the general manager.

"Someone has to pay for the mistakes. Head coach Jo Bonfrere just came to the team and also won some matches against strong opponents. Li Ming was just a team manager. So there is no one else to blame but Lin," a player was quoted as saying.

Lin, well known for his strong personality, is willing to accept the decision.

"I am responsible for everything. I am the most appropriate person to take all the blame," he said.

Lin's calm reaction is in contrast to some of his previous outbursts.

In the 2003 Asian Champions Leagues semifinal, Lin went face to face with a referee to argue his decisions and was banned for five games.

On October 24, 2005, Lin asked the players to leave the field against crosstown rivals Jinde after his team conceded a controversial equalizer. He was banned from appearing in the stadium for a year.

And he was banned for a year again and was fined 20,000 yuan ($2,500) in 2006 after describing the referee of the Chinese Cup final as "a bastard" during a press conference.

(China Daily June 21, 2007)