Every time Howard Wilkinson leaves his five-star Shanghai hotel, he thinks about Flash Gordon. Overlooking the Huangpu River, the Oriental Riverside Hotel sits in the shadow of the Pudong skyline, a scattershot vision of the future that feels about as humanistic as a set for a science-fiction movie.
One of the otherworldly skyscrapers reminds Wilkinson of the Saturday morning trips to the cinema he used to make as a child in Sheffield, England. To him, the building looks just like Flash Gordon's rocket ship. The building, and those surrounding it, look nothing like China - or at least the China he was anticipating when he arrived in Shanghai last month.
But the taxi drivers standing outside the hotel remind Wilkinson where he is, and why he is here. They recognise him and smile. Then they swing their feet at an imaginary ball and shout 'ti', Chinese for 'kick'. They do this because they know that Wilkinson is the famous Englishman brought in to guide the Shanghai Shenhua Football Club to their second-consecutive Chinese league championship. What they may not know, thanks to a major PR gaffe by the Shenhua club, is that Wilkinson's stay in Shanghai may be over before the Chinese season even starts this fall. 'I signed a three-month contract,' a relaxed and gracious Wilkinson explained, sipping a cup of green tea in his hotel lobby. 'Both parties knew. There were no misunderstandings. That was perfectly clear.'
But someone obviously did not understand. In mid-February, nearly every major news service in the world was reporting the 60-year-old former Leeds United head coach had inked a three-year deal with Shenhua, attributing the news to an announcement on the club's website. Wilkinson learned of the report from his children - a daughter in Sydney, a son in New York - who wondered why dad hadn't told them he was moving to China. The following day, the very same news services said Wilkinson had backed out of the deal. And nine days after that, the story was Wilkinson was indeed headed to China, this time with what was being a called an 'open contract'.
'I wasn't very pleased,' Wilkinson said. '[The initial report] wasn't true. And it all creates a perception. I got phone calls from journalists in Shanghai asking me, 'Why have you done a U-turn?' The speculation being that I have been delaying to up the ante, when nothing is further from the truth. I'm here to help this football club.'
The Shenhua club, who have been without a head coach since Wu Jingui resigned in January to assist China national team coach Arie Haan, express confidence they would be able to entice Wilkinson to help their football club beyond the initial three months. But Wilkinson said he had 'personal reasons' for insisting on the short stint. He declined to discuss what those personal reasons were, but said that if they did not change he would be unable to extend his stay in Shanghai. If they did change - which Wilkinson said was possible - he said he would consider staying.