Apologetic Poyet on the brink in Shanghai

SHANGHAI — Uruguayan coach Gus Poyet apologized and hinted he might quit Shanghai Shenhua after Wednesday’s 3-0 Chinese Super League home loss to Guizhou Zhicheng.

Shenhua finished fourth in the league last year and invested heavily this season, bringing Carlos Tevez to China on a contract that made him one of the world’s highest paid players.

But the Argentine striker has flopped, missing more than half of Shenhua’s games with injury, and he was again absent as the team was handily beaten on Wednesday.

The loss left Shenhua 11th in the 16-team CSL and Poyet said “I have reached my limit”, as furious home fans called for him to be fired.

“I’d like to say sorry to everyone; I don’t know what to say really,” Poyet told reporters afterwards, according to the Oriental Sports Daily.

“As coach I shoulder responsibility for losing this game. I will not hide and I will face everyone.

“I’m proud of having this job but I’m not pleased that I have reached my limit.

“I don’t want to keep talking because it will be bad for me to say too much. I hope you won’t ask me too many questions and that you will show some respect for me.”

Defeat was all the more embarrassing for Shenhua because Guizhou is managed by Spaniard Gregorio Manzano — the man Poyet replaced at Shenhua.

Shenhua has won just one of its past five league and cup games to ramp up the pressure on the 49-year-old Poyet, whose managerial career has included two years in the Premier League with Sunderland in 2013-2015.

But Shenhua’s boss insisted Poyet’s job is safe — at least for the time being.

“Every team loses games,” said chairman Wu Xiaohui. “Every year we have one or two situations like this.

“It’s very normal, it’s nothing.”