Gyeongnam FC decided to break up with coach Park Dong-hyuk, who was appointed in December last year, after nine months.
According to soccer officials, South Gyeongsang Province has decided to replace Park Dong-hyuk on Wednesday. With this decision, Park will step down from the helm less than a year after he took the helm of South Gyeongsang Province.
South Gyeongsang Province was accompanied by coach Seol Ki-hyun from the 2019-2023 season. Under coach Seol, who debuted as a professional head coach, South Gyeongsang Province had high expectations, aiming for aggressive soccer and advancing to the promotion playoffs immediately in the 2020 season.
However, K League 1 promotion did not easily fall into Gyeongnam’s hands. They continued their bid for promotion by playing in the promotion playoffs for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, all of which were frustrated. Gyeongnam, which ranked fourth in the league last season, beat fifth-ranked Bucheon FC in the semi-playoffs, but suffered another setback after losing to third-ranked Gimpo FC in the playoffs.
In the end, Gyeongnam decided not to continue with Seol. The club said it had no intention of extending Seol’s contract at the end of the regular season, and said goodbye to him as scheduled when he was eliminated from the playoffs.
South Gyeongsang Province has appointed former South Chungcheong Province head coach Park Dong-hyuk as its successor. As the ninth South Korean head coach, Park has signed a contract to accompany the South Korean team until the 2025 season. Even though Asan in South Chungcheong Province is an “underdog” in the K League 2, he was hired by referring to its good contents and achievements in the middle ranks.
Coach Park began his professional career with Jeonbuk Hyundai in 2002, moved to Ulsan Hyundai in 2006, established himself as a key player in the team, and was selected in the K League’s Best 11 defenders category in 2008.
Since 2009, he has played for Gamba Osaka (Japan), Kashiwa Reysol (Japan), and Dalian Xudder (China), and experienced Asian soccer. Afterwards, he returned to Ulsan HD and completed his career as a player for two years.
After retiring in 2014, he started his career as a coach for Ulsan in 2016, starting with his former team, Ulsan Scouts in 2015. Having established relationship with Asan since 2017 when he was appointed as the head coach of Asan Mugunghwa (former coach of Asan, South Chungcheong Province), he made his professional debut as a coach from the 2018 season.
Coach Park Dong-hyuk, who led his team to the K League 2 title in the 2018 season, continued as manager even after the team was changed to a civic club in the 2020 season. Despite his lack of budget, he drew attention by raising his organizational power and making him an aggressive team with determination.
South Gyeongsang Province also has high expectations for Park’s career. “We received internal assessments that the team emphasized players’ activities and activities, and focused on fast counterattacks and aggressive teams, which are consistent with the team’s direction of fighting back and aggressive teams,” the team said.
“In addition, despite his young age of being born in 1979, he was highly regarded for his professional coaching experience of more than 200 games, and after struggling with various candidate groups, he selected Park Dong-hyuk as the right person,” he added.
South Gyeongsang Province has sought promotion to the K League 1 in the 2024 season under Park. However, chances are high that Park’s debut season in South Gyeongsang Province will remain one of the worst in the club’s history.
As of now, South Gyeongsang Province is ranked 12th out of 13 teams in the K League 2. It has gained only 25 points (5 wins, 10 draws, 12 losses) from 27 matches, just two points shorter than Seongnam FC (23 points), the lowest ranking team in the league. 먹튀검증
If the season ends in the current ranking, the 2024 season will be the worst year in Gyeongnam since the foundation of the team. Gyeongnam’s lowest ranking in the K League 2 was ninth in the 2015 season when it was operated with 11 teams.
Park seemed to be off to a good start by defeating the Ansan Greeners 2-1 in the opening game, but had no win in five league games (two draws and three losses). Since late April, Park has garnered two wins and one draw in three matches, and thus garnered three consecutive losses.