"Master"
Park Tae-ha, chairman of the Korea Professional Football Federation's technical committee, is considered a strong candidate for Pohang's new head coach, and Kim Do-kyun, who led Suwon FC to remain, is heading to K-League 2 Seoul E-land, and the prelude to the "chain movement" of K-League coaches seems to have risen.
An official from the Seoul club said on the 12th, "The contract has not yet been confirmed, but we are negotiating a contract with head coach Kim Ki-dong." A Pohang official also acknowledged the possibility of a breakup, saying, "The best thing would be for head coach Kim Ki-dong to remain in the team, but even if he leaves, the basic policy is to organize the relationship in a good way."
Coach Kim Ki-dong is a representative K-League team leader who has led his team to a strong team every season since his appointment to Pohang. Since taking the helm in 2019, he has successfully led Pohang with his tactical capabilities and leadership despite negative factors such as the departure of key players and relatively insufficient support. Pohang was the runner-up at the AFC Champions League in 2021, and this year also won the Korea Football Association (FA) Cup and the runner-up in the league.
Seoul, which had been in the Final B (lower split) for the last four consecutive seasons, desperately needs "rebound." This season, manager Ahn Ik-soo resigned citing poor performance, and ended the season under acting head coach Kim Jin-kyu. While looking for a coach to lead the team back to the top, the team picked "master general" Kim Ki-dong as the top candidate and set up a negotiation table. The Seoul club has reportedly guaranteed Kim the best treatment in the league.
Kim Ki-dong's appointment as head coach of Seoul became a fait accompli as soon as the news spread that Park Tae-ha is likely to be the new head coach of Pohang. An official also said, "Although it is not confirmed, the overall atmosphere seems to be moving that way." Analysts inside and outside the club say that Park Tae-ha is the best candidate for Pohang's next coach as he is a legend who played only in Pohang except when he was serving in the military (business) as a player.
It is not just coach Kim Ki-dong and committee member Park Tae-ha. Coach Kim Do-kyun, who led Suwon FC to remain in the K-League 1 after a playoff, will head to Seoul E-Land in the K-League 2 after four years of companionship with Suwon FC. Seoul E-Land has been searching for a coach with experience in promotion with the aim of being promoted to the K-League 1 for the first time since its foundation, and recently reached an agreement with Kim. Unless there are major variables, Kim Do-kyun's appointment as Seoul E-Land coach is expected to be announced soon. 안전놀이터
In addition, Kim Hak-beom, former coach of the Olympic national soccer team, has already started planning for the new season by visiting K-League sites such as promotion PO after being appointed as the new head coach of Jeju United. Park Dong-hyuk, former head coach of Chungnam Asan, took the helm at Gyeongnam FC, where Seol Ki-hyun left, and Kim Hyun-seok took the helm at Chungnam Asan, where Park left. FC Anyang, where coach Lee Woo-hyung moved to as a technical director, also announced a new start under coach Yoo Byung-hoon.
As the existing head coach left, Suwon FC and Cheonan City needed to appoint a new coach. Other K-League clubs, including Suwon Samsung, which are known to be considering maintaining the acting coach Yeom Ki-hoon system and appointing a new coach, are also expected to announce their new head coaches one after another. This means that a series of moves between the head coaches could continue.