Coach Minh Phuong and SHB Da Nang: Each short-lived relationship

With a relatively impressive record when leading Binh Phuoc Club in the 2016-2017 First Division, the board of directors hoped that Minh Phuong would help the Han River team recover soon after his predecessor Le Huynh Duc left. However, the reality did not go as expected and Minh Phuong's departure from the team was not surprising.

Accepting to lead SHB Da Nang Club, a team with economic ambitions, is a challenge for an inexperienced coach like Nguyen Minh Phuong. Unlike other clubs, Minh Phuong does not inherit many of the team's operating systems from personnel, youth training... SHB Da Nang is a team with a rich tradition, prestige and is always in the top of the strong teams in V-League.

Minh Phuong has officially parted ways with SHB Da Nang after only 1 year of working together. Photo: Internet

To lead such a club always requires a coach with courage, experience and especially prestige with the players. At that time, Coach Minh Phuong surpassed a series of candidates at SHB Da Nang such as assistant Dao Quang Hung, Coach Nguyen Quoc Tuan... to sit in the hot seat of the Han River team from the 2018 season.

It is expected that his knowledge of SHB Da Nang when Minh Phuong was still playing for this team will help him quickly control the situation and put the team on track.

Quite surprisingly, when Minh Phuong returned to Hoa Xuan Stadium, the first thing this new coach did was to “clear the table” by replacing the entire old coaching staff to bring in his brand new team. The former Becamex Binh Duong coach - Nguyen Minh Dung and the XSKT Can Tho assistant goalkeeper coach - Ngo Viet Trung and Vu Phong (teammates with Minh Phuong in the Vietnam team that won the AFF Cup 2008) are all professionals.

But it is clear that all 4 members of the coaching board do not understand much about the players and do not have a close relationship with the Quang Nam fans. Not to mention, Vu Phong, when he was still playing for this team, did not get along well with his teammates and did not contribute much.

When Do Merlo is on the other side of his career, Kouassi and defender Ewode do not bring expectations, SHB Da Nang has to rely more on domestic players. But except for Ha Duc Chinh, who was a bit slow to get into the rhythm of the team after the 18th ASIAD but still managed to score 9 goals, the other key players have not played very consistently. Van Long, played 15 matches and only scored 1 goal, and Ho Ngoc Thang only scored 2 goals in the whole season.

Meanwhile, Hoang Minh Tam, Tien Dung, Thanh Hai were players who played very impressively during Le Huynh Duc's time. The fact that Minh Phuong gave the captain's armband to midfielder Dang Anh Tuan in many matches also caused unnecessary gossip within the team.

After Nguyen Sa left for Than Quang Ninh, the gap in the midfielder position of SHB Da Nang has no worthy replacement. Minh Phuong is not prestigious enough to bring high-class players to Hoa Xuan stadium, so he has to rotate and search among the cards in hand.

Merlo's departure has weakened SHB Da Nang's offensive power. Photo: Internet

The fact that the Han River team finished the 2018 season in 9th place on the rankings, with 8 wins and 11 losses after 26 matches, touched the pride of the fans and the board of directors. After the meeting on the afternoon of October 31, the SHB Da Nang Board of Directors and Coach Nguyen Minh Phuong agreed to say goodbye.

Coach Phan Thanh Hung, who 10 years ago led SHB Da Nang and then moved to Hanoi T&T and now Than QN, is the name that Quang Nam fans mention the most.

The most difficult thing is that Coach Thanh Hung is happy in the Mining land, when he is trusted and has full authority to build the football development system here. If it were not Mr. Hung, then maybe another son of Quang, who used to be a member of the team's coaching staff, would be invited to try his hand!