The reason why domestic coaches are indifferent to the 'hot' seat

(Baonghean) - Last week, V.League took a break for the Vietnam national team to compete in the 2019 ASIAN Cup qualifiers, but during this time, fans of the Han River and Hai Phong teams as well as players of these two teams suddenly received news that Coach Le Huynh Duc and Truong Viet Hoang announced that they would end their roles as "captains".

This information shocked Hai Phong and Da Nang players, because both Huynh Duc and Viet Hoang are doing their jobs well and are trusted by the owners of these two teams.

In terms of achievements, after 3 seasons with Hai Phong, although the team's strength is still limited, coach Viet Hoang has helped Hai Phong become a "powerful" team in V.League, culminating in the runner-up title of V-League 2016.

As for Le Huynh Duc, although he initially came to Da Nang as a “salaryman”, he seems to have become a “monument” of Song Han football. From an “unknown” team, within a decade under the leadership of Huynh Duc, Da Nang Club won the following titles: 2 V.League championships (2009, 2012), National Cup 2009, National Super Cup 2012 and once entered the quarter-finals of AFC Cup 2010.

After 3 years of working together, Coach Truong Viet Hoang will end his role as "captain" at Hai Phong Club. Photo: Duc Dung

Not only bringing titles and achievements to the team, both Huynh Duc and Viet Hoang are very popular with the players. When hearing the news that Huynh Duc decided to end his role as coach in Da Nang, on his personal Facebook page, midfielder Hoang Minh Tam shared: "For the first time in a training session, I had to force a smile...". Meanwhile, midfielder Thanh Hai wrote: "Why is it so easy to say goodbye?".

In Hai Phong, foreign player Errol Stevens shared: “I hope what I read is not true. Coach Zidane will not go anywhere.”

According to experts, a coach who is loved by both players and owners and says goodbye to a team must have thought a lot before making this decision, not like the case of being fired or suddenly terminating a contract that often happens.

So what is the reason that both Viet Hoang and Huynh Duc decided to leave the "hot seat" when the V.League 2017 is about to end?

Many experts believe that this is largely due to the pressure of the team's performance, and these coaches have been feeling that if they continue to be the "captain" of these teams for a few more seasons, with what they have in hand, they will not be able to help the club.

So “leaving with honor” is better for them than “trying to force the issue”. Because both Hai Phong and Da Nang clubs are showing signs of “running out of steam” in investing in buying quality players, while fans of Hai Phong and Song Han have high expectations for the team’s achievements.

That was also what happened before, when coach Huu Thang said goodbye to the Nghe An team in the 2014 season, after 5 years as head coach. At that time, he realized that no matter how talented he was, with the "small-scale investment" style, SLNA would find it difficult to "make a difference" as everyone expected.

It seems that in V.League, with clubs not investing heavily, but fans having too many expectations about achievements, it has made the coaches feel pressured and gradually become "cold" towards the "hot seats" they are sitting on.

Duc Dung