Daejeon FC manager resigns due to poor performance

Daejeon Hana Citizen Football Club has announced the resignation of its head coach, Lee Min-sung, following a series of disappointing results.

"Lee recently announced his intention to resign, feeling a heavy responsibility for failing to meet fans' expectations due to poor performance. The club has accepted his decision," the club stated on Tuesday. "I would like to thank and apologize to everyone who has believed in and supported me," Lee said. Lee is the third head coach to step down mid-season due to poor results since the start of this year's K League 1 season, following the departures of Dan Petrescu from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC and Choi Won-kwon from Daegu FC in April.

Lee took charge of Daejeon in 2021 when the team was in the K League 2 (second division). In his first year, he led the team to a second-place finish and a promotion play-off against K League 1's 11th-placed Gangwon FC, but they lost and failed to secure promotion. In 2022, he once again guided the team to a second-place finish and successfully achieved promotion by defeating Gimcheon Sangmu FC in the play-offs, marking the team's first promotion in eight years. Last season, Daejeon finished eighth in their first year back in League 1. However, this season has been challenging, with the team currently 12th, the bottommost in the league, having accumulated 11 points from two wins, five draws, and six losses as of Tuesday.

"We will appoint a successor and reorganize the team," the club announced. “Until a new head coach is appointed, Head Coach Jung Kwang-seok will serve as the acting head coach.”


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com