The Hong Myung-bo Fall Out – Update

So, this post was supposed to come out a few weeks ago, but as always when I try to write things I get 80% done or so and then life gets in the way and the post never gets completed. But here I am trying to get this one actually out, so a lot of this will be old news, but we’ll cover it all.

Park Joo-ho’s YouTube video

The biggest thing was former national team defender Park Joo-ho releasing a video on YouTube (the day after the announcement) talking about the previous five months since Klinnsman left (PJH served as a member of the KFA’s National Team Reinforcement Committee that advised and helped find a new manager). While filming, the news of the KFA’s appointment started to filter out in the media, leaving PJH quite shocked and flustered at the announcement.

PJH had been talking about the managers he had suggested to the committee, and how some of the members were completely unaware of certain managers (Jesse Marsch). He also talked about how the committee had strict and stringent criteria for evaluating foreign managers, but seemingly had none for domestic managers – particularly HMB. PJH admitted that there was a sense that HMB might be appointed just because of how often his name came out and the free pass he seemingly would get from the upper levels of the KFA, but after the news came out he said that he hadn’t felt it was imminent.

This video got a lot of attention both from the media and from the Korean football world. The KFA released a statement saying they are reviewing PJH’s actions to see what “necessary actions” need to be taken (which many have taken to mean they are reviewing any potential violations of confidentiality clauses and whether they will sue him). In the end, the KFA said they would not be taking any action against PJH – possibly because the public’s reaction towards the HMB appointment was so negative and to PJH so positive, or possibly because they knew that any legal action would likely expose what the KFA actually did in terms of how HMB was appointed.

Hong Myung-bo and Ulsan HD

The day after the news was announced, Ulsan HD played Gwangju in a K League match. Attending Ulsan fans vented their anger at their soon-to-be former manager. Banners were displayed calling him a liar, disloyal, and the worst manager ever to manage Ulsan (HMB had said shortly before the news he was not going to take the position if offered). When the players and staff went over to the fans to greet them after the match (Ulsan lost 0-1), the fans chanted “Hong Myung-bo get out”.

After the match HMB did speak with the media. HMB said that the first offer officially came on July 5 when Lee Im-saeng (director of the Technical Committee) came to his house. LIS waited for a couple hours to meet with him, so HMB said he couldn’t refuse the meeting. LIS talked about a policy of “Made in Korea” – which seems to be about the need to create a better system to connect the youth teams up to the senior national team. HMB admitted that it was something that was interesting to him and that being the coach of the senior side would be a good position to help with the implementation of that policy.

HMB said that he was unaware of what happened in the committee (he said he had seen PJH’s video), and that he did ask LIS how he was selected, and was simply told, “You were the top candidate (highest scoring).” When asked about why he took the job, he simply said that ultimately it came down to his desire to take up the challenge of the national team again and to build a truly strong team. Is it the truth or is he just offering up a simple personal reason in order to shield the KFA? Time will tell.

HMB held his first official press conference as the national team manager on July 29. Again, he apologized to Ulsan HD and K League fans, and said that he accepted the criticism. He said he believes the only way to win back the trust and support of the fans is by leading the team well. He also accepted the criticism that had been leveled at him after the 2014 World Cup – particularly the idea that he selected players that he already knew well. HMB said that was true because he didn’t know enough about the less well-known K League players, but now after spending 3.5 years coaching in the league he was familiar with all of the players. He also re-affirmed that the biggest attraction to taking the job again was to help strengthen the pipeline between the senior squad and the youth teams in creating a playing style that would be used at all levels.

The KFA

I’ve referenced the KFA and some of the figures involved, but for the most part the KFA has not done much. Chung Mong-gyu has not made any public statement regarding the appointment. Lee Im-saeng did hold a press conference and has made statements. The KFA did eventually release a 22-point timeline going over how HMB was selected and hired (it should be noted the time line is not extremely detailed). Some of the main points:

• From April 30 – May 17 the KFA held discussions with their two top foreign manager candidates, but both fell through (terms could not be agreed with candidate #1 and while terms were agreed with candidate #2 a release of contract from their current team could not be secured).
• June 3 – Due to the failure to secure a deal with the previous top candidates, the KFA re-starts the search with 10 foreign managers and 2 Korean managers on the list. This list expands to 17 targets (5 additional foreign managers added) on June 18.
• June 21 – The list is cut to three managers with HMB being the most recommended target.
• June 27 – Committee chair Jeong Hae-seong reports to Chung Mong-gyu, after preliminary interviews with two foreign manager targets, that HMB is top target but in-person interviews should be held with foreign managers. JHS then suddenly resigns his position.
• June 30 – Lee Im-saeng is selected to carry out the final interviews with targets due to JHS’ resignation.
• July 2-4 – LIS goes to Spain and Germany to interview manager targets. Contract is prepared if HMB interview does not happen or does not go well.
• July 5 – LIS interviews HMB. LIS decides HMB is best candidate.
• July 6 – HMB conditionally accepts offer. Negotiations begin with Ulsan HD.
• July 7 – Ulsan HD accepts. HMB is announced as manager.

A couple interesting bits that came out of this timeline are in the July 7 entry. The first is that it says that LIS contacted five committee members (including PJH) to confirm that he had the authority to interview the final candidates, make a selection, and recommend that person to the KFA. It also says that due to the frequent leaks from the committee about discussions, that LIS decided not to inform the National Team Reinforcement Committee about the decision on HMB. PJH in his video, also commented that information seemed to leak from the committee in real time.

Finally, the KFA also released a Q&A on the process and some of the criticized points (who exactly this interview with is not clear as it does not state anywhere who is answering – or asking – the questions). In any event, the Q&A is broken down into four points.

1. Did Lee Im-saeng have the authority to do the final interviews and negotiations after the resignation of Jong Hae-seong?
   • Short answer from the Q&A is, “Yes”. They point out various clauses in the regulations that state he has the ability to do so. They also double down on the statement that LIS received approval from the National Team Reinforcement Committee members to do so.
2. Did HMB get a “free pass” in the selection process while foreign candidates underwent a lengthy and detailed review?
   • This response was kind of interesting. Basically they say that LIS met the two foreign candidates and was not entirely won over by them. While they presented detailed information about their philosophies and the KNT, he felt they weren’t exactly aligned with what the KFA wanted overall. It is does feel like, from the KFA’s own description (and I may be projecting here), that LIS had basically already decided on HMB and likely needed to hear a ‘perfect’ answer so-to-speak from one of the foreign candidates to be selected ahead of HMB. It’s worth remembering that at this point, HMB has not held any interview with the KFA.
   • HMB does interview with LIS after the latter returned from Europe. In the Q&A, I feel like the responder does kind of admit that HMB got a free pass though as they basically say that an offer is only extended to a foreign candidate if HMB doesn’t interview. Also, interestingly the responder admits that the interview ‘questions’ for the foreign candidates and HMB were different – although they state that it is only natural as the KFA is already familiar with HMB as a coach and his footballing philosophy. So, HMB’s interview focused more on integrating the style of the different age levels, creating a Korean technical style, and overall vision for the NT. The foreign candidates focused more on their footballing philosophies and the knowledge of the KNT.
3. What happened with American coach ‘A’?
   • Presumably this is Jesse Marsch. The responder says that this coach received high marks from the committee and was a top target. Initial negotiations went well, but issues related to taxes bogged things down. Eventually, the KFA’s deadline to accept passed and negotiations basically ended.
4. LIS said (in regards to transparency issues) that “The chairman (Chung Mong-gyu) gave me complete authority, so I transparently made this decision” (“회장이 모든 권한을 주었기에 이번 결정은 절차대로 투명하게 나 스스로 했다”). What did that mean?
   • Apparently, LIS meant that CMG told him that he would trust/respect LIS’ choice and that CMG would not be involved in the decision on who to appoint. So, LIS selected HMB and reported the decision to KFA VP Kim Jeong-bae as CMG told him it was not necessary to report it to him directly. This feels a bit like LIS shielding CMG, but who knows.

Moving on

I believe HMB’s coaching staff is still being finalized. The team’s next match is not until September, and with Europe about to kick off again, I suspect things will quiet down a bit. HMB did fly to England to meet Son Heung-min and other Europe-based players after he was appointed. Likely to help ensure the big players were onboard and would help bring the fans back into the fold. Admittedly, I haven’t really had time to follow along closely the past couple weeks to gauge how the public feels about the move. I imagine most will, like HMB said, come back if the NT delivers. But any struggles, especially early on and the boos will be out early.

Personally, I’m a bit mixed on the announcement. HMB being the pick was one of those gut feelings I had once a manager wasn’t found relatively early. However, the way he left Ulsan mid-season (and the K League is tight this year) is highly regrettable. Given the situation, I would have preferred a temp. manager until the end of the calendar year and then HMB to take over in 2025. Admittedly, it would be difficult to find a six-month interim boss that wouldn’t want to take over permanently – especially if the results were good. We’ll see what happens with HMB. For those that want it, the KFA did release a short, very condensed version of what happened in English.