SEOUL, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors named former Premier League midfielder Kim Do-heon as their new head coach Monday.
The K League 1 club said Kim, 41, will begin his term with an away match against Gangwon FC on Wednesday.
Jeonbuk have been playing under assistant coach Park Won-jae, who has been serving in a caretaker role since Dan Petrescu stepped down April 6.
Jeonbuk, owner of a K League-record nine championships, have been stuck in neutral all season. With 14 points after 14 matches, they are sitting in 10th place among 12 clubs. They had spent some time earlier in the season in last place and are currently just three points ahead of the league-worst Daejeon Hana Citizen.
“This is a critical moment for Jeonbuk. We have to overcome adversity and start moving forward again,” Kim said. “And I want to thank the club for giving me this opportunity at such an important juncture. I feel a great sense of responsibility. I will try my best to repay the club’s faith on the pitch.”
Kim split his K League playing
career between Seongnam FC and Suwon Samsung Bluewings, and won the league MVP award in 2006 after helping Seongnam to the title.
He played for West Bromwich Albion in England from 2008 to 2009 and finished his career with Indy Eleven, an American club. Kim also collected 62 caps.
After retirement, he worked as a coach for Suwon and then for Jeonbuk. He was Jeonbuk’s caretaker manager for about a month last year, dragging them out of the relegation zone and into the middle of the pack before they hired Petrescu. The club had six wins, two draws and one loss on Kim’s watch.
Kim went on to coach for the Chinese club Chengdu Rongcheng earlier this year before rejoining Jeonbuk.
In a statement, Jeonbuk said Kim was the perfect coach to carry out the club’s tactic-based vision.
“We felt this was a time for new leadership, as we are on a downward trajectory after dominating the K League for about a decade,” Jeonbuk said. “With his smart leadership and his ability to break down opponents and deliver precise inf
ormation to players, we felt Kim Do-heon was the perfect coach for us.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency