The wind is not flying well. This is the story of the Ansan Greeners in K League 2 (Part 2).
Ansan is drifting without a head coach. Head coach Lim Jong-heon was fired on the 22nd. In an official statement, the club said, “Ansan has been suffering from an endless slump, and Lim was recently raided by prosecutors on suspicion of embezzlement. In addition to the poor performance, the club decided that it was difficult to continue to work with Lim, who has caused a major damage to the club’s image due to this incident. The club announced that it had decided to dismiss him.
Lim’s home, vehicle, and office were raided by prosecutors on Nov. 20 on suspicion of embezzlement. According to legal sources, prosecutors were investigating soccer agent A for fraud when they discovered Lim’s alleged bribery. Prosecutors believe Lim received money from A in exchange for selecting two South Korean players for the 2018-2019 season when he was the head coach of Pattaya United in Thailand. Lim is reportedly explaining that he was misunderstood by helping Mr. A utilize his bank account as a secondary account. 안전놀이터
Ansan has been performing poorly in the 2023 season. As of the 28th, they are in 12th place (2W, 4D, 10L, 10G) out of 13 teams in the K League 2. In fact, the poor performance was expected. Lim and Ahn have been friends for a long time. Before this season, when Ansan virtually reshuffled its roster, many players under Mr. A’s management joined the team. Multiple sources familiar with the K League said, “They are mainly known as second-team players. Due to their lack of skill, there are few resources to move up to the first team and play, so the player base has become thinner.” Player B, for example, signed a multi-year contract with Ansan despite his lack of skills after his military service, but he hasn’t even been named on the substitute roster this season.
The Ansan skit continued on the 27th. After Lim’s dismissal, former “star player” Kim Jung-woo took over as acting head coach against Chungnam Asan (0-1 loss) on the 25th, but he resigned after just one game. Ansan appointed coach Song Han-bok as acting head coach. “We will do our best to stabilize the team by appointing a coach who fits the club’s philosophy as soon as possible,” said Kim Gil-sik.