This photo, provided by Daegu FC on May 27, 2025, shows the K League 1 club’s new head coach, Kim Byung-soo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Daegu FC, mired in last place in the top South Korean football league, filled their head coaching vacancy Tuesday, more than a month after their former boss stepped down.
Daegu FC announced Kim Byung-soo as their new head coach. He replaces Park Chang-hyun, who resigned April 13 to take the fall for the club’s poor start to the 2025 K League 1 season.
Daegu were in 11th place among 12 clubs in the K League 1 at the time of Park’s resignation, with two wins, one draw and six losses. Under caretaker boss Suh Dong-won, they notched just one win, one draw and four losses to fall to last place.
Kim Byung-soo previously served as head coach of Gangwon FC from 2018 to 2021 and then Suwon Samsung Bluewings in 2023.
Daegu said Kim was the right person to drag the club out of trouble and bring a fresh set of strategic and tactical ideas to the table.
“At his previous coaching stops, Kim showed his considerable tactical acumen,” Daegu FC said in a statement. “He has been particularly adept at getting his teams to make creative and well-organized passes.”
During his time with Gangwon FC, Kim’s brand of football earned the moniker “Byung-soo Ball.”
Kim said Tuesday he understands both Daegu FC and their supporters are “going through a difficult stretch” and he wants to turn things around the best he can.
After barely avoiding relegation to the K League 2 in 2024, Daegu FC are in danger of direct relegation this year.
“My job is to do the best I can with the players here and never give up until the end,” Kim said. “We will all try to show fans that we really care. In training, I want to create an energetic and optimistic atmosphere, and help the players stay focused.”
Kim said he received a call from Daegu FC late last week and things proceeded quickly.
“It was not an easy decision to accept this job because we’re in the middle of the season. I am still trying to figure out what kind of football we should play to start winning some matches,” the new coach said. “I may end up wasting time if I try wrong things on the field. So I think I have to focus on winning first and on keeping things simple because we don’t have much time to build up the team.”
Kim said when he coached against Daegu FC in the past, they were the “defend first, counterattack later” type of team.
“Right now, we have too many injured players to play that way,” he added. “I hope they can all return quickly.”
Kim is scheduled to meet with his players Thursday and make his Daegu coaching debut Sunday against Gwangju FC at home in Daegu, about 235 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
(Yonhap)
