Hanwha’s new head coach Choi Won-ho started to discipline the team in earnest.
On the 11th, Choi took office as the 13th manager of Hanwha after former manager Carlos Subero. A three-year contract was signed for a total of 1.4 billion won (200 million won down payment, 300 million won annual salary, 300 million won option, etc.).
Coach Subero, who led the team from the 2021 season, was notified of the hardship even though he won 4-0 in Daegu Samsung on that day. Although they have recently been on the rise with two consecutive victories, they have not been able to avoid responsibility for poor performance, such as being in the bottom of the circle with 9th place this season after finishing at the bottom for the past two seasons in a row.
Director Choi, who was appointed as the successor command tower, has a unique career. Coach Choi, who was appointed as Hanwha’s Futures (2nd division) coach in November 2019, led the team in June 2020. He directed 114 games at the time, which remains the record for the longest acting manager’s career.
Hanwha said, “I highly appreciate the fact that he has been in the club for the fourth season and has a detailed understanding of the team, the leadership that brought out the potential of young players, and the team management that focuses on winning baseball that the Futures team showed and places players in the right places. I evaluated it,” he explained the background of his appointment.스포츠토토
Coach Choi will lead the team from three consecutive weekend matches against SSG in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, which will be held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 12th. The atmosphere that has become chaotic after coach Subero needs to be rectified as soon as possible. In addition, although they recently won two games in a row, they took on the heavy responsibility of raising their performance, which is still in ninth place in the league.
In response, coach Choi emphasized ‘teamwork’ to the players. He pointed out, “We consistently showed problems with teamwork,” and “I think it’s because of our remoteness.”
Then, he raised his voice, saying, “Each of us needs to be aware of the area we are assigned, and we must do our best there.
He also demanded to have strong mental strength. Coach Choi said, “Players with weak mentality usually have a lot of negative thoughts. They tend to find excuses, but they need to look back and change themselves.” I think it will come out,” he said.
Coincidentally, coach Choi is famous for being close friends with general manager Sohn Hyuk of Hanwha and his cousin. As such, he expects good communication between the club’s leadership and the players, but on the other hand, there are concerns that excessive solidarity may hinder the team’s operation.
In response, coach Choi agreed, saying, “I think that if the team is operated independently, the concerns can be realized.”
“I have sufficiently appealed to the general manager about the way the team is operated. I want to collect the opinions of experts in each part and put a lot of weight on them, rather than arbitrarily managing them,” he said. I plan to put it into the running of the game,” he said.
Coach Choi will face off against SSG coach Won-hyung Kim, who participated in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok during his active career, in his official first team coaching debut match. Coach Choi, who met with coach Kim before the game, said, “The coach asked me if he had come to play with us. He congratulated me on his appointment and gave me short but good advice.”