Heungkuk Life Insurance, which has recently won three consecutive wins, could not even laugh at the victory. This is because general manager Kim Yeo-il and head coach Kwon Soon-chan resigned together on the 2nd, and Acting coach Lee Young-soo also announced his intention to resign after the game that day.
Heungkuk Life Insurance explained the background of the resignation, saying that general manager Kim Yeo-il and director Kwon Soon-chan had a conflict over the rotation of Kim Yeon-kyung and Yelena. Regarding this, suspicions were raised that the club tried to intervene in the coach’s appointment of players and the management of the game, but Shin Yong-jun, the new general manager, said, “I was not talking about the appointment of players. However, it is true that there was a conflict over the management of the team. I know we disagreed about the rotation issue. There were many fans who wanted Kim Yeon-kyung and Yelena to be separated, not together, in the avant-garde. Conflict seems to have arisen because there are different opinions in that area. I don’t think it’s an expression that the club intervened.”
However, acting manager Lee Young-soo and veteran players such as Kim Yeon-kyung and Kim Hae-ran refuted this explanation again. Acting Lee Young-soo said, “Only the director knew. To me, it was all you just hinted at. I do not know the details,” suggesting that there was an intervention by the club, “Anyway, since the director was there, a lot of my opinions have been included. He said that nothing would change if I stayed,” he explained the reason for his resignation.
Kim Hae-ran said, “I felt that there was an intervention by the club. Even the players knew. There were players who were offended, and so was I. I have told the manager directly,” he refuted the club’s explanation. Kim Yeon-kyung also said, “It is true that there has been talk about Ki-yong. Because of that, there were times when I couldn’t play the game I wanted and lost. I’m ashamed to talk like this. As a person in the volleyball world, this incident is really unfortunate.”
Regarding the claim that the fans requested a different rotation than now, acting manager Lee Young-soo said, “I don’t know who said it. We practiced various rotations. 메이저놀이터 (The rotation requested by the club) can be done if you want to, but I decided that the current rotation is the best.” Kim Yeon-kyung said, “There is no right answer for position or formation. For that reason, it makes no more sense to say that he was hardened,” he said. “In this way, any manager can be hardened. He emphasized the injustice of this situation, saying, “Which coach doesn’t hear bad things when he loses a game?”
Heungkuk Life Insurance is in a position to quickly find a new manager and rectify the situation. However, Kim Yeon-kyung said, “In the end, all I can say is that I want a coach who listens to the team. When the next coach comes, we can no longer trust him,” she said, worrying about the future of Heungkuk Life Insurance. Heungkuk Life’s confusion is expected to be difficult to resolve for the time being.