Confused roles in the "hot seat"
On the evening of January 24, Da Nang club visited Thong Nhat Stadium of Ho Chi Minh City in the 11th round of LPBank V.League 2024-2025. According to the list of registered players announced by the organizers, the head coach of the Han River team in this match is Mr. Phan Thanh Hung. Although previously, the official fanpage of Da Nang announced that Roland was the team coach in this match.
In the match against Hanoi on January 19, Mr. Hung was also registered as the head coach of Da Nang.
However, the person who directly directed the Da Nang players throughout the match was Mr. Cristiano Roland. Meanwhile, Mr. Phan Thanh Hung still appeared in the Da Nang team's coaching cabin but did not go out on the field to direct.
Even in the last two matches, the person attending the post-match press conference was not head coach Phan Thanh Hung but Mr. Roland. In the match against Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of January 24, the Brazilian "strategist" was also announced to attend the press conference as an "authorized head coach".
Notably, previously, Da Nang club announced that Mr. Roland would take on the position of head coach, and Mr. Phan Thanh Hung would join the coaching staff as Technical Director.
Avoid the answer
When asked by the media about who is the real head coach of Da Nang, Mr. Roland answered evasively and quite challengingly.
He said: "I respect and always answer questions about football, I love Vietnamese football. I always focus and work related to expertise. Recently, I brought the Vietnamese youth team to the Asian finals. This is my love for football, especially Vietnamese football.
My opinion is only about football, about my players and what I do. The audience also wants to know about the match, the moment in the match, about the expertise. This is the most important thing. Therefore, I am here to answer other questions. I just need to know that I am the one who controls my players. I am the one who makes all the decisions."
Previously, on January 19 in Da Nang, Mr. Roland (who was announced to attend the press conference after the Da Nang match as head coach even though the list of candidates for this position was Mr. Phan Thanh Hung) was also asked a similar question and he flatly refused.
These moves raise a big question mark about the exact roles of Mr. Phan Thanh Hung and Cristiano Roland in the coaching staff of the Da Nang team.
However, these unclear changes of Da Nang have not yet brought positive signals. The Han River team is playing poorly in V.League 2024-2025. After 11 rounds, this team has drawn 4 and lost 7, standing at the bottom of the rankings and is the only team that has not won a match.
