CLB Ninh Binh Loses Three Matches: Is the Blame Solely on the Coach?

Coach Gerard Albadalejo was recently dismissed by the newly-promoted Ninh Binh after the team suffered three consecutive defeats, severely damaging their historic chance in the V-League title race. The practice of "losing a match, firing the general" is nothing new; replacing the coach at critical moments is also a way to prevent things from going too far. However, not all such changes are convincing, and in the V-League, coaching changes do not always seem to be purely for professional reasons.

Ninh Binh is a newly-promoted team; their unbeaten run in the first 11 rounds was an extremely impressive achievement, and at that time, credit must certainly be given to Coach Gerard Albadalejo. The Spanish tactician, signed last July, was a relatively unknown name.

The 2-3 loss to CAHN in round 12 on the opponent's home ground had major repercussions. Coach Albadalejo overreacted to the referee and received a two-match touchline ban. His team also lost both of those subsequent matches against HA.GL and Nam Dinh.

But this is precisely what's puzzling. Losing to CAHN, the only team still unbeaten in the V-League, is hardly surprising. Then losing both matches without their head coach also seems logical. Coach Albadalejo's role was too crucial; perhaps they should have waited to see if things worsened under his direct command before dismissing him? In other words, Albadalejo's dismissal is very difficult to justify from a professional standpoint.

In the three recent losses, Ninh Binh narrowly failed each time, with two of those being away games. Their goals conceded and scored ratios were not significantly different from the previous 11 matches. This means the statistics show Ninh Binh had no major issues. They lost because they were without their coach, opponents had figured them out, and newly-added U23 players hadn't fully integrated.

It's unclear what the Ninh Binh leadership expects from such a sudden coaching change. In terms of capability, Ninh Binh is unlikely to win the championship this season. In V-League history, only two teams, HA.GL and CAHN, have won the title immediately after promotion.

However, both these teams had long-established football operations beforehand, and when they won, the number of competitors was not as high as what Ninh Binh faces this season. In the current standings, the champions from three of the last five seasons are all in the top five, while the back-to-back champion Nam Dinh has not weakened significantly.

In summary, it's unclear why Ninh Binh changed coaches. This haste led to the appointment of "cascadeur" Vu Tien Thanh as interim manager. The choice of Mr. Thanh alone shows something is off with Ninh Binh's recent decision, as he specializes in "rescuing" relegation-threatened teams, not in title races.

From another perspective, Ninh Binh's coaching change reflects a "peculiarity" of the V-League. Only after the first half of the season, there have been 9 coaching changes, with 3 clubs doing so twice. A prime example is Nam Dinh, which removed Coach Vu Hong Viet, only to reinstate him a few rounds later. Hanoi FC has made its 10th coaching change in just the last four seasons. Becamex TP.HCM is not far behind, with its 7th change in the recent three seasons...

It seems coaching changes in the V-League carry multiple meanings, not purely professional ones as in other professional leagues. But from another angle, while V-League clubs constantly shuffle coaches without improving results or international competitiveness, perhaps Vietnamese football is facing a player quality issue, forcing clubs to try one coach after another. After all, replacing a coach is still easier than buying new players...