How will SSG Landers' new coach Lee Soong-yong try to coexist with veteran players? He said, “I will take care of both grades and training.” Then, the veteran players should also lead well.
The SSG club dismissed former coach Kim Won-hyung and said, “We will ‘remodel’ in harmony with the old and new.” General Manager Kim Seong-yong was concerned that “the team is aging,” but the club’s policy is to continuously nurture young players and hope that veteran players will lead them well.
There are clear expectations for players in their 40s, such as right-hander Noh Kyung-eun, who turns 40, left-hander Ko Hyo-jun, who turns 41, and Choo Shin-soo, who turns 42.
On the 21st, the inauguration ceremony for new coach Lee Soong-yong was held in the 2nd floor ballroom of Holiday Inn Incheon Songdo in Songdo, Incheon. While receiving congratulations from CEO Min Kyung-sam, general manager Kim Seong-yong, and representative players Oh Tae-gon, Choi Jeong, Kim Gwang-hyun, and Noh Kyung-eun, the new coach said, “I think everyone who was a baseball player dreams of becoming a manager. I am grateful to the SSG Landers officials who made my dream come true. “I’m overwhelmed,” he said.
The new coach mentioned his squad management plan at his inauguration ceremony. Regarding ‘team remodeling,’ new coach Lee said, “It is not easy to achieve both performance and development at the same time. It is impossible alone. However, it is something that can be done if you communicate with the players and get help from the coaching staff and the front office. I also played as a player until I was 41. We will treat veterans with the utmost respect and give them a sense of responsibility. “For veteran players, they will worry about how to manage their physical strength,” he said.
On the 17th, SSG appointed Lee Soong-yong, former head of training at KT Wiz, as the 9th coach. The terms of the contract are 2 years, a down payment of 300 million won, and an annual salary of 300 million won, totaling 900 million won.
SSG began the process of selecting a new director with the goal of innovating the operating paradigm for sustainable development, and selected a new group of candidates who can actively implement communicative leadership and team remodeling. Afterwards, SSG established evaluation criteria by extracting essential competencies and virtues from various fields, and selected this new manager after communicating about the club's direction and baseball values through in-depth interviews.
After graduating from Kyung Hee University, the new coach joined the Pacific Dolphins as the No. 1 overall pick in the second round in 1994. This new coach experienced a total of four KBO Korean Series wins thanks to his consistency, including playing in 2001 games over 18 seasons through Hyundai Unicorns and Heroes until 2011.
SSG judged that Coach Lee had extensive knowledge of the training system and KBO baseball trends based on years of coaching and front office experience, and had season management insight, making him the right person to reach the club's goal within a short period of time. .
You also have to give grades. But we also need to nurture young players. We need to give opportunities to players with potential. In fact, in order to achieve good results, the decision to hire second-team players will not be easy. Among these, the new coach is trying to quickly find potential and catch both nurturing and grades.
This new coach tries to communicate a lot with his players. At the inauguration ceremony, he said, “Lee Soong-yong’s baseball is player-centered baseball. We will talk to you so that you can maximize your strengths. I would like to emphasize two principles. It's one team. “It’s an important part,” he said. “I’ve talked about it a lot since I was on active duty.” If you harm the team, you will become a scary senior. And the second is professionalism. When you come out to the baseball field, it's not about whether you're a senior or junior, it's about how hard you play. “These two things will be pursued strongly,” he emphasized.
As a result, it is impossible not to be aware of Choo Shin-soo and Kim Kang-min in Lee Soong-yong's baseball. Although they are in their 40s, they are still healthy players. According to the club's policy, we have reached an age where we need to worry. It is also time for athletes to think about ‘retirement’.
First of all, the new coach has not been able to talk to the two players. New coach Lee said, “The two players will respect the decision no matter what decision they make. “In particular, I think Choo Shin-soo should be treated with more respect because he has major league experience and is the leader of the team,” he said, looking carefully.