Seo Jung-won Resigns as Manager of Suwon Bluewings

After five  years at the helm of Suwon Bluewings, it was today announced that manager, Seo Jung-won, would be immediately resigning from his role. 
(Image via K League)

An official announcement was made by the club this afternoon, with Seo citing his responsibility for the team's poor form and a failure to meet the fans' expectations as reasons behind his decision. Seo, lamenting that the season had not been bad apart from his side's league form, said:

"I am sorry that I could not keep up with the fans' expectations. After the Gyeongnam game was the first time I had ever considered resigning".

수원삼성 서정원 감독 자진 사퇴

A post shared by Suwon Samsung Bluewings FC (@suwonsamsungfc) on Aug 27, 2018 at 10:01pm PDT

Seo Jung-won, a former Suwon player, and second in the list of all-time Suwon goalscorers, returned to the club in 2012 and was appointed as manager for the beginning of the 2013 season. He went on to lead Suwon to the runners-up spot in the K League 1 (then known as the K League Classic) in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

But a disastorous season in 2016 saw his stock wain as fan demonstrations, outside and inside the stadium, piled the pressure on him. Only the claiming of silverware, in the form of the 2016 Korean FA Cup, allowed Seo to remain in a job as Suwon flirted with relegation and finished a disappointing 7th in the league.

A steady 2017 league campaign resulted in a third-place finish in the league, and secured qualification to the Asian Champions League for a fourth consecutive season under the manager's stewardship. But the feelings of discontent began to creep in over the course of this current season. A "no supporting" protest from parts of the Suwon support in their last game, against Gyeongnam, on Saturday evening ultimately spelled the end for the club legend.

Suwon supporters' protest during the home fixture with Gyeongnam R26

Suwon are currently in Jeonju preparing for their ACL Quarter Final against Jeonbuk tomorrow evening and it is yet to be announced who will take over caretaker duties until a permanent manager is announced.


Jeonbuk Hyundai vs Suwon Bluewings Writers' Chat Preview here

The latest edition of the K League United Podcast sees an extension of this Writers’ Chat as Matthew Binns sits down with Scott Whitelock to discuss the history of this fixture, how they see this match playing out, and why does this matchup make players see red more than in any other.

AFC Champions League legend and Suwon Bluewings striker Dejan Damjanović also joins editor Paul Neat on the phone as they talk about his playing career in this competition.

You can listen to the podcast below.



You can also listen and subscribe via iTunes, TuneIn Radio and SoundCloud.

AFC Champions League Quiz: Dejan Damjanović

In addition to our podcast, Paul Neat also quizzed Dejan on his AFC Champions League career to see just how much of the nine seasons in the competition he remembers. You can catch how he got on over on our YouTube channel.