Former halfback and captain of the national squad Nguyen Huu Thang has suddenly returned as the new coach of T&T Hanoi, replacing Trieu Quang Ha.

T&T Hanoi’s new coach Nguyen Huu Thang.

T&T Hanoi created a stir early in the 2009 football season when it paid 8 billion dong to buy top striker Le Cong Vinh. With this record contract, the team stated it was targeting the top three of V-League.

However, after 13 matches of the first round, T&T Hanoi disappointed its fans because it had only three successful matches, ranking at the bottom.

Before the 13^th match, it was rumored that the club would replace chief coach Trieu Quang Ha, also a former member of the national squad, with Huu Thanh. But Ha confirmed after the losing 13^th match that he would not resign because the T&T Hanoi chairman committed he would not change the coaching board.

Besides its poor performance, T&T Hanoi is known for scandals related to star goalkeeper Duong Hong Son, the winner of the Golden Ball Awards 2008.

Behind this scandal, some said that T&T Hanoi was in internal disarray, particularly that there was a severe conflict between the group of players from Thanh Hoa and the group from Nghe An province. Coach Trieu Quang Ha, from Thanh Hoa, is believed was unable to solve the conflict.

T&T Hanoi decided to change its coach on May 21.

Huu Thang is very familiar as the captain of Song Lam Nghe An and the national squad for many years. He also led Song Lam Nghe An as a coach in 2005. When he emerged as a potential young coach, he was detained for involvement in the scandal under which Song Lam Nghe An was accused of buying the 2000-2001 championship cup.

Thang was released in January 2008. He received many invitations from teams at the First Division tournament but he refused.

After Hai Phong, The Cong, Nam Dinh, Binh Duong, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Dong Tam Long An, T&T Hanoi is the seventh team changing its coach this year.

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