Crisis at the River North Soccer Saloon
After countless warnings of "the wolf is coming", the wolf is finally approaching. If the plight of the Hebei Football Salon is not significantly alleviated, then the saddest option of all, "closure", may be officially opened.
At the beginning of the season, Hebei Football Salon suffered from financial difficulties, to be precise, its parent company was forced to cut off all payments due to a variety of difficulties, and subsequently Hebei Salon could only rely on the sale of players to make ends meet. Then, Hebei continued to have problems, including internal strife during the Chinese Super League and, on October 26th, a strike and vacation at the Hebei Football Salon.
In fact, even on October 26, the outside world is still optimistic about Hebei's participation in the second phase of the Super League, because they have already sent a young lineup to play in the AFC Cup, and can completely replicate this strategy in the second phase. In particular, in the second phase of the Super League, the salons only need to bear the team's round-trip expenses, and the tournament expenses are borne by the Super League officials, and Hebei does not need relegation pressure, and even if they do not play well, they can still stay in the top eight. Therefore, it is not impossible to send some young people to participate in the competition, especially, even if the salary arrears, young players want to get training and growth.
However, the situation seems to have taken a sharp turn for the worse as we enter mid-November. Due to financial pressure, Hebei Football Salon has recently laid off a number of departments and employees one after another, including managers of some departments, such as commercial, technical department, youth training, and even some directors.
More crucially, at the beginning of the month, the general manager of the salon, Li Jun, has been transferred back to the headquarters of the Huaxia Wonderful Group in Beijing, although he is still in charge of the salon within the group, but this kind of responsibility, at any time, can be put down. Prior to this, Hebei soccer salon in the 2021 season, the parent company cut off the supply of the situation of strong kill into the Super League eight, and Li Jun's operation has a lot to do with, including the broken arm to survive, reuse of young players and so on.
The youth teams at the River Soccer Saloon have also taken a full vacation, with some of them waiting, others looking for their next home, and even news that some have given up soccer.
Looking at the first team again, the team went on vacation after the first phase of the Chinese Super League. When preparing for the FA Cup, the old players did not return to the team, and the salon only called the young players in the first team, plus some of the team's players, forming a young mixed team to participate in the FA Cup competition. After the F.A.C.A. Cup, with the salon "strike vacation", this part of the players are also on vacation.
There is no news of a centralized first team at this time.
As for head coach Kim Jong-bu and his team, originally the salon had plans for his return, but due to the increasing difficulties of the salon, Kim's return date has been continuously postponed. If this situation continues, even if Hebei finally participates in the second phase of the Chinese Super League, I'm afraid Kim Jong-bu won't be back.
Sources said that the staff left behind by the salon had been notified that if the relevant parts did not come up with a solution before the end of November, they had to prepare for the worst, and this worst was naturally the closing.
In a nutshell, the psychological journey of the Hebei Football Salon after its parent company cut off its supply is like this: at first they were worried, then the introduction of the mixing plan sparked hope again, but the mixing plan was delayed and could not be pushed forward, they were first worried, then disappointed, and then the disappointment deepened gradually, and the abolition of departments and personnel means that the Hebei Football Salon is now close to despair.
Previously not to give up because of the Hebei soccer bear the responsibility, but if the Hebei related parties are still indifferent, the salon's persistence and what is the meaning of it?
