Kitchee chief says no excuses for ‘bad season’, says Hong Kong club have head coach ‘options’ in warning to manager
- Kitchee poised to lose grasp on title following sub-par campaign, owner Ken Ng acknowledges club ‘have problems’
- Squad will ‘naturally evolve’ with some senior players set for exits, and recruitment planned for summer
Kitchee boss Ken Ng Kin said his club had problems and there were no excuses for a “bad season” in which they have relinquished their domestic supremacy to Lee Man.
The Hong Kong Premier League champions will lose their title in the next few weeks, but the president said there would be no decision over the future of Kim Dong-jin, the interim head coach, until the end of Kitchee’s FA Cup campaign.
However, in a pointed warning to Kim, he said the club were look at “some options” when it came to filling the post on a permanent basis.
Ng is anticipating a number of summer arrivals, and said the club was assessing the suitability of each player “to remain next season”.
Kitchee are six points behind league leaders Lee Man, with two games remaining, while conceding defeat this season, Ng vowed to do everything possible to reclaim the crown in 2024-25.
The team won the Senior Shield in February, have an FA Cup semi-final against Eastern on Sunday, and next Wednesday play BC Rangers in the Sapling Cup final.