The fact that Chinese football legend Fan Zhiyi coached the Liaoning Ironmen in the Chinese League One sparked a heated discussion among the media and fans. Liaoning Ironman officially issued an announcement, hiring Fan Zhiyi as the coaching staff leader and technical director, and Sun Wei as the first executive coach. Li Yingfa and Li Shubin, the former meritorious coaches of the old Liaoning Football Team, also joined the Liaoning Ironman as consultants. However, Fan Zhiyi responded quickly, saying that he only held a false position in the club.
In the fifth round of the Chinese League One, the Liaoning Ironmen made their home debut of the new season and defeated Suzhou Soochow 2-0 to win their first victory of the new season. At that time, Song Kai, chairman of the Football Association, and Fan Zhiyi appeared on the rostrum to watch the game. After the game, some media revealed that the Liaoning Ironman coaching staff was going to be changed and Fan Zhiyi was going to coach the team. Although Liaoning Ironman's official position is coaching staff leader + technical director, Fan Zhiyi's name is enough to cheer up the fans.
However, Fan Zhiyi quickly issued a statement in response. Fan Zhiyi first thanked the fans for their attention and love, and then Fan Zhiyi said the key words: "I only help the team build a coaching team out of my personal love and feelings for football. He participated in this incident with an attitude and did not hold any actual position in the team! "
In fact, Fan Zhiyi's meaning has been made very clear, that is, he only has a nominal position in the Liaoning Iron Man and does not directly participate in directing the team's games. He has no intention of being a head coach. The reason why he became a coach is his love and feelings for football.
It is worth mentioning that the position of technical director is responsible for the team's recruitment and control. But with Fan Zhiyi's statement, his responsibility may not be to check the signings, but most likely to make suggestions. As Fan Zhiyi said, his attitude is to help the team build a coaching team.
Fan Zhiyi's statement "does not hold any actual position" is absolutely watertight. After all, Fan Zhiyi currently does not have a coaching certificate and cannot coach games on the spot. And after witnessing the ups and downs of Chinese football in the past two decades, Fan Zhiyi's sharp edges have been smoothed away by time. For example, Fan Zhiyi, who is over fifty this year, has calmed down a lot and has put aside many things.
Moreover, Fan Zhiyi has recently been filming the variety show Wuha, which has brought a lot of happiness to audiences across the country. In 2024, there will be international competitions such as the European Cup and the Olympic Games, and Fan Zhiyi may also serve as a guest commentator. However, during this period, the Chinese League One is also going on at the same time. It is definitely unrealistic to expect Fan Zhiyi to stop all projects and only generate electricity for love. In short, Fan Zhiyi's willingness to help at this juncture is worthy of recognition. I also hope that the Liaoning Ironman, who shouted the slogan of overtaking, will live up to the expectations of the fans.
