Yesterday, following three consecutive losses in V-League 2025-2026, Ninh Binh FC dismissed Spanish coach Gerard Albadalejo. Early this afternoon, last season's First Division champions announced that coach Vu Tien Thanh will serve as the interim head coach until the club finds a new head coach.

Thanh currently holds the positions of director of LPBank HAGL Academy and technical director of HAGL FC. Therefore, he will temporarily travel north for this assignment before returning to HAGL.

Coach Vu Tien Thanh, director of LPBank HAGL Academy, during an interview with VnExpress in 2025. *Photo: Duc Dong*

Born in 1964, Vu Tien Thanh began his career as head of the Ho Chi Minh City Football Talent Department, where he trained a generation of players including Do Khai, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen Chuong, Tran Minh Chien, Nguyen Minh Phuong, Phung Thanh Phuong, Nguyen Ngoc Tho, and Hoang Hung. He later pursued coaching courses in Brazil, Germany, and the US.

Thanh previously served as an assistant coach for the Vietnam national team under various foreign head coaches such as Karl Heinz Weigang, Colin Murphy, Alfred Rield, Dido, and Henrique Calisto. He also held head coach positions at Saigon FC and Ho Chi Minh City FC, and was the director of the PVF Center. He was appointed director of HAGL Football Academy by Chairman Duc on 20/12/2023, and four days later, he took on the role of technical director for HAGL FC.

Ninh Binh is a newcomer to V-League 2025-2026, having won the First Division 2024-2025 undefeated. The team had a brilliant start to the season with an 11-match unbeaten streak, consistently leading the table. However, in the past three rounds, they suffered losses to Cong an Ha Noi 2-3, HAGL 1-2, and Nam Dinh 2-3, respectively. These results were the last straw, prompting the board to change coaches.

Coach Vu Tien Thanh will make his V-League return when Ninh Binh visits bottom-ranked Da Nang in round 15 at 17:00 on 7/3 at Chi Lang Stadium.

Duc Dong