BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Former Guangzhou FC head coach Lee Jang-Soo said that he is still being dogged by the bad feelings derived from his unceremonious sacking by the Chinese champions a decade ago.
Lee was fired halfway in 2012 during his third season at the Guangzhou side, which was then known as Guangzhou Evergrande, when his team was on the rapid rise.
"My team won promotion to the Chinese Super League in the first year under my charge, won the league championship in the second. And in the third season when we qualified for the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League, I was sacked," the 65-year-old South Korean said during an online interview on Tuesday.
"It left me confused as my team's results were fairly good at that time."
"It turned out to be very disturbing and very hard to accept," added Lee, who is currently the head coach of the CSL side Shenzhen FC.
Lee signed with Guangzhou a four-year contract with an option, which required him to win the Chinese Super League title in the fifth season, but he actually made it in the second.
"Maybe we did it too soon. If I had taken more years to win it, the sacking probably would not have come so soon," he said.
Marcello Lippi, who steered Italy to win the 2006 World Cup title, took over the reins with the Guangzhou team after Lee left in May, 2012. ■
