South Korean clubs teams don’t change coaches at the drop of a hat and usually wait until the season ends before taking a look at how their man in the hotseat has done. Sackings are rare, coaches tend to leave as contracts end or better offers come along. This off-season period is a little unusual however as three of the four clubs that were under overseas stewardship last season will have a new coach when the 2010 K-League season kicks off at the end of February. Only Incheon United will have the same foreign face in 2010. Serbian Ilja Petkovic was rewarded for taking the West Coast club into the championship play-off series in 2009, his first season in Korea, by being offered a new one-year contract. FC Seoul, Pohang Steelers and Jeju United have all seen their coaches head out of South Korea. The biggest story and the biggest shock has been the convoluted departure of Sergio Farias from Pohang. The Brazilian led the team to the 2007 K-League title and then, famously, the 2009 Asian crown. Such success naturally attracts covetous eyes. In December, reports started to surface that suggested he was talking to Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli. “It is ridiculous that they publish something which is not true,” Farias replied when asked about the rumours. "Teams from West Asia tend to say things before checking all the facts just to show off. This kind of behavior should be avoided." Pohang CEO Kim Tae-man also dimissed the reports. “Farias is now famous so these kinds of rumours are common,” said Kim. “I know him personally and I don’t need to even ask him about it because it is not an issue.” It soon became one as Farias signed an 18-month deal with the Jeddah club worth a reported $2.5 million. That dwarfed his Pohang pay and despite the manner of his leaving, his five years and success in Korea meant that Farias left with good wishes. Pohang openly talked of their desire for another Brazilian coach and hired Waldemar Lemos de Oliveira, a 55 year-old with experience coaching in Japan and Saudi Arabia as well as his native Brazil. He has signed a one-year deal at his new club and will join them with immediate effect. "He has lots of experience with big clubs in Brazil and he has also worked in the Asian region, and he is able to get the players working together well as a unit," Kim Tae-Min said. "Most of all, however, he showed a good understanding of Pohang Steelers and what we are about. He likes to play fast and attractive football that excites the fans and wants to win respect from other teams through beautiful and clean football." Oliviera will be able to communicate easily with the new boss at FC Seoul. Nelo Vingada hails from Portugal but has coached all over the world. He replaces Senol Gunes who returned to Turkey in December as his three-year contract with Seoul expired. It is not the most inspiring choice for Seoul fans. Gunes was named FIFA’s coach of the year in 2002 as he took an unheralded Turkey team into third place at the World Cup. Vingada’s list of jobs may be lengthier but doesn’t carry the same weight. His last national team position was with Jordan. "I'm very happy to be here. My feelings are very optimistic," Vingada told local media as he arrived. "I believe that by training hard, as a team, as a family, we will achieve what everybody wants." The 56 year-old, who won the Egyptian title with Zamalek, aims to do the same for FC Seoul. "My challenge, the challenge of the team, the challenge I want to bring to the players, is to make first (place)," he said. "It's a new year, a new time, so when we start our training, we will have my new ideas and the support of the staff. I want to see FC Seoul on the list of winners of the K-League. I am here for this challenge." Jeju United parted company with Brazil’s Artur Bernandes after a fairly unspectacular two seasons and the club has decided not to follow the example set by Seoul and Pohang. A Korean has been appointed in the shape of former national team Under-17 and Under-23 Park Kyung-Hoon.There is less pressure on Park. Pohang and Seoul are expected to battle for the title. For Jeju, a mid-table ranking will suffice. For the new boys, now is the time for some pre-season training in warmer climes, not there are many of those around at the moment, but the real heat comes with the kick-off of the 2010 K-League season. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Tags Soccer News football

A burning sense of injustice could spur on South Korea’s two teams remaining in the Asian Champions League. In the first leg of their respective quarter finals, both Pohang Steelers and FC Seoul suffered defeats on their travels to Uzbekistan and Qatar respectively. The K-League clubs have a chance to right the perceived wrongs on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their encounters. Seoul have the best chance of making the last four, as the league leaders are just 3-2 behind Umm Salal with two away goals in the bank. Seoul traveled to Qatar to face Umm Salal last week and the Korean league leaders raced into a two-goal lead thanks to Jung Jo-gook. The hosts pulled a goal back early in the second half but with around 20 minute remaining, Ahn Tae-eun fired home an unstoppable shot to give Seoul a 3-1 lead.

“Seongnam are the second strongest team in the league but we are the strongest,” said Pohang Steelers boss Sergio Farias after his team defeated the K-League leaders 2-1 last Saturday. The Brazilian is exaggerating his team’s abilities but at the moment in Korea, just as the weather finally settles into seasonable temperatures, the football scene has gone haywire. How else can you explain Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ 5-2 thrashing of Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the once-feared Big Bird Stadium? Earlier in the season, Suwon couldn’t stop winning and the Motors couldn’t start. Now the Jeonju club collected three successive wins; Suwon have lost five of their last seven. For the Jeonju-based team, the fried egg on the bi-bim-bap was the five star showing in Suwon, after the meeting between the two earlier in the season had been a bad-tempered one. In May, the Gyeonngi team went to Jeonju to win 2-1 with the last kick of the game. By that 94th minute, emotions were running high after Jeonbuk striker Cho Jae-jin scored and then, in the view of the Suwon fans, celebrated provocatively in front of the massed blue ranks. Cho told them he was only following what Suwon’s Seo Dong-hyun had done earlier in the game. Suwon fans told him that they would ‘see him at the Big Bird’. They came, they saw but Cho conquered. The much-maligned male model was roundly booed and jeered on his return to Gyeonggi but he quickly made the catcalls stick in blue craws. Cho put Jeonbuk ahead and although Suwon soon equalized, four goals from the men in green in ten second half minutes stunned the home fans and kept the visitors’ hopes of a place in the top six and entry to the championship play-off series alive. It was also the most goals that Suwon goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae has ever conceded in a single match. “I expected it,” smiled Cho after the game, not referring to the 5-2 scoreline of course but the reception from the home fans. “It didn’t bother me. I was just focused on the game. In fact, it motivated me to do better.” The feeling of defeat is becoming increasingly familiar for Blues boss Cha Bum-keun. “Our condition is poor,” said the legend of Korean soccer. “We have many injuries but most importantly because of results, the atmosphere around the team is bad.” It certainly is. A comprehensive 3-1 defeat at Jeju United the week previously and a 5-2 thrashing at home at the hands of another mid-table team leaves Suwon’s season in danger of meltdown. It is a big test for coach Cha, one known for buying good players but his ability to build a team is not quite so respected. Runs like the current one happen and are never easy for a coach to break. The defeat sent Suwon, so long the leaders, down into third place and looking over a shoulder at the approaching Ulsan in fourth. It is FC Seoul that are the ones to watch. The capital club are unbeaten for 15 league matches and brushed aside Chunnam Dragons 3-0 on Sunday to move above Suwon but below Seongnam. It wasn’t the best of performances for the hosts but confidence is coursing through the veins of the players and with Dejan Damjanovic in great form in attack, Seoul are looking good at a good time. With Ulsan and Pohang looking fairly safe in fourth and fifth, a number of clubs are chasing the sixth and final play-off spot with all the fervour of a tired Seoul salaryman eyeing a free subway seat in the evening rush hour. The Uniteds of Jeju and Incheon are in there fighting along with Gyeongnam FC, a resurgent Jeonbuk and an unpredictable Daegu. The play-off system has its critics but there is no denying that at this stage of the season, it provides a fascinating sideshow to the increasingly fierce race at the top. Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

2007 K-League champions Pohang Steelers have no stars. That is the official line in South Korean football but it is one that it is only partly true. The south-eastern outfit may have lacked a big-name player since Lee Dong-gook left for Middlesbrough at the start of the year but there have been some big performances from those in red and black in recent weeks as the team powered through the play-offs to take the title. “We have no stars but now we have one more star on our shirt. Today we proved that you need effort and determination, not star players to win the championship,” Pohang’s beaming Brazilian coach Sergio Farias told the press after the win at Seongam last week.

It was surprisingly easy in the end. Pohang Steelers defeated Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 1-0 in the second leg of the final of the 2007 K-League championship play-off series to add to their 3-1 win a week previously.