Exiled in a Foreign Land

#59135 badpat : Nice sory to read.
Your football manager-skin looks nice, which one is it?

Thank you. If you feel I can improve on anything, feel free to let me know.
I'm using the Fahrenheit skin picked up from this very site.

I'm liking this, but I just think you could put more detail into your match reports.

From the horses mouth (that is Wikipedia), the bit in bold is the important piece, and I read it as if there were financial conditions that none of the lower leagues champs met and therefore refused the promotion. After seeing two refusals, the governing body saw it as a bad idea and suspended it.

"At present the K-League is the only professional league in Korea. It contains sixteen member clubs.

Below the level of the K-League there is the National League, a closed semi-professional/amateur league with fifteen clubs, established in 2003. The third level of football in Korea is the Challengers League.

There is, at present, no official system of promotion and relegation between any of the three leagues. However, beginning in 2006, the champions of the National League had been eligible for promotion to the K-League provided they had met certain criteria. Goyang Kookmin Bank and Ulsan Mipo Dockyard, National League champions in 2006 and 2007 respectively, both rejected the opportunity to move up to the K-League. After back-to-back K-League promotion refusals, the National League committee decided to discontinue the conditional promotion system prior to the 2008 season."

#59123 akash.vidyasagar : Guys, I need help. As you must already know, I won the playoffs and should've been promoted to the top division, but I wasn't & neither were Suwon (finished 1st during the league stage). I went into the rules and tried checking out if there is something specific about how to get promoted, but there isn't.
I will surely continue with this team, but I want to know what it'll take to actually get promoted. If anyone knows, please help me out before I go ahead with my next season, only to meet with complete disappointment.

But Kiwi, the objective set by my board this month was: Playoffs/Challenge For Title/Promotion. I read the Wikipedia page, but I have seen a guy become a champion of the K-League with Gangneung. He must've gotten promoted.

#59182 Kiwi : From the horses mouth (that is Wikipedia), the bit in bold is the important piece, and I read it as if there were financial conditions that none of the lower leagues champs met and therefore refused the promotion. After seeing two refusals, the governing body saw it as a bad idea and suspended it.

"At present the K-League is the only professional league in Korea. It contains sixteen member clubs.

Below the level of the K-League there is the National League, a closed semi-professional/amateur league with fifteen clubs, established in 2003. The third level of football in Korea is the Challengers League.

There is, at present, no official system of promotion and relegation between any of the three leagues. However, beginning in 2006, the champions of the National League had been eligible for promotion to the K-League provided they had met certain criteria. Goyang Kookmin Bank and Ulsan Mipo Dockyard, National League champions in 2006 and 2007 respectively, both rejected the opportunity to move up to the K-League. After back-to-back K-League promotion refusals, the National League committee decided to discontinue the conditional promotion system prior to the 2008 season."

#59123 akash.vidyasagar :
Guys, I need help. As you must already know, I won the playoffs and should've been promoted to the top division, but I wasn't & neither were Suwon (finished 1st during the league stage). I went into the rules and tried checking out if there is something specific about how to get promoted, but there isn't.
I will surely continue with this team, but I want to know what it'll take to actually get promoted. If anyone knows, please help me out before I go ahead with my next season, only to meet with complete disappointment.

Was that a wee while ago? The more I read about the structure of the Korean Leagues, the more I am convinced it's a 'closed league' system, and only demotions from the K League to happen over the next two seasons.

Here is a comment in goal.com dated 17 Jan '12.

"Korea's K-League has officially confirmed plans to introduce promotion-relegation to the competition with two clubs to drop down a division in the upcoming 2012 season.

On Monday the K-League unveiled the official plans for the new system which had previously come up for discussion in light of the match-fixing scandal which rocked Korean football in 2011.
The new system will see two clubs relegated from the K-League in 2012 but no sides promoted, reducing the competition to 14 teams.

In 2013, two more clubs will relegated with no clubs promoted, leaving the top division as a 12-team competition.

The K2-League will be formed in 2013 with the two clubs relegated in 2012, along with sides from the current second tier National League and expansion teams making up a competition of six to 10 clubs.

Initially the K-League had proposed relegating four clubs in 2012 however that system was opposed by several of the financially weaker clubs."

Source: goal.com

So to bring it back on topic, to your story, there is no reason why you can't be successful with your current club, just don't bank on promotion and perhaps look at moving to another club - within the same story of course. Build your reputation up, and look for different challenges, there is no harm in that!

#59123 akash.vidyasagar : Guys, I need help. As you must already know, I won the playoffs and should've been promoted to the top division, but I wasn't & neither were Suwon (finished 1st during the league stage). I went into the rules and tried checking out if there is something specific about how to get promoted, but there isn't.
I will surely continue with this team, but I want to know what it'll take to actually get promoted. If anyone knows,

That is because your team is an 2nd squad from Incheon utd in the K-League

That is the reason why you can't be promoted, it's like Barcelona or Castilla in the Spanish 2nd division can't be promoted as they are owned by Barcalona & Ral Madrid.

So effectively they are just the dirt trackers for the A side?

That is because your team is an 2nd squad from Incheon utd in the K-League
That is the reason why you can't be promoted, it's like Barcelona or Castilla in the Spanish 2nd division can't be promoted as they are owned by Barcalona & Ral Madrid.

#59219 Big Z : #59123 akash.vidyasagar :
Guys, I need help. As you must already know, I won the playoffs and should've been promoted to the top division, but I wasn't & neither were Suwon (finished 1st during the league stage). I went into the rules and tried checking out if there is something specific about how to get promoted, but there isn't.
I will surely continue with this team, but I want to know what it'll take to actually get promoted. If anyone knows,

That is because your team is an 2nd squad from Incheon utd in the K-League

That is the reason why you can't be promoted, it's like Barcelona or Castilla in the Spanish 2nd division can't be promoted as they are owned by Barcalona & Ral Madrid.

Thanks for commenting, Big Z!
I considered that option as well, but why is the board giving me the option of aiming for promotion this season then?

Last season, the directors didn't have too many expectations, and we won the league. I was just supposed to get Incheon to safety, but this year was different. They knew what this team was capable of, and weren't going to settle for any less. After seeing the signings I made during the off-season, the board of directors met and decided to raise the stakes more than a little bit.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-22_00043.jpg

Of course, I didn't a transfer kitty and would add it to my wage budget, so I didn't have too much to worry about financially. I nodded my head in agreement when they suggested we shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves and set a reasonable target - Reaching the Playoffs.

As I left the room, I was notified about a rule in South Korea that I probably should've known about before. Two of my players were leaving the club to a K-League side for the duration of 2 years while they went on mandatory army duty. Thankfully, they weren't two of my best players, and would anyway be leaving the club on free transfers.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-22_00041.jpg

March 2012

Very good start to the season for Incheon, and the scorer doesn't change.

Mokpo 0-2 Incheon Korail
Kim Seong-Min 23', 29'

Incheon Korail 4-0 Cheonan City
Kim Seong-Min 44', 49', 58'
Seo Myung-Won 82'

Changwon 0-3 Incheon Korail
Kim Seong-Min 45+1', 56'
Mamady Kaba 78'

Incheon Korail 2-0 Suwon City
Kim Seong-Min 18'
Ra Kwang-Hyun 66'

I couldn't have asked for a better start to the league campaign. Our defence looks solid, not having conceded in the first 360 mins of play, and Seong-Min hasn't missed a step - scoring 8 times in 4 matches. Of course, we aren't the only team with a 100% record, but Suwon and Mokpo were challengers last seasons, so it is good to ruin their season so early into the campaign.

April 2012

Ansan Hallelujah 0-3 Incheon Korail
Lee Cha-Hyun 31'
Kim Seong-Min 53', 90+1'

Incheon Korail 2-1 Gangneung City
Kim Seong-Min 41'
Ha Seung-Yong 79'

The Transport Derby
Incheon Korail 0-1 Busan TC

Yongin City 2-3 Incheon Korail
Lee Kwang-Suk 11'
Kim Seong-Min 17', 25'

Another good couple of months for the team. Busan had us figured out very well, and dominated the match, winning the Transport Derby. Our teams tried their approach, but super quality saw us through. If this month proved anything, it was that our defence wasn't impenetrable.

May 2012

Incheon Korail 4-1 Chungju Hummel
Kim Seong-Min 62', 70', pen 76'
Seo Myung-Won 85'

This was a big win. Chungju were in great form and were big favourites, and that's what made this victory so special. After the match, my assistant hands me two letters from England.

Bury and York City
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00005.jpg

I replied back publicly, denying any interest in either job, much to the delight of my board. My success rating went up from 50% (stable) to 60% (secure).

Daejeon KHNP 0-1 Incheon Korail
Kim Seong-Min 29'

Incheon Korail 5-0 Kimhae
Kim Seong-Min 7', 57', 89'
Seo Myung-Won 21'
Ha Seung-Yong 70'

FA Cup Campaign
- Our board doesn't have too many expectations from the team in this tournament, especially since our third round match is against K-League heavyweights, Suwon Samsung Blue Wings.

Incheon Korail 4-2 Suwon
Kim Seong-Min pen 2', 10', 75'
Mamady Kaba 81'
- Unbelievable performance by our team. Still not too sure if they played their strongest side, but we completely dominated the match, outdoing them in every department. The fans are ecstatic.

Goyang Kookmin Bank 2-4 Incheon Korail
Seo Myung-Won 13'
Kim Seong-Min 19'
Kim Kyong-Kook 30'
Ha Seung-Yong 59'

The team is in high form and everybody is chipping in as we perform above expectations. While rival managers believe it is just a purple patch, we are hoping to keep this form going till the end of the campaign. Daejeon and Incheon are still neck and neck at the top of the standings.

June 2012

Incheon Korail 2-3 Ulsan HMD
Kim Seong-Min 9', 26'
- We should've won this match, especially since Ulsan had a player red-carded in the 68th minute, but the team simply didn't want it. I was far from pleased with this result.

Incheon Korail 4-1 Mokpo
Lee Se-Hwan 5'
Lee Seung-Hwan 43'
Ha Seung-Yong 66'
Kim Myeong-Hwan 90+1'

Cheonan City 1-3 Incheon Korail
Kim Seong-Min 40, 90'
Seo Myung-Won 90+2'

FA Cup 4th Round
- Another team from K-League we have no chance beating, if the media is to be believed.
Incheon Korail 5-0 Gangwon FC
Kim Seong-Min 13', 18', 24', 69'
Mamady Kaba 90+2'

Another match we should've lost, but beat them ever-so convincingly. The fans are now expecting more and more from the club. Because of his introduction and success in the first team, Seo Myung-Won has got a couple of offers from the K-League.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00014.jpg
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00026-1.jpg
Here's the player:
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00027-1.jpg

Korean National League Cup

- This is how it works. 16 teams go into 4 groups of 4 teams each. They play each other at a neutral venue and after 3 games each, the top two teams from each group go to a knockout format, to decide the winner.

After the group stages


Quarter Finals
- We were facing Changwon, who were at the lower end of our league and couldn't have posted too much resistance against our attackers.
Incheon Korail 3-0 Changwon
Moon Dae-Sung 17'
Kim Seung-Min 45+2', 53'

Semi-Finals
- Now this was going to be difficult. Police were the defending champions from last year, beating our team in the final. This loss was got the previous manager sacked. Hopefully, I wasn't going anywhere.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00011.jpg

My players are complaining of fatigue, and who can blame them? The three group-stage matches had only 1-day break in between and the Quarters and Semis had a gap of two days. This is what the fitness of my team looked like after the match:
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00010.jpg


Final
We went into the final as slight favourites over a team that we had got the better of on the past couple of occasions. This was a cup final though, and anything could happen.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00021.jpg

- Yes, we have won the National League Cup!

The media said I was responsible, but seeing the result, it was obvious our players did all the hardwork.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00016.jpg
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00022.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00017.jpg

Awards

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00024.jpg
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00025.jpg

N-League
Incheon Korail 3-1 Changwon
Ha Seung-Yong 10'
Kim Kyung-Kook 47'
Mamady Kaba 89'

August 2012

Our team is on a ten match unbeaten run and it hasn't gone unnoticed. The board wants us to change priorities for the season, since we are doing well above our expectations. They have allowed me to maintain my aim of reach the playoffs, but expect me to show some ambition.
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00009.jpg
I had already made public my intentions to secure promotion for our team, and this was just re-affirmation of that.

FA Cup Quarter Final
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00008.jpg
- Another K-League team. It looks like we are on borrowed time in this competition, but we are going to look to win as long as we are in it. After all, if we win, Champions League football is on offer.

Incheon Korail 5-1 Pohang
Kim Seong-Min 10', 62', 76', 83'
Kim Kyung-Kook 73'

- Another superb victory, led by Kim Seong-Min. Bring on a challenge, K-League. My team is waiting to take you on.

N-League
Suwon City 1-0 Incheon Korail
- Looks like I wasn't the only one who was over-confident. A match we didn't show up for, and the fans rightfully were devastated by our performance. We needed to bounce back with a good win.

Incheon Korail 2-1 Ansan Hallelujah
Seo Myung-Won 37'
Kim Seong-Min 85'

Gangneung City 2-3 Incheon Korail
Ha Seung-Yong 24'
Kim Seong-Min 33', 71'

- This was the perfect victory. The performance wasn't up to mark, and we could've easily lost the match in the final moments (they scored 2 late in the second half), but what it did was take the pressure off the team. With 7 games still to go, we had already qualified for the playoffs.
[IMG]https://fmshots.com/bk/mWTyW.jpg?1[/IMG]
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-23_00030.jpg

FA Cup Semi-Final
- The fans weren't expecting too much from this game, but the players were pumped up and ready to perform.


- The match began in the worst possible way. Jeju striker, Robert, was pulled down by Jan Woo-Chang in the penalty box in the 13th minute. Robert converted the following penalty and we were already 1-0 down. The match wasn't one sided and both the teams were creating chances. Our star striker, Seong-Min ran through the defence right before the break to make it 1-1. This was a special goal for him - a big milestone.

Early on in the second half, Jeju had a man sent off for persistent fouling, a second-yellow. Our boys suddenly turned the gear up a notch and we dominated the game. Who else but Kim Seong-Min scored in the 77th minute in a well-orchestrated team move.

Incheon Korail 2-1 Jeju
Kim Seong-Min 45', 77'

September 2012

N-League
Busan TC 0-2 Incheon Korail
Ha Seung-Yong 15'
Kim Seong-Min 27'
- Comfortable victory for the team. Could've scored more, but I took off some of our main players in the second-half to avoid injury.

Incheon Korail 3-0 Yongin City
Kim Seong-Min 28', 34', 61'

Chungju Hummel 1-1 Incheon Korail
Kim Seong-Min 79'
- We were favourites for this match, easy, and we dominated Chungju for most of the match. How they came up with a draw is beyond me.

Incheon Korail 3-1 Daejeon KHNP
Kim Seong-Min 28', 58'
Lee Seung-Hwan 74'
- This match was against #2 team in the league, so this win almost sealed top spot in the league for our team.

Kimhae 0-2 Incheon Korail
Kim Seong-Min 51', 60'

A very good month for our club. 11 goals scored and 2 goals conceeded. The FA Cup final is next. This deserves a post of its own.