Katsumi Touko The Smith of Pretty Victories.

[Death Ball]

November 2016

Not the best start: more than half the squad is unhappy about something.

Apparently, all want a chance in the first team. The good thing about that is that, while I won't be giving it to many of them, almost everyone ends their contract in a month. The negative is that'd lead to a severe overhaul of the squad, which I'd rather don't since they're not at the bottom of the table.

The team seems to have been using a 4-5-1 and so I'll keep that among the trained tactics. Though the report says the most used formation has been a 3-4-1-2.

I fill the diamond with the players using their statistics, but as I watch them in training, I realize we have no more then one or two defensive type of players in midfield. Not a surprise, as what I find when looking at the table at the moment is that anyang has been the joint second best attack and the fourth worst defence.

In a selfish note, the club is in debt, which means no coaching course yet. It is important to make a final push for promotion. If not, I don't know what kind of players we'll be able to have for next season.

Coaching staff is also very small and is one of the reasons for the unhappiness among the squad. Understandable, I'm not happy either. I'm bringing a few more coaches.

Before

After

Take a look at the current tactics (selection for the diamond):

This can be turned into a 3-1-4-2 as suggested by the staff.

Team instruction based on statistics that say the team is among the better passing and the worse crossing and dribbling.

Selection may yet change, probably Yoo Cheong-Yoon in for Ka Sol-Hyun: not that difference in their statistics but it is in their average rating. Though then, Sol-Hyun has played few and Cheong-Yoon many, so one very bad match will reflect worse for him than several for the other. At the moment I'm set on not making that change.

Regarding the chances, our coming fixtures are almost the best and worst possible at the same time: third, second, bottom. only could be improved/made worse if the bottom was replaced with the fourth. Worse because it means getting the wins will be the harder; better because winning them almost guarantees promotion playoffs.

Three players come wanting first team matches: one is in for it already, so I tell him you'll have it, one I tell there will be a chance for all, he ends accepting it after initial protest, the third I tell the same and I invite him to leave, he doesn't want to and the board blocked the release because £3.000 is too much money.

The tricling of players into my office asking first team football continues. I promise them they'll have. End of contracts in just two months means not big worries if I end not able to fulfill promises. Not that my plan is not giving them a single start.

Seoul E-Land:

First ten minutes are complete domination of possession (70%), but in the thirteenth shows the weakness of the team in defending set pieces and they go ahead. Shin Ye Hyeok doesn't even jump to challenge the header. At 19th minute, Hyeok redeems himself with a goal completing a great team move. Or so would it be if the ball had been passed rather than poorly tackled his way. With changes to pace made (before their goal) our possession has dropped to 58%, but we are still on top. The only worry are the two yellow cards, so I sub one of them and that's the only change I do. The second half sees Seoul trying to get into the match and recovering some possession, I so a few changes to be more attacking but they prove not enough as they're still very defensive and I didn't want to expose our defence too much. The difference from Vasco is big:at least three of the five shots off target were so by a narrow margin.

Before we play against second placed Jeju, Gyeongnam has played their lats match and they stay fourth on 60 points. A draw and a win by three goals would make a tie we'd win. Ansan Police, in 5th, have only one match to play and can't reach 60 poits. o getting into play offs is in our hands.

Jeju

This match doesn't start as well as the previous. They get a very lucky (extraordinary) set of assist by two defenders and shot from the corner of the area between a mass of players. It is them who after the initial ten minutes have the 70% possession. And a second chance very close to score.

It is clear changes are needed. I drop a midfield and make wider a striker and the advanced midfielder to make a 4-2-3-1 with the central trio moved one layer deeper. I also order to press more.

In the twentieth minute the changes pay off and we're level! Promotion is again a possibility. Five minutes later a last time tackle prevents us from getting ahead. At 20' our possession is up from 30% to 38%, at 30' is up to 43%.

33rd minute... Hyo Ki controls the ball for a fraction longer than needed and misses a shot on an open goal, his shot is deflected. So close!

40', the centreback is so absorbed keeping their striker in check he misses a player running from deep. They're back up.

After a chance is ruined by lack of support, I decide in half time to advance the central midfield.

67' a cross to the far post, the goalkeeper mimics an attempt to save at the near post! Who lets players get wasted before the match!

75' We get one back after some radical changes in tactics. A quarter of an hour to get the equalizer we need.

AAAAARRRRGGGG... what chances missed by a whisker. And how many promising counters ruined because the players either pause on the ball or because choose the marked player over the free runner. So frustrating, we could have won this match.

A player gets angry after I refuse to give him first team football. ((Because I clicked without reading I chose perhaps the wrong refusal))

In the press conference before the match they talk as if we could still get to the play offs.

Chungju Hummel

14th minute: "I'm ahead of their defence, alone. I get it! I must stop and pass to my defenders"

Their 4-5-1 V is less prone to losing the ball as Seoul's and we don't get as much. Changes are in order. At 30' a chance is aborted by a wrong offside decision.

There are changes, but none achieve much. Two very good chances lost because of good goalkeeping or the striker not being able to hit the ball cleanly. Nothing to do with the misses from Vasco. What I love is my players way of deciding where to aim long balls: advanced players in the wings? Let's pump balls to the middle! Are they in the middle? Pump balls to the wings! I'd hit them if it wasn't illegal.

No wins and one defeat. The disappointment is not winning the last match. The others aren't bad results considering they're top teams. The worry looking at the future is finances and how many players end contract this season.

The 2nd-4th teams will play along the second to last from top division to decide who plays top division next season.

She finished learning English while she was still in South Africa. So that's why she didn't return to Japan.

 

[Death Ball]

December 2016

Right after the last match, I take a closr look at player contracts and statistics. I renew most of the defenders, several midfielders and a few attackers. All contracts on the low, hence why I didn't release more defenders.

The initial budgets are also sent and no transfer, as expected.

Pay out bonus for the league is paid to the squad. Not a huge amount.

End of season meeting finishes badly. I tell them we'll go for promotion next year and they're all "can't do that". I set the preseason length to eight weeks, the maximum allowed.

Gyeongnam is the team promoted, the fourth. Promotion didn't work as I expected: third and fourth play the "semifinal", the winner then plays the final against the second.

11th December, the board inject €600K. A new sponsorship deal in which we lose some money, though the increase in revenue this season from the previous has been much greater. Unfortunately, the injection isn't enough to set the team in positive balance.

After a load of sackings I look at vacancies out of curiosity... I get confused with FC Cape Town, but I look up Vasco CT, who has manager, and I find they're doing pretty well. Only one draw from achieving ten points from the first five matches and are fifth, five points off play offs past half season.

Da Seul, one of the better players, is reported valued above the release clause in his contract that he signed recently, so he refuses to renew it.

We are announced as the team with the least sponsorship money. No surprise, with €40K, while Seoul E-Land receives €2.8M.

Next season TV money will be €21.79K

Expectations are sent and I understand the unhappiness of the squad during the end of past season. These Koreans are nuts. They're "Don't be outclassed too often" and "Promotion by winning the league". The latter is asking them too much, I agree. But the former is in no way a proper depiction of what we should aim for!

Before the end of December, with three months to begin the season, it's time to look to get money with friendlies. I make a friendly league with three top level teams that will cash us almost €200K. Next day, wage increases are activated.

For these friendlies, being in three consecutive days, I'm letting the assistant manager make the player selection.

Jeonbuk:
They hammer ys the first ten minutes, taking advantage of some poor passing in a rainy day on a pitch very wide. But past the first quarter of an hour things balance and after twentieth minute we start getting to the area. At 27th we go ahead with a nice dribble by Wem-***, the playmaker in the 4-5-1 and a bit of poor goalkeeping. At 38th the striker misses a one on one chance. 67th minute: the most annoying way to lose the lead: in a corner, silly bounce off Moses through a swarm of opponents and defenders. At 88th, after a few more chances to get ahead, they take another corner, a rebound from a header into the crossbar. Statistics may say they had a lot of shots, but none was made clear on goal or unmarked or anything to be really threatening.

Ulsan

Again we use the 4-5-1 V and I let the assistant pick the players, though I change two of the tired players from previous match. The first chance falls for us, a bit lucky, but the rebound from the crossbar is cleared. The first ten minutes we edge possession and have two chances to none, but right after the defence doesn't communicate well and let their striker alone to score easy. And with that they got into the match and begin to dominate completely. or my players just got momentarily demoralized, as after half an hour things no longer look as bad and we get again a chance. 59th they manage to drag a centreback out of position, their playes sends a rocket through the corner of goal, unstoppable. There were two shots more than counted for us, but one was counted as tackle. Maybe the other was the defender clearing it dangerously close to own goal.

Seoul:
Same as before. 12th minute: I'm starting to get fed up with strikers who're free on goal beyond the opposition defence stop with the ball allowing the defenders to either tackle him off the ball or block their shot. 15th AGAIN! The first half is ours in possession, equal in shots. Two pieces of passive defending give them a two goals lead with two crosses. Third goal when a defender decides his duty is to get between goalkeeper and ball and deflect it to goal. Their fourth goal in the 59th minute is plainly terrible goalkeeping. 15' later, another cross tapped in.

The goal is done, though, and we've got some much needed money, though one more league like this wouldn't get us back on positive balance.

With January come, we release twenty three players, free a lot of wage room for the transfer and it's the time to begin making deals.

Assistant manager, a coach and the three physios end contract. I release them and offer the job to substitutes who are better or not worse and will be paid less.

Friendlies will be set. Depending on how much money we're expected to make, I may risk a new friendly league.

Small improvements. Still can't speak a word of Korean.

 

[PatrickLFC]

Man that's harsh - "If you think you can do better than not being outclassed too often, you have to win the league". Didn't do too badly against the big teams

 

[Death Ball]

Man that's harsh - "If you think you can do better than not being outclassed too often, you have to win the league". Didn't do too badly against the big teams

Indeed, I went to those matches expecting a thrashing. I was very surprised when I went up in the first match. In the moment, losing that win by one extremely unlucky bounce off my defender and one more bit of luck in a rebound falling into the feet or an opponent was a bit disappointing. But I'm very happy with how the team did. Only one thrashing. The second match they dominated, but watching the match (in comprehensive) it wasn't for the full 90' as there was some 30' total between both halves in spells in which my team matched them and during the majority of time in which they did dominate heavily, it wasn't that much, as most of their shots were forced at very poor angles or positions or made in frustration. It has a mixed feeling: on one hand it makes me optimistic for the new season, if we do like that against top level teams, the right signings should mean promotion, on the other hand it makes me think if I used that formation instead of the diamond, maybe I'd have had the play offs this year.

 

[Death Ball]

January 2017

All players who finished their contracts are gone. We have sixteen players (not counting the youth player) with good cover for central defence and mifield. We lack a goalkeeper, a left sided fullback and a fullback for either side plus at least three wingers. At least one of the signings should be able to play central advanced midfield.

January begins with a confidence update in which a profit of €657K has been reported.

Friendlies will be set against very weak opposition as players shake tiredness while we don't get a full squad with which I can shift the whole team from one XI to another.

The first is an easy match against Cheonan. The worrying thing of this first friendly is the starting striker got no shot on target, while the sixteen years old winger scored twice, being allegedly useless when asked to score.

Next day Jeong Joon-Yeon becomes the first signing of the window. A right full back.

Two days later, **** Yun comes as a player coach, because he refused to come only as a player. His body has aged badly, but his skill and intelligence are among the best I could hope for. He also can play advanced midfielder.

Another midfielder, Kang Jin-Kyoo, joins the team. He's alike ****, physically poor, technicaly and mentaly a great player.

one striker leaves, Jeong Chan-Li. He would be fourth striker choice and I free some wages.

Chuncheon is the next friendly set up. Earnings of friendlies are €4K per match. Leagues will have to be set up. It is a better performance, back to the diamond, in which almost all shots were made on target. Their goal from the weakest clearance ever.

Namyangju Utd is the next friendly, in which I'm going to test a plain 4-4-2 as in the two previous match crosses were an issue and perhaps with two strikers more will be successful. A good win is had. The crosses are better than before, but as with the 4-5-1 in the first match, it's the wingers who seem to have more difficulty. While fullbacks are again around 50% success rate, the wingers are much lower and have just gone from around 10% to 30%.

We get a leftback on loan, which means the player who I was planning to start there can move to centreback, where I like him better.

Kim Seul-Ki is the next to arrive, a right winger.

In the financial side, the losses of past season have been announced. They say "staggering", but compared to Vasco CT's losses, a 29% of turnover is not that bad. €575K lost from a €2M turnover.

Paju FC is the next friendly. The new signing scores and bags a decent ratio of successful crosses. The 4-4-2 seems may be good enough defensively, with the central midfielders screening the defence approppriately during defence and we're getting better play for the strikers. The only issue is the gap between central and wide midfielders is quite big.

I'm thinking we have enough players to organize a new friendly league with top level teams. Though we're in half the debt we had past month, so perhaps it won't be necessary. On the other hand, the more we wait, the less time to recover morale after the defeats.

21st January Park Jung-Sik picks a two months injury, one of the wingers. Seeing the lack of good enough wingers to bring in to strengthen the team, I begin a search for strikers, as Kim Hyo-Ki will be moved to the left wing and Kim Jae-Eun will be back up at the other side, leaving us with just two dedicated strikers.

Then one good centreback gets a half year injury. Even so, I will be setting up that friendly league.

This time the league includes one team from our division and will being some €77K, which is almost the amount we are in the red. A few more friendlies after it and we'll be on the positive!

On other news, the pitch has been relaid.

First friendly is against Seoul again. We field the 4-4-2 against their 5-3-2. We don't lose as badly and the performances are generally good.

The second is against Goyang Hi. We held up to the second half, then we conceded and right after the centreback cleared into the head of an opponent to ift them the second goal.

With this second friendly the team ets into the positive balance! + €93.822. And I get the funding for a new coaching course.

The last match is against Suwon. To avoid risk of injuries I set a squad with half playing out of position and under 19. A very poor first half followed by a not so terrible second win which we scored and had wo chances to equalize, one ending in a saved shot and the other being called offside before the shot could be unleashed. This friendly appears to have costed us money as balance is down to €34.580.

Before the end of the month, Kim Young-Hoo chooses to go to Suwon on loan instead of us. We still need to find two strikers.

With all the players leaving and the reduction of wages paid, we are now earning money even without friendlies, since the last we've received forty thousand euros.

 

[Death Ball]

February - end of preseason 2017

The month and half left for the start of the season will continue with friendlies to keep match fitness, though spaced to avoid injuries and I still need to find a goalkeeper and two strikers or one striker and one winger.

Pitch has only very narrow, wide and very wide. I choose the average measures.

Yoon Pyung-Guk is signed as goalkeeper. With no good choices out there, I decided to gamble on him, who looks with a chance of being good, though he could be poor as well... He's come out good. Or rather, "good". He's just better than Phil-Soo.

Four to five players, strikers and wingers, are offered trial contracts till the end of the pre season in order to see them in action before signing.

We receive the second offer for our 16yo right winger/striker Jae-Eun. This time I stall it, but I don't think I will make the sale.

Bonuses are decided to be high for league and low for Cups. It's promotion we have to aim for.

The trials are finished way before the end of the season, so I need to offer them again. This time choosing how many weeks. Some have not lasted even a day.

Due to improvement of finances we get an increase of transfer revenue.

Min Byung-Joon is signed for the left wing, allowing us to play Hyo-Ki as striker while Jung-Sik is out from injury.

The trials offered "until end of preseason" were set to end way before, so I had to cancel and reoffer, which meant only Sin-Yeong was available for the third to last friendly.

The confidence for February is good. Another month with profits and we're above a hundred thousand positive balance.

A new offer from Busan iPark for Jae-Eun. I finally decide to take it but adding a loan back clause.

The preseason finishes well, with overall good performances and only two matches in which we should have won more comfortably. The trials show generally as successes, as Huang Sin-Yeong and Kwon Soon-Hak (who should marry one Yona or kill her father or something) score and assist on both matches they played. They can play as strikers as well as wingers, so only one of the two strikers is to be signed, which isn't an easy decision as both have played similarly well. I will choose Seong Bin as he's been good in both, while Tae-Ho was a little quiet in the first.

Still not a word of Korean.

 

[DreamTempest]

Nice! I have an Anyang save right now (though not journeyman) and its a very nice lower league team with some extremely passionate supporters. The players are mostly mediocre but not bad for the league its in and the staff is pretty decent.

 

[Death Ball]

Nice! I have an Anyang save right now (though not journeyman) and its a very nice lower league team with some extremely passionate supporters. The players are mostly mediocre but not bad for the league its in and the staff is pretty decent.

I agree. Attendances are higher than I anticipated. I forgot how many Anyang is getting but its not very far from ten thousand and just the half of stadium capacity. I was thinking I'd be lucky to have a couple thousand. In the league matches I had, looking at opposition players it did look like Anyang has indeed a good squad for the division.

 

[gandrasch]

Pretty cool concept I have to say.

 

[DreamTempest]

View attachment 196868

 

[Death Ball]

Pretty cool concept I have to say.

Glad you like it.

View attachment 1001941

Nice picture, thanks for posting. It's good to know the fans.

 

[Death Ball]

Rest of February 2017

First match of the season against Goyang Hi. Many of the players aren't match fit, I should have had a friendly more this last week. The match is a battle of 4-4-2. While they seem to have the edge, we're the ones who get the first goal. Then Hyo-Ki gets a knock and I change him not to risk it getting worse. The second goal is ours. **** Yun comes past fifty minutes, as the advanced playmaker in a now 4-4-1-1 to control more the midfield, and his first two passes are key passes, in a movement that gets into two different dangerous positions though it ends in nothing. Seul-Ki gets out by injury in the second half, we go to a 4-1-4-1. The match seems even all thorough, though the last change seems to kill it as nothing happens for more than ten minutes. And indeed it's dead, though both sides have still one more chance to score.

Seul-Ki is out for nearly two months and Hyo-Ki could play with protective gear, but I chose to let him to the physio.

The next week is our week off (there's eleven teams) so I think I will be setting up a couple of friendlies to get players match fit.

Transfer window ends and, surprisingly, we're not the most active club of the division.

right before the first of the two matches, one of the good centrebacks gets a one month injury. I may cancel the second one.

The friendly against Yong-In FC goes badly, while we dominate all thorough, the strikers fail to make their chances count, including two woodwork hits. Bad luck. Had the players been more in competitive rhythm this would have been a thrashing. After the match everyone healthy is match fit or almost, so I'm cancelling the second friendly lest we suffer some bad injury. I'll just make available anyone who needs fitness for a reserve match.

**** Yun gets injured the day afer, at least for just a little voer a week. As all injuries before, left to Physio. No injection or protective gear.

With a game in hand, everyone ahead of us after the second match are just one point away. Our success will depend largely on being consistent.

Board is satisfied for now. I moved all the bidget to the wage one as they tell me the excess gets invested, though I've not really inquired about it.

Sin-Yeong has a terrible passing rating, ball reaching him is almost surely a ball lost. And if I say that's terrible I don't know what word to use to call the goalkeeper's distribution, that will need to be looked into.

 

[DreamTempest]

Looking at your squad...

I remember Park Tae-Su, Kim Hyo-Ki and Ahn Seong-Bin being decent through the season.

The goalkeepers were pretty bad though the first one is still considerably better than the one on the bench.

Choi Dong-Hyuk was **** (together with all of Anyang youth players).

Seth Moses started slowly but turned out okay.

Ahn Dong-Hyuk was okay but not very consistent and I ended up selling him for a good enough amount of money to Jeonnam by the end of the season.

And finally Lee Jung-Hyup is the best striker in the Busan team on my game and is doing pretty well for the South Korea national squad.

 

[Death Ball]

Looking at your squad...

I remember Park Tae-Su, Kim Hyo-Ki and Ahn Seong-Bin being decent through the season.

The goalkeepers were pretty bad though the first one is still considerably better than the one on the bench.

Choi Dong-Hyuk was **** (together with all of Anyang youth players).

Seth Moses started slowly but turned out okay.

Ahn Dong-Hyuk was okay but not very consistent and I ended up selling him for a good enough amount of money to Jeonnam by the end of the season.

And finally Lee Jung-Hyup is the best striker in the Busan team on my game and is doing pretty well for the South Korea national squad.

That about sums my views on the squad. No surprises to read Jung-Hyup ends doing well for the NT as he's looked like that when I've played him.

 

[Death Ball]

March 2017

Gangwon, the team that was relegated from top division is the second rival. We have the better of the first half, including a post, despite Gangwon's edging of the possession. Many balls are lost by the keeper distribution, which I forgot to change and I do in half time. After that, a nice cross from the left side is nudged into goal by Hyo-Ki to put us ahead. I consider no changes needed. In the last half hour they begin to be threatening so I decide to match their three men central midfield with the V formation. Get still get several times to our box dangerously, but their shots are very poor and we get away with the win.

In Febreuary the club began losing money and now we're in debt, which means the transer revenue has been decreased to 10%.

S-High is a lower division team we got drawn in the Cup. All the players in need of playing time are fielded. The lack of fitness is noticeable mainly in how many chances are missed at either the last pass or the shot. It's in the last minute when we get the goal and go to half time 1-0 up, when it could have been 4-0. Jae-Eun scores his first two ever goals for the club.

During the preparation of that match I realized two things: JinKyoo is probably a player more suited to a creative role in central midfield and Young-Jun is already competent as defender, so their training will be swapped accordingly.

Against Bucheon FC 1995 the two main strikers are a bit out of form, but I start them anyway. An offside early makes it seem like I might regret it, but within the first ten minutes we go ahead. We dominate the first half and finish it two ahead, with chances to have scored more. Bucheon has had a few of their own, though, so the match is not still won. They start the second half with some danger. As it increases I move to an assymetric 4-1-4-1 (AML) but they get complete control of the match. They miss their chances, though. It may be related with sitting Moses to avoid a second yellow and then becoming too cautious. The changes to goalkeeper distribution, though, seem to be working: Pyung-Guk has completed 23 out of 30 passes in this match.

The draw for the fourth round of the cup gives us a top division team, FC Seoul, the biggest club in the country. The good thing is we won't be distracted from the cup any longer.

Seoul E-Land, stronger team and fielding a V formation. I decide to risk it and keep the 4-4-2 that's working so far. If goalkeeper knew crosses are intercepte running to where the ball WILL be instead of where the ball WAS, they'd not gone one up. A mistake by the right back being nowhere near his place before I made the changes to an attacking 4-3-3 gave them the second goal. We got one back through an own goal, which is always disappointing, but Hyo-Ki missed his chance for an equalizer. The team was slightly rotated, too. One change needed is in defending corners: nobody is out of the area, so we miss a lot of opportunities to get the ball and start a counter.

Ansan Police is next, the top team in the league and reason for the rotation. It is a worry how close it is, just three days, which means we may need to field some tired players. Curiosity: The full Ansan Police squad is made out of loaned players. They're expected to use the V formation, this time I'll use it too. It doesn't go any better. From a great moevement they go ahead, then Guk thinks he has to guess a shot from outside the area and start moving the opposite way. Not to count the classic "I'm along before the keeper, I've got to wait for their defence to get in front" move from my strikers. This defeat is not as disappointing as the previous, at least Ansan police does have one of the best squads.

Against Changju Hummel, past season's last team, I hope to find a good result to stop a decline in morale so the season can continue as it began. It's a huge field, so I ask them to play narrower and avoid creating holes in the centre. Within five minutes we're ahead. A quarter hour it's two up. They get a goal at the start of the second half. After seeing our superiority has vanished, I go to a flat 4-5-1 to control de game and keep the ball that works, giving us some more chances, all missed.

But next is the Cup game against Seoul. I will field only youth and usual subs and leave starters at home to try protect their morale, which isn't at the best.

We reach the 15 minute level and with one decent chance for us. But right after one Adriano just shoots too hard. They get a second, but we have another great chance and score one goal. That is a nice thing, it means it's not much more we'd need to strengthen if we go up IF we end like this, as they've not had an overwhelming superiority. But it doesn't, as they score more from Cheong-Yoon bad defending. The bad is Phil-Soo, that had been the starting goalie these past two matches gets injured and the U19 keeper comes in. I see the diamond in defence... that's like having only one player in midfield. They go all after the same ball and player and vacate the centre. A silly mistake gives us a second goal. It's a month injury, but with just one other goalkeeper, I send him to the specialist. Besides, the quiker it heals the less it will hurt him.

€3.34K is the prize for playing this far in the cup.

In the last match of the month, Gwangju FC fields a 4-5-1, which in our stadium still seems like would be dominant, but I go with the 4-4-2. Surprisingly, we edge possession for most of the match and we have a strong start. In five minutes we go one goal up, having had chances to be three up. Contrary to previous matches, in this our rivals can't get back into it and we keep control of it. We pick three yellow cards, more than usual, and Moses will be suspended for next match. It's important miss because he's our best defensive midfielder.

At this end of month, we're back to a positive balance, the attendance in the match against Seoul was quite good and with a low debt, enough to get us above water.

Hyup and Yeong are the higher scorers; but the later by the two goals in this match, it's not sure he'll be up there come the end of the season. Nobody has more than two assists. Passing from defence is poor, I could give them instructions to cut long passes but I'm unsure of doing that as it may mean increasing likelihood of them making a bad pass to an opposition striker in a dangerous position.

Despite fans' unhapiness after the cup loss, the board is happy with me so there may be a dilemma at the end of the year with a new contract offer.

With the end of the month, some bills have to be paid and we're back in red, though smaller number than past month.

 

[Death Ball]

April 2017

Suwon is a midtable team at the moment, though favourites to win at their stadium. A 4-4-2 battle. We go down through a goal that was ten yards offside. We don't go one two up because onside passes are disallowed. Miraculously at 22nd minute we tie the match from an onside pass not disallowed. A great play ends with them getting ahead before half time. When another good play takes them 3-1 ahead I go to a 3-4-3 and it works, from a corner and then open play we go level at 70th minute. At 80:53 they disallow us another legal goal! I'M FED UP WITH THIS REFEREE! And then for all the close chances we have they get the hardest ball to get into the net.

The second match of the month is against leaders Jeju. I choose the 4-4-2 against their narrow 4-2-3-1, playing narrower and structured instead of flexible as changes. Somebody has to explain to me why their striker gets to the ball with my defender on top of him and between him and the ball. Also, how I'm supposed to win anything since since three matches ago every good movement is called wrongly offside. It ends WITH THE UMPTEENTH TIME THEY DISALLOW A GOAL FOR OFFSIDE WHEN THOSE OFFSIDE HAD NO PART IN THE PLAY.

We continue against last placed Daegu. Some more wrong offside calls, but atfter thirty minutes we get one not disallowed goal. The second half is used to test a flat 4-5-1. We get some chances again shot by offside calls but it mostly kills the match. Not enough support upfield.

For the second ganme against Goyang Hi, I will start with a flat 4-5-1, being away and with the reported trouble posed by opposing 4-4-2. Half hour od useless domination, I turn it into V shape. Cheong-Yoon, back from fitness, gets injured. I change nothing at half time, though I consider going to a diamond, since their stadium is very narrow I think we could exploit the numbers in the middle. But after a couple minutes we go ahead. I also rotated several positions and it's gone well, with Dong-Hyuk getting the player of the match by scoring with a run from deep.

Cheong-Yoon is out for another two months.

Again next week will be our resting week so I will set up a friendly for some players who're low on it. Though I could just organize it for the reserves and make only those in need available. The latter is what I do and Dong-Hyuk picks a three weeks injury... in training, so no regrets there.

Gangwon starts again with the 3-1-4-2. We begin ahead with the flat 4-5-1, scoring within the second minute, though they get a chance at having a dangerous counter shortly after. The insistence of my players to make loft crosses when nobody is between them and the free striker in the middle is annoying and more that I keep not telling them to cross low but then I fear missing on good aerial crosses by them sticking too much to low crosses. I set that now. Another thing that happens regularly is us having many more corners than our opponents, I should work more on them. In the second half Guk saves a great chance for them, but shortly after Seul-Ki doubles the score and things should be calm from now on. Still better than a second goal: Jeju are losing, so we'd cut the gap from top spot to five points with a game in hand. In the end, Jeju got a draw, but Ansan police lost their win as well and we get two points off them.

Ansan will be our first rival next month. If we win we'll draw in points with them. The bad thing of the past match is Hyo-Ki is injured for a month.

We lost almost a hundred thousand this year and are definitely on the red and things will only get worse.

Passing completion is decent, with one exception, but shots on target ratio is poor, which helps explain our low scoring. If I manage to improve that, then we should start winning almost every match and hope for direct promotion. as things stand, all we can aim for is to get in the play offs, in which achieving promotion would be very difficult.

Looking at a different stats views, I see that I should listen to his club's manager and give Jae-Eun a run as starter, since he's at four shots on target out of five. Artifact from his low sample of shots or an actual sign he may be what we need? I'd not be surprised if the former, but there won't be later unless I put him on the field to have the chance to prove it to be right.

Still no changes in anything else. Not a word of Korean yet.

_____________

P.S. - Note the wrong offsides Katsumi is so angry about are majority very narrow offsides well called.

 

[Death Ball]

May 2017

Ansan Police, I'm happy if we draw this. 17th minute, a wonderfully curved ball to give them the lead. 25th minute, Jae-Eun is in acres of space, for some reason doesn't dash for the ball. He gets it and then squanders the chance. 60th minute, having changed striker, Hyu-Min ties the match. With the match nearing its end, a throw in shot gets defelcted into goal. And in the last minute, we get the equalizer!

Bucheon FC and not Seoul E-Land is who awaits us after the Ansan Police match. I touch the 4-5-1 to try make it a little more effective. I start Jae-Eun again. He doesn't disappoint this time, with a goal at his first chance. Who disappoints is the rest of the team. Not darting to clear a ball off the line until it's clear to be late. Keep on skimming on the edge of the offside trap after I told them to drop deeper. Running to save the ball but unexplicably stop before the jump so it lacks the needed movement to reach it.

Also Ahn Dong-Hyuk, who made the first assist got injured some minutes later and will be out for a month.

Seoul E-Land does come now, this time we set the V formation against theirs. The match begins with our domination, but also inability to hit the target. Until just before the end of the half Byung-Joon scores a great shot. The second part is mostly the same, except the goal is theirs after Phil-Soo decides to chase a cross when the ball has already passed the aimed interception point.

Chungju Hummel visits sees us go back to the 4-4-2, which doesn't seem to beat their defence well, so it's moved into a 4-2-3-1. It doesn't seem to fare much better, until Jung-Hyup, who's asking for first team footballl, like Seong-Bin and Seul-Ki, gets to a through ball from De-Seul with the luck their keeper doesn't come for it nor cover the post. In the last ten minutes twice they get the defensive line high and go to a one on one they squander badly. Until in the last second they get one of those crosses behind the defence that still is edging the offside trap when I told them to play coutner and drop all back!.

We visit Gwangju next, reportedly stronger team. I move back to the V, which I'll name 4-3-3 from now on. Cagey match within the half hour, until Kyung-Min scores a cross. We're playing strikers in the front three, Kyung-Min out of position to the left. And it all looks well, until in the last second they score again because the right back, different player and different duty, again decides to stick way up and center abandoning any vigilance of the man he should be watching.

With the summer transfer window closing in, I think it is a good chance to try sell some of the players that are being unhappy for lack of first team football and that have teams interested on them. It will also help improve finances. Lee Sang-Woo, Park Sung-Sik and Ahn Seong-Bin are offered out to clubs. There's also interest for Park Tae-Su, Cho Young-Jun and Min Byung-Joon, but they're not unhappy and are among the better players. With them I'll set their asking price a bit above their value (the others have been offered for free or a fraction of their value), maybe offering them too. Kwon Soon-Hak joins theh unhappy and I tell him better sell him. Sang-Woo rejects Gwangju's offer and seems we're stuck with him. I sign Jeong Woo-In to be the second starting centreback and replace Young-Jun would he leave the club.

The match against Suwon, who won the first match, starts well and we mostly control it. But Guk just backs blindly after a cross and I don't know if he punches it in or lets it hit the post and bounce in off him. And it's giving goals cheaply like these last matches that make me think on resigning, since I know I didn't do the transfers right. Too many players in some positions and hence the recent bout of unhappiness. Another draw.

The injured players have returned to training just the last day of the month.

Not a single win in all month, it makes this secound round of the league worse than the first. By one point if we win the two matches left, which include leaders Jeju.

((Still no word of Korean. At the start of the month I wanted to check something didn't cause an issue, I applied to a job and resigned, I noticed one or two weeks after, a point I'm almost sure I've passed, she was fluent in Korean, I suspect a bug with languages in the last patch)).

 

[Death Ball]

June 2017

Woo-In arrives in time for the Jeju match, having the starting centrebacks tired, he comes straight into the team. And straight in he intercepts the ball off the goalkeeper to score an own goal. Ten minutes into the second half, seeing as nothing is done, I go back to a narrow diamond, touching several things and a few minutes later it produces the equalizer. We continue to make chances, with some good counters. We also have some good corners and one long shot to the crossbar, but can't get the ball in.

Awaiting us is Daegu, the last team with only one win and two draws. If we draw against them with goals, I'm resigning (why it is to end the job re-signing? I guess one has to sign the end of the contract previously signed). If it's without goals I'll throw a coin. Daegu have the better of the first half, despite the goal. Changes in half time turn things around, but no second goal and two chances for them. Hyo-Ki, who was back to playing, picks an injury that looks bad. We end with the win, three points worse than in the first leg but still in play offs.

Luckily it's not as bad as I thought.

I'm informed of breaking the unbeaten run record. I'd be happy if it didn't involve so many draws.

The visit by Goyang Hi is a chance to move up to third place. We start slow but we get into the match as it progresses. In the last quarter of the first half we've had some good chances. During a play it becomes apparent the difficulties by the players to control the ball upon reception. I'll let changes for later, given how we're getting in. Good decission as within three minutes we get a goal. After it, we almost disappeared offensively, though kept control of the match, simply we did nothing but keep the ball. Goyang tried to go for the match, but though they create a few chances, they weren't very dangerous.

Now it's two weeks without league from our rest day and an international break that had us miss our starting left fullback. So, for two sundays I've set friendlies for the reserves to keep match fitness and let the assistant do the work of filling the rest of the game squad.

The K-League all star squads are announced and Hyup is in it.

Seon-Bin picks a two weeks injury during the break, which means he can't be sold.

Kwon Soon-Hak becomes the second player who wanted first team football I told to leave that rejects a contract and chooses to stay. He better not complain again.

We get also an offer for Jung-Sik. Another that ends in nothing, this time because they make it so late they can't complete it in time.

Just before the month ends, I complete the course and get the Continental B License. I didn't really need any encouragement but it's appreciated. Now I need to wait to have the balance in the positive again for the next.

Her reputation has grown, from 5% to 10%. I'm starting to think I might have misread when I thought man management and determination increased.

Soon-Hak is not a jerk.

We close the month with the second match of the third league round, against Gangwon. They come out ahead with a good shot, but later a counter from a corner sets the match level. Penalty at 40th minute just for Hyup to send at the keeper and then let them head a foul from Woo-In new yellow card to go behind again. He'll be suspended against Ansan Police. As the time passes we go more and more offensive after the goal. Twice we hit the woodwork. At 85min we get it. We keep chasing but there's no third goal and we're again out of play off positions.

Kyung-Min out for ten days.

Now that he's got more time, his shot on target is the third best among those with more than ten shots. I'd say he's earned to have time in the league.

The board are happy with me. I'm fine despite the annoyance of past draws. If we get promoted I may stay if they offer a new contract. If we don't I think I'll move on, though I'd like to see Anyang succeeding.

So we find out that getting Continental C from National A doesn't raise reputation from 5%; but getting Continental B does, up to a 10% reputation.

 

[Death Ball]

August 2017 (Okay, in the past I made some mistake somehwere I didn't recognize and the previous entries are marked with the wrong month even after I tried to correct it)

Cheong-Yoon has been back in the first team after his injury and he's expressing his gratitude. With a squad like this it's easy to forgive their mistakes on the pitch and keep on working.

The month begins with a visit by Ansan Police. They seem better thorough the match, despite touches here and there I make; but they're hardly menacing. Until their winger pulls off a superb back pass after 72'. So I order to go all out attacking. And it works! Ten minutes later we counter from a corner and Byung-Joon finishes it. Now, it's time to recover defensive solidity, though not all will be back to cautious. We're lucky at the end Tae-Su decided to try make the offside trap at the wrong moment and the referee called offside wrongly.

We go to Bucheon next. It's all in our control; but lots of off the target shots and then they get a great goal past half hour. Again things have to be changed. This time I go to a diamond instead of a 4-2-4. It doesn't show much improvement, though eventually we get the equalizer with a nice move. Then in extra time they miss a header in a free kick and we get the win!

We get €24K from an old player transfer. Good news for our finances.

Before the match against Seoul E-Land, Woo-In gets a month injury.

Hyo-Ki gets us ahead taking a rebound from Soon-Hak early against E-Land. After half an hour they hack our striker on to goal and pick a red card. The freekick hits the woodwork. I make a sub at half time (right back) to avoid a second yellow card. Man superiority must be kept. Several chances since their red card, but none taken. At 64 mins, finally Soon-Hak nets the second, from Hyo-Ki assist. Past the hour, I change keepers to give Phil-Soo some match fitness.

Though the month ends with three matches in about a week, there are many players lacking match fitness, so I make a reserve squad friendly. In training we lose another player for almost a month, **** Yun's backup.

Day 20th, the board injects some cash into the club. We're €63,564 in the red.

We play Chungju Hummel at their stadium. Again, it's big. I mean BIG. They play a 4-4-2, no wonder they're struggling given they have to play mostly five midfield formations. That's too much space for their central pair to make up the one man inferiority in midfield they usually find with work rate. Second half starts with Kyung-Min, who just was complaining I didn't give him playing time, scores his second goal of the match. Three minutes later, they make a penalty and he... gets his hat-trick. The first for one player of mine.

While most of the unhappy players have got around their issues, Seong-Bin asked again for more first team football. It's understandable, but I couldn't promise him starts. Now he's angry and apparently has made other players angry at him for his response.

Ten minutes into Gwangju's visit and someone has to explain me why less than twenty yards from an empty goal is not a reason to shoot. After going 4-3-3 narrow in the second half, there are chances near the end, but not getting one, I risk it with a 3-4-3 (DM-MC). It works! at 87th minute Jung-Sik, back in the team after a long time, receives a back pass outside the area and smashes a screamer.

This result increases the team's unbeaten run record to thirteen games, which is the league's record, too.

Kyung-Min gets injured in the second half against Suwon, a level match, and I move to a 3-5-2 in search of the winning goal at their pitch. This time it doesn't work as Chang-Hoon breaks the offside trap to allow them to score. I go 3-4-3 attacking to chase the draw.

It's been a missed opportunity to make some distance off our pursuers. It's ended the 13 matches unbeaten run and the 18 matches scoring. Despite that, we're only seventh in scoring; while having the second best defence, which is what keeps us this high in the table.

 

[PatrickLFC]

You're on fire! Second place is up for grabs, that would be a great achievement!