Busan appoints a new boss + split season schedule

Yesterday, Busan announced they have hired Choi Young-joon as the new manager for the club.

New manager Choi Young-joon. Screenshot courtesy of busanipark.com

Most recently Choi had worked with the KFA helping to develop the country's youth setup. He has previously spent time as a coach for Jeju United, Daegu, Ulsan, and Ulsan University. Choi was also manager of the Brunei U-20 team. As a player Choi spent most of his career with Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso/LG Cheetahs (pre-runners to FC Seoul), and he also played a couple seasons with Ulsan Hyundai. Choi will join up with the team immediately, but interim boss Denis will continue to lead the team on matchdays. 

The team announcement said that the went with Choi because of his experience with the youth setup with the KFA. They hope that Choi can help develop the next Lee Jeong-hyub, Lee Chang-geun, and Gu Hyun-joon. We shall have to wait and see.

Post-split schedule

The K League also released the schedule for the remaining five games of the season. (times are KST)

Round 34 - vs Gwangju, 10/17 2PM

Round 35 - at Daejeon, 10/24 2PM

Round 36 - at Incheon, 11/8 2PM

Round 37 - vs Jeonnam, 11/22 4PM

Round 38 - at Ulsan, 11/28 2PM

Busan's fate will likely be officially settled on the first weekend (post-split) against Gwangju. A Busan win and they can take a glimmer of hope with the gap down to 8 points. Anything else and it's pretty much curtains (a Gwangju win is curtains). I'm not wildly pleased with the schedule as I'd have rather faced Ulsan and Incheon at the beginning since they're trickier tests. Matches against Daejeon and Gwangju are more winnable and could have helped build some momentum for the playoff.

승리하라 부산!