Relegation battle gets into gear in K-League

Football players vie for the ball during the K-League Classic match between Incheon United FC (in blue) and Ulsan Hyundai FC at Incheon Football Stadium, May 1. / Yonhap

By John Duerden

As always in football, the teams that do well get the attention, while those that don’t; but the recent introduction of relegation to the K-League Classic has shone the spotlight a little more on those at the bottom.

One team from the 12 in the top tier will automatically drop down to the K-League Challenge, with another having to playoff against a team from the second tier.

The big game of the recent round was the bottom of the table clash between Incheon United and Jeonnam Dragons. It has been a tough campaign so far for Incheon. Apart from its first couple of seasons in existence, in the middle of the last decade, the club has never been a big spender.

Things have become worse. With much of the club’s funding coming from the city, the city’s well-publicized financial woes of recent years have not helped. United has performed best when it has a close relationship with the mayor of the metropolis. Sometimes it has, sometimes not.

This season there have been reports of players getting paid late and this is never a good sign. It is not surprising then that results have been poor. Incheon can’t score goals and star striker Kevin Oris from Belgium has found the target just once.

Perhaps new Vietnamese midfielder Luong Xuan Truong could make a difference but coach Kim Do-hoon has yet to select him. Apparently, the coaching staff are unaware that Luong was guaranteed a certain number of appearances every season. It is all quite messy.

The Jeonnam Dragons have never won a title but it wasn’t long ago that the team from South Jeolla Province was finishing in the top half of the table, winning FA Cups and appearing in the Asian Champions League. No longer. These days the boys from Gwangyang are happy just to avoid a relegation battle.

Unlike Incheon, Jeonnam has actually won a game but that is as good as it gets. It was no surprise that the game between the two on Thursday ended 0-0. Both Incheon and Jeonnam could still be playing now and they still would not have scored.

Last week, Jeonnam’s coach Roh Sang-rae departed after the poor results, not helped by the fact that the club has consistently sold its best players. The most recent of its stars to go was Lee Jong-ho. The forward, nicknamed “The Gwangyang Rooney,” a talented player on the fringes of the national team, was sold to Jeonbuk Motors in North Jeolla Province. In Jeonju, he is not a regular starter for the champions.

In truth, half the league can’t be complacent about relegation. The three usual big boys Ulsan, Suwon Bluewings and Pohang Steelers have plenty of titles between them but will expect to be climbing the standings at some point. Teams such as Sangju Sangmu and Gwangju have started reasonably well but will be wary of slipping down towards the trap door.

Incheon is the one in most trouble though and needs to somehow start winning games or the team will find itself cut adrift at the bottom. There’s still plenty of time however.