Koreans keen to secure coach

South Korea are hoping to sew up a successor to former manager Cho Kwang-Rae by the end of next month.

Korean Football Association (KFA) technical committee head Hwangbo Kwan says the organisation is starting from a blank slate in its search for a new coach.

Cho was dismissed as Korea coach in mid-week, with Hwangbo stating the decision was based on the KFA’s belief under him the national team could miss out on qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, with the team still needing a result in their final third round qualifier against Kuwait to ensure their progress.

The Korean media have thrown up names such as Jeonbuk’s Choi Kang-Hee, Shimizu’s Afshin Ghotbi and Olympic coach Hong Myung-Bo as potential replacements, but Hwangbo said the field was wide open at this stage.

“We are starting with a blank slate,” Hwangbo told reporters.

“Anyone who knows Korea and can lead the team well is a candidate.”

The KFA technical committee head also stated they wanted the coach confirmed by the end of next month ahead of February’s final third round qualifier against Kuwait.

Hwangbo also explained the decision to dismiss Cho which has received some criticism from the public for being politically motivated, by the sacked coach said the procedure was wrong.

“Last Monday, I met with senior KFA executives and we concluded that we couldn’t reach the World Cup the way the team was playing,” Hwangbo said.

“It was a big decision for us in order to develop the future of Korean football. We need to qualify for the World Cup.”

He added: “Sponsors and broadcasters are also important. It is true that we had talks considering them, but on the other hand, the team needed a change quickly.”

Cho had claimed the procedure to dismiss him, whereby the technical committee never held a formal meeting to discuss the decision, was “nonsensical”.

However, Hwangbo responded: “I regret that there are now questions about that procedure. We tried our best to take formal steps, but I also felt that we needed to act quickly to stabilize the situation and take the next step.”