"When I came to this club, everyone looked depressed and unhappy," Ko said at a media day event in Seoul. "I'm ready to change that."

For Ko, Daejeon is a familiar club. He played with the club for two seasons before announcing his retirement in February 2009. After hanging up his boots, he served as trainer and assistant coach for Suwon for seven years before moving to Daejeon as head coach.

Ko, who had 37 goals and 34 assists in 171 matches in the K League, said that he doesn't plan to rule the players and will not blame them for any lack of talent.

"When I became the head coach of the team, I said to myself that I'll never scold our players for their talent," he said. "I'm not going to have a psychological battle with our players because that's not good for either side. I just want to encourage them to do well, and let them give their best."

As a rookie coach, Ko said he is still the learning process, but what's certain is that his side will progress to become a brave team, just like he showed during his playing career.

"I know all coaches can see their tactics executed perfectly on the pitch, but I don't want to play football that is conventional and predictable," he said. "Every player is united and they're determined."

Ko, who played for South Korea at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, said his squad is filled with talented young players and they can do big things, though their realistic goal for this season is not the K League 2 title. The winner of the K League 2 earns direct promotion to the top-tier K League 1, while the other three top teams need compete in playoff rounds for one remaining pass to promotion.

"Our goal for this season is to stay in the middle of the league standings and hopefully reach the promotion playoffs," he said. "This head coach job is a stressful job. In football, everyone wants to win, but I hope our players can first enjoy playing football." (Yonhap)