Chennaiyin coach hurt by ‘champions’ comments

BENGALURU: Before the fourth season of the ISL, Steve Coppell had batted for recognition for the team that topped the league phase. After ISL-4 ended here on Saturday, Sunil Chhetri and Gurpreet Singh pointed out that Bengaluru FC had won the league phase with the goalkeeper even saying ‘we are the champions’.

During an interview last November, Coppell had said: “I fail to see why the winner of league stage doesn’t win something. It’s one hell of an achievement. It emphasises the fact that week in, week out you were the best. There needs to be real value attached to that rather than the knockout-winners-take-all mentality.”

Fast forward to the Sree Kanteerava stadium here and even though it was Chennaiyin who had the trophy, having won the final 3-2, Gurpreet was saying: “I want to say congratulations to Chennai, but we won the league. We are the champions.”

Speaking next, Chhetri pointed out: “The fact is that we

had 40 points and won the league. Sadly, we couldn’t win today….” This was Bengaluru FC’S first defeat in 11 games.

When Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory was asked for his thoughts on this, it was the first time in the whole week that he looked a little riled. “I was a little disappointed by the words he (Gurpreet) he used. I think we got

the cup, haven’t we,” he said.

Gregory then drew on his vast experience as coach to point out that play-offs are used in a number of countries and that England have been having them for over 30 years. “You could finish sixth in your division and still win promotion to the Premiership. You could finish 20 points behind the champion,” he said.