Did ATK want coach Westwood before Teddy?
In a bid to secure stability and foundation, the thinking among teams is to build a solid backline this time
No sooner had the draft for the 2017 Indian Super League (ISL) kicked off than debutants Jamshedpur FC wasted little time in picking defender Anas Edathodika, who played for Delhi Dynamos last season.
The trend of strengthening the defense was witnessed during the initial rounds of the Indian player draft, as teams made strong bids for goalkeepers, defensive midfielders and defenders here on Sunday.
India goalkeeper Subrata Paul was Jamshedpur FC’s second pick, while their choice of defensive midfielder Mehtab Hossain soon after securing Hossain left no doubt that they wanted the best men in the backline. Another midfielder-cum-defender Souvik Chakrabarti was their fourth pick.
Steve Coppell, the former Kerala Blasters coach, reasoned that with most teams building from scratch, it was always good to build from the back. And, with Jamshedpur starting from scratch, that was the safest option.
“Every team is built from the back. You have to have that stability and foundation secured for rest of the team to perform. I’m sure, the thinking of every coach here today is about the same. It (choosing defenders) doesn’t guarantee anything, or how the players would perform. But we have got some solid players,” said Coppell on the sidelines of the draft.
Delhi Dynamos, who like Jamshedpur FC were starting afresh after deciding not to retain any of their players, chose goalkeeper Albino Gomes, who had a terrific season with I-League winners Aizawl FC. Their second pick was India right-back Pritam Kotal.
FC Goa picked India rightback Narayan Das. Bengaluru FC got their goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte, whom they had released after deciding to enter ISL, back. Kerala Blasters got defender Rino Anto.
Mumbai City FC and NorthEast United FC’s first picks were striker Balwant Singh and winger Halicharan Narzary. But
Are Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) spending nearly $500,000 (Rs 3.22 crore approximately) this season on former England striker Teddy Sheringham because their proposal to appoint Ashley Westwood as coach was rejected by the Indian Super League (ISL)?
Two officials connected to the ISL have told Hindustan Times separately that the defending champions had asked whether they could get Westwood as coach for 2017-18.
The sources said the league didn’t think Westwood fit the profile of an ISL coach and told ATK as much.
What ISL coaches must have Head coaches in ISL franchises must be either an international manager or coach with significant experience and track record or a high-profile international player wishing to move into management after acquiring the required coaching badges.
That means the likes of Marco Materazzi, Florent Malouda and Roberto Carlos --- all former stars and ISL coaches --- would qualify as would Sheringham.
In the other category would be Antonio Lopez Habas, who won the first ISL and is now with FC Pune City, Miguel Angel Portugal, who has managed Real Madrid B and C teams, Racing Santander and Valladolid before joining Delhi Dynamos, Sergio Rodriguez, who before taking over at FC Goa was in Tito Villanova’s backroom staff at Barcelona, Kerala Blasters’ Rene Meulensteen who was with Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United and Chennaiyin FC’s John Gregory who has coached extensively in England.
In a third category would be Jamshedpur FC’s coach Steve Coppell, and Mumbai City FC’s Alexandre Guimaraes who have been successful players and experienced managers.
With Bengaluru FC being his first job and a short stint in Malaysia’s Penang the only other assignment, Westwood, according to the sources, didn’t fulfil the requirements. When in 2014, Bengaluru FC were contemplating joining the ISL, they too had proposed Westwood would stay as coach. The ISL had turned it down even then. A Bengaluru FC official confirmed this to Hindustan Times on Saturday.
Through an e-mail on Friday evening, Hindustan Times asked ATK whether they had sought Westwood as coach and appointed Sheringham only after that wasn’t allowed. On Saturday afternoon ATK CEO Raghu Iyer was quoted as saying by a team spokesperson that “this is not true.”
Given how successful he was in three seasons at Bengaluru FC, Westwood was named technical director by ATK earlier this month.
Speaking about Sheringham’s appointment here on Saturday, ATK’s principal owner Sanjiv Goenka said: “Raghu and I met Teddy in London and that was when we decided to have him as the head coach. That was several weeks ago.” At nearly half-a-million dollars, Sheringham will be one of the highest coaches in the ISL.
We knew, with the draft, it would be impossible to get all those players. We are happy what we have signed and let’s see what happens. We wanted to keep our squad from last season as much as possible as we had immense faith in them. We are happy with new guys. With two more teams, the competition to get players has increased. We were ready with plan A, B and C in case we didn’t get the players we wanted.