Coyle finds good karma on Indian adventure
Double act of Coyle and Stewart make a passage to India and use good karma to rebuild their reputations
WHEN unveiled as an Indian Super League franchise in 2014, Chennaiyin FC chose for their badge a symbol commonly used in households in the Tamil Nadu state to chase negativity away from the home and retain a positive environment.
With that theme being central to the new venture’s spirit, it makes you wonder why it took them almost six years to appoint the logo’s perfect match — the endlessly upbeat Owen Coyle — as head coach.
Coyle’s ability to place an optimistic spin on any setback has, however, scarcely been tested since returning to football management after a 21-month absence, so successful has his impact been in Chennai.
He replaced John Gregory in early December with long-time lieutenant Sandy Stewart back in tow and led a storming run from bottom of the ISL to an improbable play-off run.
The Glaswegian double act are reunited at an eighth club as a coaching team, rebuilding a reputation that fielded a few knocks since a spectacular start to management at St Johnstone, Burnley and initially at Bolton.
It would require more than a couple of failed, short-lived experiences to grind a good man down and smash the enthusiasm out of Coyle, although family upset took a couple of swings at him too.
His mother Frances, a legend of a woman at the Citizens Theatre for her 44 years working at the Glasgow venue, passed away last February.
Three months later, his sister Maureen’s son Johny died on holiday in Ibiza at the age of just 28.
Coyle was content in December to say a good riddance to a ‘horrible year’ by setting off on a new chapter of his life. A daring move to Chennai in south east India.
Except that it took him four days and a fraught first match in charge before he even touched down in his new home city and the five-star hotel lodgings where he is looked after so well by his employers.
‘Our very first game was probably the most challenging — Jamshedpur away,’ Coyle explains.
‘I went Manchester to Doha, Doha to Kolkata, where I was meeting up with the team.
‘From there we then had to fly to Ranchi. When you get off there you still have a three-hour bus journey and the roads, with all respect, are not like going along the M8.
‘I managed one training session there. Then we were winning 1-0 until the last minute when their player punched the ball into the net to equalise. After all that travelling, you think: “Oh my goodness”.
‘We could have got into the play-offs a little sooner if we’d have won that day.’
The two-times title winners turned to the 53-year-old after finishing last season with the worst points total (nine) in the league’s short history and starting this campaign with one win in six and only four goals scored.
Coyle had rejected overtures from the ISL in its formative years, preferring his first foreign foray as coach to be at Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer in 2015.
‘I had one or two offers to come here before but this time it felt right,’ said Coyle. ‘I just thought, do you know what, after all that’s happened this year, let’s get back into the football and enjoy it again.
‘When I phoned Sandy, his daughter Emma had just given birth to a baby girl. It was his first grandchild. I’ve got two grandkids now and I said: “That’s fantastic news, you’ll find it a new lease of life, it’s amazing, erm... fancy coming to India?”
‘Unsurprisingly, he needed a few days to think about it all before committing to three months.
‘That time away has increased now because we’re in the play-offs but it’s great news that we’ve made it this far, so we’ll be here a little longer.’
Chennaiyin have made it perfectly clear they wish Coyle to confirm a permanent stay and build on the whirlwind transformation that saw them bank fourth in the 10-team table thanks to 24 points in 12 games since his appointment.
A squad that hadn’t gained an away victory in 13 months when Coyle took charge are on a run of four wins and a draw on the road going into next Saturday’s second leg against FC Goa.
Yesterday they took control of the tie with an excellent 4-1 win on home turf and look well placed to face either Bengaluru or ATK in a one-off final on March 14.
The league’s No1-ranked team should beware Coyle’s play-off record, including goals for Bolton against Reading in 1995 and Dundee United against Partick Thistle a year later that earned promotions.
In 2009, his managerial star soared when guiding Burnley past Sheffield United at Wembley and into the Premier League.
‘I think that absolutely having to win games has suited us and hopefully that can serve us well again now, although Goa have been building their squad for three years and deserved to be top,’ said Coyle.
‘At the bottom of the league when we arrived, draws would never be good enough. Of course, there was an element of risk but I felt with some good players, we could lift it, play the attacking football we’ve always been known for.’
Of the five foreign players he is permitted to play in any game, Chennaiyin have striker Nerijus Valskis who led the line at Hampden for Lithuania’s shock 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw against Scotland in 2016.
Ex-Rangers defender Dorin Goian’s brother Lucian is captain, while Maltese veteran Andre Schembri and Brazilian forward Rafael Crivellaro provide flair ideal for a Coyle team.
Four of his squad were named in Igor Stimac’s Indian national squad last week and Coyle claims it should have been more.
That Coyle guided Chennaiyin to the post-season semi-finals at all is being viewed as miracle work.
And to think it was believed the magic touch that worked so spectacularly at Burnley and persuaded Celtic to offer him the manager’s job when Gordon
Strachan quit had deserted him. Fire-fighting stints with Wigan and Blackburn were ultimately unhappy and unsuccessful.
A return to Scotland with Ross County resulted in rancour, Michael Gardyne infamously scathing of his methods when the club was relegated two months after Coyle’s resignation in March 2018.
For Coyle, there was reflection in the time out of the game. But no reinvention before his comeback.
‘Every one of us will find things in their life that won’t work for a number of reasons,’ said Coyle. ‘We’ve had some terrific times. As we all do, we made a couple of bad decisions about where we went.
‘It didn’t work for Neil Lennon at Bolton. That never detracted from how good a manager he is. Brendan Rodgers at Reading?
‘What you do, if you’re honest, is recognise what went wrong. And you do that yourself without having anything negative to say about people because we don’t live our lives like that.
‘Some people felt the need to say this and that, but that’s up to them. Let their conscience deal with it.
‘What we do know is that when we
I had a few offers to come out here before but this time it just felt right
get to work, we work with people who are prepared to listen and learn then we tend to do things well.
‘We’ve shown we’ve had huge success in doing it.
‘We’ve come here and shown everyone our quality, what we can do and they can see the style of football we’re playing and the turnaround that’s happened.
‘The important thing we felt for our next challenge was going somewhere we felt there was an opportunity to win.
‘Because when you win, everything changes. I know how in football you can go from the best thing since sliced bread to bad or indifferent.’
Coyle insists he was at no stage desperate to reassert his credentials. Job openings came and went and when his mum fell ill, all
considerations of a return to the game were benched. ‘I had numerous opportunities with different clubs, levels and countries,’ he said
‘My mum was ill for a few months, so there was no way I was taking a job at that stage.
‘Then she passed away last February at the age of 88. I’m one of nine and she was such a huge part of our family. She was at every game when her boys played and, even when I was in England, I was getting up every second week to see her.
‘So when it came about it was quite tough because she’d barely had a day ill in her life, then was diagnosed with a cancer in her throat.
‘We had a lovely service in Glasgow then we took her over to Donegal, she’s buried next to my dad.
‘That’s where they were both born. That wasn’t an easy time but it happens to us all and you’ve got to get on with it and do what you do.
‘I think that having a tough year was part of the reason for coming here and that was raised when I spoke to my wife Kerry about it.
‘I only do football and family, so sacrifices have been made by coming here with Sandy for three months.
‘It was a huge decision. I’ve missed birthdays and the things we always do at Christmas and New Year. The challenge is always when you’re not seeing family.’ Coyle is, however, open to discussing a new Chennaiyin contract come the end of their play-off run and extending his stay in a league with a profile on the rise. Every game is live on TV and the regular season league winners are now guaranteed a group stage place in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League.
These are goahead times for former Rangers and Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain, who has landed the CEO role for the company running the ISL.
For Coyle, there have been no cultural impediments to him excelling in his work for a club whose first-ever coach was Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi and is part-owned by Indian cricket icon MS Dhoni.
He explained: ‘It’s a completely different environment to, say, Houston. Although we probably are used to the heat from working in Texas.
‘Okay, the traffic is incredible. Our training ground is six miles from the hotel and some days it can take 45 minutes to get there.
‘The away games are like playing in Europe with the travel, you need to leave maybe a couple of days before. There’s loads of challenges but in the main it’s very enjoyable.
‘And I always judge places by people. The people are so welcoming and can’t do enough to help you.
‘The Indian lads all speak English, so things like that have made it very smooth in the squad.
‘Although, being Glaswegians, we do need to slow down a little bit but we learned about that in Houston.
‘It’s been nice to hear they want us to stay and continue what we’re doing.
‘We’ve been a success and, when you go somewhere and do really well, you hope it gets noticed.
‘We know what we’re good at and we will hopefully continue to do it.’
Every one of us will find things in our life that won’t work for a number of reasons. But we’ve come here and shown our quality