ISL 2017/18: Who said what after Dimitar Berbatov lashed out at Kerala Blasters coach David James
In what seems to be a case of adding fuel to the fire, Kerala Blasters' marquee forward Dimitar Berbatov's lashing out at Davis James' style of coaching has manifested into the latest controversy with big names such as Iain Hume and Delhi Dynamos director Rohan Sharma chipping in with their thoughts as well.
Knocked out from the competition after failing to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing ISL season, Berbatov took to his official Instagram account to hit out on his coach at the Blasters and seemed miffed at his tutelage.
While Berbatov was firmly against James' on-field strategy of "Chip the ball to the strikers, chest, and we take it from there," according to his story on Instagram, Berbatov posted a pic through which it appeared as if the striker was heading back home and was not going to be a part of the Blasters team for the Super Cup.
As Twitterati went gaga over Berbatov's post, Delhi Dynamos' director Rohan Sharma and ex-Blasters' star Michael Chopra had contrasting opinions on the issue at hand while Berbatov teammate at the Blasters, Iain Hume had some words of advice by taking what seemed as a reference of this situation.
Rohan Sharma:
The director of the Dynamos compared the situation with that of ex-Chelsea star Florent Malouda's, who was in fantastic form during his stint with the Dynamos in the 2015-16 ISL season.
In his tweet which was targetted towards Berbatov, Sharma was quipped saying "This is why Malouda is the best," referring to the French international's time in the ISL.
Michael Chopra :
However, ex-Newcastle United and Kerala Blasters striker Michael Chopra's tweet went viral after the English footballer took Berbatov's side on this issue. The striker, who represented the Blasters in 2014 and re-signed in 2016 seemed to be in the same boat as Berbatov, unhappy with James' coaching style and also mentioned about Malouda's respect for team-mate Gianluca Zambrotta.
Iain Hume :
The Blasters' forward opted to remain tight-lipped about the issue but hinted at the need to keep things as it is and not necessarily comment.