ISL 2017 roundup: ATK, Kerala Blasters announce new coaches, Coppell's next destination confirmed
The speculation was doing the rounds in the last few weeks and it was almost decided in the last few days, though the official confirmation came on Friday night as Atletico de Kolkata officials announced Teddy Sheringham as their new coach for the upcoming season.
The hero from 1999 Champions League Final, Sheringham will replace Jose Molina who had a great season last year with the Kolkata outfit. Molina gave Kolkata the coveted trophy in his lone season at the helm whereas the previous coach Antonio Lopez Habas delivered the trophy in the very first season and took them to the semis in the second year.
Sheringham’s appointment was announced on Friday night by the principal owner of the team Sanjeev Goenka.
Meulensteen to coach Kerala
Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters have also announced their head coach. There were rumours that the Kochi outfit might rope in ATK’s former coach Jose Molina but on Friday, the yellows confirmed the appointment of Rene Meulensteen as their head coach for the upcoming season.
Meulensteen has replaced Steve Coppell in the hot seat. Coppell had a very good last year but he was released earlier this week. Apart from Molina, former Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce’s name was also in the reckoning as ex Blasters’ footballer Michael Chopra confirmed that the talks were on between the two parties.
After all this, Meulensteen’s appointment came in as a big surprise. He comes with a great reputation as he worked as Fulham’s manager and also worked with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Coppell goes to Jamshedpur
On the other hand, the newly formed team in the tournament that will represent Jamshedpur and owned by Tata Steel have also announced their coach. They have roped in Kerala Blaster’s former coach Steve Coppell for the job. Coppell had a very good season last year with the Sachin Tendulkar owned side. Tata Steel have also announced Ishfaq Ahmed as the assistant coach for the franchise. Ishfaq was working as the assistant coach last year with Kerala under Coppell.