ISL 2018: Hearts assistant manager Austin MacPhee rejects lucrative offer from FC Pune City
What's the story?
Austin MacPhee, assistant manager at Scottish side Heart of Midlothian FC has announced on the Hearts Website that he would stay in Scotland rejecting a lucrative offer from Indian Super League (ISL) side FC Pune City.
In case you didn't know...
FC Pune City had to let go their newly appointed coach, Marcos Paqueta as he went on to join Brazilian Serie A club Botafogo even after penning down the contract with the Stallions. The Pune based side have been in negotiations ever since with several reputed managers across Europe in a bid to fill the void.
One such ongoing negotiation is with MacPhee from Scotland which has resulted in failure with the Scott deciding to not move anywhere.
Austin began his mangerial career with Cupan Hearts in Scotland before undergoing stints at St.Mirren and Cowdenbeath as assistant coach. He also was the assistant manager for the Northern Ireland men's national team.
The heart of the matter
Speaking to the Hearts FC Media, Austin said, "It was an interesting offer from the Indian Super League side and one I thought very seriously about. However, at this moment in time, it is probably not the right opportunity for me and I am delighted to be continuing my work at Hearts."
MacPhee is the founder and managing director of sports tours company AM Sports Tours.
Hence, MacPhee is all set to stay in Tynecastle in Scotland and FC Pune City have a task cut out in front of them to rope in an eligible manager in such a short period of time. The Stallions have to resume negotiations again with new faces soon.
What's next?
FC Pune City have to quicken the pace for the appointment of the head coach as the last day of announcing the manager is August 1, 2018, as per the ISL norms.
With East Bengal mulling over an ISL entry, the organisers of the cash-rich tournament have delayed the release of fixtures which may allow FC Pune City some time.
Who do you think the Stallions recruit as their next Gaffer? Pin down you guesses in the comment section below.