KOCHI: It has been a disappointing season for Kerala Blasters in the 2017-18 Indian Super League (ISL). Last season’s finalists might still finish in the top four and thereby qualify for the playoffs, but it goes without saying that a lot more was expected from the Kochi-based club at the start of the season.
The main reason for their poor showing has been their form at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi -- their home ground. The stadium which has been a fort in the previous seasons and an intimidating set up for the visiting sides hasn’t been the same this time around.
Before their final home game of the season against Chennaiyin FC on Friday, Blasters had only recorded two wins from eight matches at their fortress. A majority of the outcome for Blasters in Kochi has been draws -- four of them -- while also going down to Bengaluru FC and FC Goa here.
They have only scored a paltry seven goals in eight matches played in front of the Yellow Sea while four out of their six victories have come on the road, away from home. “It has been somewhat of a disappointing season for us, but we have picked up form off late,” said Anith Kumar, who traveled from Alappuzha to cheer Blasters against Chennaiyin.
“We have been finding wins when Iain Hume has been fit. The former manager did not play him in the early matches, but Hume got injured in the business end of the season which has really affected our chances of making it to the semifinals,” said Anith who has attended most of this season’s home matches.
Other players like Jackichand Singh, C K Vineeth and Sandesh Jhingan remain to be fan favourites. “Jackichand has been doing very good and Jhingan has stepped up as the captain of the team,” said Prince Vijayan. “Vineeth has been working tirelessly whenever he is on the field. That is what we expect from players who represent Blasters,” said Prince.
The fans are hoping Blasters will somehow make it to the last fours and go on to have a better outing in the upcoming Super Cup where top teams from the ISL and I-League will clash. “Kochi might be hosting the event and we would like to see the team perform well and maybe lift the inaugural edition of the tournament. We will be there to support them,” said Abhijith A.
Meanwhile, ISL has also attracted the attention of tourists -- two of them from England cheered Blasters on from the stands on Friday. Arran Danskin and William Boulton are English tourists who have been spending the last few weeks in Kerala and they were told watching a Blasters home game was one of the must-have experiences in Kerala.
“We have watched the ISL matches on television during our three months in India, but this was the first time we have experienced it at a stadium. Obviously, the quality when compared to English Premier or other European leagues is low, but the fans more than made up for it,” said Arran, who is from Leeds and is an ardent Leeds United fan.
“The game will not improve if you do not pump money into youth development. You can see a lot of that in Germany where almost 90 per cent of players in their domestic league are Germans. That is not the case in England as we have players from everywhere in the world, but the structure which we have in place attracts youngsters to football,” said William.