T'Puram: Kerala Blasters on Tuesday announced that former England international and Reading FC manager Steve Coppell will lead the Kochi-based franchise in the third edition of the Indian Super Leauge (ISL). Coppell, who amassed over 300 appearances for English football giants Manchester United during his playing days, will succeed Terry Phelan, the former Manchester City defender, who had replaced Peter Taylor as Blasters' gaffer midway through last season.
The 60-year-old will be the fourth Englishman to be in charge of the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned side that had former English goalkeeper David James as the player-manager in the inaugural ISL season.
“ISL has laid a strong foundation in its last two seasons nurturing quality of Indian football. Also, its unique format gives an opportunity for Indian players to play and compete against international talent, learnings that will strengthen the roots of football in India," said Coppell who is currently on a visit to India.
"I have heard a lot about the strong fan support of Kerala Blasters FC, as also Kerala’s strong legacy in Indian football. I believe in creating an environment for the players to win matches and am looking forward to working with the team and sharing my passion for the game with them," he added. "As the marquee manager, Coppell will work on building a nucleus of support staff incorporating the best of Indian and international talent. He will also play an important role in the selection of the team," Blasters said.
Coppell has worked with English clubs Bristol City, Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester City, Brentford, Crawley Town as a manager and was most recently the Director of Football at Portsmouth. Before taking up coaching, he had represented England om 42 occasions including at the FIFA World Cup before an injury cut short his playing career.
"It is our pleasure to welcome Coppell to the Kerala Blasters family. With over 30 years in the dug-out, Steve brings a wealth of experience to the team. He has led Reading to the League record of being unbeaten for 33 consecutive league games!.We look forward to him replicating his success with Blasters for an exciting season of ISL," a KBFC official said.
Blasters who had finished runners-up in the first edition of the ISL had a season to forget in 2015 finishing bottom of the table. A consortium of Telugu film actors Chiranjeevi and Akkineni Nagarjuna, producer Allu Arvind and businessman Nimmagadda Prasad had recently joined Tendulkar as the team's new co-owners.