CHENNAI: When the 2021-22 Indian Super League (ISL) kicks off sometime in November this year, Chennaiyin FC will have their fourth different manager in the last three seasons presiding over the on-field action from the sidelines.
The last couple of years have been a period of incessant flux for the two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions, whose quest to find the right manager to lead the team back to on-field success has resulted in the appointment of Montenegrin coach Bozidar Bondovic.
After the stints of Marco Materazzi and John Gregory, both of whom spent nearly three seasons each at the club and won a title each, the sacking of Gregory in the middle of the 2019-20 season after a wretched run of results brought Owen Coyle to the hot seat. The change in manager seemed to work wonders as Coyle immediately engendered a transformation on the pitch and helped the club reach the final of the 2019-20 season. But for whatever reason, the British manager chose to move on at the end of the season and find a new home in Jamshedpur FC. With the entry of Hungarian Csabo Laszlo making little impact during the pandemic-hit 2020-21 season, his swift exit was along expected lines.
The mandate for Bondovic now is to take the club back to where the owners think it belongs: in the playoffs and fighting for titles. And the 51-year-old has his hands full after a middling season that saw the club finish eighth in the league table. He will be in charge of a new-look team too considering that the entire foreign contingent, barring Brazilian attacking midfielder Rafael Crivellaro, has taken the exit door. While the club has a decent Indian core, it is the strength of the foreign contingent that tends to separate the best from the rest. The earlier they make these overseas reinforcements the better, given that the lack of preparation time with the players was cited as one major reason for their disappointments last season. Bondovic is well aware and the search to find the right cast has begun in earnest.
“There are not many foreigners in the team right now. We are looking for good players of course. There are some difficulties in this regard as they need to be willing to come to India (in the times of Covid) and have to be without contract,” Bondovic pointed out the challenge on his hands.
And once they are ready to come, there will be certain boxes they need to tick to fit into the scheme of things. “The players we are looking for are those who understand the game and read the game very well. We are looking for good characters who will make a difference on the field because they are foreigners. And foreigners need to make a difference on the field,” he made it clear.
If Bondovic is able to find the right set of players and coax the optimum level of performance from them, things may start looking bright and breezy again. Otherwise, you fear that they might go looking for another manager all over again.