KOCHI: If there is one question that any new Kerala Blasters coach has to face, it is about how they will cope with the pressures at one of the widely supported and most popular football clubs in India. The Indian Super League side have never won the league and managers have come and gone as the pressure and expectations are always sky high.
Ten coaches, right from those with international pedigree like Steve Coppell and René Meulensteen to former India international Ishfaq Ahmed (on an interim basis) have been in the hot seat. It is now Serbian tactician Ivan Vukomanovic’s turn. After Kibu Vicuna’s acrimonious departure towards the end of last season, the club kept the fans waiting for a while before unveiling the Serbian as their new coach in June.
“In football, expectations are always high, there’ll always be pressure.
When you talk about the challenges that are going to be there, I grew up in that kind of pressure. If I go back in time to 20 or more years ago as a player, I’ve been part of challenges. I grew up at that kind of clubs. It means that this club is important. It means that there are certain expectations and the club wants to battle and be high up the table. That’s the challenge and these things in football is really nice and it gives you extra motivation,” he said.