‘No vision. No direction,’ fumes Manjappada after Kerala Blasters sign ninth foreigner

Kerala Blasters on Friday announced the signing of Argentine winger Francisco Feuillassier Abalo (Franchu), but the club’s biggest fan group, Manjappada, is not impressed.

According to the Blasters, Franchu is a 27-year-old, ‘capable of playing on both flanks and offers versatility across the attacking line’. He “developed through the youth systems of Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano,” the Blasters said in a statement.

While these statements are enough to excite the fans, the Manjappada has its reasons to feel unhappy as the club reels under the threat of relegation, having made just a point from seven matches in the Indian Super League (ISL).

"No vision. No direction. Just excuses and chaos. This isn’t your experiment to fail," the Manjappada said in a social media post.

"The club signed nine foreign players this season, with eight currently part of the squad. All this after 'uncertainty' and 'sustainability' were used to justify a restricted budget this season," Manjappada posted.

"So what changed? The CEO and Sporting Director need to answer. Because this looks like planning without vision, direction or accountability. The club deserves better leadership than this,” posted the Manjappada.

The Blasters let go of all their overseas players ahead of the ongoing season, allegedly due to the uncertainty over the start of the ISL. The club let their skipper, Adrian Luna, and star attacker, Noah Sadaoui, go out on loan and released the likes of Dusan Lagator, Koldo Obieta, Juan Rodriguez and Tiago Alves, among others.

All the foreigners in the current squad were signed during the course of the season, which began five months late, in February. The club sacked head coach David Catala after a disastrous period of six league games, in which they scored just three times and conceded ten.

The signing of Ashley Westwood in an interim role did not have an immediate impact as the Blasters lost their sixth match of the season, 0-2, to Sporting Club Delhi. The Blasters will take on Bengaluru FC in Bengaluru on Saturday.