Kerala Blasters to lose their ‘best ever’ coach as ‘no one knows future of Indian football’

There are at least two reasons why the fans of Kerala Blasters football club would want the next season of the Indian Super League (ISL) to proceed without the chaos that preceded the ongoing campaign.

The first reason is that the club must not shut down, as sources close to the franchise have confirmed that the threat is real due to the financial burden in the absence of a commercial partner. As the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has yet to finalise a commercial partner, several clubs, including the Blasters fear they will be forced to stop operations.

The other reason is that the Blasters fans would want their interim head coach, Ashley Westwood, to continue the project he’s kick-started by signing a fresh contract to be a permanent coach. But for that to happen, Westwood needs to be guaranteed that the ISL crisis will be resolved.

That much was clear from Westwood’s final pre-match press conference this season, ahead of the Blasters’ home match against FC Goa in Kochi on May 18. “To be honest, the management have asked me a couple of times for meetings,” Ashley Westwood told mediapersons in an online press conference on Sunday.

“But me personally, when I came here, I said, listen, I am coming to help. I have got seven games, let me focus on seven games, let me give as much as I can. And when everything is finished, when the dust settles, you know, we can sit down and talk about the future.”

The Englishman has been the best thing to happen to the Blasters this season. The club started the campaign with Spaniard David Catala in charge. They could only manage a point from the first six rounds before Catala was shown the door. Westwood came in as the interim boss during the international break in March and collected 13 points from the next six matches, with four wins and a draw.

In the context, Westwood is arguably the best ever coach the Blasters have had. Though Ivan Vukomanovic’s popularity remains the highest, having guided the club to their third final, what Westwood has achieved in half a season, from their lowest point ever, is nothing short of a miracle. Under Westwood, the Blasters have found their rhythm and fans have been calling for his job to be made permanent so the momentum stays with them.

Not interested in hypothetical questions
But Westwood made it clear that he is not interested in ‘hypothetical questions’ dealing with his future at the club until the league is in order. “I am one of these people who is very straight, very honest and I do not want to enter any conversations until we know the future. And at the minute, as it stands, no one knows the future of Indian football. So, why speak about ifs, buts, maybes? Once all the facts are in, then I will be ready to talk.

“But until then, I concentrate on football and you never know when your last day can be in any job, in any position. So, we just keep training, keep playing and once we know the landscape, let us sit and talk.”

All ISL clubs, except East Bengal, have submitted a proposal to the AIFF and a meeting is scheduled for May 22. Earlier, Genius Sports, a UK-based sports data and tech firm, made the highest bid of ₹64 crore a year for 20 years to become the league's commercial partner, but the clubs reportedly don't want the league's operations and commercial responsibilities to be shared with an outsider.