Igor Stimac has an ally in me for promoting young Indian talents, asserts Owen Coyle
Owen Coyle is now the head coach of Jamshedpur FC
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Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle has stated that he is an ‘ally’ of the Indian team head coach Igor Stimac in promoting young talents for the national side. The former showed immense faith in Indian players during his stay at Chennaiyin FC in the previous edition of the Indian Super League.
Owen Coyle took the Indian Super League by storm last season, guiding Chennaiyin FC to the final of the Indian Super League even though they were loitering at the bottom of the points table midway through the season. The Scottish manager had always backed up young players in the squad, which actually reaped results as the club staged a major turnaround last season, with Indian players focal to the success. In a recent interview, Owen mentioned that he is an ‘ally’ of Indian head coach Igor Stimac in promoting young talents for the national team.
“Igor knows he has an ally in that respect, someone who is trying to promote Indian players. We keep speaking. I think there is an obligation (as a club coach) to help the national team,” as reported by Hindustan Times.
Having been charge of just 15 games for Chennaiyin FC last season, Coyle steered the ISL side to eight wins and three draws, with him putting immense trust on players like Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh and Edwin Vanspaul in the midfield. But, his stay with the ‘Supermachans’ was cut short, with Jamshedpur FC securing his services for the upcoming season of the ISL.
“With all due respect, we were in the same position as Hyderabad (FC). They changed coaches and with all due respect, they stayed where they were. We got the players going, had to make a number of changes. Playing Indians as two defensive midfielders was one of them. “I was the only coach who did that. I knew boys like (Anirudh) Thapa, Germanpreet (Singh) and Edwin (Vanspaul) had the ability but needed opportunity to play,” added the coach.
