Football
Owen Coyle: ISL elevates Indian football, driving it forward
While Coyle has terrific Indian talent at his disposal at Chennaiyin FC, he pointed out the names of Boris Singh and Ritwik Das who played pivotal roles in his title triumph with Jamshedpur FC in 2021-22.
Owen Coyle is currently is charge of Chennaiyin FC in the ISL.
Owen Coyle, the Chennaiyin FC coach, on Wednesday, said the Indian Super League (ISL) has elevated the quality of football in the country and played a great role in driving the game in the country ahead.
Coyle, the 57-year-old coach from Scotland, knows Indian football inside out. He has been around in the top tier of Indian football since 2019-20, guiding Marina Machans to the final of the ISL pulling the side midway through their campaign in his first season in India.
Ahead of Chennaiyin FC's forthcoming ISL game against Mumbai City FC on February 23, the Scottish coach talked highly of his players as they look forward to staging a similar coup midway through the season.
While Coyle has terrific Indian talent at his disposal in Farukh Choudhary, Ayush Adhikari, Ankit Mukherjee, Vincy Baretto, Ninthoinganba Meetei, and Rahim Ali, he pointed out the names of Boris Singh (now with FC Goa) and Ritwik Das who played pivotal roles in his title triumph with Jamshedpur FC in 2021-22.
Incidentally, Coyle was one of the first coaches in the country to tap upon the talent of Lallianzuala Chhangte, back when the winger scored seven goals en route to Chennaiyin FC’s runners-up finish in ISL 2019-20.
“I am a coach that even during my time at Jamshedpur FC, took boys that couldn’t get a game, clubs deemed that they aren’t good enough – Boris Singh, who is a young player, went to a huge club (erstwhile ATK Mohun Bagan), but couldn’t get a game because they had good players. But these players need an opportunity. Even Ritwik Das is a national team player now and someone who is going to get better, going to excel. He couldn’t get a game at Kerala Blasters FC. I saw him do well for Real Kashmir FC and he was my type of player, I brought him there,” explained Coyle.
“Chhangte for example, when I went to Chennaiyin FC in season six, people told me he is an exciting player but he can’t score goals. But Chhangte did for me in the sixth season that he is doing now for Mumbai City FC, with the amount of goals he scored and the assists he had in the second half of the season,” he added.
“There are many such stories like that in Indian football that the ISL has helped because of the elevation that it has given, and with the clubs becoming far more professional, organised, and having a real structure, which is going to drive Indian football ahead and the ISL deserves a massive credit for that,” said the tactician, applauding the role of ISL in Indian football.
