Earlier today it was reported by Times Of India about a rift between national team coach Stephen Constantine and highest goalscorer Sunil Chhetri. This led to Constantine considering Sandesh Jhingan as captain for the blue tigers against China. They have also confirmed the news which we broke last week about Albert Roca being considered to replace Constantine post Asian Cup.
The news of about unhappiness of several senior players including Sunil Chhetri with Constantine was reported earlier but it was denied by AIFF and the player in the public.
We have confirmed from multiple sources that Albert Roca and Ashley Westwood are being considered to replace Constantine post Asian Cup. It is also to be noted that Ashley Westwood was AIFF’s first choice ahead of Constantine for the position of National Team head coach back in 2015 but a deal couldn’t be reached due to unknown reasons.
Roca is the front-runner for the job due to his success last season at Bengaluru FC. But don’t be surprised if we get to see Ashley Westwood- Pradhyum Reddy back again considering their rapport with some players and Reddy’s amazing record of finding hidden talent in Indian football.
We also reported that they were looking for a coach with good experience in Indian Football for the position of assistant coach. Names like Pradhyum Reddy and Derrick Pereira were considered, but there have been further development in that matter.
Derrick Pereira is also up for the role of head coach. He is considered to a safe choice for AIFF, but lack of any major success and doubts over player preference might not be in his favour.
It is also being learnt that former AIFF technical director Scott O’Donell is also in the running for the job. He is quite a relatively unknown figure to the fans but according to our sources he holds a high regard from AIFF and was helpful in developing young Indian coaches like Bibiano Fernandez and Floyd Pinto.
There is also another Indian coach in the running for the role of assistant manager and is being backed by Technical Director Savio Medeira. He is a pretty exciting choice and bold choice, but we have been requested not to name him.
