'Any team would miss Thapa': Chennaiyin FC manager Owen Coyle makes big revelation

Chennaiyin FC haven't been at their best in the last couple of seasons. Owen Coyle has again reunited with the southern franchise as he will mark his return to the ISL next season. He led Chennaiyin FC to the final when he was in charge last time. This time the expectations will be huge.

The ISL outfit has been quite busy in the transfer window having added the likes of Jordan Murray to the side. The upcoming Durand Cup which is set to commence next month, will kick-start the season. The Chennaiyin FC coach sat for a candid chat with republicworld.com and shed light on matters related to Indian football.

You led Chennayin FC to the final in your last stint. What is your target this time?

The target very simply is that we have to improve first and foremost to give ourselves a chance to reach the final. A lot of work needs to be done. The club reached the playoffs once in the last five years, that was the year I came halfway through.

There is a lot of hard work ahead. So looking forward to grow and develop our young Indian players. We also have some good foreign players in the mix. We will look to build, look to add on and further grow and develop a team fans can be proud of.

Jordan, Farukh obviously they were my signings. Also, there are a number of players the club signed previously. I will give those an opportunity because they are young. They will get the chance to show me what they can do. 

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Chennaiyin brought up a number of players with the likes of Jordan Murray, Farukh Choudhary and Ankit Mukherjee this time. How the team is shaping up?

In terms of Jordan a player I know is a champion already. He is a champion in India. Farukh is an outstanding player. I watched him last season. He's back to his best. 

Rahim Ali I know from my time before. We know exactly what we have got and we look to build,m grow and develop our team from there.

Are you targeting any particular player in this transfer window?

A number of players I would love to bring to the club. Obviously, I can only do that if they are available. Some of the clubs are paying big transfer fees. We will not go that way. We want to bring young players and develop them. Those who are my type I will certainly try and bring them to this football club for sure. Four or five other clubs were interested in Farukh but since I spoke to him he wanted to join Chennaiyin FC. brilliant to get him in. The fans have been brilliant. The welcome I have had has been very humbling. I thank them for that. 

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How big a miss Anirudh Thapa will be?

Any team would miss Thapa. He is an outstanding man, an outstanding player. Thapa, Chhangte these all are sensational players. But you also have to remember when they were there those boys never made it to the playoffs.

What we have to do is to build a team,a mentality a quality team. An awful lot of things we need to implement. 

Raheem Ali has been linked with a number of clubs. Is he a part of your project?

Rahim was there with me last time. I grew and developed Rahim because I recognised when I walked in that this young kid is going to have a big big future. I'm excited to work with him again. I had a chat with Igor Stimac last night. We also spoke about Rahim. For me, there is more to come from Rahim.

Igor Stimac recently said he needs a four month camp ahead of the Asian Games. Will Chennayin FC release players as Asian Games is scheduled to take place in the midst of the season?

I totally understand where Igor's coming from. ISL is a very important tournament. You always have to get the balance right. When you get the balance right then of course you have to take note that the league doesn't get totally disrupted. 

When there is a stop start, then there is no continuity no fluidity. But I totally understand where Igor is coming from. There is a TV contract so there are different things. 

So it's not a simple thing to say how much time you need. Because there are lot of things that need to be taken under consideration. So I think it's worth having a dialogue for sure and the best way forward is an amicable solution.

The best thing for me would be when India reaches a World Cup which I think is achievable.