Steve Coppell will continue his tryst with Indian football for the second season running as he is set to be announced as the head coach of Tata Group’s football team from Tatanagar, Goal can reveal.
The former Manchester City boss is now expected to put pen to paper later this week in India as the deadline to sign managers has been set to July 15.
The 62-year-old led Kerala Blasters to the ISL final where they only missed out on the title in penalties. Talks between him and the Sachin Tendulkar co-owned franchise went sour due to a lack of communication before the two opted to not renew the deal.
Coppell had stated that Mehtab Hossain would have been among the first picks for retention and when the club decided not to offer a contract to the midfielder, it was evident that the English manager wouldn’t continue at the helm of the Kerala outfit.
Steve Coppell - 'Kerala Blasters haven't been in touch with me for several days'
“I have not been told anything about Mehtab and have not had any contact with Kerala for a few days," he told Goal last week.
Kerala have gone on to rope in former England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce on board for the 2017-18 season.
Indian Super League: Carlos Restrepo denies contact from Tata Group
Tata Group officials had interviewed several coaches in the last week of June and the name of Carlos Restrepo was zeroed upon.
However, the former Colombia Under-20 coach had penned a deal with Honduran club Olimpia only in June and after news of being in advanced talks with Tata Group broke out, he had little option but to go on the defensive and claim that he was in no contact with the Indian Super League (ISL) side from Jamshedpur.
Tata Group have opted to move for Coppell given that he is an experienced coach and also has done well in India.