Bengaluru FC head coach Simon Grayson feels the club’s turnaround in the Hero Indian Super League 2022-23 season will go down as one of the best in the history of the tournament. Grayson, who was coaching in India for the first time, took the Blues to the finals of the Hero ISL 2022-23 but they could not cross the last hurdle against ATK Mohun Bagan as they lost on penalties.
After getting off to a slow start in the first phase of the tournament, Bengaluru FC was able to turn the tables in the second half. The Blues created history as they went on to win nine matches on the bounce in the league stage to qualify for the playoffs. In fact, Bengaluru FC had managed only two wins in their first 11 matches but the club was able to bounce back.
Ergo, Simon Grayson was able to get the best out of his players and guided them on the right track. The Blues also qualified for the finals of the Hero Super Cup but once again could not go all the way in the tournament as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Odisha FC.
“It’s not something that you want to do every season; have a poor start and then a fantastic run. But it will go down as one of the best and biggest turnarounds in Hero ISL history and probably a lot of other leagues as well if you look at where we were,” Grayson said in an interview with Bengaluru FC.
Bengaluru FC had started the previous season on a high as they defeated Mumbai City FC to win the Durand Cup. The Englishman gave credit to the players for turning the tables.
“You hope that that (Durand Cup win) is going to be the start of a successful season and then the season comes along and things go slightly different. The players worked hard, in difficult conditions as well, because it’s very hot and humid. But also when you put into the factor as well that we played three of the first four games away from home and five out the first seven, which is never easy. And there were a lot of factors that probably went against us in that difficult run. Prince (Ibara) wasn’t available, Javi (Hernandez) missed the start of the season and things just didn’t quite happen,” Grayson said.
Grayson also gave gratitude to the fans for their unwavering support at the Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru.
Bengaluru FC will look to continue the good show in the next season of the ISL and go all the way.
