Kerala Blasters have announced their new head coach and it is Serbian tactician Ivan Vukomanovic who will take charge of the club in the upcoming season. He will be the first Serbian coach to manage in the Indian Super League and has great experiences as a coach from countries like Cyprus, Slovakia and Belgium.
The Serbian learned the ropes of coaching as an assistant coach at Belgian outfit, Standard Liege. during his time there he has played an active role in grassroots development and has worked with Belgium Internationals like Michy Batshuayi and Laurent Ciman during the start of their careers. He was promoted as the manager in the following year and to his credit, he even managed the side in the Europa League. But was later sacked despite good results citing lack of experience as head coach.
He then joined SK Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Super Liga – with whom he won the Slovakia National Cup. The 43-year-old’s last stint was in Cyprus where he was the manager of Apollon Limassol in the Cypriot First Division.
The Serbian also had a distinguished career as a footballer where he plied his trade for top clubs like Bordeaux, Koln, Red Star Belgrade, Royal Antwerp and Dynamo Moscow.
After the signing Sporting Director, Karolis Skynkis was very delighted and feels that he is the right man for the big challenge. He said, “I would like to congratulate Ivan on joining us. It was a long process to choose the right candidate for the important head coach position. I think Ivan is the right fit for this big challenge and responsibility, someone who can handle the pressure here. I see his passion for the game, deep football knowledge and clear principles about football. I like his way of thinking and I believe that Ivan will be able to implement his football ideas in Kerala Blasters. We are looking forward to working in the same direction to help Kerala Blasters grow “
After his appointment, Vukomanovic said, “From my first contact with the club’s directors, the feeling was positive. They have a professional approach about their vision, which gave me a very good feeling. After seeing the army of fans and support KBFC has, I didn’t hesitate a second. Immediately I knew that I wanted to become a member of the KBFC family, and I am very glad it happened. I hope we will all work together to make everyone who loves this beautiful club happy and proud.”
Vukomanovic will have a tall task ahead of him to guide the Blasters to success after a flurry of disappointing performances over the last few years.
