Santosh Trophy-winning coach Bino George feels that the Indian coaches are as good as the foreign coaches in the ISL

Indian coaches taking charge of Indian Super League teams is still a distant dream as till now only Khalid Jamil has managed to achieve that as he became the first Indian full time coach to lead NorthEast United last season. But now the league is expected to go back to it’s previous stance of foreign coaches with Indian assistants.

Recently Bino George guided the Kerala football team to the Santosh Trophy as they defeated Bengal in the finals at the Manjeri stadium which was packed with locals. George, who has been a coach and a technical director for Gokulam Kerala in the past, believes that there is a lot of prejudice against Indian coaches in the ISL.

“There is just a lot of prejudice, I feel, against Indian coaches in ISL,” said the Santosh trophy-winning coach in an interview with Bridge. “If you are studying mathematics – then no matter which university you study from, be it in India or abroad, what they teach you is the exact same thing. This is true for football as well. It does not matter whether you appoint a foreign coach or a homegrown one, ultimately they teach the same thing. This is something these franchises need to understand,” Bino George added.

George, who has been in the Indian football scene for so long, feels that the Indian coaches are at par with their foreign counterparts. He wants the club to give them chances and keep their trust in them. He feels that the coaching and playing style might be different but in terms of knowledge about the game, he feels that the Indians are as good as the foreigners. “We are on the same level as these foreign coaches. Yes, the coaching style may differ but there would not be a single thing that they know which we don’t,” Bino George opined.

The experienced coach shared how Kerala were struggling in the Santosh Trophy despite being defending champions and then he took the charge and helped them win the Santosh Trophy. “I came on board as the coach of Kerala after that disastrous 2018-19 season where we failed to reach the main round despite being the defending champions. I remember I was the technical director with Gokulam when the Kerala Football Association (KFA) approached me. It has been a long time since then. Two seasons were lost due to the pandemic, but on my first full season in Santosh Trophy we have brought back the title,” George shared, taking pride in his achievements.

With Khalid Jamil all set to be the new coach for Bengaluru United replacing Richard Hood, the Indian Super League will probably again have no Indian head coach leading any of the teams, which is a major concern in terms of Indian football’s growth and development.