Zico and Coppell slam Indian Superleague

Kochi: On the eve of their ninth round meeting in Kochi, the head coaches of Kerala Blasters and FC Goa launched scathing attacks on organisers and officials of the ISL.

Goa boss Zico vehemently criticised local organisers for denying them training at the venue of the match and also reiterated that refereeing errors were the reason for their poor performances.

“It is very clear that there were crucial decisions in all the games that we lost that would’ve changed the results completely,” said the Brazilian while justifying his team’s position at the bottom of the table.

“Never in my career have I needed the help of referees because I prepare my team to play football. I don’t want any help I just want decisions to be just,” said Zico as he listed a number of penalty decisions that he felt were ruled against them.

Kerala manager Steve Coppell expressed solidarity with Zico over issues with training sites in general. “We have travelled so much and the training facilities in many places were so poor that it was a disadvantage for us,” said Coppell.

The Englishman also accused organisers of ill-conceived scheduling of fixtures and its sideline events. “We are the only team in the ISL who have had four away games on the bounce and I don’t think that is right.”

Looking for home advantage

Coppell might as well have sung ‘Home! Sweet Home!’ as he dwelt on returning to Kochi, after 21 days on the road to take on fellow-strugglers FC Goa in the ninth round of the ISL on Tuesday.

“We are delighted to be back in Kerala and we enjoy our home stadium and our home crowd,” said Coppell, having managed five points from four consecutive away matches, the latest of which had ended in a 0-2 defeat to Delhi Dynamos on Friday.

“I hope being at home will be a real impetus to the team,” said Coppell as Kerala go into two home matches including a visit by champions Chennaiyin FC on Saturday.