Kolkata: Khalid Jamil and Stephen Constantine are in the final shortlist for the post of the head coach of the men’s national football team. Also in the list is former Kyrgyzstan and Slovakia head coach Stefan Tarkovic.
The shortlist was finalised by the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which met virtually on Wednesday, in consultation with Subrata Paul, the national team director, and technical director Syed Sabir Pasha. Inputs from former coaches Bimal Ghosh and Armando Colaco, who are advisors to AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, were also sought.
The shortlist, pruned to 10 from a longlist of nearly 170 by Pasha and Paul before being narrowed further, will be given to the AIFF executive committee to choose Manolo Marquez’s replacement. Marquez and AIFF mutually agreed to part ways after India’s 0-1 defeat to Hong Kong on June 10.
“Steve Kean, who had coached Blackburn Rovers from 2010-12, and Harry Kewell had applied. But given the new head coach will get little time to settle down and keeping in mind the cost, we have decided to recommend these three,” said an official who attended the meeting. “The names are not in any order of preference,” the official said.
“But Khalid’s performance last season with Jamshedpur FC makes him a frontrunner,” said another AIFF official who is part of the screening process. “Constantine cannot be discounted either. It could be a toss-up between the two,” said the second official. Since nothing is official yet, neither official wanted to be named.
{{/usCountry}}“But Khalid’s performance last season with Jamshedpur FC makes him a frontrunner,” said another AIFF official who is part of the screening process. “Constantine cannot be discounted either. It could be a toss-up between the two,” said the second official. Since nothing is official yet, neither official wanted to be named.
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