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Kerala Blasters have been the most supported football club in the ISL with mad a fanbase closely following each step the club makes or breaks. Even before the start of the first season of ISL, the support Kerala enjoyed was evident with thousands thronging the Kochi Jawaharlal Nehru stadium right from the onset of ISL.
David James had never been a popular figure among Kerala fans even with the Liverpool legacy behind him. But, right from the onset of him taking over as the Player-cum-coach of Kerala Blasters for the first season, he became the second most popular figure after actor Mohanlal. Keralites loved him and were overjoyed when he took them to the finals of ISL 2014.
For the second season of ISL, James decided not to return, and the managerial job was entrusted to Peter Taylor who did not find much success with Kerala and was sacked midway amid pressure from fans and the promoters of the club. In the third season, Kerala reached the finals once again with Steve Coppell at the helm, and the Kerala crowd loved him. Steve Coppell did not return to Kerala for the fourth season and the history of changing club managers every year continued which ensured that there was no continuity of any sorts and the club had to start afresh for every season.
Rene Mulensteen with the pedigree of Manchester United arrived at the Kerala shores for the fourth season of ISL and was sacked midway after he could find only 1 win from 7 matches. Kerala fans were thrilled when the person who replaced Rene was none other than David James. Rest of the fourth season was all about James transforming the football mentality at Kerala Blasters and making an impression overall.
James, with his trusted compatriot Hermann Hreirdarsson, started to imbibe a culture of working hard in the training sessions as the primary selection criteria for the first XI. James did not pay heed to the star culture in the ISL and started viewing Indian stars at par with the foreigners which boosted the confidence among the young Indian players.
James was also successful in convincing the Kerala Blasters management to give him a long rope to bring about changes to the Kerala football. For the first time ever, Kerala Blasters management signed a 3 year managerial contract with David James. James then went about picking his set of players, the younger talented players, who can be groomed to take over the mantle. The young Indians who are standing out in the ISL like Sahal Abdul Samad, Mohammed Rakip, Dheeraj Singh, Lalruathara etc. are the byproducts of the coaching style framed by David James. Most of these youngsters do have longer contracts and have a stability at the club which increases their confidence to perform at the big stage.
Kerala Blasters is all set to become the next football powerhouse in India with David James at the helm. The transformation of Kerala football will be a unique case study once the results start to emerge through the flanks. Kerala becoming the next best football training ground with David James is not a question of When; its rather a question of How soon?
