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What's the story?
I-League side Gokulam Kerala FC officially announced the departure of Spanish Head Coach Fernando Santiago Varela citing personal reasons. Former Head Coach and Technical Director Bino George is all set to replace the Spaniard.
In case you didn't know...
Varela led Gokulam to their maiden Kerala Premier League title in June after a 2-0 win over Quartz FC in the final. The Malabarians had a disastrous AWES Cup Campaign in Goa, failing to make it past the group stage. Gokulam Kerala FC also suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Indian Super League side Bengaluru FC in a pre-season friendly.
The heart of the matter
Fernando Varela was roped in after the Super Cup as a replacement of Bino George but the Spaniard failed to deliver on the back of a sensational Kerala Premier League campaign. Despite having the likes of Fabricio Ortiz (Defender, Argentina), VP Suhair (Forward), Evgeniy Kochnev (Midfielder, Uzbekistan) and Musa Mudde (Midfielder, Uganda) in their ranks, the Malabarians succumbed to a group stage exit in the AWES Cup.
The Club has released a statement saying that Fernando Varela had asked to be released from the club due to personal reasons.
“I had a good stint with Gokulam Kerala FC and got excellent support from the players and the staff of the club. I hope this is not going to be a goodbye forever and hope to come back to this club in the future and win the championship in India. I thank the club, players and the staff who offered great support for me during my stint here. And, I wish the best for the club for this season's I-league,” Fernando announced.
“It is unfortunate that Fernando had to leave us due to personal reasons. We will be certainly missing him. However, he has promised to return sooner or later. We will be happy to have him back,” said the club president V.C. Praveen.
Bino George, who was at the helm during the last I-league season, will return as the head coach of Gokulam Kerala FC. George, who has been with the club since its inception, was recently promoted as the technical director of the team.
“We had promoted Bino George as the Technical Director of the team to take care of all the aspects of the first team, academy and the administration. But, as we have brought in Dr. Ashok Kumar as the CEO of the team, Bino will be free to concentrate on the first team as he returns as the head coach,” club president V.C. Praveen opined.
What's next?
The I-League fixtures are yet to be announced by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), hence teams including Gokulam Kerala have time to play additional friendly games to get their teams set for the top division.
Will Bino George lead Gokulam to a better finish than last season and master their title of being the 'giant killers'? Voice your opinions in the comments section below.
