ISL 2018-19: 4 Reasons Why David James Deserved to be Sacked by Kerala Blasters

#4 Fan protests

Manjappada, the Kerala Blasters' fans, have been vocal about their thoughts on David James [Image: ISL]

"We are supporters, not customers."

The poor outings of the team have led to unrest among the fans and a sharp dip in attendance for the home games of the Kerala Blasters.

For the home game against Jamshedpur FC, a game watched by German World Cup winner Lothar Matthaus, only about 8,000 fans bothered to turn up.

The next game against Pune City too didn't see a rise in the stadium attendance and the team shockingly lost 1-0.

Why would you turn up anyway?

Think from a fan's perspective. One has to adjust his schedule, buy tickets, travel from various towns to Kochi, and make time for a side that has a clueless manager and doesn't look like it can win any games.

Some of these fans come all the way from other districts of the state - Calicut, Kasargod, Thrissur etc - only to see his side drop points.

The fans realised the game was up and called for the sacking of James. They didn't even spare the CEO Varun Tripuraneni and constantly called both of them out since that loss to Bengaluru FC.

But what's the point now?

Meulensteen was sacked after the Bengaluru FC game on New Year's Eve. Kerala Blasters could have still saved their season had the club management decided to let James go after this season's BFC game.

It was the Blasters' sixth game of the season this time and they had collected seven points then. After that, Blasters have managed to fetch only two points in the other six games.

Push probably came to shove when Blasters lost 1-6 to Mumbai City - the heaviest defeat in the ISL.

But it's all for nothing.

Assistant coach Thangboi Singto, who was incidentally the interim coach last time around too, is the stand-in manager now. It looks unlikely the club will appoint another as there is nothing they can achieve in the ISL this season.

They could, however, make something out of the Super Cup in April. But will the club management heed the warning this time at least?