Kerala Blasters are going through a nightmare. They are 13th out of 14 teams in the current Indian Super League season, with five defeats and a draw.
So Ashley Westwood has a task. The Englishman, who has extensive experience in Indian football, has taken over as the new coach, replacing Spaniard David Catala.
He admits it is a big challenge. “I need to get some morale back, some confidence, some team spirit and obviously try to improve performance,” said Westwood, who had led Bengaluru FC to the I-League title in the club’s first season. Sports stars. “I’ve had a few conversations with the players and the support staff.”
Westwood, a former England youth international who played for Bradford City in the English Premier League, said he accepted the Blasters management job because he wanted to help the team. «I know Indian football quite well. I just wanted to come here and help. They contacted me after the match against Punjab FC.»
The offer came at the right time for Westwood, who has also worked for ATK and RoundGlass Punjab: he had left his coaching job with the Hong Kong national team. “Overall seven weeks and seven games, so it suited me well at the moment,” he reasoned. “And I’m happy to be with Blasters in Kochi, which is a fantastic city.”
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He remembered how he had ruined the Blasters’ chances once when he was at ATK. “We had a very poor team at ATK and we ended up with a draw against Kerala Blasters which probably cost them the play-offs,” he said. “My old friend David James was their coach.”
Westwood said Blasters was an ISL club he would have at least been excited about. “Because of the fan base,” he said. «As a coach you always want to go to clubs with fans. And Kerala Blasters perhaps have the most fans in India.»
Westwood, a product of the famous Manchester United Academy where he worked with coaching great Alex Ferguson, believes there is a lot of talent in Indian football but a lot still needs to be done.
“Infrastructure is of course always very important,” he said. “If you go to European countries, you will find millions of football fields everywhere,” he said. «There are nice facilities for training. You have to encourage young players to stick to their careers. And you have to train the children from an early age.»
Published on April 2, 2026
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