The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has taken steps to revamp its football team which was in a state of hibernation for some time.
As part of the initiative the board had appointed C.J. Andrews as the coach last month just before the all-India inter-electricity board tournament. It acted as a catalyst for the change which the team was desperately looking for.
The coach brought back players who had left KSEB for other clubs. The team had a three-week camp prior to the inter-board tournament.
The return of the ‘deserters’ especially Anil Kumar bolstered the side which won the inter-electricity board title defeating PSEB in the final. Buoyant by the success, the KSEB for the first time in three years have decided to recruit players to the football team.
The trials for selecting players will be conducted this month and it sure to attract the best talent in the State.
Andrews took over when the morale of the players was down. The training sessions had become a chore to many of the players and some of them were on semi-retirement.
The team took part in only two tournaments last season and fared badly in the State inter-club competition.
Under the new coach, the team has started training in earnest and is looking at the new season with a lot of hope. “My priority is to build a strong squad and for that I had brought back players (on leave) who had left KSEB for other clubs. Once the new recruits join the team there will be a closed camp for about a month. The camp will be held in some other districts other than Thiruvananthapuram where we are facing shortage of grounds. The board officials have in principle agreed to my proposal. We will also be taking part in more tournaments this season,” the coach said.
Football aficionados are hoping that the new changes will help KSEB recapture the form that made it the Sate league champion four years ago.
Source: The Hindu
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Thursday 6 August 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.
Comments · 1
I have played under coach Andrews, when i was the captain of kerala u-19 team. We went to Manipur and played under extreme weather conditions, entered second round, drawing with Bengal. He is an extra ordinary coach, with superior understanding of football tactics. The most important thing is unlike other military product coaches of kerala, Andrews comes with high level of education and football knowledge which he constantly refreshes and updates. No doubt, a player's coach and KSEB would be back on track for sure.
Good luck coach Andrews.