ISL: Staikos Vergetis set to receive contract extension from RoundGlass Punjab FC

Vergetis could remain at the helm for RGPFC's inaugural ISL season.

Indian Super League's newly promoted entrants RoundGlass Punjab FC are set to offer a season-long contract extension to their I-League title-winning Head Coach Staikos Vergetis. "The new contract enables him to be at the helm of RoundGlass Punjab FC till the conclusion of the next ISL season," a source close to the development informed Khel Now.

Staikos Vergetis's heroics pushed the team to become the champions of the 2022-23 I-League season. His name will go down in the history of Indian football as the man who made RoundGlass Punjab the first team in the I-League to be promoted to the Indian Super League (ISL) on merit.

RoundGlass Punjab Under Staikos Vergetis

Having spent much of his career in Greek first and second-tier clubs, Staikos Vergetis signed for RoundGlass Punjab FC on August 8, 2022, seeking a fresh challenge in Asia. The Greek tactician moved to the I-League outfit along with his two co-workers, Assistant Coach Dimitrios Kakkos, and Strength and Conditioning Coach Nikolaos Tsagkatakis.

Staikos Vergetis maintained a good rapport with the Greek Technical Director Nikolaos Topoliatis, which eased his work during the initial period. Vergetis was given the target to achieve nothing less than the I-League trophy upon his appointment.

Under Vergetis, RGPFC put up mixed results in the first half of the season with a defeat against TRAU FC in the first round. In the reverse fixture against Sreenidi Deccan FC, his team was beaten by a whopping 4 to nil margin.

He quickly turned the tide by casting a magic spell to get his team back to winning ways. His man-management skills and tactics helped the team to acquire a long unbeaten streak, ever since the loss against Sreenidi.

Under Vergetis, Luka Majcen and Juan Mera became a lethal combination. Vergetis helped in transforming Luka Majcen into a goal-scoring machine, who went on to win the Hero of the League award. He led his team to win the I-League 2022-23 season with 52 points from 22 matches thereby gaining automatic promotion to ISL as the first team from I-League to do so.