ISL: Chennaiyin FC mutually part ways with head coach Owen Coyle

The former Burnley gaffer took Chennaiyin to ISL Finals in 2020!

Former ISL champions, Chennaiyin FC, have mutually parted ways with head coach Owen Coyle, the club announced on social media on Thursday (17 July).

Owen Coyle’s time at Madras has been marked with resilience, courage and inconsistency in the later stages. The Marina Machans were lingering in the lower echelons of the ISL table when they appointed Owen Coyle in 2019. Nobody in their wildest dreams would have dared to imagine Chennaiyin FC playing in the ISL semi-finals that season.

But Coyle’s arrival brought a renewed sense of purpose within the team, and Chennaiyin FC made one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the Indian Super League to take the Marina Machans into the ISL Finals. They went on to defeat the then Shield winners FC Goa in the semi-finals to book their berth in the Finals.

Coyle’s side came agonisingly closer to lifting the ISL Trophy but succumbed to a defeat against Antonio Lopez Habas’ ATK in the ISL Finals, which were played behind closed doors.

Owen Coyle’s time with the Marina Machans

Unarguably, one of the best managers to have ever coached in the Indian top flight, Owen Coyle’s debut season in India was a dream start. His maiden season in India saw a brief spell at Chennaiyin FC before heading to the Steel City in the subsequent season.

After spending two seasons with the Red Miners during the COVID era, Coyle embarked on a homecoming to his native soil to take over the reins of Queen’s Park. After spending a year at Glasgow, he returned back to Chennai to conclude the chapter that he had once left incomplete.

Chennaiyin FC were going through turbulent times, and even big names like Bozidar Bandovic and Csaba Laszlo failed to fare well with the club. Coyle’s homecoming to Chennaiyin was seen as a big step to restoring the old golden days of the club, which once used to stand invincible among the greatest clubs in Indian football.

What began as a new dawn for Chennai soon turned into a disappointment as under Coyle, Chennaiyin’s best performance in the last two years has been just finishing sixth. Coyle had a contract running until the end of the 2025-26 season.

However, looking at the inconsistent form and a poor display of football, the Marina Machans made a tough call to bid adieu to one of their greatest managers ever, days after his 58th birthday.

The former Houston Dynamo gaffer also won the ISL Shield

What makes Owen Coyle’s time in India a really special one has been his ability to manage teams with low budgets and perform exceptionally well. From Chennaiyin FC to Jamshedpur FC, he stood as an example for clubs solely relying on marquee signings.

Coyle had done the unthinkable in the 2021-22 season. At a time when star-studded Sergio Lobera’s Mumbai City FC and Mohun Bagan grabbed all the limelight, Owen went on to win the ISL Shield with Jamshedpur FC in his second season at the Steel City.

Owen Coyle leaves behind an unforgettable legacy

Coyle’s tenure in India has seen him navigating through the uncertainties of COVID times, financial disparities, shortage of attendance and many other crises. He is also known for promoting young Indian talents like Irfan Yadvad, Jitendra Singh, and Ritwik Das during his time in India so far.

Regardless of whether Coyle’s future lies in India or abroad, there is not the slightest hesitation in admitting that Owen Coyle has been one of the best coaches ever in the Indian Super League.

Chennaiyin FC would now be looking ahead for a fresh start under their new manager and will be hoping to revive their old cherished days in the ISL.

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