Kerala Blasters head coach Ashley Westwood shares his opinion on Khalid Jamil as India coach

Blue Tigers have just won two games under Jamil

Two-time I-League champion with Bengaluru FC, Ashley Westwood, who is infamously known for breaking Indian Football Hearts during his stint as the head coach of Afghanistan and Hong Kong, is coming after a miraculous performance with Kerala Blasters after being appointed as the head coach mid-season in the ISL.

The English gaffer, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in Asian football, has plied his trade in India with various teams like Bengaluru FC, ATK, and Roundglass Punjab before making a move back to India with the Blasters.

During a conversation with Joe Morrison and Shruthi Nair in one of the episodes of Chai Football, Kerala Blasters head coach Ashley Westwood made some shocking revelations about current Indian national team coach Khalid Jamil and why he feels that he is not the right man to lead India in the long run.

This episode was shot three months ago, after Ashley Westwood defeated Manolo’s India in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier fixture with Hong Kong.

In this article, we take a look at what Ashley Westwood talked about the Indian team coach Khalid Jamil. From his personal beef to why he feels that Khalid Jamil is not the right man to lead India, we find out more from his interview with Morrison.

Ashley Westwood feels Khalid was the wrong choice for national team

After India failed to qualify for the next round of the FIFA World Cup qualifier, Croatian gaffer Igor Stimac parted ways, and the AIFF acquired the services of ISL-winning coach Manolo Marquez, who spent a year managing the national team alongside continuing his duties with FC Goa.

However, after India had a terrible start to the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers and the Spaniard was reluctant to continue, India sought help from Khalid Jamil to lead the national team.

Khalid Jamil was coming after a brilliant season with Jamshedpur FC, helping them make it to their first-ever Super Cup Finals and also making it to the semi-finals of the ISL. He was on the verge of becoming the first Indian coach to lead a side to ISL Finals until Apuia’s last-minute screamer destroyed Jamshedpur’s hopes.

Ashley Westwood said, “I think India has now come out and they are trying to find a long-term coach. Unfortunately for India, they have picked the wrong coach.”

Also Read: Ryan Williams to miss Indian football team’s twin friendlies against Tajikistan

India failed to qualify for AFC Asian Cup & finished last in Unity Cup 2026

When Khalid came, the Blue Tigers still had a chance to qualify. He needed to win the remaining games against lower-ranked teams like Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangladesh. In two games against Singapore, not only did India fail to win even a single game, but it also lost the final game at home, which ended India’s Asian hopes.

To make things even worse, the Blue Tigers lost to Bangladesh as well. In the Unity Cup 2026, India succumbed to two defeats against Jamaica and Zimbabwe and under Khalid, the team has just won two games in regulation time so far.

“He (Jamil) does not know football in my eyes, and we have a history anyway. If you can create the brand of football that’s needed for Indian football, then you have to watch football and find out what kind of coach he is. It will be one-dimensional. You have to know Indian football upside down, which he does. Can he develop?

We have to see. In my opinion, he can’t. I know players that won’t play for him, that tells you everything about him” Ashley Westwood stated.

Ashley Westwood opened up about Khalid’s dark tactics to win games

The English gaffer, Ashley Westwood, who is known for speaking straightforwardly and honestly, said that Khalid resorted to dark tactics, such as time-wasting, to win games. He also opened up about his personal beef with Jamil, a decade ago, when Bengaluru FC hosted Jamil’s Mumbai FC in the Kanteerva in the I-League 2015

“I got fined for this, but I can’t say too much. If I look back at the Old Bangalore days, there was a plastic bottle thrown onto the pitch that hit the dugout, and Khalid Jamil claimed it hit him on his head, which it did not. He rolled around and put a bandage. It was like a carry-on film.”

“If you do due diligence and you look all the way back to his Mumbai days. The time wasting, the cheating, and the dark tactics of trying to win football matches, you will understand. The dark tactics do not work in modern-day football with referees and VAR, and you have to play ethically.”

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