Top 11 coaches who have applied for Indian Football team head coach role

The India head coach role has garnered attention from some well-known coaches.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) are at work in trying to find the next head coach for the India national football team.

The federation has reportedly received 170 applications for the head coach role, which they started to invite after Manolo Marquez’s departure on July 2.

Among the applicants are some relatively well-known head coaches who are looking to help India secure qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

Coaches from around the world and with different philosophies have all applied for the role, which includes some coaches well known among Indian football fans and some who have never worked in the Indian football scene either.

With that being said, here we look at the 10 major applicants for the India head coach role.

Also Read: AIFF receives 170 applications for Indian football team coach job; Habas, Fowler, Lobera among top names

Staikos Vergetis

Staikos Vergetis has applied for the Indian head coach role, having experience working in India with Punjab FC. He helped the Lions gain promotion to the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2023 after helping them win the 2022-23 I-League title in style.

He won 22 of his 50 matches with Punjab FC, maintaining a 44% win rate. Vergetis, who has managed Greek teams like Niki Volos and Nea Salamina, encourages a fluid, attacking playing style and has promoted many young players at Punjab FC. He knows how to work with and improve Indian players and remains a contender for the role.

Harry Kewell

Harry Kewell is fondly remembered by football fans for his time playing for Leeds United and Liverpool in the Premier League. He even won the UEFA Champions League with the Reds and enjoyed a prolific international career, scoring 17 goals in 58 games and winning the AFC Asian Cup with Australia. Kewell started his coaching career in 2017, managing the likes of Crawley Town, Oldham Athletic, and Barnet.

He most recently managed the Yokohama Marinos team in the 2023-24 season, helping them win 13 of 3 games under him. Kewell has had a shaky managerial career, failing to achieve over 50% win rate at any club he managed, and he’s never managed Indian footballers in his career.

Roel Coumans

Roel Coumans is a Dutch coach who gained most of his experience as an assistant coach in his career. He worked as an assistant coach for German clubs Fortuna Sittard and HSV in his early years, before moving onto the international scene. Coumans worked as the Saudi Arabia national team assistant coach from 2015-2017 and was the assistant coach for Bert van Marwijk in Australia’s participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Coumans’ managerial career has seen him enjoy short stints as the manager of Al-Hazem, Abha FC and Al-Adalah in Saudi Arabia. His most recent stint with Al-Adalah saw him win just seven of 20 matches in charge. Coumans can work closely in training younger players, but has no experience of managing Indian players.

Robbie Fowler

Robbie Fowler had a highly decorated career in which he scored 183 goals for Liverpool and is regarded very highly at the club. Fowler started his managerial career in 2011, initially working as a player-manager for Muanthong United in 2011-12 before also working with Brisbane Roar from the 2019-20 season.

He has experience of managing in India, having worked as the East Bengal manager in the 2020-21 season. However, Fowler only won three of the 20 matches in charge of the Red & Gold Brigade and failed to really attract top performances from their Indian players. He only guided them to a ninth-place finish in the 2020-21 ISL and had a bitter exit after failing to perform as per expectations.

Also Read: Who is Stefan Tarkovic? Slovakian manager shortlisted for vacant Indian head coach position

Xavi Hernandez

Xavi Hernandez became one of Europe’s most exciting young football managers. He started his coaching career at Al Sadd in Qatar, where he quickly found success with his attacking style of play and a focus on keeping the ball. In under three years, he led Al Sadd to seven trophies, showing he could build winning teams and help young players grow alongside experienced stars.

In November 2021, Xavi took over as manager of FC Barcelona when the club was going through a tough period. He brought back Barcelona’s famous passing and attacking football, giving fans hope and new energy. In his very first season, he guided the team to a memorable 4-0 win against rivals Real Madrid and finished second in La Liga.

Xavi’s biggest achievement came in the 2022–23 season, when he helped Barcelona win both the Spanish league title and the Super Cup. His teams played fast, energetic football and pressed hard to win the ball back. Although he faced some criticism for not doing better in Europe, Xavi gave chances to young talents and left a clear mark with his fresh ideas and passion for the club.

Jordi Vinyals

A product of the famous Barcelona ‘La Masia’ youth academy, Jordi Vinyals knows all about possession-based football and the ‘Tiki-Taka’ style. He has been coaching since 2000, having spent the majority of his career managing teams in the Catalonia region of Spain.

Vinyals served as the Barcelona youth coach from 2012-2015, and also worked as the Barcelona B coach in 2015. Vinyals managed players like Bayer Leverkusen man Alex Grimaldo, Fulham winger Adama Traore and ex-Barcelona man Munir during that period.

Vinyals has almost a decade of experience managing in Asia, having managed Chinese club Qingdao Huanghai from 2015-2019 and then Zhejiang Professional from 2021-2024.

Vinyals managed a 57.26% win rate in 117 games with Zhejiang, helping them play some impressive possession-based attacking football. His experience levels and ability to improve players can improve India, but he has no experience managing Indian footballers.

Petar Segrt

Petar Segrt is another manager with a lot of experience in his career. He has been coaching at the professional level since 1996, having initially worked as an assistant coach at German clubs VFL Bochum and Duisburg.

Segrt has the experience of improving young players, having helped Georgia U-21 defeat Russia U-21 in his short stint as their head coach in 2008.

Segrt has been managing at the international level in the last decade, having done some impressive work with the Afghanistan, Maldives, and Tajikistan national teams.

He guided the Maldives side to the trophy in the 2018 SAFF Championship and helped the Tajikistan side to clinch the 2022 King’s Cup. Segrt has enough experience in managing players from lower-ranked countries and getting the best out of limited resources, which can make him well-suited to India.

Sergio Lobera

Sergio Lobera has reportedly applied for the India national team job, despite already being the Odisha FC boss. Lobera, of course, has a lot of experience in Indian football, having managed multiple ISL clubs. He helped FC Goa and Mumbai City win the ISL league shield and has done a pretty good job with the Juggernauts in recent years as well.

Lobera encourages an attractive playing style, which involves a robust, possession-based style and crisp attacking football. He has a history of getting the best out of many Indian players like Brandon Fernandes, Jerry Mawimingthanga, and Amrinder Singh.

Also Read: Stefan Tarkovic in three-man AIFF shortlist for Indian Football Team head coach role

Stephen Constantine

Stephen Constantine has once again applied for the India football team head coach role and seems interested in a third term in the role. He has valuable experience of managing the Blue Tigers for many years and also helping them to genuine progression.

Constantine’s first term with India was from 2002 to 2005, during which he guided them to win the silver medal at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games. But it was Constantine’s second stint when he was especially prolific.

From 2015 to 2019, Costantine guided the Blue Tigers from being ranked above 170 in the FIFA World Rankings to below in the course of a few years.

He helped India qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, where they put up a brave fight. Constantine has also managed East Bengal in the ISL. Constantine’s playing style might be pragmatic, but he can help the players get the job done and improve Indian players, too.

Antonio Habas

Antonio Habas is aiming for a final swan song in his 35-year-long managerial career by helping India qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. That is why the 68-year-old has applied for the India head coach role, as he wants to get back to international football for the first time in nearly three decades.

Habas has extensive knowledge in Indian football, having managed clubs like ATK, Pune City FC, Mohun Bagan and being the current Inter Kashi head coach.

Habas has won three ISL titles as a coach and has impressive experience as a head coach, having helped Bolivia compete in two Copa America editions in the 1990s. Habas knows how to get the Indian players to buy into his system and can tweak his style to benefit the abilities of his players.

While he might not be the youngest coach or the most efficient long-term option, Habas can be a solid short-term fix to help India regain their form at the international stage.

Khalid Jamil

For the first time in his career, Khalid Jamil has applied for the India national team head coach role. A former India international in his playing career, Jamil has had an admirable coaching career so far.

The 48-year-old has thrived under the role of the ‘ultimate underdog’, helping relatively weaker teams punch above their weight. Jamil did a solid job as the Mumbai FC coach, helping them stay afloat in the I-League with limited resources. He won the I-League title in 2017 with Aizawl FC before managing both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

Jamil is the first Indian coach to be a head coach of an ISL side, having done so with NorhtEast United and currently as the Jamshedpur FC boss. Jamil has helped many Indian players improve under his coach, most recently being the likes of Imran Khan, Nikhil Barla and Ashtosh Mehta at Jamshedpur FC.

Jamil knows Indian football inside and out, with his pragmatic yet efficient style being a perfect remedy to the Blue Tigers’ problems. It remains to be seen if the AIFF finally decides to appoint an Indian coach to lead the Indian side going forward.

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