Top coaches from Indian Super League Season 3: Where are they now?

These coaches have moved on after the 2016 edition of the league so let us see what they are up to now.

Season 3 of the Indian Super League (ISL) was memorable in many ways. Atletico de Kolkata won their second title in three years. It remains the only ISL final to-date to be decided on penalties. Legendary striker Diego Forlan serenaded fans with an incredible hat-trick. It was also the last season to be held in a single calendar year. Obviously, a lot has transpired since then, including head coaches of that ISL season either moving on with a new side or taking up a new role altogether.

Today, Khel Now takes a detailed look at where the coaches of Indian Super League (ISL) 2016 are today:

Alexandre Guimaraes (Mumbai City)

Costa Rican legend Alexandre Guimaraes took up management soon after retiring from his playing career. Following several short spells in the Americas, he coached a few Asian sides, including Mumbai City FC, where he replaced Nicolas Anelka in 2016.

He led them to the semi-finals that season, losing out to eventual winners Atletico de Kolkata. It was their best finish at the time, but a disappointing run in the following campaign, where the Islanders finished outside of top four again, spelled the end of his time in the Indian Super League.

Guimaraes subsequently returned to South America and is currently the manager of Atletico Nacional. 

Gianluca Zambrotta (Delhi Dynamos)

Gianluca Zambrotta followed in the footsteps of his compatriot and World Cup-winning teammate Marco Materazzi by taking up a coaching role in the Indian Super League. The former Italian defender replaced another legendary footballer, Roberto Carlos, as the head coach of Delhi Dynamos and guided them into the last four once again.

However, his contract was mutually terminated in June 2017 when Zambrotta took up the role of an assistant coach with Chinese side Jiangsu Suning. He left the position after just one year and hasn’t taken up a managerial role since. 

Jose Molina (Atletico de Kolkata)

Molina’s underwhelming managerial spells in his native Spain prompted him to seek new challenges abroad. He joined Hong Kong’s Kitchee FC in 2014 and led the side to a domestic treble. It caught Atletico’s attention and the ISL outfit appointed him as their head coach in 2016. 

The former goalkeeper successfully guided them back to championship glory, his side beating Kerala Blasters on penalties in the final. Yet, he left the club after that season and joined Mexico’s Atletico San Luis, where he was sacked after just two months. 

Molina hasn’t taken up coaching duties since but currently serves as the sporting director of the Spanish football federation. 

Steve Coppell (Kerala Blasters)

Former Manchester United star Steve Coppell went on to become a highly successful manager in English football. He most famously guided Crystal Palace and Reading from the Championship to lofty heights in the Premier League during the 90s.

So, when Coppell was appointed as the new Kerala Blasters coach in 2016, he came with a lot of promise. With the Yellow Army finishing runners-up that season, it’s fair to say the Englishman delivered on that promise. Well, almost. 

Since then, he’s managed two more ISL sides, Jamshedpur and ATK, but couldn’t reach the semis with either of them. 

Nelo Vingada (NorthEast United)

Vingada probably holds the world record for most teams managed with 27! Right from Portugal’s national side to a small Egyptian club, he’s been there and done that. So, it’s not surprising when journeymen coaches like him make a stop over in the ISL too.

The Portuguese first came to NorthEast United in 2017, before managing the Blasters two years later. Neither of his stints yielded much success though, as he couldn’t guide either of them even into the semi-finals. Vingada was also sacked by the latter midway through the 2018-19 season due to poor results.

He's been out of the scene ever since.

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