FC Pune City in talks with Austin MacPhee and Paul Le Guen

One of the Scottish duo could be announced as the Pune City head coach in the recent future.

Indian Super League (ISL) side FC Pune City are in talks with Scottish side Hearts' assistant coach Austin MacPhee and ex-Rangers manager Paul Le Guen for their vacant head coach role. According to reports in Scotland, the ISL side has shortlisted both the coaches and a development at the club could be announced in the near future.

After having a pretty good season with Serbian manager Ranko Popovic, the Stallions' management, to everyone's surprise, let the tactician leave in search of someone even better. It was under Popovic's tutelage that the team reached new heights and qualified for the playoffs. But, the management had other plans as they were looking to appoint former Brazil U-20 coach Marcos Paqueta.

However, the tables turned pretty quickly and Paqueta who was supposed to come to India in a few months time to be the new FC Pune City coach made a shrewd call and became the new manager of Brazilian side Botafogo. This move from the Brazilian left the Pune City management in cold water as they had sacked a manager who had done a pretty good job and now they had to search for an able replacement all over again.

According to The Scottish Sun, the Western Indian outfit have shortlisted MacPhee and Le Guen to be the successor to Popovic. MacPhee first came into contention after he attended a FIFA coaching seminar in India last month. Whereas, Le Guen, the ex-Rangers boss who had a pretty disappointing stint with the Scottish club is also on the radar of the Stallions.

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With MacPhee being their preferred option, the Stallions were also waiting for Tynecastle officials to grant them permission to speak with the 38-year-old Northern Ireland assistant coach and the ISL outfit did get the green signal from the Scottish side. Now, its only a matter of time for the two parties to agree a deal and if things go to plan than the ISL may well be MacPhee's debut managerial stint.

The 38-year=old joined the Scottish side back in 2016 under head coach Ian Cathro. While he held his position, Cathro was replaced by Craig Levein at the helm at Tynecastle. MacPhee is also the assistant coach of Northern Ireland, working under the tutelage of head coach Michael O'Neill.

The Stallions also have a great backup option in Le Guen, although the Frenchman has had a disappointing stint with Rangers, the 54-year old might be good for the subcontinent. He has managed teams like Rennes, Lyon, PSG and been in countrieslike Oman and Cameroon. His latest stint came with Turkish side Bursaspor.