I-league: Soundararajan up for Chennai City FC challenge

Soundarajan said that the team has enough quality to finish mid-table in the league.

Published : Feb 09, 2017 18:22 IST

V. Soundararajan (left) with Chennai City FC General Secretary Vikram Murali after taking over as coach.
V. Soundararajan (left) with Chennai City FC General Secretary Vikram Murali after taking over as coach.
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V. Soundararajan (left) with Chennai City FC General Secretary Vikram Murali after taking over as coach.

I-League side Chennai City FC on Thursday announced former Tamil Nadu Santosh Trophy coach V. Soundararajan as the head coach of the team for the rest of the season.

The Chennai side on Wednesday parted ways with Robin Charles Raja after a poor start to the season which has seen the side win only one match. The side is last on the points table with four points from seven matches.

Speaking to Sportstar on the challenges for the sides, Soundararajan said, “The first thing is to improve the morale of the team. Psychologically the team is a bit down at the moment, so in the first session I tried to pep up the team.”

“We have a very good team with ISL players in it. So I am confident that team can be turned around,” said Soundararajan who also coaches the Southern Railway side in the Chennai Football Association senior division league.

One of the issues the team management had with the former coach Robin was the latter’s reluctance to blood the local youngsters.

Read: >Chennai City F.C. to appoint new assistant coach

Soundararajan is in on the same page with the management when it comes to this. “Our players are very good to play in this league. The players are strong technically and if we could tweak our system a bit, we can do well,” before adding the team has been tactically weak so far.

“One of the team’s main motive is to improve the standards of TN players so there is no point if we don't give our players the chance. The presence of TN players in I-League will inspire players in the local leagues to believe they can do it too.”

Chennai City has eight players with ISL experience in its ranks but has failed to click as a unit in its first season in I-League.

“In the previous matches, players were not clear about their duties and responsibilities. There are quite a few ISL players and we know they will give 100 per cent but as a team it was not working. The communication was lacking and those are areas that we have to work on,” said the new manager, identifying the areas that needed to be worked on.

Chennai City FC takes on Mumbai FC, who are also on bit of a rough patch, on Saturday here and Soundararajan felt, it was a fixture that the team should look to capitalise on.

Speaking about the realistic target for the team this season, Soundararajan says “for the quality of players we have, we can finish in the mid-table.”

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