ISL: Gregory welcomes longer league

More teams means more fixtures, and the ISL Season Four is spread over five months. This will obviously come as a relief to the teams.

John Gregory(left), Head Coach of Chennaiyin FC with Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani, co-owners of the team.

A new season of the Indian Super League beckons, and the fourth iteration will have 10 teams in the fray — an increase of two from the earlier seasons.

More teams means more fixtures, and the ISL Season Four is spread over five months. This will obviously come as a relief to the teams, and the Chennaiyin FC manager, John Gregory, did not mince words while talking of the duration of the previous editions of the ISL.

“I remember seeing the fixture lists from previous seasons, and there was a point when Chennaiyin played three games in six days. That was too much to ask of the players. As for training drills, I won’t do anything different compared to England, where the Championship clubs play 46 games in 38 weeks along with (midweek) cup games as well. But a longer league gives coaches and players enough to know each other,” said the 63-year-old manager. The Englishman will be making his coaching debut in India after he replaced Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi.