Avram Grant: India is doing the right thing

After having managed Chelsea FC, Portsmouth and West Ham it was quite an easy decision to make for Grant to make the move to a relatively unknown football country in India.

Avram Grant's last managerial job was with the Ghana's national team.

 

Avram Grant says India is doing the right things in football, days after being tasked with reviving NorthEast Uniteds fortunes in the ISL, like he did when he was in charge of Premier League giants Chelsea many summers ago.

After having managed Chelsea FC, Portsmouth and West Ham it was quite an easy decision to make for Grant to make the move to a relatively unknown football country in India. "It wasnt difficult. I wanted to see football in different places. I was in Thailand, Serbia, Africa; I enjoyed very much. I enjoy seeing countries that want to develop and India wants to develop its football. I think they are doing the right thing. There is lot to do.

"Its a process but for me I came for short time to see how it is and share my experience. Its an easy decision," said Grant, who last coached the Ghana national team.

The Israeli coach, who took Chelsea to the final of the UEFA Champions League in 2008, is now technical advisor to NEUFC and lost no time in agreeing to help the team when long-time friend John Abraham, who owns the club, sought his expertise.

Since joining NorthEast United, Grant has halted the teams run of four losses in a row and helped it secure a 2-1 win against FC Goa in his first match in-charge. Grant, it seems, is applying the same principles at NorthEast that he used at Chelsea FC when he took over a disjointed team from Jose Mourinho in September 2007.

"One thing that I pay attention all my life is the mental side. You need to be strong mentally when things are not going well. Thats what I told the players. I am sometimes advisor to big (business) companies and thats what I emphasise.

"In football, there is lot of pressure from people outside. My team was strong. Even when FC Goa equalised, my team showed good spirit and mentality," said Grant.

NorthEast United had lost four matches in a row and had just four points from its first seven matches. It now has seven points and believes it can turn the corner in the second phase, despite all the pressure. "Pressure is the name of the game. If you are at the top, there is pressure to stay there. If you are at the bottom, pressure is to come up. All my life in different places, different countries, the pressure is always there in football.