The return of old boys Thoi Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh and Dhanachandra Singh means coach Gregory will be working with a set of players who are familiar with the Chennaiyin FC way of life. The club also chose to retain goalkeeper Karanjit Singh, Jerry Lalrinzuala and youngster Anirudh Thapa. The former ATK man and Portugal international will have an influential role to play at Chennaiyin FC, while Brazilian midfielder Raphael Augusto and Spanish defender Inigo Calderon are other foreign players to look out for.įrom among the Indian players, Jeje Lalpekhlua obviously remains the biggest star. One player who is already making heads turn is Henrique Soreno - a captain in the making. 'This club has a reputation of creating stars and I am sure, even after season four there will be one or two players who will become big stars in the ISL,' the coach said. Like the coach explained, 'the most important factor is the overall collective.' The collective works well for Chennaiyin FC. Unlike in the past, there are no star names. They finished only seventh, but have done enough to ensure that there is no repeat. Colombian striker Stiven Mendoza was the star of that ISL final and his absence last season hurt Chennaiyin. On November 19, Chennaiyin FC will be up against FC Goa, a team they famously defeated to win the ISL title in 2015. We are working hard and aim to make a good start on November 19,' Gregory said.

We are trying to give the best possible preparation to the squad and I am very impressed by the attitude and professionalism of this group of players. 'We had a three-week pre-season camp in Thailand and played three matches. On the evidence of their pre-season training camp in Thailand, the team has looked in fine fettle and returned home after an encouraging 3-0 victory against Thai Premier League's Bangkok United FC.

It will be interesting to see how he shapes up this team.

Gregory started his coaching career at Portsmouth and had spells at Plymouth Argyle and Wycombe Wanderers before a four-year stint with Aston Villa in the English Premier League.

In professional sport there is always pressure as a professional you always want that pressure to be successful,' Gregory said. I want to continue the great work done by him in the first three years. 'Marco is a legend in Chennai and delivered great consistency to this club. With Materazzi now opting to part ways after three seasons, Chennaiyin FC brought in the experienced John Gregory, and the former Aston Villa coach - who took his team to the final of the FA Cup once - admits that there will be pressure to deliver the ISL title, like Materazzi did in 2015. Chennaiyin FC under Materazzi were aggressive and unwilling to give an inch.

Isl football 2015