ISL 2018-19: John Gregory accuses Kerala Blasters of not playing fair

Chennaiyin FC’s nightmarish season in the Indian Super League (ISL) continued as they slumped to their 12th defeat of the season on Friday against Kerala Blasters. The 3-0 defeat destroyed all the momentum they gained after the international break. 

Pointing out the inconsistency in this Chennaiyin side, coach John Gregory said, “The performance basically sums up our season. We beat the team at the top of the league last weekend. Then we lost to the team that is at ninth. That sums up our season. We have had a lack of consistency with our performance.”

He further added, “It was a bad team display, bad individual performances. Kerala took full advantage.”

The English coach slammed opposition for not stopping the game when Chris Herd went down on the ground with a cramp. That move led to Kerala’s second goal of the match.

Gregory said, “We gave away the first goal which is poor from us. The second goal, the opposition should have kicked the ball out. It certainly wasn't fair play. No one made the slightest effort, they just carried on. Certainly not fair play. I am sure that will come back to haunt them one day. We would have certainly kicked the ball out of play, as would eight other teams in the league.”

The former Aston Villa coach spoke about how the inexperience of some of his players hampered their game. “Obviously, some of the young boys only played a handful of games. You get that with young layers, our full backs are young and inexperienced.  They will learn from these kinds of performances but it comes with a cost,” said the Chennaiyin boss.

The coach was not happy with the attitude of some of the Chennaiyin players.

He said, “We are going straight into the qualifying rounds, we aren't relying on our league position. If the players are saving their best football for that, they shouldn't be. They should be playing their hearts out in ISL. I did not think we looked like a team. It appeared as if our players thought that the ISL season is already over. Quite a few of my players were unrecognizable.”