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“But he had already extended his contract” - Owen Coyle reveals whom he wanted to sign instead of Greg Stewart

Owen Coyle Rafael Crivellaro Greg Stewart Indian Super League 2021-2022

The Scottish born mastermind Owen Coyle had a great Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-2022 season as he lead the Jamshedpur FC to not only to the playoffs for the first time, he guided the team to the League Winners' Shield.

Scotland born Owen Coyle proved his tactical astute in the Indian Super League 2021-2022 season as he took the Jamshedpur based franchise to the ultimate glory to ISL's League Winners Shield.

This is the 2nd time that Coyle has led an Indian Super League (ISL) club to the playoffs, first time with the Chennaiyin FC, taking charge of the team midway through, when they were rock bottom in the league. He led Chennaiyin to the final of the ISL 2019-2020 season, but had to bow out against Kerala Blasters this year.

Other than Coyle's brilliance, Jamshedpur FC were blessed to have the services of the Scottish attacking midfielder Greg Stewart, who came in with 10 goals and 10 assists in this year's ISL, totalling 20 goal contribution. The season before, he became the Champions of Scotland with Rangers FC, formerly managed by now Aston Villa manager and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.

But, according to Owen Coyle, the story could have been a little different. We may have not seen Greg in the Indian Super League at all. Speaking to Marcus Mergulhao of Times of India, Owen Coyle was asked about how he managed to bring Stewart to India, having last won the Scottish Premiership in 2021.

Replying to which, even though he stated that Stewart is the best, but he revealed that the initial target was to bring in one of the hero from that Chennaiyin FC squad that reached the Final in 2020, Rafael Crivellaro.

He stated that he when he joined Jamshedpur FC, he wanted to bring in Rafael Crivellaro from Chennaiyin FC, but the player had already signed a contract extension with the Chennai based club. He stated, "When I came in at Jamshedpur FC, I tried to sign Rafa (mentioning Rafael Crivellaro), but he had already extended his contract with Chennaiyin."

He then added that he was looking for the same kind of creative player, and before approaching Greg Stewart, he had conversation with Steven Gerrard and former Rangers coaching staff.

Even though Jamshedpur FC went on to win the Indian Super League (ISL) 2021-2022 League Winners' Shield with record 43 points, his team crashed out of the semi-final in the hands of Ivan Vukomanovic's Kerala Blasters, who will now play Hyderabad FC in the Final on the 20th of March in Fatorda.

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