The appointment of A.M. Sreedharan as head coach of Kerala team has left the Technical Director post vacant. The search for a TD continues.. Technical Director acts as a bridge between the management and the head coach.
Everyone who has attempted to watch Kerala football from close quarters should know what it is to win a Santosh Trophy. Since November 2004, on quite a few occasions, they came close to winning it back, including last year when the game was thrown away in penalties to Services, at home.
Even in loss, there was one apparent positive that Kerala football witnessed last year. Not that it made a huge difference in the style of play or to the development of the sport. But by appointing a technical director to work with the head coach and his assistant, Kerala football had taken one step further.
It was for the first time ever that Kerala had a man for the job and everyone accepted the appointment of veteran A.M. Sreedharan in the position. A technical director is a huge position. He can act as an intermediary between the head coach and the association and also provide technical assistance thus helping the manager focus on the on-field events.
And last year when Sreedharan was appointed as TD with former international M.M. Jacob as head coach the positives were there to be seen. Sreedharan found the team missed something and suggested two names -defenders Sherin Sam and Johnson, who turned out to be invaluable additions to the squad and made significant improvement in the overall quality. It was clear from last season that having a technical director is great. On Friday, the Kerala football association made a strange decision when they named the squad without a TD. And guess who the head coach is this year  A M Sreedharan.
After finding how important it is to have a TD in the side, why did the KFA chose not to appoint one for the position this term? It appears that, if not Sreedharan (who is the coach and cannot be the TD at the same time) there is no one else who is capable of filling the shoes.
The news from inside is that Kerala football is searching for a Technical Director and until the moment of writing this none of the veterans have been found fit for the job or not shown the guts to take up the challenge or both.
But the search is on.
So, who is strong enough to be Kerala's new Technical Director?
