JOIN USHe might have guided his side to their second I-League title in three years of existence, but life doesn’t seem to have gotten any easier for Bengaluru FC’s head coach Ashley Westwood.
With his contract with the club coming to an end this May, Westwood still doesn’t seem to have struck a deal with the club owners regarding his future. So, does he intend to stay?
“To be honest, I would love to stay,” said Westwood after his side beat Salgaocar FC to ensure their second league title.
“But the club has offered me a wage drop. So the way business and football works, I feel I have done a good job. To be offered a wage drop is obviously not fitting in line with my ideas. Unfortunately, that’s the way sometimes football is. It’s not a closed book, we’ve had some discussions, but that’s where we sit in the current climate.”
While there have been rumours that Westwood, who also guided Bengaluru to their maiden Federation Cup triumph last year might be inclined towards coaching the Singapore national side, the Englishman dismissed any such talks outright.
“I would never disrespect a club, that’s not my nature. Some people like to talk about stuff like this… I don’t like to talk about dirty laundry. I said what I had to say, we all know where we stand. I believe I’ve done a decent job and if this club doesn’t want to keep me then I will move on or I will just take a gamble,” he continued.
Having being at the helm of affairs when his side clinched the I-League on both the occasions, Westwood was quick to assert that the recent triumph was sweeter to him.
“This one feels good to be honest,” he said. “We had comments in the first year that it might have been a fluke or it’s easy to win the title once. We should have won it in the second year. We are the best side by a mile, in my opinion. So we were heartbroken when we lost the title in the dying moments.
“But we were determined to put up a good show this season. And we won it in front of our fans. Won it with a game to spare.”