ISL: Kerala Blasters rope in Ivan Vukomanovic as head coach

Indian Super League (ISL) side Kerala Blasters FC has appointed Ivan Vukomanovic as the club's new head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Ivan will be the first Serbian to manage KBFC and comes with a broad experience of coaching in the top divisions of Belgium, Slovakia, and Cyprus.

"From my first contact with the club's directors, the feeling was positive. They have a professional approach about their vision, which gave me a very good feeling. After then seeing the army of fans and support KBFC has, I didn't hesitate a second," said Ivan in an official statement.

"Immediately I knew that I wanted to become a member of the KBFC family, and I am very glad it happened. I hope we will all work together to make everyone who loves this beautiful club happy and proud. Yennum Yellow! " he added.

The 43-year-old Ivan began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Belgian club Standard Liege in 2013-14 season before his promotion in the subsequent term.

Under him, the team secured qualification in the UEFA Europa League group stages two years consecutively. During this tenure, he was instrumental in moulding Belgian internationals like Mitchy Batshuayi and Laurent Cimon, amongst many others.

He has since managed SK Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Super Liga, with whom he won the Slovakia National Cup, and was last in charge of Apollon Limassol in the Cypriot First Division.

Prior to his coaching career, Ivan had a long and illustrious 15 years of career as a professional football player. A former defender who could also play in defensive midfield, Vukomanovic had playing stints with prominent French club FC Bordeaux as well as FC Koln in Germany, Royal Antwerp in Belgium, Dynamo Moscow in Russia and Red Star Belgrade in Serbia.

Ivan's coaching team will also include Belgian assistant coach Patrik Van Kets, who comes with 18 years experience as a professional footballing coach.

( With inputs from ANI )