Former India legend IM Vijayan drops hints for new India coach; feels impossible to fill in Sunil Chhetri's boots

The All India Football Federation has sacked the Men's Football Team coach Igor Stimac after the side failed to qualify for the second round of the AFC World Cup Qualifiers 2026. India lost 2-1 in their final game against Qatar. The Blue Tigers currently do not have any option nor do they have shortlisted any names for the next coach for them. However, the fans are in a dilemma about who will be the new manager. 

Former stars Vijayan and Climax Lawrence seem unconcerned by the decision that ended the Croatian World Cupper's five-year tenure as head coach of the senior men's team. The former who is the head of the technical committee believes the vacancy of Sunil Chhetri will be difficult to replace as a footballer of his calibre and it is the biggest challenge facing the Indian football team at the moment. 

Vijayan and Lawrence, who stood out with the Indian squad, understand that Stimac's dismissal was unsurprising after a disappointing AFC Asian Cup and inability to go past the second round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers despite a relatively easy group. After the disastrous World Cup Qualifiers campaign, the AIFF hierarchy, including members of the executive and technical committees, were all on the same page in terms of Stimac.

It was a unanimous decision: IM Vijayan

Vijayan said, "It was a unanimous decision. The coach will appointed as early as possible so that the team doesn’t lose out on anything before the next FIFA window in September. They will soon sit together and start the process of finding a coach. However, how do you find a replacement for Chhetri? That is going to be very difficult as a great player like Chhetri comes rarely. We have some good strikers, and we are trying to get them to play as much as possible." 

Lawrance added, "Grassroots is where we have to focus. Yes, Indian strikers are not getting to play the amount of time they should, but there is no point cribbing over that. That’s how professional football works. We have to look for talent at the grassroots and mould them into quality strikers."