After Mumbai City FC lost Des Buckingham to EFL League 1 side Oxford United, they are set to appoint another former Melbourne City FC assistant coach, Petr Kratky.
A fullback in his playing days, Kratky retired from professional football in 2015 and since 2017, he has been associated with Melbourne City. The 42-year-old was coaching the youth sides of the club while Buckingham was the assistant. Once Buckingham was made to fly to India, Kratky got promoted to the role.
It seems to be happening once again as he directly replaces the Brit at the helm of Mumbai City FC. This is also Kratky’s first crack at coaching a senior football team. Nonetheless, that pattern has shown a hundred per cent success so far for the Islanders.
The official word hasn’t been out yet. MCFC have just got off a disappointing Champions League campaign where they failed to garner a single point out of a group with Al-Hilal, Nassaji Mazadaran, and Navbahor. The sole goal of their campaign came against Navbahor in their 2-1 loss in the final matchday.
In the league, the club are currently sitting fifth with 11 points in five games. While the schedule will make them catch up, they haven’t seemed to be as untouchable as they did last season. Tough competitors have appeared this season – Kerala Blasters, Mohun Bagan, Odisha FC, and FC Goa.
Mumbai City FC’s next three games are against three of these sides – table toppers FC Goa, Kerala Blasters, and unbeaten Mohun Bagan.
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