Former Atletico Madrid manager Cesar Ferrando Jimenez was on Saturday appointed as the head coach of Indian Super League side Jamshedpur Football Club.
The appointment came four months after previous coach Steve Coppell had left the Tata-steel owned franchise to join Kolkata based ATK.
“We are delighted to welcome Cesar Ferrando to Jamshedpur FC. We are extremely confident that he is the right person for the job and will work to deliver trophies for our fans and bring glory to Jamshedpur,” JFC director Sunil Bhaskaran said in a statement.
Fernando who coached Atletico Madrid in the 2004-05, helped them to a 11th place finish in the La Liga, while also leading them to the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey.
He has also managed other Spanish clubs like Elche, Albacete and the reserve side of Valencia and has also the experience of coaching an Asian team.
The 58-year-old was in charge of Malaysian giants Johor Darul Ta’zim in the 2013-14 season. He was however relieved off his duties mid-way through the season.
Cesar who was a midfielder as a player represented a top La Liga club Valencia and also Segunda Division clubs like Salamanca, Sabadell and Alzira.
“Our main objective will be to give our best every day at every training session and make the team compete at the highest level every game we play. We will focus and prepare game by game as it will be a final with hard work, passion, sacrifice, effort, team work and humility,” said Cesar.
“Success for me in this season will be to play good football, implement a strong and unique football model to make the team more competitive in the league and let the supporters enjoy the faith they have put in my team, my staff and me,” he added.
Jamshedpur finished fifth in their debut season in the ISL and were knocked out of the Super Cup quarterfinals.
They have retained only three foreigners for the upcoming season in Spanish defender Tiri, midfielders Memo and Wellington Priori. Star Indian players like Subrata Paul and Bikash Jairu were also retained for their impressive performances.
Meanwhile Raju Gaikwad, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury and last year’s I-League sensation Michael Soosairaj have been the latest additions.