2016 Kerala Blasters FC season
3rd season in existence of Kerala Blasters FC
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The 2016 season was the third season in Kerala Blasters FC's existence, as well as their third season in Indian Super League. After finishing second position in the league stage, the club managed to make it to the final. In the finals, they were again defeated by Atlético de Kolkata, this time through the penalty shoot-out.
| 2016 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head Coach | Steve Coppell | ||
| Stadium | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | ||
| Indian Super League | 2nd | ||
| Finals | Runners-Up | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: C.K. Vineeth (5 goals) All: C.K. Vineeth (5 goals) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 80,294 | ||
| Average home league attendance | 55,535 | ||
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Background
In 2016, in an effort to rebuild after failing to qualify for the finals the previous season, Kerala Blasters announced the signing of former Crystal Palace manager Steve Coppell as head coach on 21 June 2016.[1] A week later, the club announced the signing of Northern Ireland international Aaron Hughes as their marquee player for the season.[2] Other moves made before the season included the signing of Graham Stack, Kervens Belfort, Duckens Nazon, and Mohammed Rafique and return of former players Michael Chopra and Cédric Hengbart.[3]
The season began where the previous left off, with a 1–0 defeat away from home against NorthEast United.[4] After the first month of the season, the Blasters had one of the best defenses statistically in the league but struggled in attack.[5] In the second half of the season, after the return of C.K. Vineeth from loan with Bengaluru FC, the Blasters managed to surge their way into the playoffs.[6] They achieved this by defeating Delhi Dynamos 3–0 in a penalty shootout during the semi-final.[7] In the final, the Kerala Blasters would play host to Atlético de Kolkata. The Blasters took the lead early through Mohammed Rafi before Kolkata equalized soon after. The match went into a penalty shootout, Despite taking the lead early in the shootout, the Kerala Blasters lost 4–3 and thus were defeated in their second final in three seasons.[8]
Players
Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Source: Indian Super League 2016
Transfers
Retained
Foreign players
|
Indian players
|
New signings
| Position | Player | Last club | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FW |  Thongkhosiem Haokip |
Goa |
7 July 2016 | [11] |
| DF | Pratik Chowdhary |
Mumbai |
13 July 2016 | [12] |
| DF |  Aaron Hughes |
 Melbourne City |
28 July 2016 | [13] |
| GK |  Graham Stack |
 Barnet |
3 August 2016 | [14] |
| FW | Michael Chopra |
 Alloa Athletic |
7 August 2016 | [15] |
| DF |  Elhadji Ndoye |
 Kyzylzhar |
9 August 2016 | [16] |
| FW |  Kervens Belfort |
 1461 Trabzon |
12 August 2016 | [17] |
| DF |  Cédric Hengbart |
NorthEast United |
16 August 2016 | [18] |
| MF | Mohammed Rafique |
Atlético de Kolkata |
22 August 2016 | [19] |
| MF |  Azrack Mahamat |
 Levadiakos |
23 August 2016 | [20] |
| DF | Rino Anto |
Atlético de Kolkata |
26 August 2016 | [21] |
| MF |  Didier Kadio |
Zhetysu |
30 August 2016 | [22] |
| MF | Vinit Rai |
Dempo |
2 September 2016 | [23] |
| FW | Duckens Nazon |
 Tondela |
6 September 2016 | [24] |
| GK | Kunal Sawant |
Mumbai |
7 September 2016 | [25] |
| GK | Mohammad Ansari |
Pune |
7 September 2016 | [25] |
| FW | Prasanth Karuthadathkuni |
AIFF Elite Academy |
7 September 2016 | [25] |
| FW | Farukh Choudhary |
Lonestar Kashmir |
7 September 2016 | [25] |
Pre-season
| 12 September 2016 Friendly | BBCU  | 1–2 | Kerala Blasters | Bangkok |
| Report |
| 15 September 2016 Friendly | Bangkok United | 0–0 | Kerala Blasters | Bangkok |
| Report |
| 24 September 2016 Friendly | Southern Samity | 1–1 | Kerala Blasters | Kolkata |
| Report |
Indian Super League
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mumbai City | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 23 | Advance to ISL Play-offs |
| 2 | Kerala Blasters | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 14 | −2 | 22 | |
| 3 | Delhi Dynamos | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 27 | 17 | +10 | 21 | |
| 4 | Atlético de Kolkata (C) | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 20 | |
| 5 | NorthEast United | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 18 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) play-off match
(C) Champions
Results summary
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 15 | −2 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | −7 |
Results
| 1 October 2016 1 | NorthEast United | 1–0 | Kerala Blasters | Guwahati |
| 19:00 IST | Yusa  55' |
Report | Stadium: Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium Attendance: 27,629 Referee: Pranjal Banerji |
| 5 October 2016 2 | Kerala Blasters | 0–1 | Atlético de Kolkata | Kochi |
| 19:00 IST | Report | Lara 53' |
Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 54,900 Referee: Umesh Bora |
| 9 October 2016 3 | Kerala Blasters | 0–0 | Delhi Dynamos | Kochi |
| 19:00 IST | Report | Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 54,913 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar |
| 14 October 2016 4 | Kerala Blasters | 1–0 | Mumbai City | Kochi |
| 19:00 IST | Chopra 58' |
Report | Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 40,013 Referee: Ajit Dutta |
| 17 October 2016 5 | Pune City | 1–1 | Kerala Blasters | Pune |
| 19:00 IST | Sissoko 68' |
Report | Hengbart 3' |
Stadium: Balewadi Stadium Attendance: 8,556 Referee: Ajit Meetei |
| 24 October 2016 6 | Goa | 1–2 | Kerala Blasters | Margao |
| 19:00 IST | César 24' |
Report | Rafi 46' Belfort 84' |
Stadium: Fatorda Stadium Attendance: 18,157 Referee: C. R. Srikrishna |
| 29 October 2016 7 | Chennaiyin | 0–0 | Kerala Blasters | Chennai |
| 19:00 IST | Report | Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 23,163 Referee: Pranjal Banerjee |
| 4 November 2014 8 | Delhi Dynamos | 2–0 | Kerala Blasters | Delhi |
| 19:00 IST | Lewis 56' Marcelinho 60' |
Report | Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 15,471 Referee: Nick Waldron |
| 8 November 2016 9 | Kerala Blasters | 2–1 | Goa | Kochi |
| 19:00 IST | Belfort 48' (pen.) Vineeth 90+9' |
Report | Coelho 9' |
Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 34,196 Referee: Nick Waldron |
| 12 November 2016 10 | Kerala Blasters | 3–1 | Chennaiyin | Kochi |
| 19:00 IST | Kadio 66' Vineeth 85', 89' |
Report | Mendy 22' |
Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 53,152 Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini |
| 19 November 2016 11 | Mumbai City | 5–0 | Kerala Blasters | Mumbai |
| 19:00 IST | Forlán 5', 14', 63' Alves 69'Goian 73' |
Report | Stadium: Mumbai Football Arena Attendance: 7583 |
| 25 November 2016 12 | Kerala Blasters | 2–1 | Pune City | Kochi |
| 19:00 IST | Nazon 7' Hughes 57' |
Report | Zurdo 90+5' |
Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 51341 |
| 29 November 2016 13 | Atlético de Kolkata | 1–1 | Kerala Blasters | Kolkata |
| 19:00 IST | Stephen Pearson 18' |
C.K. Vineeth 8' |
Stadium: Rabindra Sarobar Stadium |
| 4 December 2016 14 | Kerala Blasters | 1–0 | NorthEast United | Kochi |
| 19:00 IST | C.K. Vineeth 66' |
Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 53000 |
Player statistics
| # | Position | Player | GP | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Graham Stack | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Pratik Chowdhary | 8 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Cédric Hengbart | 17 | 1 |
| 6 | DF | Aaron Hughes | 9 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | Mohammed Rafique | 10 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Vinit Rai | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Kervens Belfort | 13 | 3 |
| 10 | FW | Antonio German | 11 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Ishfaq Ahmed | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | Thongkhosiem Haokip | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | C.K. Vineeth | 9 | 5 |
| 14 | MF | Mehtab Hossain | 16 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | Gurwinder Singh | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Farukh Choudhary | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | Elhadji Ndoye | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Mohammed Rafi | 13 | 2 |
| 21 | DF | Sandesh Jhingan | 17 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | Prasanth Karuthadathkuni | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | GK | Kunal Sawant | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | GK | Sandip Nandy | 10 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | Michael Chopra | 10 | 1 |
| 30 | GK | Mohammad Ansari | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | Rino Anto | 3 | 0 |
| 57 | MF | Didier Kadio | 11 | 1 |
| 78 | FW | Duckens Nazon | 11 | 2 |
| 88 | MF | Azrack Mahamat | 11 | 0 |
| 99 | DF |  Josu | 15 | 0 |