The 2015 season was the second season in Kerala Blasters FC's existence, as well as their second season in Indian Super League. The club were the runner-up in the 2014 ISL tournament where they lost to Atlético de Kolkata 0–1 in the final. The club appointed former England-U20 manager Peter Taylor as its new manager for the 2015 season after the departure of David James.
Season overview After the 2014 season, it was announced that David James would not return to the club as head coach and marquee player. On 12 May 2015 it was announced that former England U20 head coach Peter Taylor would take over as the Blasters head coach. New foreign signings coming into the season included Peter Ramage, Stephen Bywater, Bruno Perone, Sanchez Watt, João Coimbra, and marquee signing Carlos Marchena.
The first match of the season was played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, with the Kerala Blasters hosting NorthEast United. The Kerala Blasters won 3–1 through goals from Josu, Mohammed Rafi, and Sanchez Watt. However, the Blasters followed that victory drawing their next match against Mumbai City and then losing their next four matches which eventually led to the dismissal of Peter Taylor as head coach. Assistant coach Trevor Morgan was in charge for one match before Terry Phelan was named head coach for the rest of the season. Fortunes failed to change for the Kerala Blasters as the club ended their second season in last place, failing to qualify for the Indian Super League finals.
Players and staff
Squad
Source: Indian Super League 2015
Transfers
In
Pre-season PlayerTransferred FromFeeDateSource 9 Leyton OrientFree 17 Delhi DynamosFree 20 Mumbai F.C.Free 8 Rapid BucureștiFree 10 Colchester UnitedFree 23 Grêmio NovorizontinoFree 5 Crystal PalaceFree 43 Doncaster RoversFree 21 GillinghamFree 6 Deportivo La CoruñaFree 30 Scunthorpe UnitedFree 99 Górnik ŁęcznaFree
During the season
PlayerTransferred FromFeeDateSource 44 S.E.R. Caxias do SulFree
Out
Pre-season
PlayerTransferred ToFeeDateSource 9 Atlético ParanaenseLoan Return 12 Mohun BaganLoan Return 32 Charleston BatteryLoan Return 44 Atlético ParanaenseLoan Return 14 Mehtab Hossain East BengalLoan Return 16 Gurwinder Singh East BengalLoan Return 29 Saumik Dey East Bengal Loan Return 30 East BengalLoan Return 70 Retired 13 Free AgentFree 23 Free AgentFree 27 Melbourne KnightsFree 88 Salgaocar F.C.Free 18 Shillong LajongFree 3 Exeter CityFree 21 Royal WahingdohFree 25 MotherwellFree 22 FC IstresFree 10 Tranmere RoversFree 8 Alloa AthleticFree 2 NorthEast UnitedFree 7 FC Pune CityFree
During the season
PlayerTransferred ToFeeDateSource 6 CD GerenaFree 10 Free AgentFree 9 Hibernian F.C.Free
Loan in
Pre-season
PlayerLoaned FromStartEndSource 14 East Bengal 16 East Bengal 18 Deepak Mondal East Bengal 22 Mohun Bagan 29 East Bengal 7 East Bengal 12 Bengaluru 13 Bengaluru 66 Dempo S.C.
During the season
PlayerLoaned FromStartEndSource 2 East Bengal
Loan Out
Pre-season
PlayerLoaned ToStartEndSource 6 CSKA Sofia
Pre-season
Indian Super League
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
|colspan=14|Players who left Kerala Blasters due to injury during the season:
|colspan=14|Players who left Kerala Blasters during the season:
Goal scorers PlacePositionNationNumberNameIndian Super LeagueTotal1 FW21Antonio German66FW9 Chris Dagnall663 FW20Mohammed Rafi444 FW10Sanchez Watt225 MF99Josu11MF7Cavin Lobo11MF85Pulga11MF8João Coimbra11TOTALS2222
Disciplinary record NumberNationPositionNameIndian Super LeagueTotal4 DFRamandeep Singh10105DFPeter Ramage20109FWChris Dagnall101011MFIshfaq Ahmed202013MFC.K. Vineeth101014MFMehtab Hossain515115DFSandesh Jhingan101023DFBruno Perone010129DFSaumik Dey101030DFMarcus Williams101043GKStephen Bywater202066MFPeter Carvalho101099MFJosù1111TOTALS193193
Home Stadium Attendances
Pos 1 6 Oct 2015 NorthEast United FC 60,017 2 10 Oct 2015 Mumbai City FC 61,483 3 18 Oct 2015 Delhi Dynamos FC 62,013 4 31 Oct 2015 Chennaiyin FC 47,852 5 4 Nov 2015 FC Pune City 40,125 6 10 Nov 2015 Atlético de Kolkata 60,251 7 29 Nov 2015 FC Goa 32,313
References