"Is it ideal? Probably not, but it's not a problem" - Chennaiyin FC asst. coach Sandy Stewart on concerns over club's remaining signings | ISL 2023-24

Chennaiyin FC assistant coach Sandy Stewart has played down concerns about the club's final few signings prior to the start of the 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL) season.

The summer transfer window shut earlier this week, with the Marina Machans in particular enduring a very active few months on that front. They have restructured most of their squad, letting go of all six of their foreign players from last season as well.

Forwards Jordan Murray and Connor Shields, and midfielders Rafael Crivellaro and Cristian Battocchio have arrived ahead of the new season. Sportskeeda reported last month that Chennaiyin are close to signing English central defender Ryan Edwards. They are expected to sign another overseas centre-back as well.

Speaking to select media outlets at the club's open training session on Saturday, September 3, Stewart indicated that he and the staff aren't too worried about the situation. He said when asked about if there were concerns over the players joining less than a month before the ISL begins:

"Sometimes, negotiations happen and it's not as easy to bring in foreign and international players as bringing Indian players in, so there's a hold-up. Is it ideal? Probably not. But, at this moment in time, four weeks to go for the start of the season, that's okay, it's not a problem."

Earlier in the day, head coach Owen Coyle had suggested the same in response to a fan's question, placing his trust in Chennaiyin's core of Indian defenders. Coyle has Bikash Yumnam, Ankit Mukherjee and Sarthak Golui (on loan from East Bengal) to deploy at centre-back at the moment.

Stewart said the role of the incoming foreign central defenders will be two-fold: to help the team win matches and also improve the Indian members of the backline.

"We think the foreign centre-backs will help the Indian centre-backs we've already got and that's one of the big things about bringing them in. It's obvipusly to play and win games [but also] to help your Bikashes and everybody else, to make them better players," he said.

"Because they're so young, we want to give them guidance on the pitch and I think the foreign centre-backs do that. When you look at all the other Indian teams, they usually have two foreign centre-backs and I think they all think the same way: to help the Indian players they have and give them experience to make a better team."

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Sandy Stewart believes Chennaiyin FC's staff and players will learn from Durand Cup 2023 exit

Chennaiyin FC's preparations for ISL 2023-24 began in solid fashion as they won all of their Durand Cup 2023 group-stage fixtures. Owen Coyle's men beat Hyderabad FC 3-1, Tribhuvan Army FC 3-0 and Delhi FC 2-1 to qualify for the quarterfinals.

They met arch-rivals FC Goa in the last eight and suffered a 4-1 defeat. Though Chennaiyin took a fifth-minute lead, the Gaurs overturned the deficit before half-time and then scored twice late on with their opponents pouring players forward.

Speaking about the mood in the dressing room after the game, Sandy Stewart stated that they viewed the situation as a learning experience. He said:

"Nobody likes getting beaten, but it's still preseason. We said that we're here to learn as well because we've got a new team. Do you know what, it's great when everybody's winning, but - and Owen spoke about this - when you get beat, sometimes you actually learn more from it.

"Whenever we win, everybody's happy and there's no problem. But when you get beat, you start looking into things a little bit deeper."

Stewart added that Chennaiyin's first-half display against Goa was unsatisfactory, but that they improved after the interval and simply failed to take their chances.

"The first half [against Goa], we didn't think it was good enough, the intensity in our play, going after the ball when Goa had it wasn't good enough. In the second half, we got closer and we became the dominant team for a spell. We just didn't take our chances and that dominance failed," he said.

"In the last five minutes, there were only 2-3 players playing in defense and unfortunately we [conceded] two goals. But we were a lot more closer to Goa than the scoreline suggests - it was a false scoreline."

Stewart added that such setbacks were part of pre-season, with the staff still trying to find the ideal combination:

"So we were happy with aspects of the game and we can do better in other aspects. But that's what preseason is all about. It's about finding out which players can do it and do it well continuously."

Chennaiyin FC will be looking to return to the ISL Playoffs for the first time since Coyle and Stewart led them to the final in the 2019-20 campaign. They have finished eighth in the standings in each of the last three seasons.