ISL 2017/18: NorthEast United FC confirm ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant as new manager, delete tweet to contain fan sentiment

What's the story?

About a week after the sacking of former manager Joao De Deus, NorthEast United FC finally confirmed on Twitter that they have parted ways with the Portuguese coach, and have brought on former Chelsea boss Avram Grant to take over the operations.

Soon after, however, the Guwahati-based club had to take down its tweet, in order to contain fan sentiment.

In case you didn't know...

Joao De Deus was signed at the start of this season but had a poor start to his stint in the ISL with just one win from seven games.

Avram Grant was then roped in initially as a technical advisor by the John Abraham co-owned franchise.

The heart of the matter

NorthEast United parted ways with Portugues manager Joao De Deus and formally announced the appointment of Avram Grant as manager till the end of the season. Here is a screenshot of the official club statement from their Twitter handle.

NEUFC's tweet that was taken down.

The NEUFC statement that was taken down.

However, in order to contain fan sentiments before the ATK game, the club decided to take the tweet down, a NorthEast United FC official revealed to Sportskeeda. According to the official, the club wanted to keep a positive atmosphere in the camp ahead of their match against ATK.

We had earlier reported the sacking of Joao De Deus and the subsequent appointment of Avram Grant as the technical advisor a week ago, and now the club has formally confirmed the news via Twitter.

Initially, Avram Grant was thought to have taken the role of the technical advisor at the club but now NorthEast United FC has officially confirmed that the former Ghana national team coach will take over at the helm of managerial duties.

Also, a few days back, former East Bengal coach Eelco Schattorie had been appointed as the assistant coach for the Highlanders.

NorthEast United are currently placed in the ninth position on the ISL standings with a tally of just seven points from eight matches played. The new appointments had an effect on the previous match where they beat FC Goa 2-1 at home and their fans will hope they continue to do improve in the season.

What's next?

NorthEast United FC will take on defending ISL champions ATK tomorrow at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, on Friday.

Author's take

Joao de Deus had a dismal start to the season and the sacking was inevitable from the management of the franchise. Avram Grant is a highly experienced manager and he could be just the man the club needs to turn around their fortunes as we head into the second half of the season.