ISL: Former Carlisle United manager Eric Kinder set to join Bengaluru FC as assistant coach

Former Carlisle United coach, Eric Kinder has agreed a deal with Indian Super League (ISL) side, Bengaluru FC and is set to join the Blues as the assistant to head coach, Simon Grayson ahead of the 2022/23 season.

Kinder who left his under-18 coaching role at Brunton Park in May this year brought an end to a second spell at Carlisle, with News&Star claiming that Grayson, who was appointed manager at Bengaluru last month had asked the former Carlisle United coach to join him in India as his assistant.

“When I left Carlisle on good terms in May, I said I had no intention of retiring whilst I’m still loving coaching and feel I’ve still got some years ahead of me in the game," Kinder said on his new challenge.

“Simon approached me, and gave me a few days to think about it, and I quickly came back to him and said, ‘Why not?’. It’s a new adventure and something exciting in the Indian Super League, in a different country and different culture," he added.

Kinder and Grayson have known each other since the latter was a player at Blackburn, with Kinder having coached in the youth set-up at the Ewood Park club. The duo will link up with their squad a week after landing in India after next weekend, and will spend three weeks at a top Indian institute of sport.

“I just thought if I don’t do it, I might regret it. If this turns out to be where my working career ends, let’s do it with a bit of an adventure," Kinder concluded.