# 2015 Kerala Blasters FC season

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

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | MF | IND | Rahul Bheke (on loan from East Bengal) |
| 4 | DF | IND | Ramandeep Singh |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Peter Ramage |
| 7 | MF | IND | Cavin Lobo (on loan from East Bengal) |
| 8 | MF | POR | João Coimbra |
| 11 | MF | IND | Ishfaq Ahmed |
| 12 | MF | IND | Shankar Sampingiraj (on loan from Bengaluru FC) |
| 13 | MF | IND | C.K. Vineeth (on loan from Bengaluru FC) |
| 14 | MF | IND | Mehtab Hossain (on loan from East Bengal) |
| 15 | DF | IND | Sandesh Jhingan |
| 16 | DF | IND | Gurwinder Singh (on loan from East Bengal) |
| 17 | FW | IND | Manandeep Singh |
| 18 | DF | IND | Deepak Mondal (on loan from East Bengal) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | IND | Mohammed Rafi |
| 21 | FW | ENG | Antonio German |
| 22 | GK | IND | Shilton Paul (on loan from Mohun Bagan) |
| 23 | DF | BRA | Bruno Perone |
| 24 | GK | IND | Sandip Nandy |
| 29 | DF | IND | Saumik Dey (on loan from East Bengal) |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Marcus Williams |
| 43 | GK | ENG | Stephen Bywater |
| 44 | DF | BRA | Rodrigo Arroz |
| 66 | MF | IND | Peter Carvalho (on loan from Dempo S.C.) |
| 85 | MF | ESP | Pulga |
| 99 | MF | ESP | Josu |
| — | DF | IND | Nirmal Chettri |
Source: Indian Super League 2015

## Transfers
### In
#### Pre-season

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred From | Fee | Date |
| 9 | ST | Chris Dagnall | Leyton Orient | Free | 1 July 2015 |
| 17 | ST | Manandeep Singh | Delhi Dynamos | Free | 1 July 2015 |
| 20 | ST | Mohammed Rafi | Mumbai F.C. | Free | 1 July 2015 |
| 8 | CM | João Coimbra | Rapid București | Free | 3 August 2015 |
| 10 | LW | Sanchez Watt | Colchester United | Free | 4 August 2015 |
| 23 | CB | Bruno Perone | Grêmio Novorizontino | Free | 18 August 2015 |
| 5 | CB | Peter Ramage | Crystal Palace | Free | 24 August 2015 |
| 43 | GK | Stephen Bywater | Doncaster Rovers | Free | 24 August 2015 |
| 21 | ST | Antonio German | Gillingham | Free | 26 August 2015 |
| 6 | CB | Carlos Marchena | Deportivo La Coruña | Free | 28 August 2015 |
| 30 | LB | Marcus Williams | Scunthorpe United | Free | 29 August 2015 |
| 99 | AM | Josu | Górnik Łęczna | Free | 6 August 2015 |

#### During the season

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred From | Fee | Date | Source |
| 44 | CB | Rodrigo Arroz | S.E.R. Caxias do Sul | Free | 26 November 2015 | |

### Out
#### Pre-season

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred To | Fee | Date |
| 9 | ST | Pedro Gusmão | Atlético Paranaense | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 12 | ST | Chinadorai Sabeeth | Mohun Bagan | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 32 | CB | Colin Falvey | Charleston Battery | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 44 | CB | Erwin Spitzner | Atlético Paranaense | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 14 | MF | Mehtab Hossain | East Bengal | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 16 | DF | Gurwinder Singh | East Bengal | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 29 | DF | Saumik Dey | East Bengal | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 30 | GK | Luis Barreto | East Bengal | Loan Return | 31 December 2014 |
| 70 | GK | David James | | Retired | 31 December 2014 |
| 13 | CM | Duleep Menon | Free Agent | Free | 1 January 2015 |
| 23 | RB | Avinabo Bag | Free Agent | Free | 1 January 2015 |
| 27 | ST | Andrew Barisic | Melbourne Knights | Free | 1 January 2015 |
| 88 | ST | Milagres Gonsalves | Salgaocar F.C. | Free | 1 January 2015 |
| 18 | CM | Penn Orji | Shillong Lajong | Free | 15 January 2015 |
| 3 | LB | Jamie McAllister | Exeter City | Free | 16 January 2015 |
| 21 | RM | Godwin Franco | Royal Wahingdoh | Free | 5 February 2015 |
| 25 | CM | Stephen Pearson | Motherwell | Free | 19 January 2015 |
| 22 | CB | Raphaël Romey | FC Istres | Free | 25 January 2015 |
| 10 | ST | Iain Hume | Tranmere Rovers | Free | 29 January 2015 |
| 8 | ST | Michael Chopra | Alloa Athletic | Free | 17 March 2015 |
| 2 | RB | Cédric Hengbart | NorthEast United | Free | 3 July 2015 |
| 7 | DM | Sushanth Mathew | FC Pune City | Free | 10 July 2015 |

#### During the season

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred To | Fee | Date |
| 6 | CB | Carlos Marchena | CD Gerena | Free | 19 November 2015 |
| 10 | LW | Sanchez Watt | Free Agent | Free | 26 November 2015 |
| 9 | ST | Chris Dagnall | Hibernian F.C. | Free | 23 December 2015 |

### Loan in
#### Pre-season

| No. | Pos | Player | Loaned From | Start | End |
| 14 | DM | Mehtab Hossain | East Bengal | 1 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 16 | CB | Gurwinder Singh | East Bengal | 1 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 18 | CB | Deepak Mondal | East Bengal | 1 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 22 | GK | Shilton Paul | Mohun Bagan | 1 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 29 | LB | Saumik Dey | East Bengal | 1 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 7 | LM | Cavin Lobo | East Bengal | 10 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 12 | CM | Shankar Sampingiraj | Bengaluru | 10 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 13 | CM | C.K. Vineeth | Bengaluru | 10 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |
| 66 | DM | Peter Carvalho | Dempo S.C. | 10 July 2015 | 31 December 2015 |

#### During the season

| No. | Pos | Player | Loaned From | Start | End | Source |
| 2 | RB | Rahul Bheke | East Bengal | 13 September 2015 | 31 December 2015 | |

### Loan Out
#### Pre-season

| No. | Pos | Player | Loaned To | Start | End | Source |
| 6 | LM | Renedy Singh | CSKA Sofia | 27 February 2015 | 30 June 2015 | |

## Indian Super League
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | Delhi Dynamos | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 22 | Advance to ISL Play-offs |
| 5 | NorthEast United | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 23 | −5 | 20 | |
| 6 | Mumbai City | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 26 | −10 | 16 | |
| 7 | Pune City | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 23 | −6 | 15 | |
| 8 | Kerala Blasters | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 27 | −5 | 13 | |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 3 December 2015. Source: Matches

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Ground | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | L | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | L | D | L | D |

### Matches
## Squad statistics

    As of Match played 3 December 2015

### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Indian Super League | Indian Super League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | IND | Rahul Bheke | 12 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | IND | Ramandeep Singh | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Peter Ramage | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | IND | Cavin Lobo | 6 | 1 | 5+1 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | POR | João Coimbra | 11 | 1 | 6+5 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | IND | Ishfaq Ahmed | 7 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | IND | Shankar Sampingiraj | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | IND | C.K. Vineeth | 9 | 0 | 3+6 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | IND | Mehtab Hossain | 13 | 0 | 12+1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | IND | Sandesh Jhingan | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | IND | Gurwinder Singh | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | IND | Manandeep Singh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | IND | Deepak Mondal | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | IND | Mohammed Rafi | 9 | 4 | 7+2 | 4 |
| 21 | MF | ENG | Antonio German | 11 | 7 | 7+4 | 7 |
| 23 | DF | BRA | Bruno Perone | 10 | 0 | 7+3 | 0 |
| 24 | GK | IND | Sandip Nandy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | IND | Saumik Dey | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Marcus Williams | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 43 | GK | ENG | Stephen Bywater | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | BRA | Rodrigo Arroz | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 66 | MF | IND | Peter Carvalho | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 85 | MF | ESP | Pulga | 11 | 2 | 8+3 | 2 |
| 99 | MF | ESP | Josu | 11 | 1 | 9+2 | 1 |
| Players who left Kerala Blasters due to injury during the season: ||||||||
| 10 | FW | ENG | Sanchez Watt | 9 | 2 | 5+4 | 2 |
| Players who left Kerala Blasters during the season: ||||||||
| 6 | DF | ESP | Carlos Marchena | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Chris Dagnall | 13 | 6 | 13 | 6 |

### Goal scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Number | Name | Indian Super League | Total |
| 1 | FW | | 21 | Antonio German | 6 | 6 |
| 1 | FW | | 9 | Chris Dagnall | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | FW | | 20 | Mohammed Rafi | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | FW | | 10 | Sanchez Watt | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | MF | | 99 | Josu | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | MF | | 7 | Cavin Lobo | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | MF | | 85 | Pulga | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | MF | | 8 | João Coimbra | 1 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 22 | 22 |

### Disciplinary record

| Number | Position | Name | Indian Super League | Indian Super League | Total | Total |
| 4 | DF | Ramandeep Singh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Peter Ramage | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Chris Dagnall | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Ishfaq Ahmed | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | C.K. Vineeth | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Mehtab Hossain | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | Sandesh Jhingan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Bruno Perone | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | DF | Saumik Dey | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | Marcus Williams | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 43 | GK | Stephen Bywater | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 66 | MF | Peter Carvalho | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 99 | MF | Josù | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | 19 | 3 | 19 | 3 |

## Home Stadium Attendances

    As of 29 November 2015
| Pos | Date | Opponent | Stadium Attendance |
| 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 |