From 4th highest paid Indian in ISL 2014 to a season of redemption: Manandeep's comeback begins

Indian Super League organisers IMG-Reliance paid Manandeep Singh Rs 42 lakh to come on board for the inaugural season. This year, he was unpicked in the draft with a base price of Rs 8 lakhs — before signing for Kerala Blasters on 28 July.

Manandeep’s past year — and the drop of Rs 34 lakhs in his price — is the perfect example of what one injury can do to a player’s value in the market, even if he’s just 22-years-old and has all the time to make a comeback. The player, who turned out for Delhi Dynamos last year, has been out with a back strain since January and has just regained full fitness.

But it’s not just about his body recovering — Manandeep is just starting to regain a once glowing reputation in Indian football. It’s one that earned him the 2012-13 Football Players Association of India ‘Young Player of the Season’ award. This began not in India, but more than 10,000 kms away in Norway, where he has been on trial with Strommen IF since the first week of July.

“It’s their (ISL clubs) decision eventually but I think any player gets a major injury in his career and deserves a chance to come back from it. I could have played but I believe in giving 100 per cent to the cause rather than play with an injury – I like being honest with those who pick me when some players can lie their way through injury and play,” Manandeep told Firstpost over the phone from Norway.

The ISL’s second season comes at just the right time for him, and Kerala Blasters are a team managed by Trevor Morgan — someone who doesn’t sign players without knowing what they can offer. Add to this the fact that Morgan has a record of picking Indian players he has already coached. Eleven current Kerala Blasters players have played under him at one point. Manandeep is the 12th.

“It’s always amazing to play under him because he used to be a striker in his playing days and you get to learn a lot from him,” Manandeep said, adding that it will be good to reunite with his old boss.

Manandeep said he was ‘disappointed’ when he wasn’t picked in the ISL draft this year. “I’ll come back though, God gives the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers,” he told Firstpost immediately after. This attitude, he says, comes from a career in which he’s faced a lot already.

“I’ve never trained at a proper academy. I started bare foot on muddy pitches and got picked straight for nationals and for India in age group and senior tournaments,” he said. It was at an U-14 football festival in Chandigarh where he was spotted and picked for the national U-16 team.

Manandeep said there was only one college ground in Hisar where “an old man without any coaching license – and purely for the love of football’ would teach them how to play. He said the journeys to represent his state Haryana were almost unbearable.

“There was no reservation… I’ve travelled for hours sitting near the toilet in trains with the simple will and the joy to play. There were times when coaches didn’t have the allowance to give us for food and if the team ate, I ate — if the team did not, then even if I had pocket money from home I would not eat,” he said.

One could call Manandeep an instinctive striker. His technique was honed without much guidance — a natural, in need of a helping hand to round his game up. That’s where India’s former youth development coach comes in.

“Most of what I know about the game, I learnt from Colm Toal during my time with India’s youth camps (for five years). Those five years were the most important of my life and he was like a second father to me, teaching me more than just football,” Manandeep said.

The youngster’s breakthrough season came with Air India in 2011-12, and his nine-goal haul in 2011-12 convinced East Bengal to sign him. In the first ISL season, Delhi Dynamos decided to pick him and cough up the cash. They played him only twice though — Herm van Veldhoven was clearly not convinced about a player who has represented India at all age-group levels and an injury soon after meant Manandeep had a nightmare six months.

“I really want to thank those people from heart who were there when I was facing my worst time. My family, the girl I love and friends,” he said.

The Haryanvi’s stint at Norway has also been quite successful. Strommen have called him back in January for their pre-season — so Manandeep’s immediate future after the ISL is taken care of for now.

“They want me to come back for sure, and even though I can’t name names, some more Norwegian clubs are also interested in me,” he said.

And a few goals for Kerala Blasters in ISL 2015 will certainly increase this interest.