Ashley Westwood interview: Kerala Blasters' new head coach on being manager of Afghanistan and much more

When Ashley Westwood told his family that he was going to manage Afghanistan, you can imagine the reaction. "They were like, 'What the hell are you doing?'" Even the British embassy in Kabul had suspended operations. Any life insurance was invalid.

For some, it is just in their nature. "I have never shied away from anything," Westwood tells Sky Sports. "Now, that might sound brave but it would not have sounded brave if something had happened to me. Maybe then you could call it daft, who knows?

"I just thought I had nothing to lose. And that sounds stupid because, of course, you have got your life to lose but if that is what is written for me then so be it. It does not go down well with the family but that is the kind of character that I have always been."

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Westwood, who started his playing career at Manchester United and had a taste of the Premier League with Bradford City, is now back in India having just been appointed by Kerala Blasters. He won the title twice in the country with Bengaluru over a decade ago.

But it is that period in between, his adventures in charge of Afghanistan and then Hong Kong, that bring as much pride as the trophies in India. "I took a team that was absolute garbage," he says. Afghanistan lost his first game 8-1 to Qatar in 2023. It all changed.

A little over six months later, he had them drawing a World Cup qualifier against the same opposition. They beat India in India for the first time in their history and were just minutes from progressing to the next round. "It shows that you can turn a team around."

Afghanistan, ranked 159 in the world at the time, was more than just a coaching job. "You just had to pull it all together yourself," he says. "I was trying to find players all over the world, booking flights, organising everything. It was just real tough work."

He made an impact, improving the ranking. "Because they were part-time players, you could get them without the club side blocking it. But then a lot of the time was spent on fitness because they were not fit enough. You could only really drip the tactics stuff in."

He adds: "The other side of it was that these Afghanistan players were trying to hold onto every word and improve. Premier League players might not listen so attentively. I still get players asking when I will go back. They are back down to 168 in the rankings."

Westwood left in 2024 to take over Hong Kong. "Ironically, they were 159 in the world too." That team had gone nine without a win. He soon had them on a seven-game winning streak. "It starts to become a pattern. I should have had a five-year contract!"

Instead, he was confronted by different political issues to those he had faced in Afghanistan. There were complaints that he had not focused on the domestic players. "I picked players to win matches. Naturalised players who had been in China, in Brazil."

He explains: "You are just trying to raise the standards and we went up to 146 in the world rankings, only losing to teams inside the top 50. There were 50,000 fans at the games. But it is very political there and not many managers last more than six months."

Westwood liked some aspects of the job. "There were logistics staff, professional players, a proper calendar." But not others. "You were on a Chinese government contract and had to be in the office every day. I felt like a London banker commuting."

It is not that he did not want to put the work in. "Nobody works harder." It was the notion that he needed to be on the clock. "When you work in football, you are used to maintaining standards." That was instilled right from the start at Manchester United.

He remains friends with Michael Appleton, who he knew in the academy there and was assistant manager to at Portsmouth years later. On a recent visit home he attended Terry Yorath's funeral and caught up with old pals. He still follows the English game.

There is a particular interest in United, not least because he knows assistant head coach Steve Holland from their time at Crewe Alexandra. "You always expect a bounce but the players seem to be enjoying it. They are doing something right," says Westwood.

"Football is far more technical now. In the past, it was more about trying to find the best players, trying to keep everybody motivated by having a good team spirit. But then, football is still about building those connections and relationships, even now."

He has worked as an analyst in Asia, doing tactical segments on the touchscreens, covering World Cups and European leagues. "There is so much exposure to tactics now, everybody thinks they are a specialist. And you have to move with the times as a coach."

Westwood is doing more than move with the times, he is moving around the world. Is there no part of him that would have preferred to stay at home in England and work his way up that way? "You cannot always pick and choose in football," he points out.

"There are many roads. Some go through the academies and end up in the Premier League. But that is not for everyone. I still aspire to get to the top. For me, to do something different, coach national teams, those are different experiences.

"I have seen everything that this game can throw at you and there is no ideal route in football. People who think they can pick and choose their way through it are a little bit deluded. I would not turn my nose up at anything. There is always something to learn."

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