Wednesday 8 October 2014 10:57, UK
Kerala Blasters player-boss David James seemed destined for a career in management, according to his former Aston Villa team-mate Paul Merson.
Ex-England goalkeeper James will undertake his first managerial role in the forthcoming Indian Super League, which begins on October 12.
And Merson insists it has come as no shock to him to see the former Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham shot-stopper enter management.
"I can see him being a manager," Merson told Sky Sports. "He had an opinion. He was a winner and he loved his football.
"He thinks about the game and he was always talking about it so it doesn’t surprise me to see him as a manager in India.
He (James) thinks about the game and he was always talking about it so it doesn’t surprise me to see him as a manager in India.
"It will be a great experience for him and all the players involved to go over to India and play.
"I know the league is only 10 weeks or so, but there will be a lot of players over there who are home-sick.
"It’s a long way from home for a lot of them and he has that experience of playing away from his locality, particularly when he was at Liverpool after leaving Watford. That will definitely help there can be no doubt about that."
Merson says James was the one of the most unique goalkeepers that he shared a dressing room with during his 20-year playing career.
"It’s hard for a goalkeeper to be a manager but fair play to him," Merson said.
"David James was different to all the other goalkeepers I played with. He was always more involved with team affairs and as I said he always had an opinion.
"At half-time after the game he was always talking about football. He was very different to David Seaman for example. Dave would do his job and that was him. He was very focused on his job but David James always seemed to concentrate on other peoples’ jobs at the same time.”
Former Newcastle, Sunderland and Cardiff striker Michael Chopra will play under James at Kerala, who are co-owned by Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Nicolas Anelka and Robert Pires are among the high-profile names that will feature in the inaugral league.
