OWEN Coyle has become the latest former Wanderer to try his hand at management in the Indian Super League.

The 53-year-old has been unveiled as the new coach of Chennaiyin FC until the end of the current season, which runs until March.

Coyle has been out of football since leaving Scottish outfit Ross County in March last year and has been working in the media.

Speaking ahead of the appointment, he said: “I am incredibly proud to join Chennaiyin FC as their head coach.

"It will be my immense privilege to join a club with so much success already in its early history with two ISL titles.

"I believe we possess a squad with great potential and the hunger to do well, complimented by an ardent fanbase always backing us.

"I can’t wait to get started."

Coyle spent just over two years with Wanderers as a player, scoring in the play-off final victory against Reading in 1995, returning as manager in January 2010.

He led the Whites to safety in his first season, finishing 14th, and to the FA Cup semi-final a year later – only for his side to suffer an embarrassing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Stoke City.

Wanderers were relegated the following season and Coyle parted company with the club after winning just three of their first 10 matches in the Championship.

He took the Wigan Athletic job in June 2013, lasting only seven months, and then moved to the US to coach Houston Dynamo in MLS.

Shortly after leaving that job he was then a surprise appointment at Blackburn Rovers, but his links with Bolton and Burnley made his stay at Ewood Park difficult and he was sacked after just 37 games in charge.

Another opportunity cropped up in September 2017 at Ross County – his first job north of the border in a decade – but his stay in Dingwall proved relatively short, and he resigned last March with the club bottom of the table.

Despite being in a managerial dip, Coyle was lauded as a coup fore the Chennai-based club.

“Owen is a renowned name in British football, with a fantastic career as both player and coach,” their joint-owners Abhishek Bachchan, MS Dhoni and Vita Dani commented. "We are really happy and excited to have him onboard.

"Our conversations with Owen have been really promising and we are certain he will steer us back to glory.

"I wish him the very best as he begins his tenure with us."

Coyle will begin his new job on Monday with a trip to face Jamshedpur FC, with his new club sitting ninth in the table.

He will also face Hyderabad in January, coming up against another trio of ex-Bolton players in Phil Brown, Neil McDonald and Aidan Davison.

Brown was coach at Pune FC last season – assisted by another former Wanderer, Trevor Morgan – but the club was dissolved due to financial and technical difficulties.

He agreed to stay in India this season, however, and Brown’s side currently prop up the table, one point behind Chennaiyin, after six games.

Former Burnden Park striker Morgan – known to fans of a certain vintage as ‘Sumo’ - has an extensive coaching background in East Asia and has also been in charge of the Dempo SC, Kerala Blasters and East Bengal in India and the Bhutan national team.

Other Wanderers to have played in India recently include Finnish legend Jussi Jaaskelainen, who made a handful of appearances for Atletico Kolkata and also worked as the club’s goalkeeping coach.