IT was one of the more bizarre images of the sporting year so far. Like one of those theme park attractions where you can put on a costume to have your photo taken.

In John Gregory's case, it would have been dressing up as the stern father in a Bollywood movie who has forbidden his daughter from marrying anyone except the son of a wealthy textile factory owner.

But the actual explanation was somewhat more mundane; Gregory had simply donned a traditional Tamil Nadu clothing to pose with the Indian Super League trophy after guiding Chennaiyin to the title.

Hang on a second: John Gregory? Managing in the Indian Super League? Okay, maybe that is not so mundane after all.

The 63-year-old has become something of a forgotten man on these shores, having last been seen in charge of Crawley Town just over three years ago before stepping down after undergoing heart surgery.

But yet here he is, having steered the Chennai-based franchise in football's answer to cricket's Indian Premier League to glory courtesy of a 3-2 victory over Bengaluru in last Saturday's final.

Two decades ago, Gregory was considered one of the up-and-coming managers of the English game, having stepped up to manage former club Aston Villa from Wycombe Wanderers.

That reputation was further enhanced by guiding Villa to the top of the Premier League midway through the 1998-99 season, although his time in charge yielded only an FA Cup final appearance in 2000 and the Intertoto Cup the following year before quitting in 2002.

Less memorable spells at financially-stricken Derby County and another of his old clubs, Queens Park Rangers, followed before Gregory embarked on an overseas adventure which would eventually lead to India.

Bizarrely, Gregory decamped to Israel for two separate appointments. It was not a happy time though, with him steering Maccabi Ahi Nazareth to relegation and then taking FC Ashdod to the brink of relegation.

Next up was a short stint in another of European football's outposts, Kazakhstan, where his time in charge of FC Kairat saw them retain their status in the county's top flight.

After the aforementioned spell back on these shores at Crawley, Gregory was off on his travels again and joined a number of Premier League alumni to have tried their luck managing in the ISL.

This season has seen Steve Coppell, David James and Avram Grant all in charge of teams, while the evergreen Robbie Keane was handed the role as player-manager Kolkata-based ATK. None have enjoyed the same level of success as Gregory so far though.

Indeed, James' second spell in charge of Kerala Blasters has been most notable for him alienating maverick striker Dimitar Berbatov, who took to social media to express his displeasure at long-ball tactics.

Grant, meanwhile, succeeded only in finishing bottom of the regular-season table with NorthEast United. Fair play to him, though, for managing to build a hugely lucrative managerial career on the back of knowing a rich oligarch who happened to be owner of Chelsea.

GIVEN the length of the gap between some races, at times it is impossible to tell when the Formula E season starts and finishes.

You might be forgiven for thinking the past three years have been one elongated campaign of the FIA's electric-powered racing series, but apparently they are now into season three.

Maybe the reason gaps between ePrix are so long because the drivers are actually racing to the events as well, like on Wacky Race s, only to have to stop on the way to charge the cars up and spend the intervening eight hours doing a walking tour of a nearby town and some brass rubbing.

Or maybe that was just an old episode of Top Gear I was watching.

Anyway, last Saturday's race in Uruguay proved enthrailling, action-packed race which saw championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne hold off Lucas di Grassi for the win.

I'm now looking forward to the next round through the streets of Rome - however far in the future that might be.

THE fact Joe Joyce was 1/100 to win his third professional contest and his opponent's previous fight saw him knock out someone with an 0-5 record in the first round gave some idea of what was in store last Saturday.

But anyone in attendance at Bethnal Green's York Hall or watching live on Channel 5 would have barely had time to get comfortable before referee Jeff Hinds called an end to proceedings.

Ostensibly an eight-round contest, Joyce took just 38 seconds to end the night of Donnie Palmer - whose nickname 'Big Nasty' is, on this showing at least, presumably an ironic one - with his first meaningful punch of the fight.

That led to David Haye, now combining his own in-ring career with promoting, bouncing around ringside like a hyperactive child who had overindulged on Fruit Pastilles and Rola Cola, and once again calling out Dereck Chisora to face his young charge.

That contest now looks set to go ahead on the undercard of Haye's rematch with Tony Bellew in May, where the former is aiming to avenge the defeat in their first meeting and retain his own relevancy in the heavyweight division.

At the same time, he has taken on the responsibility of guiding the fledgling career of 2016 Olympic Games silver-medalist Joyce, who joined the paid ranks last July at the age of 32 after a long and distinguished amateur career.

Whereas most boxers turning professional will start slowly, Joyce was thrown straight into a 10-rounder against former British title challenger Ian Lewinson, stopping him in the eighth.

Rudolf Jozic and Palmer have since been put out of sight in the first round and while Haye's faith in his protege to make rapid progress is admirable, it also seems somewhat foolhardy.

Chisora is vastly more experienced than anyone Joyce has faced to date and represents a huge step up in class. The trade-off is the 34-year-old is one of the gatekeepers to contention for titles.

Very few boxers have reached those levels so quickly, although Vasyl Lomachenko - rated as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers at present - fought for a world title in only his second professional bout and won one in his third after a decorated amateur career.

The hugely-likeable Joyce clearly has the amateur pedigree, but is still raw when it comes to the pro ranks. Like all precocious talents, he needs guiding carefully or his career could be over before it has really begun.