Owen Coyle’s Jamshedpur FC will face Bozidar Bandovic’s Chennaiyin FC in the second game of the Sunday double header after Kerala Blasters and FC Goa would have already kicked off the new year action of Indian football in a nearby stadium. There are a lot of players who have played for both Chennaiyin and Jamshedpur at some point of time. When Owen Coyle was signed by Jamshedpur FC, he brought in some of his trusted players with him. All of them will go face to face against their former team with whom they wrote a beautiful story.
Jamshedpur FC are currently on the fourth spot and are only three points away from the top spot and the league leaders Mumbai City FC. If Jamshedpur win this game against Chennaiyin FC by over a 3 goal margin, they will find themselves on top of the table if Blasters don’t do anything similar.
“I think we have played very very good and everybody would accept that we should probably have few more points based on the performance we have displayed.” responded Owen Coyle. “We have lost one game and even in the Mumbai City game, we found ourselves 3 to nothing down. We rallied a comeback and we could have taken something for us from the game!”
“Jamshedpur FC have never been in the playoff positions before but we are here because we have earned the right to be here and possibly could have been higher.” added the confident Owen Coyle.
Alongside bringing some of his trusted players from Chennaiyin, Owen Coyle found some new heroes for him and the league at Jamshedpur FC. He currently has the most number of non-penalty goal contributions in the league (5 goals 4 assists). Greg Stewart is surely proving himself as the signing of the season. His stunning free kick goal against Kerala Blasters is making headlines around the world.
Meanwhile in the Indian Super League ☄️
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“That goal, is an outstanding moment in football!”. It surely is. “I have scored nearly 300 goals in my career but none of them as good as that. That was a wonderful strike and he has got that ability. That’s why I brought him to Jamshedpur.” said Owen Coyle with pride.
“He (Greg Stewart) is as talented as anything but he is all about team. How hard he works against the ball, what he brings with the ball. That’s why he is a shining example of what we are trying to build or implement at Jamshedpur FC.”
Owen Coyle always speaks very highly of the Indian players he has. Ritwik Das made his first start of the season against his former team Kerala Blasters. “I was delighted with Ritwik!” said Owen Coyle on his performance. “The injuries to Komal and Len gave both of them (Ritwik and Boris) the opportunity. But I have known for a period of time that they were ready for it. I see them everyday in the training. They show the attitude and desire to get better. Boris has already started few games before. Ritwik’s performance stands out as a good stead. It surely gives us food for thought.”
Jamshedpur’s local boy Mobashir Rahman will compete his 50th game for Jamshedpur FC when he will take the field against Owen Coyle’s former side.
“He was an integral part of our team last year. Now that he is healthy, he will be the same this year again. He would have already reached that milestone had he not picked up an injury in the pre season. But Mobashir has got a big role to play at the club, particularly in the second half of the season. It’s a big achievement for him but I have told him that he has so much more to give. Listen to your coaches and you are going to have a great career.” fondly says Owen Coyle about one of his favourite players.
Owen Coyle’s one of the most successful managerial time came at Chennaiyin FC where he took the team mid-way and took them all the way to the final. He speaks very highly of his former team and his fellow tactician.
“Chennaiyin have good players. They have a wonderful coach who is somebody who I have been very taken by. I like when the sport is played very well. I know that club very well! I was there and I was very successful in my time there. So I know that they have quality players who make up a very wonderful team. Even in their game against Bengaluru, they were very very unfortunate. They could have easily been 3-0 up after 15-20 minutes. We will be very respectful and wary of the threat they possess.”
“What we have to do, ofcourse, is to give them all the respect and make sure that we are bringing out our best game. We have shown that we can stand toe-to-toe with anybody in this league and win games if we do our best.”
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