Jamshedpur FC head coach Owen Coyle spoke in the post-match press conference after the game against SC East Bengal, which they won in the death by an Ishan Pandita header.
Owen spoke about super-sub Ishan Pandita who yet again rescues the team late by scoring a headed goal and hands them the second win of this season that was won because of him.
“Yes, I brought him to Jamshedpur FC because he is a wonderful player. He is going to get better, and he is working his socks off in training to get a spot in the starting lineup. He has already been in the starting lineup but had a couple of injuries and niggles earlier, but now he is doing well. He had a couple of chances before he scored the goal, but the header was just a natural finish. If I can improve his overall game, as I mentioned earlier, then the Indian National team is going to get a fantastic number 9 for sure. He is a wonderful person you can work with without any issue, he has a great attitude, and everybody adores him because he has got quality and how he is as a team player. So I can keep on speaking good things about him. He deserved that goal tonight, it was a wonderful header, and that’s what he can do, and he is very talented.”
Before the match, Coyle praised the opponents’ SC East Bengal, and even after the match he was in full praise of the way the Red and Gold Brigades have performed. This is what he had to say,
“Yes, that’s what SC East Bengal have had lately; they had only one foreigner available last night. They have drawn 4 of the previous five games and only lost against NorthEast United. They have shown they are a tough team to beat. Of course, it took us longer than we would have liked to finish the game. We could have easily scored 4-5 goals yesterday, but the good thing was we were solid at the back and didn’t concede any goals. They defended well, and we were also unlucky at times with the ball hitting the woodwork, and they made a couple of important saves to deny us. The important thing was I asked my players to be patient and not be frustrated when they don’t score, and some elements of it crept it but generally speaking, it was an outstanding performance from Jamshedpur FC.”
Owen shared his feeling as Jamshedpur FC currently sits on the top of the table.
“Yes, it’s nice to be top of the table, but the time everyone wants to be there is at the end of the 20 games and not after playing 11 games. Still, we would rather be there than not be. We might have been there earlier, but we are trying, and I want my team to collect more points than we already have. We know that we can go toe-to-toe with the best teams. We just have to make sure that moving forward, we are doing the same things and working hard, and being more clinical in our chances to score goals. We will look to add another goalscorer to the team, and that would increase the competition in the team.”
Owen spoke about the competitiveness in the league, as every team is replaced by another team at the top of the table every day and the team’s position is not fixed. This is what he had to say,
“Yes, I think that will happen because there are so many good teams in the league, and it’s very competitive, and that’s what we want. We want to grow and develop, and the ISL has been a wonderful advert this year with some of the individual goals and the team goals, with the fantastic quality of the team and the promoted young Indian players coming in. So there’s no doubt that the league is getting better and better every day. Every game that is played here is very difficult to win as all teams are equally strong, and that’s what makes the league exciting and entertaining to watch. From our side, we will try to be a win as many points as possible to keep us at the top end of the table.”
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