Jamshedpur FC had a dream last season in the Indian Super League. Heading into the new season they now have a new head coach and a couple of new foreigners and plenty of new challenges ahead of them. But still team captain Peter Hartley feels that the Men of Steel will be stronger than the previous season as a unit and will tackle all the adversities present right now.
The biggest loss after their head coach, Owen Coyle’s departure was Greg Stewart moving out to Mumbai City FC. The Scottish versatile forward who won the Golden Ball last season and was adjudged the best player in the league has left a massive void to fill in this Jamshedpur FC squad.
It is clear that Jamshedpur FC will start a little on the backfoot but their captain Hartley is totally confident as he feels that the team will share the burden of scoring 10 goals and 11 assists which Stewart contributed among themselves therefore not burdening someone with a major responsibility. “You can say everyone has improved and we have lost Greg, Owen, but in my opinion, we have become stronger in every position,” Hartley told The Times of India in an interview.
“Greg got us 10 goals last season, now it’s up to us as a team. We may not have a player who will give us those 10 goals individually, but as a team, we have to recreate the 10 goals, and 11 assists,” he added.
With Aidy Boothroyd in charge of the squad, Hartley feels that the club will be moving in the right direction. He shares how Boothroyd is the right man to carry COyle’s legacy forward with his ideas obviously. While the philosophy and man management skills can be negotiable, the ability to take decisions under pressure is something that Boothroyd should be wary of, especially in Indian football.
“I think we will use the ball a lot more this season. The manager has already said ‘don’t go away from what gave you success as a team without the ball’, but he has also tried to give us a way of playing that will help everybody as a team and help us grow together,” Hartley said.
The ISL will have a fresh format with six teams making it to the playoffs and also shifting to a more weekend based schedule system. Reacting to the Hartley feels that it will harder than ever to get into the playoffs with the increased spots as it will also increase competition. Most importantly he highlights how the team needs to stand up for their new manager, Aidy Boothroyd and give him a nice base to build on at the start.
“This is my third season in ISL and every year it’s been stronger. The India group of players are improving at a rapid pace. For me, the game is not played on paper. We have to start well and give the manager a good base to build on, and tweak a few things,” the Jamshedpur FC captain concluded.
