Shillong Lajong Coach Stanley Rosario
There was no happy ending for the northeastern club…
By Amoy Ghoshal
Shillong Lajong’s debut I-League campaign eventually ended in relegation following their defeat in the final round fixture against Salgaocar.
The north-eastern club needed to better Mumbai FC’s result to beat the drop but they got beat 1-3 by Karim Bencherifa’ side. Mumbai’s 2-0 win over Mohun Bagan sent Lajong down while Sporting Clube de Goa’s 1-0 win over Chirag made them finish rock bottom in the final standings.
Their coach Stanley Rosario is disappointed with the outcome but while looking back at the match he pointed out that his side could have easily taken all three points.
“We clearly had the better chances in the game (against Salgaocar) but once again our finishing was disappointing. To add to that their goalkeeper (Amit Nandy) was in outstanding form and was adjudged man of the match.
“We could have easily won the game by a big margin but instead we got caught on the break, as we were going all out to score, and conceded three goals. It is a disappointing end to the season because we really wanted to finish with a win.”
The former East Bengal and Salgaocar coach then analyzed Lajong’s first ever I-League campaign and said that they were unable to get results when it mattered because of the lack of experience in the squad.
He however opined that this season’s I-League was very tight so despite getting a decent tally of points the north-eastern club got relegated.
“Other than Daniel Bedemi, none of the players in the squad had any previous experience of playing in the I-League. So when the pressure was on the inexperience showed as we failed to get results.
“But I must say that it was a very open league as the gap between teams in the bottom half was very little in the end. I think 26 points from 26 games is a good enough tally to stay up but this time the league was very unpredictable because on a given day any team could beat anyone.”
When asked on whether the decision to retain the same squad from the second division in the I-League, was a gamble on the part of the Lajong team management. Coach Rosario refused to get drawn into any controversy and praised his players for their brave effort over the course of the season.
“See just because we got relegated doesn’t mean I or anyone from the Lajong team can put the blame on any particular member of the squad. The same group of players that got relegated reached the Federation Cup final.
“Also we managed to beat the five biggest clubs in the country (Dempo, Churchill Brothers, Mahindra United, Mohun Bagan & East Bengal). So this team has full of talent and throughout the season they gave their all. It is very unfortunate that we couldn’t survive and that is a very big blow for both north-east and Indian football in general.”
Rosario also refused to comment on his future but backed Lajong to come straight back to the I-League.
“I don’t think this is the right time to comment on my future, there is still a lot of time left for that.
“Shillong Lajong has a lot of potential to do well in Indian football and I strongly believe that they have every chance of bouncing straight back to the I-League,” he concluded.
[ via Goal.com]
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