The Men of Steel have shown heart and hard work with every game they played last season under Owen Coyle’s command. Despite the outcome, the season was a mixed bag of wins and losses.

In this part of the interview, our Gaffer discusses his thoughts on last season’s performance, his camaraderie with the teammates outside of football and more.

Do you think lack of goalscorers or assists from the midfield to Valskis in the final third led to Jamshedpur not qualifying for the playoffs?

We can analyse all the games to figure out why Jamshedpur did not make it to the playoffs but there was one defining moment in the whole season that stopped us from entering the playoffs and that is the disallowed goal of Alex Lima in the 89th minute against FC Goa. That goal could have won us the match and given us 3 more points and you would have seen Jamshedpur FC in the play-offs instead of FC Goa. So that is just one moment and we certainly had other moments where things didn't go our way. People say things eventually even themselves out but in reality, they don’t. Sometimes we also have decisions that go against us which are bad for the club, but we do not use that as an excuse for our losses as there were things that we could have done better. We also had some opportunities and games to achieve more points than we did. But it does not really help because if you think about it, we played our first 9 games in 26 days and then we had a massive 12 day break. So going from playing so many games to no games really broke the momentum down for us and we were the only team with that kind of schedule. So it certainly did not help us as the gap came when we were in a good form. It did not help us when we came back from the break which led to losses in a couple of games. A lot of wrong decisions and errors were also made in those games but we showed character, strength and a tough mentality to bounce back and came close to qualifying for the play-offs. So there is no doubt that after all the circumstances we faced in this season, this Jamshedpur FC squad is far better than what we had before. We have proven that in the last season and we will look to do the same in the new season. When you look back in isolation, we drew with the Champions, Mumbai City FC, with 10 men on the field and then we beat them in the next game while also beating ATK Mohun Bagan in the first game. So we have shown that we can stand toe-to-toe with the best teams and what we have to do is improve in a few areas so that we get better in our game with some more aggression as well. Of course, you want the strikers to have support from the midfield but you have to consider that Valskis had 8 goals in the first 10 games, so  chances were created to score by the midfielders. This shows us the missing pieces we need to add to the team to make us a flamboyant and more entertaining team which I feel we already are. The fans should feel happy when they see our style of play. So with Len, Farukh and Boris coming into the squad, we have a lot of pace now and we could be faster in our games while also having goalscorers on the field.

Was the 2 weeks break the reason for Jamshedpur losing its momentum which hindered the progress in the second half of the season?

At the end of the day, the games are what matters the most but the break certainly did not help us as it should have. As we played games every 3 days, we certainly thought we needed a break, but maybe for 5-6 days would have been better after the New Year. Despite the injuries and the results of the games, there was a rhythm and continuity from playing 3 days which was broken due to the big gap between the two halves of the season for us. That is something that was new to us just like the bio-bubble. I think we will be better at learning from that experience as we know what to expect unlike last season where we did not know what to expect in the season. Even though we were in a beautiful hotel and environment, all we were doing was going to training, then back to our room, then head for our match and then back to our rooms and the same routine for the whole season which was quite challenging for us. It is important for the players to be in a good place mentally and we had not much contact with the outside world except the people in the bubble while also being away from our families. All the players are family people and to not get to see their families for months can be really challenging for them and have an effect on their game.

Have you been in touch with the players and the team after the end of the previous season?

Yeah I have been in touch with my players. I have been talking to their agents as well who are obviously very good at their jobs and connect me to the players. The first thing I have asked them to do is to rest well, both physically and mentally. More importantly they get the time with their families and I have always felt that your football club is also an extension of your family. At Jamshedpur, everyone is part of a family and everyone is equally welcome as everyone is the same. Nobody is any different or special than the other and that is the culture we want to build and grow even further. Then of course there is a program in place which helps the players step up and when we do come together, everyone is in a good place. We will not be wasting 2-3 weeks to get anybody up to speed so that we are all on the same level and ready to get into training.

What are your goals and expectations for the upcoming season at Jamshedpur FC?

My goals and expectations from the upcoming season are going to be very simple, that is to enter the play-offs and compete to win the title and give the fans something to cherish. We have seen a lot of progress last season with how far we came. We have had a history of not finishing the second half of the season strong but we proved them wrong with multiple wins at the end of the second half of the previous season which was more than any other club as we were the team that were scoring goals and showing good quality on the pitch. What we have to do is finish the season strong and aim to take the same momentum into the next season to try and aim for the play-offs position with the chance of being the champions.

Visit Part 5 for the final part of our head coach’s interview from ‘Beyond The Scores’ podcast.