We are in a transitional period and we are hoping to be champions again in the future, says Jamshedpur FC coach Aidy Boothroyd

The Men of Steel will be looking to overcome their losing streak.

Last season’s shield winners Jamshedpur FC are languishing in 10th place on the table after suffering 5 straight defeats. Aidy Boothroyd’s men have just one win in 8 matches and four points in total. A series of injury worries and some notable departures have added to the turmoil. Ahead of a key clash with ATK Mohun Bagan, coach Aidy Boothroyd addressed the media.

The reason behind five back-to-back losses

Since beating basement dwellers NorthEast United, The Red Miners have suffered five straight defeats. Coach Aidy Boothroyd cited injuries to key players as the chief reason and mentioned that reinforcements are on their way to the Furnace. Rafael Crivellaro has just been unveiled as a Jamshedpur player, “It is unchartered territory for me as a coach, I have never been in this situation before. The reasons are many and the most simple one is we have lost key players to injury these last few months. But that does not mean the season is over, we must sign some players. One coming in already today and hopefully more in January to add to the fathomless talent we have in this club. We should start climbing up the table and be in the position we want to be.”

What happened to Wellington Priori

Brazilian midfielder Wellington Priori joined Jamshedpur for a second stint in the league earlier this season but has left the club by mutual consent. Priori played six matches for Jamshedpur and Boothroyd explained the situation further, “It was a mutual decision. He has been with the club for two spells. In order to get in the players that I wanted to get in and the club wanted to get in, we came to an arrangement.”

ATKMB as opponents

ATK Mohun Bagan host Jamshedpur on the back of two 1-0 victories against Hyderabad FC and Bengaluru FC. Narrowly slotted in fourth place, Jamshedpur will sense certain vulnerabilities in ATKMB’s style of play. Aidy Boothroyd touched upon his opponents, “

They are a very tough opponent with a great history. It will be a difficult game for us. They are a good team, one of the top teams in my eyes. I think we could give them a few problems as well but where we are right now, it comes at a good time. We want to get back to playing games against good opposition and this is a good chance to do that.”

The feeling for the defending shield winners being in the bottom half

For a team entering a new season on the back of lifting the ISL shield, the expectation for new coach Boothroyd was sky high. Losing one of the league’s best players in Greg Stewart dented Jamshedpur further. Boothroyd was staunch in his belief that this is a temporary transitional period for the club and said, “You are fair to say that. It does not feel very nice. It is not what I am used to or what we are used to as a group. I think as I said before, there are a lot different reasons and not just one big reason.

"You can look and over-analyze over and over again. The club’s best player was Greg Stewart and now he is a key player for Mumbai. When you lose that sort of player, it is very difficult to replace him. We are in a transitional period and we are hoping to be champions again in the future. We are currently in a rebuilding phase. You will notice for sure that there are not many teams that can win consecutive league titles. There will be a dip and we are coming out of that dip now. Hopefully next time I see you, I can say that we are at the top of the table instead of the bottom.”

Thoughts on the Indian players

Boothroyd has coached a number of English age group teams, from the Under 19s to the Under 21s, for a total of seven years. He gave an assessment of the Indian youngsters, “My background has been working with the England Under-21s so I have worked with some very good players. I have Ritwik Roy here, very very talented, and has good overall character. He is a good guy and is easy to work with. I find that with all Indian players, all are very keen. Want to know more want to learn and be better. I think the more exposure they get to the ISL over a period of time, the better they are going to be.”