We respect them but we don't fear them, asserts Scott Cooper ahead of Mohun Bagan clash

Jamshedpur FC is currently placed seventh in the league table

After a quite treacherous start to their 2023-24 Indian Super League (ISL) season, Jamshedpur now come face to face with probably the most in-form team in the entire league, Mohun Bagan Super Giants. The Mariners, who still have a perfect record in the league so far, are going to be quite a challenge for Scott Cooper and his men.

Ahead of the entailing tie between the two teams, Jamshedpur FC head coach Scott Cooper and player Pratik Chowdhary interacted with the media. 

Here are the excerpts from the conversation.

On the young players in his squad

When asked about the youngsters in his squad that he thinks have a future with the national team, and the overall development of football in India, Scott said, “We are talking about a country that loves football and a country which has a very good professional league, a country which has a very good crowd attendance and media coverage. So there is an obligation to bring forward young players because without them there is no future and every young player needs the chance. 

“I'm just maybe a bit braver than some coaches and will always give young players some chance if I see them consistent in training and doing well. I think we have an obligation to win football games for your club but you also have an obligation to the country you are working in, to develop young players that can grow into something.” he said outlining his contribution to the development of young players. 

Mindset towards Tomorrow's game 

Jamshedpur have had some tough luck in their past few games, and have failed to win despite an outstanding performance. When asked about the mentality that his team will have going into this fixture, Scott said the following.

“As any club or player or fan you should look forward to receiving the champions, you should want to play against the best teams, so personally I'm excited. I am excited to see Mohun Bagan. I watched them play. I think they play great football, they have wonderful players. So the mindset going into this game is that we know who we are and where we are. So I would say for me as a coach and I speak for my players, we respect them but we don't fear them. For me and our team, we are concentrating on ourselves.” he affirmed.

For the poor results lately

Jamshedpur came to this game on the back of a frustrating draw against Punjab, and a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Highlanders. This is what Scott had to say when asked about how he plans on changing the fortunes of the club.

“We have played 5 games, and we could have won all five games, there is no doubt about that. Maybe the worst we played was in the game we won against Hyderabad. Maybe one of the best we played was away to Kerala in the first half. Maybe the most wasteful we played was against Punjab where we had 22 shots but we couldn't score, maybe the most concentrated we were was in the last game against North East where we did well for 93 minutes and it gets ruined by our own selves losing focus in a couple of areas.” opined Cooper.

“So I think any team that plays against us will know that this is not an easy team. This is a team that knows what they're doing. So far us we just have to keep doing the right things and we are doing many of the right things. We just haven't yet put everything together, but it will come and during the course of this half leg and then rebuilding in January and the next summer, the aim is to keep pushing the club up.” he asserted.

On Ritwik’s availability

Scott also commented on Ritwik’s presence in tomorrow’s game, and said, “Ritwick is not physically as well as not mentally ready for this game. He has come back from a knee scare, he has worked hard to come back. He is a very professional kid, he gets up before anybody else, he goes to bed early, he lives the right lifestyle. But he is still apprehensive about the knee, he has still got to work some things out physically and he won't be in the squad tomorrow.”

Impact of fans

Scott also expressed his delight with Jamshedpur’s loyal supporters, and thanked them for their ‘unconditional love’.

“Football clubs are always about fans. Our fans are a bunch of loyal fans that turn up weak in week out. It's like an unconventional love which I have never seen in a football club I've been in.” he said.

“These fans are special because it's unconditional love constantly and so as a group of fans when you have unconditional love like that it makes you want to win that match more,” he concluded. 

Question to Pratik

Reaction of coach after the game

Pratik revealed how the coach reacted inside the dressing room after a game, and said, “After the match the coach obviously meets every player in the dressing room and talks to them about the game, answers how the game was and what were the positives. He doesn't talk about the negative right after the game and only focuses on the positives.”

“Sometimes  might get a bit angry with the result but he always tends to remain very positive irrespective of the result of the game. He makes sure that the team is together and doesn't get mentally frustrated.” said Pratik

Preparation ahead of game

Pratik also commented on the preparations ahead of the game, and said, “The team has been preparing very well especially after the last game. Every player was hurt after the last game and has a different level of motivation to now come back stronger and better. So the preparation has been amazing, and I am excited and looking forward to the game.”