Robbie Fowler: I'm not under pressure, club are backing me 100%

The Englishman spoke on the back of his side's thrilling draw against Chennaiyin FC.

“We looked dynamic! The first half performance was possibly our best and brightest. The lads gave everything, they came up with all their efforts. They showed a winning attitude and that led us to go all-out in the second half with a winning momentum and a desire not to lose,” said SC East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler, as Chennaiyin FC handed his team a lucky point in their Boxing Day encounter.

A positive performance

As the Red and Gold continued their quest for their first win of the season, Fowler seemed to be a man with a lot of positives from the stalemate, the third of the season. “I think there were a lot of things to be satisfied from the first half that we played. But, certainly as a manager, you go out to win games and grab three points every game and that didn’t happen today,” he said. “Our lads showed a lot of fight, as we didn’t desire to lose the game today and we have been able to grab one point home. So overall, it’s a positive game for us,” he praised his men.

Not a million miles away

Though Robbie Fowler was able to come up with a lot of positive takeaways from the game, he sounded ready to overlook his team’s winning drought. “I really don’t know the answer. We are trying to give everything we have in us. Maybe, we were a little bit hesitant in the defence, but we have started scoring goals and that makes me sure that we are not a million miles away from where we need to be.” 

He added, “From Day 1, we are massively behind in preparation. We have tried to be better, a little fitter and we have now started to touch the levels.”

Steinmann’s fighting spirit

Speaking about Ville Steinmann’s performance, the tactician said, “He is a good player. Whenever you see good players on the pitch, you get them a little bit of a chance to roll and he has scored two great goals today from set-pieces. I think he has been in great shape since he has joined East Bengal. He is one of those who fight till the end.”

https://youtu.be/mXhsPZCnMpc

Built for I-League

“I am certainly not under pressure. I think people need to understand where we are as a club. Considering the type of players we have, regardless of whether people like this or not, we were built for I-League. So, give us some credit for showing the fight,” said the Englishman when quizzed whether the pressure to bring home the first win cost him the game. 

He also spoke about the support that he is enjoying from the management and how he hopes to find the winning momentum soon. “Of course, we want to win games and we are trying. We are not a bad team when we play. The people upstairs who run the squad are massively behind what we want to do and what we want to achieve. They are backing me 100% and we will get results.”

Criticism-  Lack of Positivity

Robbie Fowler seemed a bit impatient as he raised his annoyance with the critics. “We lost one game but we haven’t lost in two, so that’s positive. Why don’t we talk about that? Why don’t we talk about Tomba, the youngest player playing in the ISL?”

“No one wants to mention that but we want to talk about all the negatives surrounding us. Let’s start talking about the positive,” he further expressed.

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