We will bounce back, asserts Aidy Boothroyd after Odisha loss

The head coach of Jamshedpur FC also thanked the staff to make the return of the team to the 'furnace' happen after heavy rains.

The belligerence of Odisha FC finally rewarded them in the final four minutes of regulation time. Jamshedpur FC’s over-defensiveness resulted in two opposition strikes within a couple of minutes to snatch the win away in front of the home fans in the Indian Super League ISL 2022-23. Aidy Boothroyd's men committed unforced errors and made the 2-0 lead go in vain. It was a heartbreak for thousands of fans at the Furnace as the scoreline at the end read 3-2 in favour of the guests. 

Jamshedpur FC head coach Aidy Boothroyd addressed the media after the loss. Here are the excerpts from it.

Thoughts on the game

“First of all let’s appreciate the efforts of the ground staff to get the game on. It was a huge effort so credits to them, they did their part,” the coach started off by praising the groundsmen to make the game happen after heavy rain.

“Unfortunately after a brilliant start we went slow instead of getting better. We were dominant for the first 20 minutes and then we made some bad decisions in possession,” Aidy started with his thoughts on the game.

He continued, “But that always gonna happen when you are a new team, you are trying to build something you gonna get a few things wrong. We will recover, we’ll bounce back. Everybody is very disappointed and that’s the nature of football when you lose. But we have to make sure we get going again.”

The concern over defence

Jamshedpur FC made the guests chase the game for the most part of the game. But again the avoidable mistakes haunted the team and they ended up on the losing side. When asked about defence being the concern for the coach Aidy made his statement.

“No, the defence doesn’t concern me. We need to show up because normally we are very good defensively. I think we made some bad decisions, we gave the ball back to them too easily. We made a couple of unforced errors and when we work together on the training pitch we’ll look to find them out and have more possession in the coming games.”

Impression of the fans 

Aidy Boothroyd and most of the team members witnessed the support of the Red Miners for the first time. The manager was overwhelmed by the support in the stands despite poor weather conditions and more than an hour delay in kick-off. 

“Our supporters clapping us off the pitch shows we have got true supporters. They have come in a really big crowd.” 

When asked about whether the big support worries him and puts him under pressure to give results the coach asserted, “That doesn’t worry of course it’s great to have such support. I think we gave them something to cheer about in the first half.”

Thoughts moving forward

“Although we lost the match, I’m looking for the positives like Ritwik. He was brilliant on the night, probably our best player on the pitch,” said the tactician.

He continued, “Our next match is difficult against Mumbai. We need to look at the errors that we made and then focus on the game plan.”

Before signing off Aidy made a positive and bold statement that reads, “Losin in the last minutes is always difficult. The last few minutes help us stay focused and that’s what we want to do. So we’ll be back, gentlemen, I am sure.”