All focus now on Durand Cup, asserts Josep Gombau

The Juggernauts will launch their new kits on 12th and 13th August.

Odisha FC conduced its first press-conference ahead of the new season. The club panel had Club President, Raj Athwal, Head Coach Josep Gombau, Assistant Coach, Clifford Miranda, and Club General Manager, Abhik Chatterjee.

After 2 years, the club has finally touched base in Bhubaneswar. Due to COVID-19 constraints, the club was forced to play in Goa behind closed doors.

The club secured the services of Josep Gombau once again to take charge for the upcoming season. Josep was with the Juggernauts in the 2019-20 Hero ISL season which was the club’s most successful footballing season under him.

OFC announced their Women’s Team as well with Crispin Chettri at the helm. Crispin was with the Odisha State Women’s Team and runners-up with Sethu FC in the Indian Women’s League.

Club General Manager, Abhik Chatterjee made the opening remarks and welcomed the media for the press-conference.

Raj Athwal on the role fans will play for the upcoming season, “We have had a leave of absence because of COVID these last two years but now we are back, the club is working on multiple community projects so that we can activate our fan base all over Odisha.

On partnerships with Watford FC and Avai FC, “Last year we decided to bring in technical expertise and researched for clubs that would have a similar model like ours. It has been going great with both of them. We are constantly in touch with them and have regular meetings to stay on top of things.”

The media asked Clifford Miranda about homegrown talent coming up in the state to which he replied, “If the state wants to develop players, there has to be a culture which needs to be instilled within the state footballing ecosystem which will create pathway for local players. Everyone needs to support the players who want to make it to the top.”

Josep Gombau spoke about the targets he has set for his coaching staff ahead of the new season, “The main idea that I have communicated to my staff is that we need to be competitive in all the tournaments that we’ll play. It is a work in progress. We are taking things day by day. All our focus is now on the Durand Cup and we are preparing for it.”

Josep’s thoughts on which Indian players will be influential for the upcoming season, “We have a good crop of young Indian players like Shubham, Raynier, Jerry who have added experience to their respective careers in the last few years. I am looking forward to working with them.”

General Manager, Abhik Chatterjee concluded the press-conference by announcing that the club will launch their kits on the 12th and 13th of August.