Jamshedpur FC – a perennial mid-table side in Indian football that finished sixth last season, operates on a moderate budget, and has modest talent – won the League Winners Shield with a 1-0 win over heavyweights ATK Mohun Bagan.
🔝 @JamshedpurFC create 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 by finishing their #HeroISL 2021-22 campaign with a new high of 4️⃣3️⃣ points 😱🔥#HeroISL #LetsFootball #JamshedpurFC pic.twitter.com/6AFgqYTrvu
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) March 7, 2022
A little more than a decade ago, Owen Coyle was seen as the man who could save Arsenal’s sinking ship. Back then, around 2010-11, Coyle was the man with the magic touch in English football. He got Burnley promoted to the Premier League after more than 30 years. Then, he turned relegation-rustlers Bolton Wanderers into a respected mid-table side. Just around that time, when Arsene Wenger came under scrutiny after a string of poor seasons, Coyle, whose stock continued to rise, was linked to the top job with the Gunners.
The move never materialised. But Coyle’s teams never stopped overachieving. He worked his magic, albeit briefly, with Houston Dynamo in USA’s Major League Soccer, and a couple of years later, came to India and turned around Chennaiyin’s fortunes in the Indian Super League (ISL).
And on Monday, he pulled off another big heist. His team, Jamshedpur FC – a perennial mid-table side in Indian football that finished sixth last season, operates on a moderate budget and has modest talent – won the League Winners Shield with a 1-0 win over heavyweights ATK Mohun Bagan. It’s an outcome not many would have predicted at the start of the season. But Coyle did what he always does – taking charge of under-confident, struggling teams and turning them into overachievers.
The semifinalists
This has been a strange ISL season. There have been a some screamers but at the same time, quite a few goalkeeping howlers; some eye-popping performances by young Indians and some cause for concern vis-à-vis the seniors; two highly-underrated sides, Jamshedpur and Hyderabad, enjoying their moment under the sun and a couple of heavyweights left with a lot of thinking to do; and there were some frustrated outbursts and a lot of bio-bubble fatigue.
It reached a stage where players simply wished to ‘get done with’ the season, especially when dozens of them went down with Covid during the third wave. Despite off-the-field struggles, the teams that have qualified for the semifinals indicate how competitive and unpredictable the season has been.
The two teams – Jamshedpur and ATK Mohun Bagan – that fought for the top place on Monday are into the top-four along with Hyderabad and Kerala Blasters. It’s a well-rounded line-up, former Shillong Lajong, Bengaluru FC and Pune City coach Pradhyum Reddy points out. The qualification of teams from Kolkata and Kerala takes care of two of the biggest centres in Indian football while the success of Jamshedpur and Hyderabad is a reward for persistence and patience.
“It’s good to see that continuity is rewarded,” Reddy said. “The coaches have been given a second term, even though they didn’t make the playoffs last season. So, that proves the old adage right – stick with the same coaches, trust them and back them on and off the field.”Jamshedpur’s march to the top
Despite being an important centre in Indian football, Jamshedpur hasn’t ever been in the limelight. The traditional hotbeds like Kolkata, Kerala and Goa have had bragging rights because of the performances of their clubs on the big stage.
Jamshedpur has always remained under the shadows of these regions, even though it has been a finishing school of sorts for Indian footballers. A lot of players who have gone on to become stalwarts have passed through the famous Tata Football Academy, based in Jamshedpur. For decades, it has been honing talent. At last, though, there’s something for Jamshedpur to cheer; the ISL crown will add heft to its footballing reputation.
And Coyle has been at the forefront of Jamshedpur’s remarkable campaign.
In 2009, then Burnley chairman Barry Kilby described Coyle as a ‘master of the art of finding and developing good players even when money is tight,’ according to The Evening Standard. One look at some of Jamshedpur’s performers this season and it’s evident that Kilby’s observations hold true even today.
The player who scored the goal which sealed the top spot for Jamshedpur on Monday, Ritwik Das, barely got any game time with his previous club, Kerala Blasters. Under Coyle, he played a majority of the matches and scored a few important goals. Not just Das. The three players Coyle used the most this season – goalkeeper TP Rehenesh, left-back Ricky Lallawmawma, and defender Laldinliana Renthlei – were unwanted by their previous clubs. Under Coyle, they have blossomed.
Not just Indian players. Greg Stewart, who was released by Scottish league giants Rangers after winning the league with them under Steven Gerrard, adjusted smoothly in India and became Jamshedpur’s focal point in attack whereas Nigerian striker Daniel Chima Chukwu, who has had a nomadic career, has averaged almost a goal per game and looked menacing under Coyle.
Reddy said that in a season where teams and players have struggled with bio-bubble fatigue, Coyle’s charisma played a crucial role in the team’s success. “If you looked at Jamshedpur’s players, there was happiness around the camp. And that comes from the coach,” Reddy said.
The result on Monday was Jamshedpur’s seventh consecutive win, an ISL record. Whether they can maintain that form in the semifinals remains to be seen. But if the past is anything to go by, Coyle’s team will continue to upset the odds and overachieve.
Semifinals
Jamshedpur vs Kerala Blasters (March 11 & 15)
Hyderabad vs ATK Mohun Bagan (March 12 & 16)
News Sources – Indian Express-News
