"Need to rebuild this team" - Stephen Constantine reflects after East Bengal's humbling loss against Jamshedpur FC | ISL 2022-23
East Bengal FC slumped to a dispiriting 1-2 defeat against Jamshedpur FC in their own backyard in Matchweek 15 of ISL 2022-23 on Friday, January 13. Head coach Stephen Constantine was a seemingly desolated figure after the encounter.
At the post-match press conference, the former Indian national team gaffer apologized to fans once again for his team's performance. He averred:
"We are not the team that we want to be at this moment. I know the fans are not happy and I apologize to the fans because they deserve better."
#EBFCJFC ends in defeat.
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The Red and Gold Brigade took an early lead in the first half through an error from JFC custodian Vishal Yadav. Right throughout the first 45 minutes, their defense looked composed but after the break, everything went downhill for EBFC. Constantine's men ended up conceding two goals in the second half.
"We've lost another game down to the individual mistakes, you can't say we didn't create chances. We had one cleared off the line and the goalkeeper saved but we didn't make the right decisions at the right time and we paid for it," Constantine stated in the official post-match conference.
How can East Bengal turn things around?
This has been a sub-par season for East Bengal all around. They started with a lot of buzz surrounding their side, however, it all fizzled out after the season started. The gaping holes in their squad started to appear and Stephen Constantine failed to tackle them sufficiently.
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The head coach insisted that what the club needs is a rebuild with some "fresh players". However, with the transfer ban that has been imposed on East Bengal, it's impossible for them to register new signings.
"We need to get some fresh players in, we need to rebuild this team. This is what we tried to do, we started very late but again, I'm not going to give excuses. I had hoped to get the signing in, unfortunately, due to some administration stuff we couldn't get the player in and we are looking for other players, we have identified quite a few players but the question is identifying and then getting them to come is two different stories," he said.
To make matters worse, the club has started to lose their disgruntled supporter base. This was EBFC's fifth home defeat of the season as Constantine's men remained in ninth position in the ISL table. Where they go from here is anyone's guess at this point.