Tired, disheartened Gokulam concede edge to Minerva : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Tired, disheartened Gokulam concede edge to Minerva

PANCHKULA:Minerva FC, just a couple of wins away from securing their first I-League title, would look forward to taking the home advantage when they face eighth-placed Gokulam Kerala FC at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here tomorrow.

Tired, disheartened Gokulam concede edge to Minerva

Gokulam coach Bino George



Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, February 19

Minerva FC, just a couple of wins away from securing their first I-League title, would look forward to taking the home advantage when they face eighth-placed Gokulam Kerala FC at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here tomorrow.

Minerva hold an advantage even before stepping on the ground because the visitors are disheartened. Gokulam’s officials and players believe that Minerva’s chances of pulling off a win tomorrow have been enhanced by the travel-related exhaustion of the Gokulam players. The visiting team’s coach, Bino George, has alleged that his outfit has been put at a disadvantage due to “mismanagement” over travel and practice arrangements.

Gokulam, who stunned Mohun Bagan and East Bengal with identical 2-1 margins in back-to-back matches, are aggrieved over their “treatment on behalf of the hosts and the authorities”.

Long road to Chandigarh

According to George, after facing East Bengal on February 17, the team suffered mental and physical exertion due to “poor” travelling arrangements as they made their way from Kozhikode to Chandigarh. He also alleged that the team was not allowed to practise at the venue today.

“On February 17, we travelled from Calicut (Kozhikode) to Kochi by bus, before reaching Delhi by a flight. We had to wait for two hours at the airport for our bus to Chandigarh. When we boarded the bus, we were shocked that there were no sleepers or comfortable seats available in it,” said George. “It was just a normal bus and our players, a few of them injured, could not lie down and had to sit upright for over six hours of travel before reaching Chandigarh last night at 8pm.”

“Today we were given breakfast at 9am and asked to practise from 10am. Later, much to our surprise, the match commissioner informed us that we cannot practise at the venue,” claimed George. “We are staying in Chandigarh and were asked to practise at the hosts’ academy, which is some distance away. We are doing nothing but travelling.”

Poor ground

Match commissioner B Balasubramaniam refused to comment on the issue. But sources close to the All India Football Federation organising committee claimed that no team is allowed to practise at the tournament venue the day before the match “if the ground conditions are bad or average”.

“We could have reached here today or rested a day after our match if informed earlier about the situation,” George said. “There was no intimation to us. I have a team of youngsters, how can they perform without having proper rest and recovery in one day? Many of our key players are injured and did not get care due to poor travelling arrangements.”

Minerva’s good run

Talking about tomorrow’s contest, he said that the host team has been performing very well. “Minerva is having a good run. They had defeated us in our home game. But we are working hard. We have to work on fielding our key players amid injury concerns. But if we consider our recent performances, we are going to trouble the hosts,” said George.

Tired referees

George also spoke on the ongoing controversy over the quality of supervision by the referees in the I-League. “We are having two parallel championships (ISL and I-league) and the same set of referees have to travel around for performing their duty,” the coach said. “Even they are human and it’s not right to test their strength. There should be proper environment for their functioning and the authorities should spend more money to get quality work.”

Important tie for Minerva

Placed second on the I-League standings with 29 points from 14 matches, Minerva need two wins from their four remaining matches to get a hold on the title. NEROCA FC currently head the points table with 31 points, but they have only one match left. A win tomorrow would make Minerva favourites to win the title.

Minerva’s coach Wangkhem Khogen Singh hinted at making some changes in his starting 11 after a disheartening 1-0 lost against East Bengal on February 13.

“The boys understand the importance of this match. If we win, it will be a shot in the arm for us,” said Khogen. “We are planning a couple of changes, but again it depends on the situation. We were unlucky to face a defeat in our last match. But I hope things will go well for us tomorrow. They (Gokulam) are a young side and have stunned some big teams, we are not taking them lightly.”

Top News

'When government changes...': Rahul Gandhi after Rs 1,800 crore fresh I-T notice to Congress

'When government changes...': Rahul Gandhi after Rs 1,800 crore fresh I-T notice to Congress

The Congress leader accuses the BJP of indulging in ‘tax ter...

Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in UP's Banda orders judicial inquiry into death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari

UP court orders judicial probe into gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s death, seeks report in a month

Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari on Tuesday alleged that his brother...

‘Heart attack or poisoning’: The life and times of Mukhtar Ansari—crime and politics

‘Heart attack or poisoning’: The life and times of Mukhtar Ansari—crime and politics

Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh are among the poorest regions...

CBI files chargesheet against 20 institutes, 105 individuals in Himachal Pradesh multi-crore scholarship scam

CBI files chargesheet against 20 institutes, 105 individuals in Himachal Pradesh multi-crore scholarship scam

22 educational institutions were on CBI radar in the scholar...


Cities

View All