Surprise! I bet you weren’t expecting this again so soon, were you? Truth be told, there’s quite a bit going on this week what with the AFC Cup and the Super Cup and all so I thought it’d be best to give you a bit of Monday afternoon news for your perusal. Again, similar to last week, there isn’t much to go on, but we’ll see what we can rustle up.
We’re Now Up To NINE Who Have Signed New Contracts With The ‘Men Of Steel’
Just to give you some idea of what we’re going to be looking at, it’s going to be about two players that have signed on the dotted line, what made them sign on the line and a bit about what they’ve achieved so far in the ISL.
Both of the players that have renewed their contracts both play for the same club and it’s a club that has already done an awful lot of negotiations in terms of keeping players. In fact, I think I am right in saying that they are the club that at this present moment in time that have renewed the most contracts. Any guesses? That’s right, it’s Steve Coppell’s Jamshedpur.
Jerry Mawihmingthanga, who is better known as Jerry and Bikash Jairu have both committed their futures to Jamshedpur for another couple of years and it’s safe to say, they both feel like they made the right decision. We’ll begin with Jerry;
“The support from the people of Jamshedpur, the managing board, the technical staff, the coaching staff and the team was influential for me in making my decision. We built a great family last season. It was an amazing experience both on and off the pitch and I know it is the right decision to continue here.”
“I Want To Build On Last Season’s Performances”
Interestingly, when asked about his objectives for the coming season, he didn’t say anything specifically about winning the league, which suggests that maybe the Jamshedpur players are better coached to face the media than others…
“My objective for the coming seasons is to give my utmost best for the club and the supporters. I want to build on last season’s performances and provide positive results.”
He finished with the usual bullshit that people say when asked about the supporters,
“I am what I am because of their unconditional love. I would like to request all to come together and support the team again next season to make our dreams come true.”
I wish someone, anyone, would come out and go, the support was a bit shit today, can you sort it out please lads? Maybe one day. To be fair, Jairu was saying much the same…
“I feel very happy to continue my stay with Jamshedpur FC. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the management and all the fans of the club for showing faith in me. It is a huge honour to be a part of this club.”
“They Are Simply Amazing”
And then this about the supporters;
“The way the city supports their football club is something that is unique to this country. They are simply amazing, and I hope to see them continue supporting next season too.”
It’s as if they get given a script to follow which I can understand from the club’s perspective because that way it’s difficult for anything to go wrong, it’s just a bit boring, tis all.
Let’s see what they’ve actually done this season that has made Coppell want to tie them down for another couple of years, beginning with Jerry. The youngster currently holds the record for the fastest ever goal in the ISL after his effort against Kerala Blasters which took all of twenty-two seconds from kick-off and it’s things like that which make him such a good prospect not only for the here and now, but also the future. Whenever he picks the ball up, you have an inclination that something is going to happen and normally it does.
If there’s one thing for Jerry to work on, it’s his passing accuracy which worked out over the season was as a measly 55% and if he wants to break into the India team, it’s things like that that Constantine will be looking at.
Jairu, like a carbon-copy of Jerry, only scored once in the season just gone, but it was also an important one for the ‘Men Of Steel’ as it gave them all three points versus Mumbai. Again, same as Jerry, his passing accuracy is abysmal, sitting at just over 50% so it seems like there is some work to do on the training ground for both of them.
In closing, it can’t be ignored that Jamshedpur are keeping the majority of their squad together and with a couple of smart additions in the transfer window, there’s no reason why they really can’t push on next season and challenge for not only the top four but the title itself.
Until the next time.
