In no time,
that special season will be upon us
again, you know the one. Yes, that’s right, the Indian Super League or ISL, the
premier league of Indian football. The 2017–18 ISL season will be its fourth
edition, since its establishment in 2013. This time around, two new sides will
join the league as expansion franchises, in the form of Bengaluru FC and
Jamshedpur FC, making this the first edition of the ISL in which there will be
more than eight teams participating. Expansion in the league also extends to its
timeframe, which will now be a league duration of five months, as opposed to
the previous three.
However,
in the midst of all of this, one wonders where FC Goa features in terms of its
local content. The club, amidst much turmoil last season, finally parted ways
with its legendary coach, Zico. Sergio Lobera has since taken over the reins at
the club, but some popular local faces seem to have gone missing, in the form
of Romeo Fernandes who has moved to Delhi Dynamos FC, Keenan Almeida who has
moved to Chennaiyin FC and Sahil Tavora who has moved to Mumbai City FC.
Granted, the club has retained some local fan favourites, such as Laxmikanth
Kattimani and Mandar Rao Dessai, and it has also replenished its numbers with
local talent too. However, one can’t help but wonder whether the fans see
enough of that local element in their team.
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A few FC Goa fans share their point of view:
In my opinion, the outcry surrounding the loss of local players
like Keenan, Romeo, Sahil and others to rival clubs is a bit uncalled for. They
have played their role for our club, now destiny takes them elsewhere. If you
observe carefully, we actually did pretty well in the draft. Seven of the
thirteen players we have picked up in the draft are Goans; add that to the two
retained players, Kattimani and Mandar, and that takes the total tally to nine
Goan players. We have also signed a great mix of local talents like Brandon
Fernandes and Ali Mohammed, as well as other Indian talents like Mandir Singh
and Chinglensana Singh. The fans need to have a little more faith. The only
thing I would change would be to sign a few more young international players.
AKIO FERNANDES
Having retained the services of Kattimani and Mandar Rao Dessai,
FC Goa were quick to pounce on the opportunity to bring local lad Brendon
Fernandes in, for just 28 lakhs. The Gaurs are known for their fierce fans, who
will doubtlessly be elated at having such a promising former-Churchill Brothers
boy in the side.
ROHIT PAGI
