“Have not come here to finish in last position,” says East Bengal head coach Stephen Constantine

East Bengal will be starting their journey in the new Indian Super League season with a trip to Kerala as they face the Kerala Blasters in this season’s curtain raiser. While the Red and Golds started everything late this season, coach Constantine believes that his team will do everything in their power to take three points.

The Kolkata based club have gone through a complete overhaul with their old investors gone and the new investors have come in and have made some positive signings till now. They have had results in the recently concluded Durand Cup. So all eyes will be on them to step up the level this time and put up a real fight against the Yellow Army.

However, Constantine who was present at the pre-match press conference shared how he was not deliberately looking to come to Indian football again . But he got a nice offer from the Red and Golds and that made him think that he has not done it at club level in India. So that made him come back to the country three years after he left the national team job.

Constantine feels that knowing Indian players from before and also knowing about the culture helps a lot. However he will be looking to write his own legacy as he cannot change the past. He shared how it has been a struggle ever since he joined the club in terms of team building. He stated, ”I understand how Indian players think, and how they feel and that for sure is an advantage. But the past is the past and I can’t change what happened last season or the season before. I can change what’s going to happen next. We have worked very hard in the short time that we have been together. I had 12 players when I arrived here but now we have a squad of 26-27 players and they have worked very hard for me so far.”

Although the Englishman has shared that they have had some issues in the transfer window unlike other teams, he also mentions that his team will not be playing the ISL to finish last. “We are not the finished article but haven’t come to lose the game on Friday and I haven’t come to East Bengal FC to finish in last place. So, I will do everything I can to make it work,” Constantine added.

This time the club has gone for tested foreigners which includes players like Alex Lima, Cleiton Silva and Ivan Gonzalez. All of them have been sensational for their previous clubs and will be looking to continue that momentum wearing the East Bengal colours. Constantine feels that experience of playing in the ISL previously will definitely help them.

“Having Hero ISL experience was important for us in terms of the foreigners because they know about the league. All three have produced the goods, all three are big characters and all three have no issues which is the case with some foreigners that come here. So, it is good to have players who know the Hero ISL and they will be important players for us going into the new season,” the Englishman highlighted.

Overall it will be very exciting to Kerala Blasters and East Bengal battle it out as football returns to Kochi after a couple of years. While East Bengal have gone through an overhaul, Kerala Blasters also have a new look to their team with plenty of new foreigners. So it will be very exciting for the fans.