CHENNAI: It seemed like the kind of hyperbole that football managers tend to let slip in press conferences, but John Gregory had a point. “The season starts now,” he had said. In a way, it does. With the fourth season of the Indian Super League entering its business end, all that the previous two-thirds of the calendar has achieved is to more or less exclude three teams from contention — only the most optimistic of ATK, NorthEast United or Delhi Dynamos fans would believe that their team has any chance of making the knockout rounds. For the remaining seven teams, especially the top five who are separated only by the finer margins, the season might as well start now.
Take Tuesday’s clash for example. Chennaiyin FC taking on Bengaluru FC, second against first. Second, with six games to go would normally indicate that Gregory’s men are pretty much a shoo-in to finish in the top four. The reality though is that a loss for them plus a win each for the three teams below them would send them tumbling out of the qualifying spots. Ditto for Bengaluru FC, who sit pretty at the top of the table. A loss for them and others winning their games in hand would leave them in a tight fight for third or fourth spot.
Casting a shadow over all this is the fixture list — some rather poor planning and the disruption caused by Bengaluru FC’s involvement in the AFC Cup has seen teams gasping for breath. Chennaiyin play five games in the next seventeen days. Bengaluru were in Kolkata only three days ago and play Goa in another three days. By the time, they play Jamshedpur FC on February 25, they would have played 10 games in just over a month — four of them in the AFC Cup.
“We have five games in 17 days that will determine if we make it to the play-offs,” said Gregory. “This is when you find how good you are. Everything has just been jostling for positions. It just like practice lap in Formula 1. We are second in the grid and the race actually starts tomorrow. But the cars starting in first and second will obviously have an advantage over the others.”
Roca too echoed similar sentiments. “It’s not really an ideal situation, but it’s also not one that I want to spend too much time moaning about. I want my boys to be brave when they take the pitch tomorrow and build on the winning momentum we have started. The target has always been a top-four finish and if we come away with a good result tomorrow, we get nearer to our goal,” he said.
Gregory confirmed that he had a full squad to choose from while Roca will miss the services of Rahul Bheke, who was sent off (for two yellows) in the game against ATK. Harmanjot Khabra though returns to the side after a one-match suspension to face his former team.
vishnu.prasasd@newindianexpress.com