With no play-off berth to show thus far, Indian Super League (ISL) franchise NorthEast United FC must raise the level of their play under new coach Joao Carlos Pires de Deus.
NorthEast United FC are one of the two teams to have never qualified for the playoffs of the ISL.
In the previous editions, NorthEast United have shown plenty of passion but missed the spark.
NorthEast United FC have brought in Joao Carlos Pires de Deus of Portugal in place of Nelo Vingada for the big task.
The new coach's first job will be to instil a winning mindset in the team that has fallen short of expectations on account of patchy form.
"I cannot promise victories and I cannot promise good football matches but I can promise a big effort to win, to play well, and for sure, I think and believe that this season is going to be a good season for the fans, players, club and me," the Portuguese tactician who has had coaching stints in Spain and Portugal said.
He was also head coach of the Cape Verde national team between 2008 and 2010.
Deus cannot win anything on the strength of his reputation alone and will need quality players on the field. The side will now bank on a clutch of young players in their quest for glory.
"I have to get my boys to win more games. It's about getting points, getting victories; it's not very complicated to understand what we have to do," the coach said.
Deus is new to the ISL but it's not much different to how things operate in other parts of the world. On his part, the Portuguese has done his homework.
"It's a league with 18 rounds and then the best four go to the playoffs. It's a new type of competition (for me) and I have already started studying and preparing myself for this competition," the coach said.
His foreign recruits, too, will have their task cut out.
Brazilian striker Danilo Lopes and Colombian Luis Alfonso have arrived with incredible goal-scoring records, and they need to do the same here.
Cape Verdean international Odaïr Junior, who's played under Deus, and former Uruguay junior team captain Martín Damian Diaz Pena will be the other key players in the side.
"We should think step by step. If we, at the end of the league stages, have the chance to be in the playoffs, it will be a wonderful result. The main target is to reach the playoffs. We won't speak about anything else because this team has never reached the playoffs," Deus said.
--IANS
sam/bg
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