ISL 2022-23: I believe we have made progress, says Stephen Constantine on East Bengal FC’s season

East Bengal head coach Stephen Constantine feels the club made progress after their campaign in the ninth edition of the ongoing Hero Indian Super League ended on Saturday. East Bengal lost the derby clash against arch-rivals ATK Mohun Bagan by 2-0 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata.

However, despite the fact East Bengal FC could not finish their season on a high, this was their best edition so far in the league.

Meanwhile, Damjanovic scored in the 68th minute for the Mariners whereas Dimitri Petratos doubled the team’s lead in the 90th minute. Constantine admitted that they didn’t deserve to win the game as they couldn’t create enough chances.

“I don’t think we had enough of those moments where (we could have changed the match). I don’t think we deserved to win this game. But I feel that we were very fortunate not to take a point from this game,” Constantine said in the post-match press conference.

“We didn’t take care of business at the corner, they scored and when you go 1-0 down, you will try to get a goal back (so we conceded the second goal),” he added.

East Bengal FC finished in ninth place in the standings with six wins under their belt and a total of 19 points. Thus, East Bengal FC definitely showed improvement in their performances under Stephen Constantine, who is managing the Kolkata-based club for the first time.

“I learned that you’ve got to prepare way before and if you can’t start in August and expect to do anything. I have been trying to bring both Indian players and identified foreign players since October. We managed to bring in Jake (Jervis) but I’ve not been able to bring in several other Indian players that I have targeted. And we need to move quickly because the time is going and in the end we will again be left with players who have been rejected or discarded by other clubs. But then if we can look on the bright side..more points that we’ve ever had, more goals that we’ve ever scored, and today the joint top-score of the league is from East Bengal FC,” he said.

“So have we made progress from the previous two season in the bubble?..I believe we have,” Constantine added.

The gaffer reckons players like Naorem Mahesh Singh, Lalchungnunga, and Mobashir Rahman have the potential to play for Blue Tigers in the future.

“Lalchungnunga is a very decent prospect. He is a solid defender. He needs work. Of course, he is not the finished article. Mobashir Rahman has been one of our better players in the last five or six games. He may need another good season, but I think he’s getting there. Naorem Mahesh has done fantastic. I would say those three players for me are worth monitoring. Maybe they’re not ready at the moment to go into the full national team but if they keep improving, next season. I would be picking into the national team,” he added.