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There are 6 more games to go. Still in his three years of coaching, he has not tasted an I-League title win. But certainly that drought can come to an end at the end of this season. Yes, I am talking about the Kolkata Giants East Bengal, the supreme Red & Gold Brigade and their coach Trevor James Morgan.
Inspite of playing two more games than Churchill Brother’s 18, East Bengal are still at the top of the league table, which certainly gives them a boost when they start their ‘Road to I-League title’ after this break. Apart from this psychological advantage, let’s see some other advantages for East Bengal in the I-League title race.
1. Home games: East Bengal has 5 home matches (considering the match against Prayag United in Kolkata as home match) out of their 6 remaining matches in this season I-League. This is a huge advantage for the Red & Gold Brigade and records of their previous home matches in this season show that they have lost just 2 out of 8 games.
2. Not so strong opponents: Playing against some of the ‘not so strong’ opponents of the I-League is another advantage for the East Bengal. In the remaining six matches, East Bengal will face Air India, Prayag United, United Sikkim, Sporting Clube de Goa, Dempo SC and Shillong-Lajong. Apart from Prayag United and Dempo SC, other matches will not be a big concern for the Kolkata giants. If they can manage to snatch wins against Prayag United and Dempo, then it is quite sure that the ‘Road to I-League title’ will be very much interesting to watch.
3. Churchill Brothers’ problems: The problems with Churchill Brothers eventually become advantages for East Bengal. Churchill, in its remaining 8 matches in the I-League season, will face another Kolkata giant Mohun Bagan. Arguably these two matches might change the scenario of the table as while Churchill will try their best to win the matches and keep the pressure on East Bengal, at the same time Mohun Bagan have to win most of their remaining matches in order to save themselves from relegation. Apart from this, Churchill have the ‘foreigner’ problem as they are struggling to find Bilal’s replacement, who has been a key player in the defense for the Goan. Churchill has also enrolled their name in the AFC Cup, which might distract them from their primary target, the I-League title.
4. Dempo SC’s problems: The defending I-League champions are not in a position to defend their title for the second consecutive year as they are currently third in the league table with 35 points from 19 matches. Relying too much on the Indian players and their prime striker Koko Sakibo’s bad run in this season in absence of Sueoka will be a big problem for the Goan team, especially after this one month break, when the title race will be much tougher.
East Bengal coach Trevor James Morgan stated earlier in this season that he thinks 55 will be the ‘magic figure’ and if they can manage to get that ‘magic figure’, then it will be easy for them to keep them in the title race, and possibly that might give him a chance to taste the I-League title for the first time in his coaching career in India.
