SHILLONG, June 6 (PTI): Shillong Lajong FC general secretary Larsing Ming Sawain has admitted that the club�s I-League debacle was a setback but asserted that the team remains upbeat despite poor show in the tournament.
�Getting relegated is a setback but the boys are not demoralised. It was a mixed season for the team,� Sawain said last evening.
�The boys did well in Federation Cup. They defeated the top five teams, but strategy in I-League games is different. Boys run down through immense pressure as they have to play both home and away games,� he said.
He maintained that the boys were inexperienced and conditions away from home were tough for the boys to cope with.
Lajong�s debut season in I-League ended in relegation, with North-East based club finishing rock bottom in the table with six wins from 26 games.
Asked about the exit of the coach Stanley Rosario, Sawain said, �He had one-year contract with Lajong which got expired. So, he is free to choose any club.�
Rosario, a former assistant India coach and Army captain, has joined Mohun Bagan. Lajong, the only club from North East to play I-League is on the look-out for a foreign coach.
The team has also overrun its contract with two of its key foreign recruits � Daniel Bidemi and James Gbilee � and the management will be looking forward for some new and better players, Sawain said.
Commenting on being relegated out of I-League, Sawain said, �AIFF should understand that Lajong has made football popular in the region. It is the first team from North-east to qualify for I-League.�
