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I teach all my players to fight for victory, says FC Pune City coach ahead of ISL
The Serbian head coach, Ranko Popovic, has managed in Spain, Japan and Thailand and he will bring a certain continental taste to the table for FC Pune City.
The newly-appointed FC Pune City head coach Ranko Popovic has praised club CEO’s persistence in luring him to the club and managing in the Indian Super League for the first time.
The Serbian head coach has managed in Spain, Japan and Thailand and he will bring a certain continental taste to the table for FC Pune City.
Popovic has been a firm believer in playing beautiful football and is known to be an adept man manager. Season four will be his first in India and believes the Pune outfit has what it takes to ruffle a few feathers.
While they may not be the most attractive destination in the ISL, Popovic explained why he decided to join the Maratha Stallions for the upcoming campaign.
In a candid interview with Pranav Shahaney, the coach speaks about his plans, philosophy and other.
FCPC haven’t got the results past three seasons, as a head coach how you look at this challenge?
There is a big difference between what you want and what you get. I want results and have played football my entire life to get the results. Even if play with my children on a Sunday, I play to win. So I teach all my players to fight for victory.
Three seasons Pune haven’t got the right results, so it is difficult to get them immediately. But it takes a while to impart my mentality and philosophy to the players and to instill a winning mentality in them. It is impossible to turn around fortunes in such a short period of time.
How did you decide to join the FCPC?
When I was in Japan, Pune’s CEO Gaurav Modwel gave me a call and we spoke for two hours then he invited me to come to Pune.
Initially, I was taken back as I didn’t expect an offer to come my way, but after the phone call, I was convinced that it was the right decision for me.
I got an extremely positive impression from Modwel as we had similar outlooks on football. So, I felt it would be better to meet him in person, and I flew down to India to finalise the deal and manage the Pune team for season four.
FCPC have made a number of big name signings along with few youngsters. How you plan to manage this mixed team?
The players we have at FC Pune City are fundamental to what we want at the club. The foreign players that have come in must inspire the younger players, not only on the pitch but off it.
The youngsters can look up to them as model professionals and hope to get better under their tutelage. Experienced players know how to cope up under the pressure and also have an understanding of how to keep the right attitude regardless of what the results are.
