‘Wish Clifford wins league’

May be the sun and sand of Goa have a way of cushioning body blows. Still trying to understand why he was sacked, Vishwas Gaonkar told HT that he harbours no ill-feeling towards Sporting Clube de Goa.

May be the sun and sand of Goa have a way of cushioning body blows. Still trying to understand why he was sacked, Vishwas Gaonkar told

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HT

on Wednesday that he harbours no ill-feeling towards Sporting Clube de Goa.

"I really wish (new coach) Clifford (Chukwuma) wins the I-League. I may be physically detached from the club but I am still emotionally attached to it," Gaonkar, booted following Sunday's 0-1 loss to Mohun Bagan which took the club off the top perch, said.

In 13 months at Sporting Clube, Gaonkar said there hadn't been a difference of opinion with the management. "Yes, after the shock loss to Vasco (the bottom-rankers), I was told we needed to improve and we bounced back by beating Mohammedan Sporting in Kolkata. Despite the defeat, I thought we played our best against Bagan. I wanted to meet the officials to find out what exactly were their expectations." Before he could do that the sack came, over the phone. Insisting that he has no clue why that happened Gaonkar gave the players a clean chit. "Initially, they were a little iffy because they had been with Clifford for seven years but eventually without them, I wouldn't have got 28 points and stayed on top for almost five months."

At no point, Gaonkar said, did the club set him a target of winning the League. "I was only told to ensure that we do well." And that he did.