How do you take a team that finished sixth last year, and make them champions?
For Jamshedpur FC, the answer, like their football, is a simple one. Relentless optimism. When Owen Coyle took charge of the club at the start of last season, his assertion that the club "deserves to be competing at the pinnacle of the ISL and nothing less" seemed... optimistic. They had just endured the worst season in their brief history, finishing eighth.
It takes said optimism to look at the money pouring into Mumbai City FC, ATK Mohun Bagan throwing their weight and financial might around to poach the league's best and assemble an all-star lineup and say... yeah, we can win this.
That's Coyle for you though, whose zeal for the game has trickled down into every department of Jamshedpur FC, and has helped bring home their first ever trophy, five years into the club's existence.
Recruitment
If there is a part of football where it's perhaps prudent to not be overly optimistic, it's recruitment. Yet, a clear pattern emerges when you look at the transfers Coyle has overseen at Jamshedpur FC - they're mostly bets on struggling players. It's rare for a career to be relaunched in Indian football, especially domestic ones, with plenty a failed career languishing at the bottom of the ocean that is this industry. And yet...
Ricky Lallawmawma, Laldinliana Renthlei, TP Rehenesh are Coyle's three most used players this season. Ricky didn't make a single appearance for ATK in the 2019/20 ISL season before Jamshedpur signed him the following year, Laldinliana managed 921 minutes in 11 starts for Chennaiyin in 2019/20 before being released, whereas Kerala Blasters were only too glad to let go of TP Rehenesh a couple of seasons ago as well. Boris Singh, Ritwik Das and Ishan Pandita can also claim to have re-energized their careers - all due to Coyle taking a punt on their progress, and placing his trust in them.
Perhaps the biggest punt of them all was Daniel Chima Chukwu - the Nigerian striker had only scored twice in 11 games for SC East Bengal - both of which came in a single match against the league's worst defence, that of Odisha FC. Not many managers would look at a player who was despondent and ready to leave India, but then again, few can compare with Coyle's ability to infuse belief in players (Bolton playing 'Barcelona football', anyone?). The result? Eight goal-involvements (7G, 1A) in eight games, two of which turned out to be match winners. Former golden boot winner Nerijus Valskis's mid-season departure to Chennaiyin FC? Barely noticed.
On the pitch
The optimism feeds into Jamshedpur's players on the pitch as well, who've rescued nearly twenty percent (8/43) of their points this season from drawing/losing positions (barring 0-0s). It isn't just a numbers game though, the style of play Jamshedpur have employed this season is quite unique.
The ISL has acquired a distinctly Spanish flavor over the last few seasons, and consequently, possession-based football has become the flavour of choice for most head coaches. When done right, it's a heady mixture, as Sergio Lobera's teams weaved their pretty patterns for us to marvel over in the past. Yet, when done wrong, it's sterile and can present an easy cure for insomnia.
By Coyle's own assertion at the start of this season, he did want to indulge in 'possession-based football' but such is the creative freedom he affords his players that it's resulted in a direct, fast-paced style that very few teams have been able to live with. No player has been involved in more goals this season than Greg Stewart, with his 21 goal involvements (11G, 10A) outshining the very best this league has ever seen.
When Stewart (and many of his Jamshedpur teammates) gets the ball, the immediate focus is never on retaining possession. A square pass? Pssh, never. An early cross, a delicate chip over the defence and failing that, a mazy dribble past 3-4 organised defenders? Why yes, let's have some of that optimism. For 90 minutes, and with almost every player in Jamshedpur's side of a similar ilk? Relentless.
Off the pitch
The bio-bubble, as every player, coach, staff and official within the Indian Super League has let us know, is incredibly difficult to live through. Perhaps it was Coyle's optimism though that convinced Jamshedpur's foreign contingent of Eli Sabia, Alex Lima, Jordan Murray, Greg Stewart and Peter Hartley to endure being away from their families during a pandemic.
Coyle's insistence on being a unified unit, and at the risk of sounding trite, a 'family', has fed into the club itself - as was witnessed by their gesture during Christmas. Caution: Big, burly, macho footballers unashamedly weeping.
Lovely stuff from @JamshedpurFC but this is a real window into how hard a bio bubble is. https://t.co/Azvy9c9sJk
- Sunaadh (@sunaadh) December 28, 2021
The JFC boss has constantly credited the footballers who've not had many minutes on the pitch as well, noting their importance in keeping spirits up, in a bubble where things can go wrong incredibly quickly. Everyone is valued, everyone contributes. It's perhaps at odds with the cut-throat environment of other top clubs, but that's what makes Jamshedpur's success a singular one.
The club's victory ought to re-energize a town that's always played second fiddle to the traditional hotbeds of Indian football, despite having educated so many of the national team within the confines of the Tata Football Academy.
For a sporting world that's been faced with spades upon spades of reality over the last year, Jamshedpur FC's victory is a breath of fresh air. Maybe, just maybe, the nice guys do finish first.