Want to ensure opportunities for young talents at Odisha FC, asserts Stuart Baxter
Odisha FC’s newly-appointed gaffer Stuart Baxter has stressed on the role of young footballers at the club and said that he will make sure they get the best possible chance to play. He also lauded the efforts made by the club and the state government in the development of the sport in Odisha.
Odisha FC have been very active in the transfer market ahead of the seventh season of the Indian Super League and are making some very good signings when it comes to young Indian footballers. Players like Samuel Lalmuanpuia, Thoiba Singh and Baoringdao Bodo have already been included in the squad and the management has shown interest in giving more chances to the youngsters.
Recently, the Bhubaneswar-based club hired former South African Coach Stuart Baxter as their next gaffer and he has also stressed on the youth development and has lauded the efforts of the club to promote young talents.
“I think the young players that we have brought in will be impossible for me to sit here and say that I know every one of them. What I can say is that there will be an emphasis on youth. It’s my job to make sure the culture of the club is based on development, coaching, team spirit, understanding your role and the responsibilities to the club and to the state.
“So, I think, the youth are going to play a very important role in this and for us, it’s vital that we make sure that we give those young players the best possible chance of being able to develop,” the 66-year-old coach said.
Baxter, who has a cumulative experience of more than 25 years, is also impressed with the club’s vision and the process of team management. As the Odisha Government is making elaborate arrangements to promote sports and games in the State, the newly appointed coach also praised the government officials and said that the club would like to repay that as well.
“The first impression I get was speaking to the owners, speaking to Rohan, speaking to people within the club. Being in Corona time, this is not when I can fly in and take a look and acclimatize myself with everything. The first stop was the impression I got. The impression was the ambition, it was desire and it was something that is a little bit warm to my heart. Something like in South Africa, in some of the places where social commitment and the commitment to the youth of that area is paramount,” the former Kaizer Chief coach stated.
“The other thing is the help and support and the cooperation of the government. I think that’s also important. The government wants to help and the club wants to repay that by creating something which will be good for our supporters and everybody here in Odisha.”
For the last two years Odisha FC (previously Delhi Dynamos) was coached by Spanish coach Josep Gombau and team. However, Baxter doesn’t want to change the full playing style that the players developed from the Spanish coaching unit earlier at the club.
“The Spanish coaches before me must have given the players a certain flavour and I don’t believe in this breaking everything down and rebuilding it because there’s obviously some good work done. So, I think there’s some good work done and I will retain that good work and hopefully, I will build upon it and hopefully, I will find a way of playing which we all will enjoy and it will give us some result. The people I have spoken to say that the Indian players are ambitious. I had an interesting conversation with Faf du Plesis (the South African cricketer). He said that the Indian cricketers (sportsman) are fantastic when on the front foot when they go on the back foot, they have too much to do. If they don’t do that they will be totally unplayable,” said Baxter.
“So, my job, I believe, is to make sure that my Odisha players feel like mentally on the front foot in any case and I think all of those things will go together into a style. We will bring in together the works that have been done until now and new stuff that we wanna do and describe it in a way that the players feel “Yeah! Let’s go on the front foot.”
“I need to be the coach that the squad needs and not the coach that I always wanted to be no matter what the culture, no matter what the personality, no matter what the style, I impose myself; I don’t think that’s right. I need to be the coach that this squad of players need, the OFC Head Coach concluded.
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