NorthEast United FC have brought in former Cape Verde national team manager Joao Carlos Pires de Deus to replace Nelo Vingada as their head coach for Hero Indian Super League 2017-18. His first task will be to bring a winning mentality to a club that has shown inconsistent form in the past three seasons.  

“I cannot promise victories and I cannot promise good football matches, but I can promise a big effort to win, to play well, and for sure, I think and believe that this season is going to be a good season for the fans, players, club and me,” Deus enthused. 

NorthEast will need quality players on the field and they have signed quite a few such footballers. Rather than putting all their eggs in one basket, they will now bank on a clutch of young talents in their quest for glory.

 “I have to get my boys to win more games,” Deus explained. “It’s about getting points and getting victories. It’s not very complicated to understand what we have to do.” 

Deus is new to the Hero ISL but it’s not very different compared to how things operate in other parts of the world. On his part, the Portuguese has done his homework. “It’s a league with 18 rounds and then the best four go to the playoffs. It’s a new type of competition (for me) and I have already started studying and preparing myself for this competition,” the coach revealed.

He was also clear regarding his primary objective with the Highlanders. “We should think step by step,” stated the coach. “If we, at the end of the league stages, have the chance to be in the playoff, it will be a wonderful result. The main target is to reach the semi-finals. We won’t speak about anything else because this club has never reached the semi-finals.”