NorthEast United manager Ricki Herbert was full of praise for his young Indian wards after his side got the better of a hugely experienced Kerala Blasters FC in in their opening Hero Indian Super League fixture here tonight. “The character was very good tonight. It's a very young side. Some of the performances were incredibly courageous when you consider that the majority of those boys haven't won premierships before, haven't been in successful high level I-League teams and they are just young boys cutting their teeth in a very, very big league. So you can give these boys a huge pat on the back,” the Kiwi gaffer said at a press conference after the match. The former New Zealand international defender and coach, who was the only manager not to lose a game at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, said the youngsters in his team had the potential to go the distance."The potential that we're seeing in these boys is very exciting."Ricki Herbert“We've got a very young side. And who knows what they'll do this year? We don't know. The potential that we're seeing in these boys is very exciting and can be realised over a period of time,” he explained.Herbert also paid tribute to the fans who turned up in large numbers and backed the team to the hilt and hoped they would now bond with his lads better. “Yes, we've classified them (the fans) as the 12th man. All their jerseys have No 12 on them,” he stated. “And that's going to be important. This franchise is brand new. The fans, who came out in thousands tonight, don't know these players (too well). They haven't seen us play on our home ground. And we've produced that for them tonight. And there's a connection now. And hopefully that connection will continue to grow.”He also said he was ok with his team taking long shots at the Kerala citadel, one of which taken by Durga Boro was barely kept out by rival goalkeeper David James.“I saw that goal last night, a real stunner (by Borja Fernandez). You need to encourage that. Durga tonight certainly got himself into a good scoring position, and I'd argue that if there was anybody else in the goal other than James, it probably would've gone in the top of the net,” he said.Herbert also expressed optimism that the win tonight would be a catalyst for a better brand of football in the future: “At the end of the day, it's all about gaining momentum... and I thought what we did do very well tonight is we want to introduce a good brand of football. We want to be able to pass the ball and at times, that can cost you. And at times, that can be difficult. But we have to go through those difficult times if we are to produce fighters that are good enough to play on the world stage.”
