Shillong, Jan 30: NorthEast United fan association the Highlander Brigade will boycott the next home match of the Indian Super League club due to the dire performance of the team in the current season.
NEUFC are currently second from the bottom in the 10-team standings, only better than Hyderabad FC, and have won only two out of 12 matches so far.
NorthEast United will play away at Mumbai City tomorrow and will return to Guwahati to face Kerala Blasters on 7th February.
In a four-page open letter the fans, addressing the management, said, “The management may have its jobs at stake but we have our pride at stake … If the pressure is too much for you, it is better you relieve yourselves [of your position].”
The Highlander Brigade is also critical of the team management for failing to spot and groom regional talent and for signing players before appointing a manager. At the launch of NEUFC in 2014 the fans were happy to have a pan-North East club representing them and after last season’s success (where NorthEast United reached the playoffs for the first time) they had hoped that the club had finally turned a corner, after several poor seasons where they had finished bottom twice, but “now it seems we were foolish to have expected better”.
Calling for the coaching staff to be sacked, the brigade said that they cared not for the rest of the season but they want new coaching staff to be put in charge of the side to settle in for the next season.
(Photo: Facebook/NorthEast United FC)
