Shillong, Apr 7: The end of the I-League 2024-25 season yesterday saw Dempo climb up to seventh place, which demoted Shillong Lajong FC to a rather disappointing eighth position.
Eighth is exactly where Lajong ended 2023-24, so there has been no progress in terms of the standings. In fact, this year has been a little worse as SLFC were 8/12 this time compared to 8/13 in 2023-24.
Expectations were a little lower last season, to be fair. Lajong were returning to the I-League after several years out and they did so on the back of a good performance with their youth players in the I-League 2. There were question marks over whether Bobby L Nongbet would be able to cut it in the I-League proper (he is, after all, celebrated as a youth coach with less experience at the senior level) but he handled it fairly well, with Lajong relying in the main on local players that have come up through the club ranks with support of a few foreigners.
This year, things were different. Lajong retained faith in their Brazilian quartet and most of the local boys but brought Jose Carlos Rodriguez Hevia in as coach (he had previously been Technical Director in 2019) and the Spaniard first led the club to the semifinals of the Durand Cup, which meant that fans expected a stronger performance in the I-League. Instead, there was very little difference.
Look at Lajong’s performance over the two seasons and there are familiar patterns. In both years the Reds started with plenty of home matches and ended with a string of away games. Thus, Lajong were undefeated in 7 out of their first 9 games in 2024-25, compared to 8 out of 9 in 2023-24. A mixed middle period then gave way to a slump at the tail-end of the campaign; Lajong won just 1 out of their last 8 games this season, compared to an even worse 1 out of 9 in 2023-24.
A few differences stand out, though. Lajong were only beaten at home once this year compared to three times last season. Too many fixtures on their home turf ended in draws, however – five in 2024-25 and four in the preceding season. On the road Lajong have been poorer this season, picking up just 8 points compared to 12 in 2023-24.
What was exceptional this year was the number of goals Lajong scored – 46. No other club scored more this season and SLFC have never produced this many in any of their previous 10 I-League campaigns. Given the high number, surprisingly Lajong failed to score in seven matches this season compared to just three times in 2023-24.
However, on the flip side, Lajong also conceded a whopping 45 goals this year, second-highest among the clubs in 2024-25 and the club’s second-worst performance in any previous I-League campaign; their record was in 2018-19, the year Lajong were relegated, when they conceded 56.
When Lajong made their I-League comeback they did so with the stated aim of ultimately gaining promotion to the Indian Super League but they’ve been nowhere near that level in these past two seasons. So, where does the team go from here? A change in coach, foreign players or fresh faces among the locals? It’ll be interesting to see what path the management takes.
(Photo: Shillong Lajong FC/Facebook)
