Odisha FC’s newly-appointed coach Sergio Lobera aims to build a team for the future while being successful at present

Odisha FC are taking giant strides in Indian football and their entire plan was based on bringing in Sergio Lobera and chalking out a well-versed plan for the upcoming season. The Juggernauts have also qualified for the AFC Cup as they defeated Gokulam Kerala in the Club Playoffs.

Lobera has signed a two-year deal with the club only because of their ambitions going forward. The ISL title-winning coach is an integral part of the plan. The Spaniard has coached FC Goa and Mumbai City but considers this as his career’s biggest challenge.

“I’m very excited and happy to be a part of this family. Also, I want to thank the management for their trust in me. Maybe it’s the biggest challenge in my career, but I am very excited to achieve something important in this amazing club,” Lobera stated in his interview with Odisha FC.

Odisha FC had a 2022-23 season to remember as they qualified for the ISL playoffs for the first time in their club’s history. Although the management sacked Josep Gombau, Clifford Miranda stepped in and did a fabulous job in the Super Cup. He guided the Juggernauts to their first-ever silverware. Furthermore, they also qualified for the AFC Cup by beating Gokulam Kerala.

Odisha FC’s success in the previous season and their ambition of making it big in the upcoming years attracted Lobera to join here. He revealed that he had a fruitful conversation with the team management.

“I think that a club is doing things very well. You have a very good example. The club won the Hero Super Cup last season and we are going to compete in Asia (in the AFC Cup 2023-24). When I had the meeting with Rohan (Sharma), Abhik (Chatterjee) and Raj (Athwal) when I spoke with them, I felt this is the club that I want to work with because I feel they are doing things very well. They are very clear with me and they have the same ambitions that I have. This was the main reason I decided to come to Odisha FC,” he revealed.

Lobera achieved great success with his previous clubs in India. He will be looking to replicate the same with Odisha FC. However, he also stated that it is important to build the club for the future. I am very ambitious. I am coming back to India because I think we can get success together with Odisha FC. And this is a short time. It’s very easy for me as a head coach to tell you I need more time..to get success,” he explained.

“Obviously we need time. We are working with new people but we need to build a future project with the club. And at the same time, we need to win in a professional way. Everyone who was working at the club wants to win,” he further added.

With Lobera’s arrival, the likes of Mourtada Fall and Ahmed Jahouh have also joined the club. Both the players have featured under Lobera’s stewardship in Morocco and then again in India. They were with him at FC Goa and also at Mumbai City FC. Now, they will don the Odisha FC colours. Odisha FC had already extended the contract of Carlos Delgado and their talismanic striker Diego Mauricio. Lobera is looking to add more arsenal to the roster as they aim for the skies in the upcoming season.