Organisers should build up on ISL's first season success: Mark Bright
Mumbai: Mark Bright is a former English footballer who is now the coach at Crystal Palace as well as a football pundit. A prolific striker, Bright spent the majority of his career at Crystal Palace, where he scored the club’s first Premier League goal on the opening weekend of the competition in August 1992. Shortly after that, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday, where he spent five seasons before finishing his career at Charlton Athletic.
Bright was in Mumbai as part of Barclays Premier League live event, where he selected one player to train with the Crystal Palace academy. The coach shared his experience about the event, the crowd and his team's season ahead.
Your thoughts on Crystal Palace current season?
We have drawn too many games. We drew games against Stoke City, West Bromich Albion and Burnley. The team has been little bit inconsistent, but that is ok as we have plenty of time to turn things around.
Do you think that Crystal Palace will be able to stay in top flight next season?
I think we have enough in the squad to stay in the top flight; just before the season started, we increased the size of squad and in January we are planning to bring in couple of signings. So I think we can survive the season.
How did you find training kids before selecting the winner who would be trained in your academy?
It was nice to train kids. Mumbai City FC did help us find the best player after we held trials at Cooperage. Dhruvmil Pandya, who was the youngest in the trial, got selected after impressive performance; he will be flying to London (with a guardian) and will spend a full week training at Crystal Palace’s world famous Academy. He will receive valuable advice from the 1st team manager, players and staff.
Is this your first visit to Mumbai and how has been your experience?
Yes, indeed, this is my first visit to Mumbai and the crowd here is fantastic and special. What I am seeing here is that people have enjoyed their visit and have been having fun.
Your thoughts about Indian Super League?
The tournament has been a success. There is a huge passion for the sport in the country from what I have seen on my visit. In spite of cricket being the most loved sport, football too has a huge fan following. First season has been excellent and the organisers should build up on the success. Fantastic goals were scored in the tournament and I feel in the near future, young players from BPL should be given the opportunity to play in the tournament.
Which team have you been rooting for in ISL?
I was rooting for Mumbai City FC, but bad luck, as they could not make it to the knockout stage. I had a word with coach Peter Reid and he said that he was disappointed that Andre Moritz and Nicolas Anelka were injured, and had they both been fit to play, the team would have made it to the knockout stage.
