The Aussie has vented out his frustration on inconsistent refereeing, which he believes led to their downfall in the last two matches and cost them dearly in the title race...
By Anselm Noronha
East Bengal forward Tolgay Ozbey is of the opinion that his team lost the plot in the I-League title race in the last two matches and believes that the referees were partly responsible as decisions didn't go in favour of his side.
The Red and Gold had a downfall after their 3-2 win against Dempo, as they suffered back-to-back defeats to Salgaocar SC and Churchill Brothers.
The Australian says that the referees should be held culpable for robbing them of their full strength squad by flashing "unnecessary" cards which accounted to his team-mates' suspensions.
"We lost the title in the last two matches in Goa, but we were also hard done by the referees," Tolgay spoke in an exclusive chat with Goal.com.
"I know many people won't like me saying this, but the officials haven't been consistent. The yellow cards came out too easily thus causing suspensions. If you notice in any of our matches in which we have played to our full strength, we haven't lost a single match," he continued.
Tolgay has signed a contract extension for another season at the Kolkata club and he also praised the efforts of the team in winning the Kolkata League and the Federation Cup.
"I've signed for another season. We've done pretty well this term winning the Kolkata League and the Federation Cup. East Bengal are still the best. We have five wins over our arch rivals Mohun Bagan which has happened after a long time.
"Fans also play an important role in Kolkata. Without their backing we won't be pushed to test our limits and they always expect more from us."
My views on the title race...
"Mathematically , it is possible, but it's very hard. The good thing is that JCT lost against Mohun Bagan, so they will play tougher (against Salgaocar in their last match). Everyone knows that it's very hard to beat them (JCT) at home.
"We'll be hoping to score four-to-five goals against HAL, which I think we can do, and hope everything else works out in our favour. If we get an early goal, I think we can get a big score, but HAL also won't be easy to beat as they are at the bottom of the table and would be fighting to save their season."
What about new signings?
"East Bengal are already a very strong team. I don't know how else we can really strengthen the squad. Of what I have heard, two-or-three players from Churchill Brothers are joining us in the coming term," said Tolgay.
It is reliably learnt that Robert Lalthlamuana, Khanthang Paite and Charan Rai are set to join the Red and Gold's next season.
"I don't know how Robert is as a player. As I hear of him, he is a good player on the left wing and we need a player in that position," Tolgay reviewed.