User:ArsenalFan700/2013–14 Pune F.C. season

The 2013–14 Pune F.C. season is the club's fifth season in I-League, the top flight of Indian football and the seventh season in the clubs entire history.

Former Netherlands interational player and former Vitesse manager Mike Snoei was hired to be the head coach of the club following the resignation of Derrick Pereira.

Background
Pune began the 2012–13 campaign with hope. The club had came into the season having lost some of their better players, including Subrata Pal, Baldeep Singh , and Lester Fernandez. The club also lost their top scorer from the previous season in former Guinea international Mandjou Keita. However, the club was able to make up for those loses with the signings of Abhra Mondal and James Moga. With these players added to the squad, Pune went into the 2012–13 I-League season with a bang, beating ONGC 3–2 on the opening day of the season. Then, after defeating Pailan Arrows on 9 November 2012, the club went on a nine-game unbeaten streak which eventually allowed the club to finish the season in second place, their best ever finish in the I-League to date.

Player movement
After the 2012–13 season ended, Pune did not make many major changes to the squad. The club did let go three of their four foreigners in Chika Wali, Boima Karpeh, and club top scorer James Moga. All three players subsequently signed for other I-League clubs with Wali signing for Salgaocar, Karpeh joining Sporting Goa , and Moga joining East Bengal. The clubs number 1 goalkeeper from last season, Abhra Mondal, also left the club to join East Bengal. In addition to Mondal, the club also lost Subhash Singh, Karma Tsewang, and Nallappan Mohanraj to Shillong Lajong, Salgaocar, and Mumbai Tigers respectivly. The club also lost their first ever signing in Jeje Lalpekhlua who decided to sign for former I-League champions, Dempo.

Air India forward Prakash Thorat was the first player signed by Pune for the new season. The club then proceded to sign both Anthony D'Souza and Arup Debnath respectivly from Salgaocar and Mumbai Tigers. The club then went on to sign three new foreigners to replace the three that left the club. The first to arrive was Equatorial Guinea international Raúl Fabiani. The second foreign signing for Pune came only two days later with the signing of Calum Angus from Swedish Superettan side GAIS. Then the third and final foreign signing for Pune before the season began was former A-Leaguer James Meyer who last played for the Brisbane Roar. Then, before the I-League season began, Pune signed up four players from their academy with Denechandra Meitei, Salam Ranjan Singh, Thongkhosiem Haokip, and Gobin Singh all earning promotions to the senior squad.

After the season began, Pune did make a change in their squad with Raúl Fabiani being released from the side and former Premier League and Bolton Wanderers player Riga Mustapha being brought in as a replacement.

Matches
The club began their pre-season campaign with new coach Mike Snoei in Goa. The club drew their first two matches against SESA Football Academy and Laxmi Prasad before beating Churchill Brothers 2–0 thanks to a double from Raúl Fabiani. In their next match, Pune defeated league-rivals Mumbai F.C. at the Balewadi Sports Complex in which strikes from James Meyer, Fabiani, and Zohmingliana Ralte earned the side a 3–0 victory. Then in their final match of pre-season, Pune defeated Deccan XI 2–0 thanks to strikes from Dhanpal Ganesh and Shanmugam Venkatesh.


 * Results

Summary
Pune set out for their first ever I-League title in style with a victory away from home in round one of the 2013–14 I-League season against Mohammedan. Debut goals from Raúl Fabiani, who scored a brace, and James Meyer helped Pune to 3–1 victory at the Salt Lake Stadium. Josimar was the scorer for Mohammedan. Pune then suffered a goaless draw in their second match of the season against Shillong Lajong on 29 September 2013 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Pune then began what would be a home-only month of October in which all their matches that month would be played at home. The first of the three matches occured on 10 October against Mohun Bagan. Pune managed to come out on top in that match 2–0 thanks to goals from academy product Thongkhosiem Haokip and foreign import James Meyer. The second match then occured nine-days later on 19 October against the defending champions from the 2012–13 season Churchill Brothers. Despite that fact, Pune were able to come out of the match with a victory thanks to a 52nd minute goal from Calum Angus, his first for the club. Then, the third and final match of the month came on the 27 October against newly-promoted Rangdajied United in which a 29th minute goal from Angus lead Pune to a 1–0 victory. The victory was important for Pune as it meant that Pune went into November tied for first place in the I-League with Salgaocar

Despite their grand October form, Pune could not stop themselves from falling 2–0 to Sporting Goa on 2 November. Goals from Victorino Fernandes and Pratesh Shirodkar sealed Pune's fate. However, Pune managed to come back in their very next match against new direct-entry side Bengaluru FC at home on 6 November in which a goal from James Meyer lead Pune to a 1–0 victory.

Federation Cup
On 29 August 2013 it was announced by the All India Football Federation that the format for the 2013 Indian Federation Cup would be the same as in past years. Also at that meeting, it was announced that Pune had been placed in Group A with Churchill Brothers and United with another team to be decided. Then on 28 October 2013 it was announced that the fourth and final team to be placed in Group A would be I-League 2nd Division regulars, Langsning. Matches for the group stage and final rounds were also released around that time.

Table

 * Group A

Durand Cup
For the fifth time in their history, Pune entered the Durand Cup as their opening tournament of the season. On 7 September 2013 it was announced by the club that they would send a mainly academy squad mixed with four senior players; Caitano Costa, Prakash Thorat, Shahinlal Meloly, and Gobin Singh. It was also announced that Naushad Moosa would coach the side during the tournament.

The tournament would turn out to be a short-lived one for the young Pune squad as the team lost both of their two group stage matches, thus ending them in last place in their group. The first loss came against Army Red on 9 September 2013 in which goals from Vipin TV and Lallidianmawia meant that Pune lost 2–0. Then their second loss came four days later against former I-League club ONGC F.C. in which a quick double from Henry Ezeh and an own goal from Hassan Odeola left Pune FC with a 2–1 loss.

Squad Information
As of 16 November 2013.

Management

 * As of October 2013.

Appearences and goals

 * ONL = Out on loan.
 * L = Has left the club during the season.

International Caps
Players called for senior international duty during the 2013–14 season while under contract with Pune.