More than two decades back, a young Gouramangi Singh Moirangthem arrived in Goa with ambition and dreams. What followed was a playing career with almost every prominent Goan club. You name it, and Gouramangi has donned that jersey — Dempo SC, Sporting Club de Goa, Churchill Brothers.
After spending seven years playing in this coastal State, he returned in 2022 to join FC Goa’s coaching staff. Four years were spent in being the second-in-command, with the Goa album in his brain’s gallery getting bigger with memories and knowledge.
He says this is his second home. “Goa has given me everything, not just professionally, but personally.” His daughter was born here.
Now, the former India international will embark on another chapter after he was announced as Manolo Marquez’s successor at the helm of FC Goa. After a training session at the Ella Ground in Old Goa, Gouramangi spoke to Sportstar about his relationship with Manolo and his expectations for the upcoming season.
Excerpts:
When did you find out you were going to be the next head coach? Was it when Manolo was leaving?
I’m very much part of the FC Goa family and my relationship with Manolo was beyond football. We have a lot of mutual respect for each other. A couple of weeks back when the club was in transition, the club and Manolo decided to part ways. The club reached out to me, saying that before they look for anyone else, whether I would be interested. I spoke to my family and subconsciously maybe it was always there that whenever the time was right, I would love to take up this challenge.
While at FC Goa, you’ve been with Carlos Pena and then Manolo. Is there a particular coach you might model your philosophy on?
I’ve been a part of football for so long, played under different coaches, so I’m pretty sure that I’ve been learning and picking up small details from everyone. That has definitely helped me shape the way I see the game. So for me to just pick it up one individual or one coach might not be fair. With Manolo, I was fortunate that I got to work with him in this phase of my career. I brought different things to the table and he was appreciative of that, and gave me the space to come up with my thoughts and present them. I think as coaches, we’ll have our own way of looking at a situation. I had my own ideas but of course there are things that we saw going very well here for the last few years. I’ll definitely try not to change it. I think it’s not the smartest way to go about it. You will see small adjustments.
Youngsters like Brison Fernandes and Ayush Dev Chhetri have left. How do you see the squad shaping up with transfers ongoing as well?
Like I mentioned, we’ve had a very good last couple of seasons. We were one of the teams who would always fight. That’s my message to the boys as well. I think the squad that we have, a mix of experience and young ones, will be competitive. Yes, some of the boys that had been with us for the last couple of years have left and we have already got a couple of boys in. We more or less have the squad ready now to move forward.
Everyone has been talking about OCI/PIO players. What’s your take on it?
This debate has been going on for many years now. I think it might be a temporary fix. If they amend a few rules in the constitution and some Indian-origin players play for India, I’d welcome that. But for the long run, we need to focus on our grassroots, infrastructure, and put systems in place where we all are working towards a goal within our framework.
There were four Indian coaches last season. But then we saw Pep Munoz coming in and replacing Renedy Singh at Bengaluru FC. Do you think more Indian coaches should be given a chance?
At the end of the season if we (FC Goa) do well, it’s not only about me as an Indian coach I think, it’s definitely going to send out a very positive message to the fraternity that there are people who are ready for the job. I know that there are many from my batch, or seniors, who are aware of what’s happening with world football or in the way that we try to continue learning. I think we all are just waiting for the right time.
Gouramangi says FC Goa is known to dominate games and that it will continue to play that way under his charge. | Photo Credit: Gouramangi Singh/Instagram
There was a lot of uncertainty last year which saw FC Goa shut down operations as well. How was that phase? Moreover, from next season, only a playoff spot in AFC’s third tier will be available for Indian clubs. How do you see that?
The situation wasn’t very ideal last season. Maybe that forced the AFC to make this decision. The stakeholders, the federation, everyone came together and said things can’t go on like this. We can always win the AFC spot back. We just need to get our house in order. Last season, yes, things weren’t good, but FC Goa never had a plan or even thought of shutting down. We might have had some pay cuts but we all just wanted to get back on the field.
You have an AFC Champions League Two playoff match coming up. How’s the preparation been? Was this the reason you skipped Durand Cup this season?
Even till a few months back, AIFF was still working on the way forward. But East Bengal and we knew that we had an AFC spot to fight for, so we started our preparation early. We always knew that we have a game on August 12, and that’s the reason we are almost finishing our second week of pre-season.
[Reason for skipping Durand Cup] It was an administrative decision. I know the Durand Cup is one of the most important tournaments, but everything was coming too early. Let’s put it that way.
What will a Gouramangi Singh-coached FC Goa look like?
It’s simple. FC Goa has always been known to dominate. That is what we’re trying to prepare. We will not accept defeat without a fight. I look forward to trying and playing good, attacking football. But will it be easy? No. But we’ll try to keep it as simple as possible.
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Published on Jul 24, 2026