Thaindian News

Kolkata, Feb 4 (IANS) Stung by back-to-back defeats in the ongoing I-League, Mohun Bagan Thursday sacked their Moroccan coach Karim Bencharifa and appointed Satyajit Chatterjee as his replacement for the rest of the season.
“At times you need a change. So we have arrived at an amicable settlement with Mr. Bencharifa to end his contract with him now, four months before it was slated to be over,” Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra announced at a crowded media conference here, where Bencharifa was also present.

Mitra said the decision was arrived at after discussions with the coach Wednesday night as also Thursday.

Bagan went down to Salgaocar 1-2 before losing to Dempo Sports Club 1-3 Tuesday in their two latest matches of the high-profile league at Goa to lie in the fifth position.

At a separate media meet about an hour later, Mitra named Chatterjee as the new coach for the remaining four months of the season.

Chatterjee, a celebrated midfielder of the 1990s, had a long stint with Bagan as a player. He was also an assistant to Bencharifa, but resigned at the beginning of the session.

Mitra was, however, diplomatic when asked to give the reasons for removing the coach. “There are certain things which need not be said, but can be felt. The players, officials, and even the media share this feeling.”

Bencharifa had taken over as Bagan coach in 2008 and brought spectacular successes to the club, winning the Kolkata Premeir Leauge and the Federation Cup besides finishing runners up in the I-League.

But in 2009-10, Bagan have had a lean year under the Moroccan, though they banged arch-rivals East Bengal 5-3 to exorcise the ghost of a 0-5 loss to the same team in 1975.

Bencharifa had also fallen out with several players of late, with even Bagan’s old warhorse Jose Barreto reportedly unhappy with his strategy in Goa.

The Moroccan made it clear that he had not resigned or was leaving the club during its bad times. He, however, cited statistics to claim that the club had not fared poorly under him this year.

He traced the main reason for the club’s dismal show in the I-League to the unavailability of key players like goalkeeper Sangram Mukherjee, defenders Deepak Mandal, N.S. Manju, forwards Barreto and Edeh Chiddi for most part of the tourney.

“But still the tournament is very open. We are only six points behind the leaders and three points behind the second placed side,” he said.

Chatterjee said he was honoured to become the coach of Bagan, which had a rich football history.

“This is a big responsibility. Just as I started off as a junior player and then became a senior with everybody’s cooperation, similarly I hope to grow as a coach,” said Chatterjee.