The lone striker of Bengal, the golden boy for Bagan at this moment - Dipendu Biswas basking in the glory of his 200 goals, speaks about Mohun Bagan, his own career and about Indian football.

:: Congratulations Dipendu for your tremendous achievement !! 200 goals is ofcourse no mean feat. Looking back at all these years, all these goals, all the teams that you played for, which are the memories which you cherish the most ?

Well it has to be my first call up for the India squad. I was at TFA then, pretty young. I was called up for the Sub junior squad, and then directly to the Senior National team. I should say that was the beginning of my career.

:: You have played with repute for Mohun Bagan, Bengal squad, India squad, TFA and even Bihar and East Bengal. If we ask you to choose your best goals while playing for each of these team, which ones would they be ?

While playing for TFA, I had scored against Mohun Bagan in the Durand Cup semi final, way back in January 96. For Bihar, I didn’t play too many matches; in fact I played just one tournament in which I helped them to be the Champions. For Bengal, I played many matches and have got many memorable moments, I remember my goals in the quarter finals, semifinals and finals of the Santosh Trophy which Bengal won after thumping Goa by 5 goals. Its tough to pick out the best out of all these goals though.
For Mohun Bagan, I have 5-6 goals against East Bengal. My first goal will always stand apart from the rest. I remember scoring the goal after coming in as a substitute, it was a great feeling to score in front of so many supporters at the Salt Lake stadium.

:: What about the current Mohun Bagan team. How would a senior pro like Dipendu Biswas rate this Bagan squad.

Oh it’s a great team! A perfect blend of youth and experience, it’s a well balanced team. We haven’t been able to gel well together yet, because of the regular absence of quite a few of them. They will take some time to adjust, because sometimes the players are training with Houghton and the rest of the time with Bishuda (Biswajit Bhattacharya). But we once we all get to practice together, it wont take much time bring out the very best in us.
We all are really improving under the watchful eyes of Robson. A physical trainer can really bring a lot of change to the squad. Before his arrival Bishuda did his best, but a physical trainer brings in a lot of difference. Everywhere in world physical trainers play a very important role unlike in India. After his arrival, Robson has introduced great news techniques to increase our physical endurance level and we are bound to reap the benefits of all these pretty soon.
Our youngsters will need some time to settle down, Satyajit, Ayan, Surojit, Lalampuia are real quality players,they just need some more time. Subhas Chakraborty, Dulalda are slowly coming back to their former self. Look what difference just Du and Dharamjit brought into our team.
And once players like Dharamjit, Mehraj, Tomba, Mehtab, Basuda, Baichung and Barreto play together, you will see the real quality football that we are capable of.

:: Looking back at the last season, a team fighting relegation suddenly became title contenders after the change of coach. A team struggling to find a single goal in matches started to score a plenty. To what factors would you attribute this change?

I must say that Jaharda (Jahar Das) had a huge role in this. The type of physical training and coaching techniques that he introduced were simply great. See we conceded very few goals throughout the league. He created a great coordination amongst our defenders. He was a great coach. But due to some reasons, he fell apart with some of the players. And hence the team failed to click. Bishuda didn’t get too much time to train us up in a new way. He just mixed with the players well and brought them together. And that’s how we had a fresh looking Mohun Bagan.

:: In retrospect to your own career. What exactly happened at Mahindra ?

See, I was playing regularly under David Booth. But just before the Federation Cup, he fell apart with the club management , and Nayeem sir came in. The problems started after that. The ‘Cristinao Junior’ incident was still fresh in the minds of everyone. They got alarmed by my abnormal ECG report. I repeatedly told them that there was no abnormality in the report and that this condition of mine is right from my childhood.
I have a slightly enlarged heart from my birth, which of course has no cure. All these fell on deaf years. I then consulted an Electro Cardiologist – Lakhanwala one of the very best in Europe, he studied my case with utmost sincerity for one and a half months. He consulted various doctors in Europe and South America. After the conclusion of his study, he reported that many players in the world, especially in South America have this heart irregularity. In football, there are three types of risk levels – High, Medium and Low. My disorder (if I would call it so) falls under the third category. Hence the Doctor gave me a fit certificate. He said that I have no problems whatsoever in continuing my football career. However the National League was well past its prime for me to participate in it. When Mahindra came to know about this fit certificate, they asked me to play the remaining matches, but I refused…

:: Mahindra is supposed to be the epitome of professionalism in Indian football. Why did they take so much time with your case?

Mahindra is of course a professional club with good infrastructure. But the doctor who studied me was a general doctor who attended to the company employees. He was not a specialist. If they had taken me to a specialist in the first case, this situation could have been cleared long ago.
In fact , a similar situation arose before the Fed Cup after coming back to Mohun Bagan. However after that, I was taken to Birla Heart center, who okayed my condition , and then Dr. Santi Ranjan Dasgupta helped a lot and stood by my side.

:: From a player who was believed to be long lost – to a substitute player who played in patches, a goal stricken striker – and then suddenly back to your stardom, finding goals regularly… How did this happen? Who are the personalities who helped bring this change?

Tutuda (Mohun Bagan president Swapan Sadhan Bose) stood by my side all throughout. It was primarily due to him that I stayed in Mohun Bagan. And then came the letter from Fifa, which cleared all kinds of complications. And then of course Santida (Dr. Santi Ranjan Dasgupta) who stood by me. Anjanda (Anjan Mitra), Debasishda (Debasish Dutta) helped me a lot too .

:: What are your targets now for the moment ?
Well Fed Cup and National League are of course our prime targets. The Calcutta League is very much gettable too, we just a few points adrift. If Md.Sporting draws up with East Bengal, we will have a fine chance to clinch the league.

:: Speaking of our National Team, what your comments about the current team ?

Yes, it is taking a turn for the good. They are playing good football. The coach, I think is a great coach. However our infrastructure has to improve a lot, else nothing is going to happen. If we compare the infrastructure with that of Japan and Saudis … we are nowhere !!!

::What do you have to say about the general outburst – Where have all the Indian (read Bengal) strikers gone ?

Well, you have to give them the chance ! Ayan Choudhury and others are great strikers, but you have to give them the chance. Think of the time when I played alongside Igor, Barreto and Stephen, I used to get only a few minutes to play… we need to be given more chances to prove ourselves.


:: It has been long seen, that our National team is playing quite well in the junior level and can match the very best in the world. But the scenario changes completely when we come to the National Level. Why is this happening ?

See, you have to understand the difference which the young guys face when the take the next step after the junior level. They are brought up in a great environment at TFA. Just after graduating from TFA, they join the clubs where the infrastructure isn’t upto that level. The German youngster Podolski and our very own Malswamtulunga participated in an European tournament (when the later was in TFA), both Podolski and Mama bagged the best player awards, now just compare Podolksi and Mama, Podolski went to Cologne and Mama went to East Bengal ! (Laughs)… Its because of this difference that we are not upto the world level !

:: So, where lies the solution ?

The infrastructure has to improve. Mohun Bagan is proceeding in that direction. Look at our Academy, it has got all the latest facilities. A residential set up makes a lot of difference. We need to take part in International tournaments. Apart from these, players are to be trained from a very young age. AIFF will also have to market our football so that it reaches out to the upper strata of the society too. SAI for instance has started a similar scheme. Bengal is showing a renewed interest in Football. I believe once Sourav Ganguly retires from cricket, there will be much more interest in cricket, though I sincerely pray that Sourav’s career doesn’t end now and he plays on for many more years … (smiles…)

:: Whats your message for the Mohun Bagan fans all over the world ?

Stay with us as always. We need your support. And I sincerely believe we can gift the National League and Fed Cup to our beloved fans this year !
 

:: Thanks a lot Dipendu , and all the best for the rest of the season !


[ September 2006, A MohunBaganClub.com Exclusive report ]