Month: February 2010

Mohun Bagan 4-1 BNR

Mohun Bagan’s coach has heard it many times before but this time it was earlier as a player or as a Deputy coach. It came from the Mohun Bagan supporters from the gallery, its marking a first win under Satyajit chatterjee and another four goals to continue a momentous month.

"We can win the iLeague beside the Kolkata League" – Satyajit can say that again. Confidence oozed through Mohun Bagan from the start, flowing directly from Barreto and Branco. The pair were conspicuously head and shoulders above every one else on the pitch, closely involved in the important goals. 
 
Subho Kumar has been touted as a contender for player of the midfield but was kept under utilized through out the season. Had Snehasish not been injured, Ishfaq hardly could have made it to the squad. These two players played vary well today. BNR defenders were comprehensively beaten for the Mohun Bagan goals, when they made the mistakes of allowing Ishfaq’s long centres to bounce and completely underestimated Branco and Barreto’s pace and determination. 
 
Everything looked fairly straightforward for Bagan when they scored at the fourth minute. Branco got a a centre from Ishfaq and his header found it 1-0 for Bagan.
 
In the 24th minute BNR scored the equalizer as Babatunde got past Bagan defense and scored(1-1)
 
 
Always hungry for the ball, Barreto then started scoring for Bagan. Ishfaq and Subho started playing pressing football and their final were finding either Barreto or Branco. BNR was found defending with 10-men.
 
In the 37th minute Barreto got a cross from Ishfaq and glanced his header and the ball into the goal(2-1).
 
In the 42nd minute Barreto and Ishfaq combination found the third goal of the match for Bagan. Barreto passed the ball to Ishfaq and got into the box. Ishfaq’s final found Barreto whose power shot got past BNR’s goalkeeper (3-1).
 
In the 59th minute Zenith waved the ball that found Parminder. His final to Barreto got Barreto his hat-trick(4-1)
 
It could easily have been five or even six, but Branco and zenith missed some sitters. But coach needs to work upon the defense. This requires special attention.
 
 
Team : Shilton, Zenith, Sagram, Azim, Biswajit, Subhojit(Parminder), Suvo kumar (Mickey) , Lalramluaha , Isfaq (Snehasish), Branco, Barreto.
 
Man of the Match : Barreto

Who is next?

Enough of Karim, at last. It was on the cards, fans were divided – some of them still behind him but some of them are strongly against. But most importantly it seems that officials are not with Karim anymore. The drama will be at 4PM today in club tent where officials and coach will address the journalists together and most common rumor around is that Karim will resign there and officials will declare the new coach. Now lets try to think what we got and what we didn’t in last 1.5 years with our beloved “Karim Chacha”.

Positive: 
Convincing victory in Fed Cup, CFL, Super cup last year
Runner up in I League (Not sure thought its positive or negative as being runner up is topping the list of losers)
Pretty good team spirit last year
Trust shown on some young players like Sagaram Mandi, Manish Mathani, and Rakesh Mashi
5 goals against our arch-rivals
 
Negative: 
Karim’s recent attitude that he is bigger than the institution
Worst dressing room atmosphere in last 2-3 years (reminds of 2002-03)
No trophy yet this year and I don’t think we will win anything other than CFL now (hope I am wrong and we win I League)
Rude behavior with Jr players
The killer blow was the ultra defensive performance against a depleted Dempo side
 
 
Now the big question is who is next? There are names flying around: 
 
Subhash Bhowmick: NO PLS. No discussion, just NO.  
 
Amal Dutta: NO again. Not as strong a NO as Mr Bhowmick. But we had enough bad history with him.  
Satyajit Chatterjee: Possibly the choice that will be accepted by all. He is a 120% Mohun Bagani. He is well behaved and understands the passion of the crores of Mohun Bagan fans. 
 
Barreto: He is always welcome. The kind of commitment he has shown, I am a very small person to comment anything against him. And I am sure that if he is given the responsibility he will do well. 
 
SO friends, lets wait for some more time and we will know what’s going to happen. Till then just pray that whatever happens is for good for our beloved MOHUN BAGAN. 
 
From the desk of Suryasish Banerjee, Marietta, GA, USA

Satyajit is the new coach

Satyajit Chatterjee is the new Head Coach for Mohun Bagan. This was announced by the club officials today. He will be coaching the team for next 4 months.

Satyajit Chatterjee joined  team Mohun Bagan as a midfielder in 1986-87. He retired from Mohun Bagan in 2000-01.  He later joined as Assistant Coach for the team including 2008-09 under Karim Bencharifa. He donned the national jersey as well. Popularly known as "Ghorer chele" – Satyajit has a good track record as a player and an assistant coach of Mohun Bagan.