Mohun Bagan beat HAL by 4-2 at Bangalore in a round 9 match of I League. In the 94th minute Arindam Das, a Member of Mohun Bagan sends a text message to his Mohun Bagan brethren – “Thy name is Mohun Bagan” – he was a relieved man after Manish scored the 4th goal for Bagan. 4 goals scored none conceded in the second half and the scoreline says 4-2!

The scoreline says Bagan conceded 2 goals in the first half , came back into the match and scored 4 vital goals in the second half. The score line says don’t conjure up traumatic memories from the last three games that were – LOSS-DRAW-LOSS! What is says is it is time the TD must have a tactical review.

With Dhanarajan, Masih (or even Zeleny) and Anwar – there is a triangle – which is the weakest part of the Bagan defense. These players must go back and learn the basic football sense once again. They are becoming costly to the team – conceding goals after goals from this zone. The TD won’t depend upon Daljit – but Daljit can be a better player than Dhanarajan – and Nabi can be a good choice – but having Nabi in the left back position means we are compromising on the right wing.

The scorecard won’t say this can be treated as a comeback match for Snehasish and of course Pradeep.  What it won’t say is how Bagan players were falling in offside trap laid by HAL (one can recall the same thing that happened the last time these two teams met)

It will not say the kind of game played by Metti, RC Prakash and Hamza – they know the weakest point of Bagan and they  know Anwar and Kingshuk are not yet set to be stoppers – they utilized the opportunities. In one such case in the 25th minute RC Prakash, the ex-Bagan veteran got into Bagan’s left back position and crossed the ball for Metti who got past Anwar and Kingshuk and headed the ball into the goal (0-1).

In the 31st minute Sangram’s great (in)famous sense of stepping out helped Hamza scoring the second goal for HAL. Hamza noticed Sangram was stepping out for the ball – which was not required, and he made no mistake in placing the ball past Sangram (0-2)

By that time Dhanarajan was already replaced by Pradeep, and Nabi moved into the left back position. One fault was repaired by the Coaching staff!

Rest of the first half saw Bagan’s relentless movements and HAL’s defense. Rakesh Masih’s miss passes were adding masala to the same. Odafa tried to score by was falling short of the mark.

The first 15 mins of the second half saw miss passes and some counter attacks by HAL. In the 60th minute Snehasish crossed the ball for Odafa and Odafa header reduced the margin (1-2).

The coaching staff made the second change immediately after the goal by bringing in Manish in lieu of Barreto who was totally off colour today missing some very easy opportunities.

Odafa scored his second in the 69th minute when Snehasish took a corner and the ball went to Odafa via Jewel’s header. Odafa’s backheader helped Bagan in equaling the scoreline (2-2)

The only major incident that happened between the two goals was Masih’s booking for an unnecessary foul. HAL tried to increase the lead – but Kingshuk , Sangram, Surkumar played pretty well.

In the 74th minute Pradeep got a booking as well.

Rakesh was replaced by Souvik in the 86th minute. In the 89th minute Jewel scored the third. It was Snehasish – Nabi –  Odafa – Jewel – this time Odafa the middleman – and Jewel right footer kissed the net( 3-2)

In the 94h minute Manish left footer outside the box and the ball got past the goalie (4-2)

 

This win helps Bagan move into the 3rd spot of the table now.                                                              

Mohun Bagan: Sangram, Surkumar, Kingshuk, Anwar, Dhanrajan (Pradeep), Nabi, Jewel, Masih (Souvick), Snehasis, Barreto (Manish), Odafa.

Yellow Card: Masih, Pradeep

Team Mohun Bagan practiced here at Bangalore today. The team comprised of shilton, Sangram, Surkumar, Kingshuk, Sourav, Dhanarajan, Souvik, Anwar, Snehasish, Daljit, Pradeep, Manish, Murali, Jewel, Nabi, Masih, Odafa and Barreto. Sunil, Zeleny, Lima were left away as they are nursing injuries.

Mohun Bagan practiced in the stadium today. Apparently Bagan TD and Coach seem to go back to Barreto- Odafa pair as the forward line beside the two wings in Snehasish and Nabi. The two central midfielders can be Pradeep and Jewel. Dhanarajan, Anwar, Kingshuk and Surkumar can be the four defenders. Sangram can be the custodian.

 

We have come upon another season of football after the officials of the club have done their bit. We cannot say that they have covered themselves with glory we have had a couple of Federation Cups, a Super Cup, defeating Dempo Sports Club 4-0. But during this period of uninterrupted rule by the present bunch of officials, plenty has happened which shames the average supporter and member alike. Latest – Bagan went down against the bottom-most club of the Kolkata League – Police AC by 0-1.

When one starts using the Club to further his own interest, that of the Club is naturally compromised. When one starts to use the Club to get himself elected to the BCCI, how much does anyone think he cares about the Club? How is the seat in the BCCI going to help our Club, or for that matter how much has a seat in the much vaunted FIFA panel helped us? The coterie that runs the Club is almost a back scratchers association. You scratch mine, I’ll scratch yours. But if the officials had used their brains in selecting the right team – Bagan could have been in the top of the iLeague and Kolkata  League and could have bagged the Federation Cup.

But No. For the past couple of years the officials make a team out of an injured bunch of players. Why are the players not subject to proper medical examinations before they are signed on? Yes, the officials make the team! Why should they consult the coach? He is only an employee, much like the servants we have at home. He need not be consulted about what team he wants. It is the officials’ prerogative to decide what team the Club would have. It is no matter that they never played football at any level. Such things are considered unimportant when selecting players for the team.

However ridiculous it may sound, we have a technical committee to oversee the work of the coach, but when it comes to the officials, they never appoint anyone to oversee whatever is going on. We do not yet have a proper multi – gymnasium, we use the CAB facilities for our footballers one was donated by a group of supporters and members; no one knows how it is used. We do not have a washing machine yet, we use a grounds man to wash all the jerseys everyday. The uncongenial atmosphere of the Club exposes itself whenever a group of supporters protest against any wrong. A similar incident happened on 11th December after Bagan went down 0-1 against Police AC. An official was heard saying that "those who are agitating are not members of Mohun Bagan AC – they are outsiders!"

Sir – we have less than 10 thousand members of Mohun Bagan but there are millions of mohun Bagan supporters across the globe! These supporters are hounded out by a bunch of sycophants who go around celebrating birthdays, showing themselves off in front of the media and generally making a nuisance of themselves -only thing they ever do is fanning the officials.

In the selection of Subrata Bhattacharya, the prodigal son, and Prashanta Banerjee the FIFA licensed coach, they hit a single bird with two stones. First, they fulfilled the licensed coach condition of the AFC and AIFF, and second, more importantly for them, they overcame the negative media that they had been having because of the English import. Finally and most importantly, they crippled the opposition by taking away one its leaders. Subrata Bhattacharya along with Prashun Banerjee and a few others had raised the sceptre of revolt against the present bunch of officials. They had a rather unpleasant time last time. This was the ideal opportunity to put an end to it once and for all.

But – may we ask on what ground did the duo fighting to field a proper XI member team ? The season is half gone – and they are yet to form a playing XI.  But the system of reward in our Club leads to a prediction that Subrata – Prashanta team has until the end of this year to turn this hospital full of players around. Otherwise, they may be shown the door any day after the election is over. They will not be required until the next elections are due. In the last six years, we had more coaches than years. This is ridiculous for a Club that purports to be a premier Club, nay Institution of the country.

We are rightly proud of our heritage but it is mainly because we are ashamed of our present. Our members need to wake up as it is too late.