Bagan starts I-League with a draw against Pune FC

Mohun Bagan maintains the record of not winning their first iLeague match. A late equalizer denied the Mariners to earn full 3 points from the away match. However, the team will return home with lot of positive from this game.

Partly cloudy sky with 25o C temperature, 64% humidity and floodlit Balewadi stadium – the stage was perfectly set for an entertaining encounter. Pune FC, the home team, started with a distinct psychological advantage as they were backed by full house local supporters.  For the Mariners, opening encounters in i-league have always been the nightmare in recent past. And this statistics was at the back of the mind when get into the game. Hence they were cautious not to get into the pressure by being at the receiving end.

After the initial ice breaking moment, the mariners slowly get into the attacking mode by effectively using the both flanks. In the process, they earned couple of corners and free kicks. However, they had to wait till 33rd minute when Snehasis broke the impasse with a brilliant shot from a direct free kick (1-0). The goal changed the entire complexion of the game as both the team stated showing their attacking intent. It was PFC who got more physical and the match official had to use the yellow card to control the temper of PFC players. However, the same saga of getting physical continued by the PFC players as they tried to put more pressure the mariners.

 As the game progressed into the second half, PFS went all out to break the jinx. On the other hand, the Mariners were unlucky as the opposition cross bar and bar post denied them to increase the lead for 3 times. On 82nd minute, PFC got a corner and the ace striker, Arata, equalized with his accurate header (1-1). For a moment Bagan’s defense had a lapse in concentration and paid the price. Once the score is level and as the crowd became more and more noisy, PFC tried to take full advantage of the situation to take the advantage of somewhat nervous shaky movements by the Mariners. Stanley made couple of injury minute substitutions (Ishfaq and Ashim came in place of Gouranga and Muritala) as the referee; Mr. Suresh blew the long whistle after the three minutes of extra time. Chidi was decleared ‘Man of the Match’.

Going by the result, the Mariners fans would not be happy but earning a point in opening encounter in away match will definitely help them to sleep comfortably, at least for today.
Team:
Mohun Bagan: Shilton, Kingshuk, Rahul, Harpreet, Dhanrajan, Gouranga (Ishfaq), Manish, Barreto, Snehasis, Muritala (Ashim), Chidi

Today’s match – fact sheet at a glance

pponent team Pune FC
Date 3-Dec-10
Venue Balewaadi Stadium, Pune
Kick off time 7:00 PM
No. of goal Mohun Bagan scored 1 (Snehasis 33′)
Opponent scored 1 (Arata, 82′)
Number of yellow card shown to MB Players 1 (Muritala)
Number of red cards shown to MB players 0
Average age of 1st XI 25.1 yrs
Average age of the squad (registered for iLeague) 23.3 yrs
1st half Score  1 – 0
Style of formation  4 – 4 – 2
Substitutions
1 Ishfaq in place of Gouranga (89′)
2 Asim in place of Muritala (93′)

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iLeague preview

Mohun Bagan starts 2010-11 iLeague venture on 3rd December 2010. There will be 14 clubs for India’s highest football league competition. ONGC and HAL qualified from 2nd Division while AIFF XI (with India U-19 players) will be there. No player from the Indian National squad will be there in iLeague for the first 6 weeks.

The AIFF started the iLeague in 2007-08 after scrapping off the National League. Mohun Bagan failed to win a single iLeague title since the launch. Dempo sports Club won 2007-08 and 2009-2010 while churchill Brothers won 2008-09. Mohun Bagan’s standing are as follows
2007-08 – 4th (30 points from 18 matches)
2008-09 – 2nd (43 points from 22 matches)
2009-10 – 5th (36 points from 26 matches)
Though Bagan’s performance is best among the teams of Kolkata in iLeague till date, 3 times champion of the National League failed to win the iLeague since its inception. Incidentally Bagan won the Kolkata League title for these three seasons – and in a recent TV programme before the penaltimate match of Kolkata League that Bagan went down 0-2, the club’s Hon. General Secretary exclaimed that he is ready to concede the Kolkata League if that brings in the iLeague title for Bagan this season.
Bagan’s key strikers Barreto, Chidi and Muritala are among top 10 scorers of iLeague as follows
Chidi (ranked 5th) – 26 goals
Barreto (ranked 8th) – 24 goals
Muritala (ranked 10th) – 22 goals
But the top scorer of iLeague, Odafe Okolie has scored 80 goals alone in the iLeague and is far ahead of Ranty Martins (42 goals)
Bagan has played 66 matches in iLeague till date and is 3rd best team after Churchill Brothers and Dempo SC. Bagan has won 31 matches while lost 19 matches in iLeague in last 3 seasons.
Bagan has scored 100 goals while conceded 80 in last three seasons.
Bagan has a slight edge in home matches against the away matches. Bagan won 24% of the home matches in comparison to 23% of away matches. However Bagan’s big wins usually have come from away matches.
Some of Bagan’s big wins –
2009-10
vs Air India (4-0 & 5-0)
vs Chirag United (5-1)
vs Pune Fc (3-1)
vs Kingfisher East Bengal (5-3)
2008-09
vs Mumbai FC( 3-0)
vs Vasco SC (3-0)
2007-08
vs Salgaokar SC (5-4)

Black Friday syndrome – introspection, integrity and irritation

Even after 36hrs since the Mariners lost yet another crown, millions of fans have still not recovered from the state of shock and awe. Despite unquestionable solidarity with the Club, all the fans, followers and well-wishers would like to ask perhaps one common question – how long do we need to fight with our patience before the new dawn sets in the horizon of Mohun Bagan lawn?

Win and loss are parts and parcel of any game. Since the inception in 1889; we, the Mariners, always take pride in standing united with every triumph and slump with the Club. Our pride and integrity as ‘Mariners’ will remain the same even after loosing consecutive three times in a row against our arch rival in this season, even after pretty ordinary performance by our team in current season and even after realizing various loopholes in team formation and team strategy.

mohunbaganclub.com – the premier fan site of the National Club of India believes that co-existence of three distinct yet vibrant functions for more than a century have made Mohun Bagan Club an institution of national repute. Squad with superior skills and talents; dynamic and efficient club management and thousands of members, supporters and well wishers across the globe are the three functions. Being a fan site, our exposure is limited to the sentiments of the fans and supporters. We don’t have the direct access to other two functions of the club. Going by the fans’ perception, it’s hard time for us to accept the fact that all are not going well for us. Going by the team performance as the yard stick, we share the united view with millions of Mariners across the globe that we have not been doing justice to our reputation in recent past.
 
For the fans, it’s a tough time to wait for 8 long years to see the coveted iLeague crown in our club tent, to see our team looking clueless against our arch rivals, to see a fragile defense succumb every now and then even against non reputed local city football clubs.
After the Black Friday, the fans and supporters are in gauged mood as irritation of non performance of the team grips in.
 
Having said all the facts and realities, we would like to share one ‘open letter’ written by a die hard fan addressing to our club administration and sent us electronically. This letter represents the sheer frustration and irritation that have been growing amongst the millions of common fans and supporters whose heart belong to the National Club of India but might not have the access to convey their sentiment to the squad members and the club administration.
— An open letter by a Mohun Bagan supporter —–
Respected Club Administrators,

1) First let me congratulate you all for selecting a tremendous team this season which is capable of winning all the trophies (although actually nothing has come in, given the fact that the "OTHER" club already has 3 and looks like making a clean sweep)

2) Thanks a lot for selecting precious a diamond (Diamondstar) someone who had to be hidden away off the field and on it was only a cause of sheer embarrassment for us. Your judgment makes us glow with pride. To add insult to injury, you then hire a coach whose team was relegated last season and also has the ignominy of conceding the maximum number of goals, although it is a different matter that they thrashed us by a double brace in our home. Oh I got it, you want to recruit only those coaches who have been able to defeat our star spangled team.

3) While others can put Robin Singh on the ground, we have a Shorab or kamar ud-din. Why are our boys languishing in AIFF XI when Robin Singh is out. You dazzling efficiency make us proud once more.

4) I also humbly grovel in delight at the world class defense that you have recruited. Only one question is the club paying them, or are they paying the club to wear our colors?

5) The only things you can do is to create some controversy and keep yourselves in the limelight. Do remember that it is the club that has made each and every one of you, you haven’t made the club. Without the shelter of our club, you are no better than the beggar who sits on the opposite sidewalk of our club. You blame the referee and the tie breaker, now…WHAT? You are miles away from the culture of our club. We do not protest, we do not run away, we play and win on the field. But you wouldn’t know that, you are running the club for your own end, not for the love of the club, but the status and prestige it brings to you. The founding fathers would be turning in their graves at the look of you.

6) What happened to the Baichung issue? Our club put up some idiot as its lawyer and got white washed. Could our club not afford a decent lawyer? Why did the officials not declare that, we could have put up someone whose really good and won the case. We had the advantage, but we let go simply because of our inept, corrupt and self serving officials, basically, YOU.

 

Keeping all the above points in mind I am giving you a few suggestions, for the betterment of yourself and thereby also of the club

a) You will not stop taking kick-backs in player recruitment, so I suggest you guys fix a ceiling and stick to it. That way, we will have the scope of getting at least a few good players.

b) The coach should know coaching, and should not be an expert in shoe-shining only. He should be able to understand that this is football we are talking about, yes, the one that he stitches, but what to do with it is a different ball-game to how it is made.

c) Finally, stop making excuses, and read the dictionary meaning of RESIGNATION. The whole bunch should just resign.

Thnx & regards,
A proud Mohun Bagan Supporter