If there were nagging doubts in the Mohun Bagan dressing room that we can win the Premier League this season, they were firmly banished by the 7-0 win against George Telegraph.

The Nigerian Edeh Chidi’s 4 goals of the match – that lead to completion of 150 goals in India proved to be the winner that sent his side back to the run for the top of the table as Bagan won 7-0 over George Telegraph. Subair Muritala ali scored the remaining three goals.One can’t remember when was the last time in Premier Division football two hattricks took place in the same game.

Being second in the Federation Cup is not nice, particularly when the referee cancelled two clean goals, but when Mariners are playing in this Premier league with so many games, the fans saw that the players were fresh and this is important.

A full fortnight to prepare and rest ahead of monday’s match  was a help but it was not a smooth build-up for Chidi who had fitness issues from the beginning of the season. However he started scoring from the very 1st minute and he alone scored the goals at 1st, 5th, 45th and 71st minute.
Chidi, with the Captain’s arm band today,  believes Premier League excursions could be seen in the title holder’s start to the game.

Muritala Ali assisted him well with goals scored in 47th , 53rd and 77th minute.
Snehasish (replaced by Satish in 69th minute), Jayanta and Barreto (replaced by Diamondstar in 55th minute) controlled the midfield. Even young Surabuddin (replaced by David in 73rd minute) supported the team in various occasions.

Chidi was elected as the Man of the Match.

Meanwhile the derby between Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting scheduled on Sunday, 24th October, will be postponed, Bagan will play against Eastern Rail on that day at Mohun Bagan Ground from 2.30 pm.

Team:

Mohun Bagan – Shilton, Kingshuk, Sagram, Dhanarajan, Karan, Jayanta, Snehasish( Satish Kumar 71′), Surabuddin(Davic 74′), Chidi(C), Muritala, Barreto (Diamondstar 56′).

Today’s Match – Fact Sheet At A Glance
Opponent team	George Telegraph
Date	19-Oct-10
Venue	MB Ground, Kolkata
Kick off time	2:30 PM
No. of goal Mohun Bagan scored	7 [Chiddi(4), Muritala(3)]
Opponent scored	0
Number of yellow card shown to MB Players	1(Chiddi)
Number of red cards shown to MB players	0
Average age of 1st 11	24.6 yrs
Average age of the squad (registered for Fed cup)	23.3 yrs
1st half Score	3 – 0
Style of formation
Substitution
1	Diamondstar in place of Barreto(55mt)
2	Satish Kr in place of Snehasis(69mt)
3	David in place of Surabuddin(73mt)

Picture Courtesy : Bartaman

AIFF has announced the iLeague dates. Mohun Bagan will kick off the iLeague against Pune FC this year. However, AIFF, having tendencies of changing the calendar in favour of some clubs from time to time, might change the fixture few times this season as well.

The fixture for Mohun Bagan is as follows

 

 

iLeague 2010 Fixture

Date	Opponent	Type
27.11.2010	Pune F. C.	Away
01.12.2010	H.A.L.	Home
05.12.2010	Churchill Brothers	Away
10.12.2010	Dempo S.C.	Home
15.12.2010	JCT	Away
18.12.2010	ONGC	Away
24.12.2010	Mumbai FC	Home
30.12.2010	Viva Kerala	Away
04.01.2011	Chirag United	Away
09.01.2011	Salgaokar SC	Away
16.01.2011	U-19	Home
22.01.2011	Air India	Away
30.01.2011	Kingfisher East Bengal	Home

 

Date	Opponent	Type
06.02.2011	Pune F. C.	Home
13.02.2011	H.A.L.	Away
19.02.2011	Churchill Brothers	Home
27.02.2011	Dempo S.C.	Away
05.03.2011	Kingfisher East Bengal	Away
08.03.2011	JCT	Home
13.03.2011	Mumbai FC	Away
03.04.2011	Viva Kerala	Home
09.04.2011	Chirag United	Home
17.04.2011	ONGC	Home
24.04.2011	Air India	Home
01.05.2011	Salgaokar SC	Home
to be announced	U-19	Away

 

Mariners will resume their unfinished CFL 2010-11 campaigns tomorrow after a month long break due to Federation Cup and Durga Puja vacation. And needless to say that they have a task on-hand. Till now, the CFL campaign for the last two consecutive years’ champion has been anything but impressive. With 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the opening encounters, Mariners are expected coming back with a bang. Though the nightmare of 2nd Oct would still continue to haunt us some more time, it’s time for the Team to continue the momentum and tempo displayed during the Fed Cup.
Mohun Bagan will start their post Puja campaign in fresh and hopefully with all the squad members fit.

However, the team management needs to do serious introspection on certain aspects while deciding upon the team strategy –

1. 5 CFL matches for the Mariners in 11 days (between 19-Oct-2010 and 30-Oct-2010) – Physical fitness will be a big challenge for any team in this situation. The key is to make suitable rotation amongst the squad members. Going by the first four CFL encounters of this season, only 3 players (Sangram, Kingsuk Debnath and Surabuddin) have got all the four matches full times whereas 11 players (out of 30) in the squads, who have been registered for CFL 2010-11, have not yet been utilized in any of the CFL encounters so far. We might expect a lot of flexibility on rotation front from the think tanks.
2. I-League campaign will start only on 27-Nov-2010 – Hence we have some time to experiment with the various formations and combinations so as to get all the right plans in place before i-League kicks off. And CFL matches are ideal for these kinds of experiments. However, the huge fan pressures with sky high expectation would always put the team management on a tight rope. And that is always tagged to the brand ‘Mohun Bagan’. Living up to the expectation with all sorts of experiments is the name of the game!!
3. All out attack vs Sicilian defense – The team have scored 2.5 goals per match (on average) in the first four encounters of this year’s CFL whereas the opponents have been able to score 1 goal per match (on average). Despite the facts that it’s still very early into the league campaign and big matches have still to come, our defense is, by no means, anywhere comparable to formidable Sicilian defense. However, the big positive factor could be the resilience and determination shown by our defenders during the Fed Cup campaign where our defense only conceded 3 goals in 5 matches.
4. Card offence and fair play – This might look trivial but plays a crucial role in crunch outings. The story could have been different if Gauranga Dutta, who was outstanding in previous matches, wouldn’t miss the final because of 2 yellow card offences. 4 players (Muritala, Kingsuk, Surabuddin and Sk. Azim) of the squad have been cautioned once by the match referee in as many CFL encounters till now. We have to more careful in forthcoming encounters on this dimension.
   
   

Here we go then. For the fans of Mohun Bagan, all the above mentioned tactics, facts and figures do matter a lot. However, just 3 points in each and every CFL encounter from tomorrow onwards can set aside all the statistical jugglery, and that is what matters most to the entire die hard Mohun Bagan fans across the globe.

So seat back, relax, keep your fingers crossed and expect the big guns of Mariners roar again!!