Kolkata: Having ended their trophy drought after five years with maiden I-League triumph, the football fraternity in unison hailed the efforts of unhrealded and low-profile coach Sanjay Sen, whose tactical acumen was largely responsible for national club’s crowning glory.
Sen was appointed after Subhas Bhowmick had to leave charge as he did not possess the required AFC A license which is a must in order to coach an I-League top tier club.
But as it turned out, Sen’s appointment was a masterstroke as the city’s football fraternity heaped praise on the Indian’s achievement.
“I am also extremely happy that an Indian coach — Sanjay Sen — steered Mohun Bagan to the summit. Undermining the success of the Indian coaches has become a kind of a fashion these days. I sincerely hope that more Indian coaches would be employed by I-League teams in the near future,” legendary footballer P K Banerjee said.
“The victory of Sen’s boys at the Kanteerava Stadium should also be seen as a turnaround for Kolkata football. While Mohun Bagan won their previous league title 13 years ago, East Bengal, too, could never come on top since 2004. There was a feeling around that the city football had forever been finished and such suggestions always left me depressed.”
Echoing on the same lines, former India defender Subrata Bhattacharya urged the clubs to take a cue from Sen’s achievements and said getting Indian on board should be the priority.
“I don’t understand why we have fascination for foreign coaches. They don’t have any knowledge of Indian football and look how the likes of Eelco (Schattorie) and (Trevor) Morgan are doing in the I-League,” Bhattacharya, a loyal Mohun Bagan footballer who lost a fiercely contested polls at the club recently, told PTI.
“Full credit goes to Sanjoy Sen and the players. They delivered when it mattered most and nobody else,” he added.
With the trophy drought in Bengal football — East Bengal had won the national championship 11 years ago, and Mohun Bagan 13 years ago — the centre has briefly shifted to Goa.
Another legend Chuni Goswami said Mohun Bagan’s triumph would once again bring back the glory days of Bengal, known to be the football capital of the country.
“This is the best news for Mohun Bagan in general and Bengal football in particular. Mohun Bagan’s triumph is a confirmation that talk of death in Bengal football is premature. I would rather say that the city is again primed to become the power centre of Indian football,” Goswami said.
All praise for Sen, he said: “Credit should go to coach Sanjoy Sen for masterminding this project with a bunch of fighters. But I’ll also praise for Debjit Majumdar, who didn’t play in Bengaluru but has had a wonderful season.” (PTI)
