It was an unhappy New Year for two foreign coaches, the Portuguese Joao de Deus Pires sacked by North East United FC franchise and former Manchester United assistant coach Rene Meulensteen, who left Kerala Blasters. Another casualty was Sanjoy Sen of Mohun Bagan. All three were victims of the great expectations of their frenzied fans.
Sen quit Bagan after his team slumped to a surprise 1-2 defeat to unfancied Chennai City FC on January 2. Ironically, it was Mohun Bagan’s first home defeat, during Sen’s tenure as a coach from 2014 onward. It got magnified as it was on Bagan’s ground at the Maidan.
For the first time since the National Football League started in 1996-97, either Mohun Bagan or East Bengal played on their own ground.
The ecstatic Bagan fans expected six points from the two matches against Indian Arrows (December 29, 2017) and against Chennai City FC. Instead Bagan just got one point, a 1-1 draw with Indian Arrows.
Sen helped Bagan win the I-League title in 2014-15 and the Hero Federation Cup in 2016. They were runners up in the I-League in both 2015-16 and 2016-17 and Federation Cup last season.
Yet the passionate Bagan fans forgot Sen’s impressive past and he was abused and spat upon.
At the end of the third round, Bagan had seven points from three matches, including a 1-0 win over arch-rivals East Bengal. Yet in the next four matches they drew thrice and lost once, all home matches. So the simmering frustration of the fans was unleashed on Sen, who resigned before he was sacked.
In a way Sen is more sinned against than sinning. The emphatic 5-0 trouncing of Churchill Brothers on December 10 was a pyrrhic victory. The damaged artificial surface at the Barasat ground led to injuries to two of Bagan’s key players, defensive midfielder Yuta Kinowaki (collar bone fracture and out for the season) and muscle injury to the talismanic Sony Norde. His two foreign players Ansumah Kromah and Aser Pierre Dipanda are also not in good nick and so Bagan’s performances declined.
Dutchman Meulensteen is also a victim of the high expectation of Kerala Blasters’ frenzied fans. In 2017, they were the only franchise with high profile foreign players like Wes Brown and Dimitar Berbatov and the popular Iain Hume and established internationals like Sandesh Jhingan, Jackichand Singh and C.K. Vineeth. Yet they had just one win in seven games. The loss to Bengaluru on New Year’s Eve was the final straw.
The angry fans also incensed that local hero C.K. Vineeth was not fielded and hurled plastic bottles on the ground. Meulensteen’s defensive tactics (goalless draws in his opening two matches) were also not liked.
The local media also reported of dissension within the squad and quarrels on the training ground.
He has been replaced by David James, who played for this franchise in the first season of the ISL.
Struggling NorthEast United FC sacked their Portuguese coach Joao de Deus Pires and his assistant coach Joao Pinho as the team are languishing in ninth place with just one win in seven games.
Goalkeeping coach Joseph Siddy is in charge with former Chelsea manager Avram Grant as advisor.
