KOLKATA, Feb. 4: The decision was all but made after Mohun Bagan’s 1-3 loss to Dempo SC in their I-League’s Round 13 encounter at Margao a few days ago. The official announcement though came on Thursday, when Bagan terminated coach Karim Bencherifa’s contract. Club officials though claimed later that the matter had been settled amicably.
It is believed that the defeat at the hands of the lowly placed Salgaocar SC in Bagan’s first match during the Goa sojourn led to the Moroccon’s exit. Some sections, on the other hand, claimed that Bencherifa’s behaviour after the game against Salgaocar had irked the senior members in the squad.
Interestingly, Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra and finance secretary Debashish Dutta lavished praise on Bencherifa at a joint press conference here.
"Karim’s contribution can never be forgotten. Under his tenure as a coach, we won the Calcutta Football League and Federation Cup in 2008, followed by the Super Cup last year. Besides we had narrowly missed out on the I-League last year. This season as well we have played the finals of IFA Shield and Durand Cup. "However, a time comes when you feel that change is necessary. That’s why we opted for an amicable settlement and terminated his contract," Mitra reasoned. "Mohun Bagan are not a club managed by a corporate body. We also have to go by the feelings of our members and supporters."
Bencherifa, on his part, said, "May be the situation demands that I quit. But having said that, all of us are aware of the fact that throughout this season, either one or two key players of the first XI were always down with some injury or other. So I never had the opportunity to field the best possible Bagan XI. Nevertheless, expectations are so high here that one mistake can turn the atmosphere from bad to worse."
Former India international and Bagan assistant coach Satyajit Chatterjee will guide the team till the end of the season now. Importantly, Chatterjee had resigned from the assistant coach’s post last year citing incompatibility with Bencherifa.
AGE CORRESPONDENT