East Bengal completed their 100 years in 2020 and won several trophies under their name but not even a single coach was able to guide them to lift the I-League, which started from 2007.
The Red and Golds are desperately trying to add the I-League in the trophy cabinet, meanwhile, their arch rivals, Mohun Bagan have triumphed twice to victory and silenced the critics.
To match up with their rivals, East Bengal changed several coaches but all went in vain. Their best bet was with Trevor James Morgan who had two terms with the Red and Golds, both of the terms were pretty successful with a win rate of above 60% in both the cases, but he was sacked because he was unable to lift the I-league in four years.
During Morgan’s tenure, East Bengal finished second twice, losing out to Salgaocar and Dempo, lagging behind marginally from the winners, luck defied them from their maiden I-League trophy every time. In his first tenure he performed brilliantly, winning 112 matches out of 178 matches and losing only 35 games, when he rejoined after three years, he managed to win 22 games out of 33, losing only 7 games.
Also Read: ISL: Can ATK Mohun Bagan become the champions of 20-21 season?
Though, the statistics were one of the best carried out by any I-League head-coach, yet he was denied from getting his hands on the trophy. The East Bengal management board always changed and sacked managers in a quick succession to win trophies. Instead of giving the coach his due time to build a team, the committee board thought that the problem lied with the managers and changing that area would suffice the actual problem which is not winning the main trophy.
In a span of 10 years, East Bengal changed their head-coach around 12 times, by which we can easily say that each coach was not even given a single year to prove their worth or to build the team. Every coach, despite of their successful tenure was sacked by the club in the greed of winning the trophy, but every time failed to do so.
Tech News: Barco Boosts Indian Distribution Network; Partners with Trustech for Wireless Collaboration Segment
Who does not want to train one of the best clubs in this country, but provided they get ample of time to build the team in their own suitable way. To win a league, it is not just the responsibility of a coach, but equally the players and board members are involved. It is a combined effort, football has always been a team game and not a single person sport.
If we take a vivid look, East Bengal never had a bad team, in fact they always had a very balanced team, but those very players need some time to understand the coach, his playing tactics and on the other hand, the coach also needs some time to adjust to the new players and analyze which player will perform best in what position.
For instance, if we review the 2019-20 I-League season, Alejandro Menendez actually did a wonderful job in keeping East Bengal at second place. He just got a little more time than one year and he was loved by the players and fans. He had a win percentage of 58% in his entire career with the Red and Golds. He was sacked due to the sheer competition that they have with arch rivals Mohun Bagan, who triumphed to victory in the previous season with a margin of 16 points which the board felt was humiliation towards them.
A team takes several years to build and changing coach simultaneously within a short span of time will be of no use to the Kolkata giants. A coach, be it foreigner or Indian will require enough time to mingle with the team and even more time to pull out a good result or bag trophies.
Every coach, knowing the fact that if they do not win trophies, he will be sacked, still they take up the challenge to become the coach of one of the greatest teams in this country and the every time the board fails to recognize that person. The head job at East Bengal club is more like a cursed chalice, which has it’s own worth but the coaches know if they fail to deliver within a short span, they will be immediately shown the doors.
Under Alejandro also, the team came second twice in a row and falling short by just one point to Chennai City FC in 2018-19 season. In just a little more than a year span, Menendez shaped up the team pretty nicely but he was not given the due respect.
Many talented foreign players, such as Kassim Aidara and Johhny Acosta lashed out at Quess Corp, who are the investors for East Bengal. Their complain was that the board is busy changing things around rather than supporting the team and the coach at tough times, such as the coronavirus pandemic. The relation between the board members and the players have already turned sour due to the behavior that is being displayed by the core members.
Therefore, board members who has not given sufficient time towards their development of the squad, cannot expect to win titles. Any coach will easily expect a minimum of three to four years and a good amount of money which can be used in the transfer windows to strengthen up the squad.
A job in the team which will always be like a poisoned chalice until the board members realize the actual problem lies within them.