Santosh Kashyap - New Chief Coach of McDowell Mohun Bagan

It was announced today in a press conference held in Mohun Bagan club that Santosh Kashyap will be the new Chief Coach of McDowell Mohun Bagan football team for the season 2012-13. General Secretary Anjan Mitra, Finance Secretary Debasish Dutta, Football Secretary Uttam Saha and Director of McDowell Mohun Bagan, Alokesh Banerjee were present in the press conference.

Other than Mr. Kashyap, the coaching panel will consist of Assistant Coach Bernard Oparanozie, Goalkeeper Coach Hemanta Dora, Physiotherapist cum Rehab Specialist Jonathan Corner. A physical trainer will also be appointed and talks are going on with few trainers and one of them will be finalized, in all probability, by July 11th.

Finance Secretary Debasish Dutta said that practice session for the new season will commence on 11th July at Mohun Bagan ground. Santosh Kashyap and Bernard will be going to Durgapur tomorrow to check the facilities there. If they are satisfied with the ground condition and other facilities, McDowell Mohun Bagan will be having their preseason camp in Durgapur from July 15th to July 28th.

Santosh Kashyap said that he is ready to take up the challenge of coaching a high profile team like McDowell Mohun Bagan. He said, "In teams like Air India, saving relegation is like winning the I league, but I know that this is a trophy oriented club and my target is to win all the trophies this season." He also said that he is confident of his training and skills and is looking forward for this challenge.

Regarding the team, he said, "Mr. Debasish Dutta has consulted with me and I gave few suggestions and accordingly those players have been included in the team."

He refused to comment on performance of Subrata Bhattacharya and Prasanta Banerjee. He said, "Like all coaches, they have also tried their best to get success and I would not comment or find any fault in Mohun Bagan's last year's performance. They have tried in their own way and I will be making the planning this year in my way. Even I know that if I don't get success, I will be replaced. The coach's job is like this throughout the World."

Santosh said that he does not like to stick to a particular strategy. He said, "Last year also you must have seen that I have changed strategy in many matches. I started with 4-4-2, but then team played few matches in 5-3-2 and also 3-5-2. It all depends on the situation and strength of the opponents."

Regarding Mohun Bagan not winning trophies, he said, "This can happen in football. Yesterday, you have seen the mighty Germany lost to Italy which was a huge upset. Definitely, I will try my best to help McDowell Mohun Bagan win trophies this year."

He said that though his favourite team Germany has crashed out of the Euro Cup, his 2nd favourite team Spain has reached the final and he hopes that they will win the title. His favourite coach, he said, is ex-coach of Barcelona, Pep Guardiola.

About handling Odafa and Tolgay, he said, "Both of them are mature players and they know their job. This is a team game and I will focus on team building. I don't think I will have any problem handling both of them. I will also give chance to talented youngsters."

Santosh Kashyap's message towards Mohun Bagan fans was, "We need your support and we will
try our best to play good football and also win trophies this year and I
hope that this will be a great season for the club."

General Secretary Anjan Mitra said, "Earlier Mohun Bagan had given chance to many ex-players who became coach for the first time like Subrata Bhattacharya, Subhash Bhowmick, Satyajit Chatterjee etc. Santosh Kashyap is a qualified coach with AFC A licence degree and Mohun Bagan being the National Football Club of India is giving him opportunity to prove himself. We are confident that he will bring us success."

Regarding Subrata Bhattacharya and Prashanta Banerjee, Mr. Mitra said that it was the decision taken by our committee to change the coach and the reason for that will not be made public. He said, "However, the doors are not closed for anybody in Mohun Bagan."