Another trophyless season but Mohun Bagan must stick with Karim Bencherifa

Mohun Bagan’s hopes of landing any silverware this season ended on Saturday as they crashed out from the IFA Shield group stage following a 1-0 defeat against Bangladesh’s Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi. They still have nine more games in the I-League of course but barring a miracle, Mohun Bagan are unlikely to even finish in the top three.

So the enormous fanbase of Mohun Bagan will endure a fourth straight trophyless season while in that period arch-rivals East Bengal have won seven major honours and are in contention to add a couple more this term. Even Mohammedan Sporting and United SC have picked up a trophy each in the last 12 months.

Normally in these circumstances the blame falls on the head coach (or manager as they are referred to globally) but the real culprits are the ones running the club. The current management at Mohun Bagan have failed both on and off the pitch as the Mariners have not only struggled to be a force in the I-League but are also nowhere near the high professional standards set by some of the emerging clubs like Pune FC and Bengaluru FC.

Coach Karim Bencherifa certainly has to take responsibility and to be fair to the Moroccan, he has always accepted his mistakes when things have gone wrong and he was apologetic again after the latest setback. But the primary problem for the green-and-maroon brigade has been the poor team building and lack of stability both in terms of playing and coach personnel.

English coach Steve Darby, who was only in charge of the green-and-maroon brigade for a few months in 2011, had summed up the day-to-day functioning of Mohun Bagan as ‘stone age administration’ and that has remained the case three years on as the club officials continue to have the final say on player recruitments while eight different coaches have been in charge in this barren spell.

Bencherifa couldn’t get many of the players that he had wished for this season and instead was left with a squad that has only two former I-League winners. As a result the former Salgaocar coach put his faith on youth and has already groomed many of the club’s talented starlets but experience and lack of strength in depth has cost them in crucial matches like the Federation Cup semi-final defeat against Churchill Brothers.

Odafa has let down the Mohun Bagan faithful; Photo Credit: gcsstars.com

Another big villain in the eyes of Mohun Bagan fans is club captain Odafa Okolie and they have every reason to feel that way because the Nigerian has been hardly fit all season. What has infuriated the supporters more is Odafa’s attitude especially when things haven’t gone Mohun Bagan’s way as instead of leading by example the star striker has openly criticised the squad’s youngsters.

When Mohun Bagan signed Odafa in 2011 there was a feeling around the club that they are set for something special as Indian football’s hottest striker had been roped in. But the club management completely forgot that individuals alone don’t win trophies and thus didn’t give any importance in building a quality squad.

Odafa was made the most expensive player and he was consistent in his first season but struggled in the second campaign. Australian Tolgay Ozbey was another expensive addition and the two did help Mohun Bagan avoid the embarrassment of relegation last season. But once again because of the presence of a couple of expensive names the rest of the team was left to be weak with too many similar type of players.

Odafa has let the supporters down but the onus should have been on the club officials, who made the former Churchill Brothers striker invincible as he has not been answerable to anyone despite poor performances and unprofessional attitude, to take necessary action. There have been reports that Odafa has become a bad influence in the dressing room, triggered by his decision to return to the stadium separately after the loss in the Federation Cup semi-final.

So perhaps Mohun Bagan will be better off without Ofada but whether he will be released now or in the summer remains to be seen. However the club cannot repeat the mistake of investing heavily in just one quality player instead of building a well-balanced squad.

On the other hand Bencherifa, who is also on a lucrative contract, at times has made this Mohun Bagan squad look better than it actually is and the impressive showing in the Federation Cup is a classic example. With better quality resources at his disposal, Bencherifa could have maybe won the Calcutta Football League and done better in the IFA Shield where the Kolkata giants were not only without unfit Odafa for two of the three group matches but another Nigerian striker Christopher Chizoba was also ineligible as he started the season with another Kolkata club.

Mohun Bagan must keep the faith in Bencherifa

Many fans have called for the need of a new management regime and that could well be the start of this great club’s recovery but the replacements must learn a lesson or two from their predecessors’ blunders and retain Bencherifa for another season at least because at present only stability can save from Mohun Bagan from going further backwards. Bencherifa’s contract expires end of this campaign but getting him a new deal could be the first big step towards the club’s revival and the current club officials will understand that best considering how desperate they got to bring back the Moroccan for a second spell in October 2012.

The 45-year-old should also be given the authority to choose the players especially considering his record of doing wonders with modest squads at both Churchill Brothers and Salgaocar previously. Bencherifa already has an excellent nucleus of young players so retention of that group and the addition of a bit of quality and experience could make the Mariners contenders next season.

Until the club management (old or new) realise that the head coach deserves the power in relation to matters on the pitch, Mohun Bagan are unlikely to become a force in Indian football anytime soon.