#5 Sanjoy Sen
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The manager of Mohun Bagan had a successful year, by most measures. Bagan finished second in the I-League, won the Federation and had a respectable Round of 16 finish in the AFC Cup.
His year started off on a bad note, though, as he was reprimanded and banned by the AIFF for questioning Mohun Bagan’s I-League schedule – as their fixtures had to be adjusted in light of them playing their AFC Champions League qualifiers.
The rescheduling meant that Bagan had to play a few games on dates that FIFA had assigned for international fixtures – which meant they had to lose Sony Norde, one of their most influential players.
But on the pitch, Bagan had a great year, even though they didn’t win the I-League. They beat Bengaluru FC in both their fixtures this year, and they were left ruing their performances against the lower-ranked sides.
Bagan won the Federation Cup, beating Aizawl FC in the final. In the AFC Cup as well, Bagan had more points in their group than Bengaluru managed in theirs. But when the big day arrived, they couldn’t keep their wits about themselves against Tampines Rovers as they conceded in the 118th minute to bow out of the competition.
2016 was mostly a year of so near, yet so far for Bagan and Sanjoy Sen will be hoping that 2017 is the year his side takes that extra step.
