Top five foreign coaches in the I-League era

1. Karim Bencherifa (Churchill Brothers 2006-08; Mohun Bagan 2008-2010; Salgaocar 2010-2012; Mohun Bagan 2012-present)

The consistency that East Bengal maintained in every competition under Trevor James Morgan would be hard for any foreign coach to match but the best foreign coach of the I-League era has to be Moroccan Karim Bencherifa for his sheer consistency over a long period of time and with different clubs. After having spells in his native Morocco, Brunei and Singapore, Bencherifa was appointed head coach of newly promoted Churchill Brothers in 2006-07, when he guided the Goan club to a fourth-place finish. The following season Bencherifa’s Churchill Brothers side came within a whisker of the I-League title as they finished second behind Dempo due to an inferior goal difference.

Bencherifa had done wonders with a young squad at Churchill and made Odafa Okolie the best foreign striker in the country. As a result he was signed up by Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan. He spent one and a half seasons there, guiding the club to their best-ever finish in the I-League in 2008-09, which included a ten-match winning run and also won three trophies including the Federation Cup. After mutually parting ways with Mohun Bagan, Bencherifa took charge of a relegation-threatened Salgaocar and in another 14 months transformed them into I-League champions despite hardly having any stars in the team. A few months later he also lifted the Federation Cup with the Goan outfit but returned to Mohun Bagan for a second spell in 2012. Despite a 12-point deduction, Bencherifa guided the 124-year-old club to safety and will be in charge of the green-and-maroon brigade for the 2013-14 season.