Aizawl show Menezes the door

Kolkata:

Aizawl FC

sacked coach

Paulo Menezes

late on Monday after the

I-League

champions remained winless in their last seven matches this season. Along with him, assistant coach Izan Martín Andrés was also shown the door.

Decision on the new coach is to be taken on Tuesday. However, sources close to the management said the team is trying to rope in Santosh Kashyap, who was with Mumbai FC last season. “We want an Indian coach and Kashyap is free at the moment. If he agrees to our terms and conditions, we will appoint him as the next coach,” said the source.

Meanwhile, Menezes, whose contract was to expire at the end of the season, was disappointed and expressed his unhappiness over the management’s decision. “All the players are with me. They are aware of what I’m doing, especially with the young players,” said Menezes.

He also alleged that the club management had lied to him at times. “I wanted to sign Bazie Armand and the management told me that they would talk to him. But when I spoke to him, he said no one from Aizawl had contacted him,” he added.

While it’s true that the last time the team won a match was against Chennai City FC on January 13, a number of players have missed crucial ties with injuries since then. Their biggest jolt came when centre-back Kareem Nurain was injured during the match against NEROCA FC and was ruled out for three weeks.

The team is now sixth in the I-League table with 17 points from 13 matches and will have to put on a much-improved show in the next five matches if they wish to finish among the top-four teams in the league. The team’s biggest challenge, however, is the AFC Cup matches where they will make their debut early next month.