Mohun Bagan on Tuesday sacked Amal Dutta to complete an extraordinary cycle of events.
KOLKATA: The winter breeze is blowing but, for football fans, it could well be 'The Fall'. Mohun Bagan on Tuesday sacked Amal Dutta to complete an extraordinary cycle of events that saw the traditional 'Big Three' of Indian football lose their respective coaches in a space of just 12 days. Biswajit Bhattacharya had left Mohammedan Sporting in a huff after the IFA Shield victory over East Bengal, Subhas Bhowmick was lost to East Bengal after he fell from grace.
And now, the volatile septuagenarian from the green-and-maroon ranks... Dutta's ouster was on the cards ever since club elections brought back Anjan Mitra & Co to power in September and the coach was 'carried forward' from the previous regime. If the management was looking for a reason, Dutta provided it by refusing to join practice. It was an angry reaction after the club's executive committee decided to appoint a goalkeeper, coach and a physio without consulting him.
Dutta's candid comments on the subject, which appeared in the media, had added fuel to fire. His letter to the club on Tuesday, where he again frowned upon the club decision to ignore him on the goalkeeper, coach and physio, claimed he was misquoted by the media. Mitra, the club's general secretary, said former international Jahar Das, who has had a coaching tenure at the green-and-maroons in the early nineties, will take charge from Wednesday.