East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya resigns after loss to Bengaluru FC
A day after the 3-1 loss to Bengaluru FC, which all but killed East Bengal’s hopes of an I-League title, coach Biswajit Bhattacharya resigned from the post citing the team’s poor performances. East Bengal are third in the I-League with 24 points, five points behind leaders Bengaluru FC.
Confirming the news, which has been doing the rounds after East Bengal’s loss yesterday, club’s football secretary Santosh Bhattacharya told PTI, “We have received an e-mail from him stating that he does not want to continue for the remaining two matches."
East Bengal are scheduled to face Sporting Clube de Goa on April 15 before finishing their season away at Shillong Lajong on April 24.
"We're yet to take a final call. We will sit with him and decide what best can be done for the remaining two matches," Santosh Bhattacharya added.
Despite having a good first half to the season, East Bengal lost track midway after slipping up in consecutive matches against Salgaocar and DSK Shivajians. A win in the Kolkata derby against rivals Mohun Bagan on April 2 had rekindled hopes of a title charge from the club, but their away loss to Bengaluru on Sunday threw a spanner in the works and ended their hopes. East Bengal's first loss in the season had also come earlier in their home encounter against the Bengaluru team.
In the absence of Biswajit Bhattacharya, his deputies Debjit Ghosh and Sanjay Majhi are likely to share the responsibilities in the two matches.
Biswajit, who had donned the East Bengal colors as a forward in the 80s, also represented the Indian team in the 1984 Asia Cup. After coaching rival Mohun Bagan and Chirag United Club Kerala, he had returned to his former club taking over the reins from Dutchman Eelco Schattorie last year.