Indian Football: 5 things you need to know about Mohun Bagan's new coach Jose Antonio Vicuna
Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan announced Spanish tactician Jose Antonio 'Kibu' Vicuna as their head coach for the upcoming season. The Mariners had one of their worst seasons in recent years, having finished at the fifth position. Shankarlal Chakraborty resigned as the head coach of the team midway through the season.
I-League winning manager Khalid Jamil succeeded him, but he did not have much luck since he was in charge of the squad. Finally, the management hired the Spaniard, to revive the lost glory of the century-old club. Vicuna is set to join the Kolkata-based club in the last week if June 2019.
Arch-rivals East Bengal is already under Spanish influence having recruited head coach Alejandro Menendez Perez ahead of the last season. Perez also brought in his countrymen Borja Gomez Perez, Jaime Santos Colado and Toni Dovalen to ease the implementation of his playing style. Is Mohun Bagan also heading in a similar direction?
Most of East Bengal’s signings have been completed after Quess Corp. Pvt Ltd started investing in their operations. Appointment of Kibu Vicuna may be a hint that Mohun Bagan is close in roping an investor ahead of the next season.
But, for the time being, let us have a look at the 5 things you need to know about Mohun Bagan's new head coach Kibu Vicuna:
#5 UEFA Pro-licence holder
Vicuna is a UEFA Pro Licence holder and was in charge of Polish first division side Wisla Plock which plays in the ‘Ekstraklasa’ league. He was in the head coach of the team for 175 days, but he did not have a memorable outing with the side.
Apart from this stint, he was the head coach at Lithuanian club FK Trakai. Although he hasn’t been a very successful manager, his experience will be valuable in India.