INTERVIEW: “I have taken this decision on my own” - Santosh Kashyap.
A tale of 94 days has come to an end as Mohun Bagan coach Santosh Kashyap tendered his resignation letter yesterday. It has been a tough journey for the Mumbai-based coach. Under his supervision Mohun Bagan has played six games in the I-League, Kolkata League and Federation Cup. Out of these six they have won two, lost three and one game has been drawn. After announcing his resignation yesterday, he gave an interview in a local newspaper. Here is the interview session:
Q: What is the reason behind providing the letter within 24 hours?
Santosh: After Friday’s match, I thought about it the whole night. In fact I thought about it very carefully on Saturday morning also. Then at 4pm, I mailed them. Though it was a very tough decision to take, as a coach it was fully my responsibility as the team was not performing. So I thought to quit as it is the perfect decision at this moment.
Q: Were you under any pressure when it came to resignation?
Santosh: No, no, not at all. I have taken this decision on my own. The club officials helped me throughout. They are still beside me. But if I were to consider the fans, I wanted to quit.
Q: You mean there was a lot of pressures from the fans side?
Santosh: In a club like Mohun Bagan, you have to give preference to the fans.
Q: Did you inform Tolgay and Odafa about your quitting?
Santosh: No. Until, now I haven’t informed anybody. I will inform them now.
Q: You are now the former coach of Mohun Bagan. As a former coach, what do you think what was wrong with Mohun Bagan?
Santosh: Everybody knows about this. We had several problems stemming from injuries and dengue fever. There was also a communication gap between the two prime strikers.
Q: What is the reason behind this mis-communication between Tolgay and Odafa?
Santosh: No. Not at all. Don’t take my word in other sense. They are very good friends…on and off the field, their relation is quite good. This happened because of the injury.
Q: Why did Tolgay looked very ordinary in the Prayag match?Was he match fit?
Santosh: I have said several times that Tolgay has no injury, but not once did I say he was totally match fit.
Q: Was there any gap between you and Tolgay?
Santosh: Not at all. I had very good relations with all the players.
Q: Many people were saying that you don’t have the power to control players like Tolgay and Odafa.
Santosh: Many people will say many things. I can’t stop them. I don’t think about these.
Q: Any suggestion for the Mohun Bagan’s new coach?
Santosh: No comments.
Q: Is there any chance left for Mohun Bagan to win the I-league?
Santosh: I still have the hope. They are a good team with good players. Mohun Bagan will come back. I wish them luck.