Karim Bencherifa to start his second innings as Mohun Bagan coach from next month

After the dramas and speculation over the last six days, it has finally been announced that Karim Bencherifa is going to take over the post of Mohun Bagan’s coach from the next month. Mohun Bagan officials declared this news in a press conference a few hours ago.

After 94 days in charge, former coach Santosh Kashyap resigned from his post on October 13. There has since been a dilemma over who was going to take the responsibility of the Kolkata giants. Subrata Bhattcharya, Karim Bencherifa, and David Booth were the names discussed, but the Bagan officials were only considering the first two of those options.

Karim Bencherifa has coached Mohun Bagan in the past, and saw the club  win the Federation Cup, the CFL Calcutta Premier League and the Super Cup under him. Mohun Bagan also once beat their arch-rivals East Bengal by a historical 5-3 margin in his tenure. Though a huge portion of the club’s fans were in support of Subrata Bhattacharya, the disagreements between Bhattacharya and a few of the club officials in the past might have tilted the decision in Bencherifa’s favour.

Though Bencharifa broke his contract with Salgaocar yesterday afternoon, he will be the Salgaocar coach till November 17, and then will join Mohun Bagan. Mohun Bagan officials have also revealed that Mridul Banerjee will be the head coach of Mohun Bagan till November 17, when Bencherifa takes over. After Bencherifa takes his post, Mridul will become the assistant coach of Mohun Bagan.