Mohun Bagan present new coach Santosh Kashyap

Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan AC today, at a press conference at their club tent, presented their new head coach for the 2012/13 season in Santosh Kashyap. The press conference was attended by Anjan Mitra (General Secretary), Debasish Dutta (Finance Secretary), Uttam Saha (Football Secretary) and Alokesh Banerjee (Director of McDowell Mohun Bagan). Santosh Kashyap, an AFC ‘A’ licence holder, last season coached Mumbai’s Air India and seems to have impressed the Mohun Bagan management in the way he coached a young and inexperienced team in the I-League. Before joining Air India, Kashyap had been coach of the Mahindra United Under-19 team.

Not only the head coach, but the complete coaching staff was announced today. Kashyap will have Bernard Oparanozie as his assistant coach, the goalkeeper coach will be Hemanta Dora, while Jonathan Corner will be the Physiotherapist cum Rehab Specialist. The club is currently in search of a suitable physical trainer and they hope to announce a name by July 11, the day of the first training session.

The club is planning a pre-season training camp in Durgapur at the Mohun Bagan-SAIL Football Academy, but before confirming the camp Kashyap and Oparanozie will have a look at the facilities and accommodation.

A confident Kashyap said that he knew about the pressure to coach a club of the stature and especially after two seasons without a trophy. His aim was to win as many matches as possible and aim for the I-League title.