Trevor James Morgan set to sign one year extension at East Bengal
East Bengal are all set to appoint Trevor Morgan as their coach for their upcoming season, according to sources close to the club. The Englishman was roped in as the coach of the Kolkata giants at the fag end of last season after Biswajit Bhattacharya resigned after guiding the Kolkata giants to a third place finish in last season’s I-League.
Morgan, however, couldn’t inspire the team in the Federation as East Bengal bowed out in the first round, suffering a surprising defeat at the hands of Shillong Lajong. Speaking to the local media, Morgan said that he had already signed a contract for a one-year stint with the Red and Gold, exclaiming that he has already sent the club his signed contract via e-mail.
“Yes, I have signed the one-year contract with East Bengal today and had sent it to Football secretary, Santosh Bhattacharya through an e-mail,” said the 59-year-old. East Bengal have been hoping to rope him and have been in constant contact with Morgan, even though he scooted off to Australia earlier this month without signing on the dotted line.
There were rumours surrounding the delay in his contract signing, with a number of sources claiming there to be a dispute between the two sides regarding the compensation that Kingfisher East Bengal were willing to provide Morgan. However, the Englishman has laid all fears to rest, signing on the dotted line earlier today. Reports now suggest that it was in fact, an illness that caused Morgan to refrain from signing the contract any time earlier.
However, it remains unclear as to when Morgan will be joining the pre-season camp and it will be interesting to see the support staff that he will have with him.
“I am not aware of the fact that when will I be coming to Kolkata for the pre-season as it depends on East Bengal officials. Regarding the issue of support staff, I was planning to bring 2-3 new supporting staff, but the club officials have already said it will be difficult to afford them. So it is likely that, I may bring a physio and a physical trainer with me,” signed off Morgan.
The Red and Gold have retained their legendary defender Sammy Omollo as the assistant coach. Debjit Ghosh, meanwhile, has been roped in as their new goalkeeping coach replacing Sanjay Majhi, who was released at the end of last season. Thus, making it difficult for Morgan to have a real big say regarding the composition of the backroom staff.
General Secretary of the club Santosh Bhattacharya put his full weight behind the hiring, saying, “Now we are relieved that he has signed already and we will start planning for the new season accordingly. As he is the coach, whatever he wants we will try to provide him the most we can.”
East Bengal will hope that good times return with the reinstatement of the Englishman at the helm. In his first stint with the club, Morgan guided East Bengal to triumphs in the Calcutta Premier League for three years in a row between 2010 and 2013.
He also guided the team to two Federation Cup wins whilst also helping them reach the semi-finals of the 2013 AFC Cup. The I-League remains a trophy that has always eluded the 59-year-old.