Till Saturday, it wasn’t really known whether Sankarlal Chakraborty had put enough distance between a football career struck down by injuries with one he has barely begun as a coach.
“My career (as a player) ended soon after it began,” said Chakraborty one day before his first match as Mohun Bagan head coach, against defending champions Aizawl FC here in the I-League. If there is rancour, he hid it. More likely, it is a scar that has become a part of him.
Asked how he would equate his debut for Mohun Bagan as a player and this, Chakraborty’s reply was just as laconic. “When you are 18-19, you think you can break a wall with a fist. At my age now, I would think twice before trying that. Having said that, if I didn’t take up this challenge now, I would perhaps never be ready for it,” he said.
His first challenge would be to get Mohun Bagan back to winning ways. They haven’t done that since the pyrrhic victory against Churchill Brothers, on December 10.
Asked whether this is a grudge match because Mohun Bagan lost to Aizawl FC away and with it hopes of regaining the I-League last term or an opportunity to establish himself as coach, Chakraborty said: “Neither. It is about helping Mohun Bagan remember to win.”
{{/usCountry}}Asked whether this is a grudge match because Mohun Bagan lost to Aizawl FC away and with it hopes of regaining the I-League last term or an opportunity to establish himself as coach, Chakraborty said: “Neither. It is about helping Mohun Bagan remember to win.”
{{/usCountry}}But in saying that there would be some changes to the line-up --- no elaboration there --- Chakraborty did hint that his influence would be felt. It is possible Dipanda Dicka and Ansumana Kromah would be paired as strikers as opposed to Kromah being played behind a targetman. Sony Norde would again sit out with injury.
And it is likely that Cameron Watson will make his Mohun Bagan debut on Sunday. The Australian midfielder hasn’t played in two months but said he is looking forward to being a leader on the pitch, of the kind Chakraborty’s predecessor Sanjoy Sen said he had lacked.
In 2015-16 when Sen was suspended by the All India Football Federation, Chakraborty had taken charge in the I-League. Just as he did in two editions of the Kolkata league. Asked if there was a difference between 2016 and now, Mohun Bagan’s new coach only said: “Yes.” It was another cryptic comment that conveyed much.