From foregoing football a decade ago because of bankruptcy to getting promoted to the country’s top tier, Mohammedan SC has risen from the ashes like a phoenix.
The Black Panthers earned a ticket to the Indian Super League after clinching the 2023-24 I-League title.
For the Kolkata giant - which enjoyed unbridled success till the 80s - the journey back to being a first-string team in Indian football was a slow burn.
Things looked on the upside when new investors in Bunkerhill - a sports management company from Gurugram - stepped in. Led by the company’s director Dipak Kumar Singh, the investors scooped the side out from the hole of mediocrity and placed them on the path towards glory once again.
With new investors came new coaching staff. A former assistant coach of the Russian national team, Andrey Chernyshov has been key in capturing the imagination of the club’s fandom with attractive football.
A Russian who found home in Kolkata
Chernyshov has certainly been the guiding light in the Mohammedan dressing room, one that has helped the team climb the ladder towards lost glory once again.
This is the Russian’s second stint at the club. The Biryani lover first landed in Kolkata ahead of the 2021-22 I-League season. In his debut campaign, Andrey Chernyshov led the Black Panthers to a second-place finish in the table.
More importantly, the Russian tactician led the side to its first Calcutta Football League (CFL) title in 40 years. Mohammedan defended its CFL title in 2022 before Chernyshov got the boot in the middle of the 2022-23 I-League season.
After stop-gap solutions in Kibu Vicuna and Mehrajuddin Wadoo, the club welcomed Chernyshov back. “I had two offers from I-League clubs, but I rejected them. What can be better in those clubs which aren’t already good here? If I work in I-League, it’ll be only at Mohammedan,” the 1990 U-21 European Championship winner said in a chat on the MDSC 1891 official YouTube channel after returning to India.
ALSO READ: East Bengal FC team preview: Is an East wind coming for Carles Cuadrat’s boys?
Bringing him back worked charms after Chernyshov finished the 2023-24 season as I-League winner and earned the club promotion to the Indian Super League.
In the ISL, one can expect his side to be quite strongly set up at the back after the team conceded the second-lowest number of goals last season in the I-League.
Expected finish: 10th
It’ll be a whole new level for newcomer Mohammedan SC. Better teams, experienced Indian players, and skilful foreigners. The newly-promoted side can struggle in this new environment unless Chernyshov and Co. work to prove everyone wrong.
Players to watch out
Alexis Gomez
The 24-year-old Argentine will be one of the primary sources of goals for Mohammedan this season. The attacking midfielder had 20 goal contributions in 27 appearances in the I-League, and he has the ability to replicate the numbers in the country’s top tier.
Mirjalol Kasimov
Another midfielder, the Uzbek, is known to pull the strings in the middle of the park. While he may also chip in with a goal here and an assist there, Kasimov will be the one commanding the game from the central midfield position and creating chances for his teammates.
Transfer rating: 8/10
While the side has got in a few known names like Gaurav Bora and Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Mohammedan’s attack will be missing an important player like David Lalhlansanga, who left to join city-rival East Bengal.
Comments
SHARE