Morgan eyeing younger squad for upcoming season

"We have young players coming in now and we have to concentrate on them. A time comes for people to leave and unfortunately we had to leave some of those players."

Trevor Morgan during his stint as interim manager of ISL side Kerala Blasters.

On his return as East Bengal coach, Trevor Morgan said it was time the club moved on from its older generation of players to younger footballers.

In his pre-season media interaction on the club campus here on Friday, Morgan, who earlier coached the club from 2010 to 2013 and worked with Dempo last year, spoke about East Bengal’s approach. “We have young players coming in now and we have to concentrate on them. A time comes for people to leave and unfortunately we had to leave some of those players. The other point was financial,” said Morgan.

“We had a senior squad when I was here in 2010. The squad this year for the Calcutta Football League (CFL) is full of younger players. It is a good opportunity for them to stake their claim for the I-League when that comes around.”

Morgan, who would manage East Bengal to its first competition of the season in the CFL, said he would be free to take up any Indian Super League (ISL) assignment. “When the Calcutta League is over then I am not going to be here because that is an open period. If an opportunity in the ISL comes up, then the club has allowed me to do that, to work in the ISL and then comeback for the I-League,” said Morgan, who worked with Kerala Blasters for a season.

Asked about East Bengal’s prospects of winning a record seventh consecutive CFL title, Morgan said, “We have won six in a row and that’s a record. Even without it we still are the record-holders.”

East Bengal’s second foreign recruit of the season, defender Calum Angus, was excited to join the club with a bigger fan base. “I have played in India for the last three years. So I know the magnitude of the club. It was a great opportunity and I took it with both hands,” he said.