Habas (left) continues to remain the most successful head of the ISL. The astute Spanish head coach won two ISL titles (one each with Atletico de Kolkata and ATK) and one League Shield (with Mohun Bagan SG) during his four seasons with the Kolkata club owned by Sanjiv Goenka.
This is a stupendous record by any count and the Mohun Bagan supporters always accord a special place of honour for the 66-year-old veteran coach, whose ability to devise winning strategies against any opponent in the Indian context is now a big part of the Mohun Bagan lore.
A gathering of around 62,000 fans witnessed the latest edition of Habas’ coaching wisdom when Mohun Bagan SG dispossessed the mighty Mumbai City FC from the top of the perch with a 2-1 win in the final league match to wrest the League Shield title.
“If you all have to put your trust in me and perform on the field according to the plans I set, then I am sure we will be able to lift the Shield,” Habas had told his players, after taking over from his compatriot Juan Ferrando mid-season at Mohun Bagan SG, as revealed by the team’s assistant coach, Manuel Perez.
Habas celebrates winning the ISL League Winners Shield with Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. | Photo Credit: Focus Sports/ISL
Mohun Bagan seemed to be falling out of the league winner’s race after suffering three consecutive losses forcing the departure of Ferrando before Habas arrived to steady the team and record nine wins, two draws and a solitary loss in 12 matches to secure the League Shield and sent the Mohun Bagan fans in a mad celebration over the team’s new silverware.
-Amitabha Das Sharma
One for the fans
Chennaiyin FC, the joint-second-most successful club in the Indian Super League (ISL), with two titles, has struggled in the bottom rungs of the standings in the last few years.
It changed three head coaches — Csaba László, Bozidar Bandovic and then the interim coach Sabir Pasha — but neither could steer it to the playoffs.
With debilitating performances, the turnout at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, the club’s home ground, shrunk.
Heartwarming: Chennaiyin FC’s players and head coach thank the fans for turning up at the stadium after their last home game, which they won 2-1. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
But all of it changed this season. Owen Coyle, the Scotsman who had previously taken the Marina Machans to the final, took charge of the club, taking it back into the knockouts after four years.
The JLN Stadium had fans back in the stands again, about 7000 in its last home game against NorthEast United FC.
Before kick-off, two tifos were unfurled by the home fans — one read ‘Chennaiyin till I die’, while the other said ‘Rise as one’ as David Sting, one of the most loyal fans of the club roared with thousands of fans, despite the humidity at the Marina Arena.
The players delivered too. From trailing 0-1, Chennaiyin FC registered a comeback win, with Aakash Sangwan equalising with an Olympic goal and Ankit Mukherjee winning it with a stoppage-time strike.
Though its qualification was sealed the next day — after East Bengal lost 1-4 to Punjab — it felt like Christmas for the players outside the stadium.
Fans clicked pictures with the coach, Jordan Murray signed jerseys and local boy Alexander Romario Jesuraj danced to local songs.
Though the club’s run ended with a 1-2 loss to Odisha in the playoffs, CFC will find solace in getting back to familiar territory — luring the fans into the stadium with the most important aspect of the sport — hope, to play, to improve and someday, win.
-Neeladri Bhattacharjee
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