ISL 2021-22: ATK Mohun Bagan’s ambitious move for Juan Ferrando leaves FC Goa in despair: ATK Mohun Bagan have announced Juan Ferrando as their new head coach, the former FC Goa man will now fill in the void left by Antonio Lopez Habas. This can be a new dawn for the Mariners as they currently find themselves in the sixth position in the Indian Super League points table. Follow ISL 2021-22 LIVE Updates only on InsideSport.IN
NEW ERA BEGINS!
Welcome to ATK Mohun Bagan, Juan Ferrando ⚡️💚♥️#ATKMohunBagan #JoyMohunBagan #AmraSobujMaroon pic.twitter.com/rc7AL78vWI
— Mohun Bagan Super Giant (@mohunbagansg) December 20, 2021
The Green and Maroons had several options in mind when it came to replacing Habas, reports suggest that they even discussed former Bengaluru FC head coach Albert Roca’s name. However, they finally came to a conclusion with Juan Ferrando. However, there were still complications as they had to trigger his release clause and pay FC Goa a substantial amount to secure the services of the 40-year-old Spanish tactician.
Ferrando in this short time in India has earned several accolades. He may only have a Durand Cup to show for in his resume but his ability to continue FC Goa’s dominance after Sergio Loobera’s sudden sacking deserves a lot of praise. The 40-year-old guided the Gaurs to the playoffs last season and was also the architect of their brilliant AFC Champions League campaign where they held their own against top clubs like Persepolis, Al Rayyan and Al Wahda.
Therefore speaking on making an immediate impact, Ferrando is someone who is very familiar with it. The Spaniard is known for his flexible style that lies in between the conventional Spanish possessional football to a more fluid yet pragmatic style. With the amount of talent present at ATK Mohun Bagan, Ferrando will be spoilt for choices. But it will also be his biggest test at least in India.
Contrasting starts to the ISL season for the two teams
The fun fact of all this is that it happened in no time. ATK Mohun Bagan had a flawless 4-2 start to their ISL campaign against Kerala Blasters. They backed it up with another dominant 3-0 win in the Kolkata Derby against SC East Bengal. But then things start going downhill as they were shattered after the 5-1 defeat against Mumbai City. Since then the Mariners are winless from their last four matches.
Whereas FC Goa started their season in the most horrible fashion as they lost 3-0 against Mumbai City FC. They failed to win their next two matches in the league aswell against Jamshedpur FC and NorthEast United. The Gaurs struggled until they faced wooden spooners SC East Bengal and recorded their first win of the season. They followed it up with another win in the next game against Bengaluru FC and held Hyderabad FC to a 1-1 draw in their latest fixture.
😧 Lost Identity?#ISL #IndianFootball #TheBridgeFootball #JoyMohunBagan #BFCATKMB #LetsFootball pic.twitter.com/3cqvqjjGHc
— The Bridge Football (@bridge_football) December 17, 2021
The pressure was mounting on Antonio Habas as the team management after all their spending wants this team to win the ISL trophy, something that they missed last season. So to lose their way as the Mariners did in the last few matches was disappointing to see especially from a club that always held their own even in crunch matches. So when they drew against Bengaluru FC, Habas was visibly frustrated with the 3-3 stalemate.
“The match was… horrible. Horrible. We are in a bad moment, now. It is clear. We lost [our] identity. We have to recover immediately if you want to [make it to] the playoffs. The players have to know that. [If we don’t] recover our identity, our idea, our proposal of play, it’s impossible,” Habas lamented at the post-match press conference.
After that rant, there were clear signals that Habas was not happy with how things were turning out at the Green and Maroon. Therefore him stepping down a couple of days later was not much of a surprise.
However not many would have guessed that ATK Mohun Bagan would get Juan Ferrando as a replacement of Habas. But then again that’s how ATK Mohun Baganmostly get whoever they set their eyes on. Ferrando had a release clause on his FC Goa contract and the rest was done by the ATKMB team management.
The news that was hovering around as rumour was confirmed by FC Goa Club President Akshay Tandon on Twitter. While Tandon revealed about Ferrando’s departure he also asked clubs to show more professionalism as the leaks were out even before members of the squad and staff were aware of it.
FC Goa for the time being will hand Clifford Miranda the interim role as they decide on a suitable candidate to replace Ferrando. According to some reports, it should be Derrick Pereira taking over the reins.
However, for ATK Mohun Bagan, last season’s finalists have already made Ferrando’s arrival official on all social media handles.
“I will give my 110% from day one so all fans can enjoy the best brand of football and hopefully we can celebrate together soon. I will consistently work towards helping our team give their best,” said Juan Ferrando for the first time as ATK Mohun Bagan head coach.
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