East Bengal and I-League: An era of bad luck

East Bengal have won three NFL titles

Turning the clock back to 28th July 1920 and 2023, one might see East Bengal’s multicolored journey. From the heights of fame to a staggering drop in performance and gradual resurgence; the Red and Gold Brigade’s story is one of numerous emotions. Their accolades include the ASEAN Club Championship, National Football League (NFL), Federation Cup, Indian Super Cup, IFA Shield, Durand Cup, Calcutta Football League, and the Rovers Cup.

But the title of the former first tier of Indian professional football now turned second tier is nowhere to be seen among those. In fact, they have won the league before it was christened as the I-League, with three NFL titles in 2000-01, 2002-03, and 2003-04.

For a club that has record wins in Calcutta Football League (39 titles), IFA Shield (29 trophies), Indian Super Cup (3 victories), and an ASEAN Club Championship, it is far from the norm. Let us now see why the tryst between East Bengal and the I-league has only borne an era of bad luck:

Era of individual stars but no team performances

Whether it be Bhaichung Bhutia, Do Dong Hyun, Cristiano Junior, Ranti Martins, or Dudu Omagbemi, East Bengal’s outright reliance on their star players has always been astounding. Strikers like the aforementioned Indian, Brazilian, and Nigerian legends always reaped the rewards of the excess supply from the creative outlets in their respective teams.

South Korean left-winger Do Dong Hyun was an exception as he ran riot in one year of his service at the club. The attacker scored 15 goals in only 23 appearances for the club but it was still not enough to impress Trevor James Morgan. However, individuals could only do so much as the team itself was unpredictable in its style of play, squad depth, and multiple other areas.

One instance would be in  2016-17, under the British manager mentioned above as the squad had no way of supplementing his needs. For a preferred 4-4-2 diamond formation, East Bengal’s squad had seven traditional wingers.

Accordingly, a third-placed finish seemed to be too good for a lot of the fans that season. At times even these star players looked for greener pastures and left the club in a state of disarray. For instance, Mahesh Gawli, Shanmugham Venkatesh, and Cristiano Junior’s departures in 2004 meant the best the team could finish was third. Some stars even failed to reach the heights expected of them like South African World Cupper MacDonald Mukansi.

Lack of managerial philosophy

From corruption scandals to fallouts with the club hierarchy, a manager’s stay at the club was hardly rosy between 2004 and 2020. It began with Subhash Bhowmik who left as a result of said scandal in 2005 and the subsequent appointment of Belgian tactician Philippe de Ridder.

Although he managed their best-ever I-League finish, he had a fallout with star striker Mike Okoro who was then benched for most of the season. Shortly afterward, the club underwent drastic chopping and changing as a head coach’s average time at the club was a season at max. De Ridder’s successor Carlos Roberto Pereira was sacked for the same reason as him and it was followed up by the appointment of Mohun Bagan legend Subrata Bhattacharya.

Despite winning the Federation Cup, Bhattacharya lost the dressing room deep into the I-League season leading to a shameful sixth-placed finish for the historic side. Bhowmik and De Ridder did return to the club but these spells were further ineffective. Trevor James Morgan was the only mentor who managed to restore some of the Kolkata outfit’s former glory as he won them a maiden ASEAN Championship trophy.

But even he couldn’t stand the test of time and was axed like his predecessors. Marcos Falopa and Armando Colaco couldn’t step up to the mark as well and the former Brazilian manager left midway through the season, leaving Colaco to do his patchwork with no time on the clock. Eelco Schattorie and Khalid Jamil both had spirited spells at the club but the squad's inability to adapt to their intense philosophies was evident. Specifically, Jamil’s reign saw a final matchday battle that ended in heartbreak for the fans as a draw against Shillong Lajong after taking the lead turned out to be their downfall.

Improper foreign player recruitment

In their entire tenure of competing in the I-League, not once had the Torchbearers managed to recruit their foreign contingent in time or in proper numbers. All the way down to the 2018-19 season when they were handed a transfer ban, the club faced problems sizing up their squad for the long and humid season. Scouting and player management were at an all-time low.

Players like Mukansi, Czech Republic’s Jan Berger, Argentine striker Sebastian Monesterolo, and Australian midfielder Srecho Mitrovic all failed horribly. On the other hand players like Alexandro Da Silva, Edmilson, and Andrew Barisic, all joined the club when the league was already over the halfway line. Additionally, there were players like Enrique Esqueda and Mike Okoro who were either injured or benched due to a spat with the coach. The best the club could manage was a tough battle till the penultimate day but even then with such mismanagement, they would only be able to lose the title to their closest opponents.