East Bengal: All you need to know about the new coaching staff

The Red & Gold have recruited some of the most renowned names in Indian and world football to lead them in their first campaign in the ISL.

East Bengal have finally appointed their head coach for the upcoming Indian Super League in Liverpool FC legend and former Brisbane Roar head coach Robbie Fowler. The Englishman will take charge at the club's first season in ISL. He has signed a two-year contract with the Red & Gold Brigade with an option to extend by another year.

East Bengal were the latest club to enter the ISL as they followed their rivals Mohun Bagan to the Indian top flight league. The move became possible as the club roped in Shree Cement as investors in September. However, we will take a look at their head coach for the upcoming season and also his backroom staff which he will bring with him to India.

Head Coach- Robbie Fowler

Fowler was one of the most prolific goalscorers ever to grace the Premier League. The Liverpool legend has scored 163 goals in total and stands in the seventh position in the all-time highest scorers list.

In coaching, Fowler was a player-coach for Muangthong United in Thailand. Since then, he had acted as a Liverpool ambassador and mentor in the academies. In 2019, he was appointed as the head coach of A-League outfit Brisbane Roar, who finished fourth in the table from the 10th position and an overall improvement could be seen under the stewardship of Robbie Fowler.

Assistant coach- Anthony Grant

A former footballer himself, Anthony Grant has devoted his life to the beautiful game when he took up coaching. The 45-year-old Englishman has represented the likes of Everton, Manchester City and Burnley in his career. He started his coaching career at Blackpool under Terence McPhillips (East Bengal's new set-piece coach). He then joined Fowler at Brisbane Roar and will be following him to India.

Indian assistant coach- Renedy Singh

The former India international and East Bengal captain is not a stranger to Indian football. Renedy has plied his trade for East Bengal for many seasons and understands the values and sentiments of the club and its supporters.

Coming to his coaching experience, Renedy was once the assistant coach of now defunct FC Pune City under head coach David Platt. He was then appointed as the head coach of NEROCA FC and later held the position of the technical director at Classic Football Academy. He will help Fowler get used to with the Indian atmosphere.

Set-piece coach- Terence McPhillips

McPhillips had a very short playing career and mostly featured in the lower leagues of English football, before taking up coaching. He was the academy manager at Crewe Alexandra and spent over a decade as a youth coach there. He then joined the Academy staff at Blackburn Rovers and was later appointed as the caretaker assistant manager of head coach Gary Bowyer.

In 2016, when Bowyer left Blackburn and joined Blackpool, McPhillips followed him and joined the club as a chief scout and assistant manager. Later when Bowyer left, he was appointed as the caretaker manager. Later, in 2018 he was appointed as the head coach of Blackpool. However, he stepped down as manager only after a season in charge of the club.

McPhillips comes to East Bengal with an all-round experience and will look to help Fowler and Grant, whom he knows during their time together at Blackpool.

Goalkeeper Coach- Robert Mimms

Another Englishman in the East Bengal coaching staff, Mimms comes with vast footballing experience in his country. Bobby Mimms has played for top clubs like Everton, Tottenham Hotspurs and Blackburn Rovers. He was also part of the legendary Blackburn Rovers team which finished fourth in the league and had players like Alan Shearer, Kevin Gallacher and Kenny Dalglish as manager.

Coming to his coaching career, Mimms probably is the most experienced member in this list. He has been the goalkeeper coach for clubs like Wolverhampton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic and West Ham United. He also had a stint with the Bahrain national team in between followed by short stints at Blackpool, Bolton and Hull City.

Mimms is also the only one to have prior experience in India, as he joined Jamshedpur FC as their goalkeeping coach in 2017 under Steve Coppell. Then he followed the Englishman to ATK and left the club when Coppell was sacked after the Super Cup exit in 2019. He then joined the Bangladesh national team under Jamie Day and was part of the Bangladesh support staff when they visited India and picked up a 1-1 draw in the World Cup qualifiers.

Physiotherapist- Michael Harding

Michael Harding also joins forces with Robbie Fowler, Tony Grant and Bobby Mimms as the new physio of East Bengal. The Englishman comes to India with a lot of experience as he was the head physio at Newcastle United for over a decade.

ALSO READ: East Bengal investors Shree Cement express delight at ISL inclusion

Sports Scientist- Jack Inman

With the advancement of football and sports as a whole, every team must have a sports scientist among their backroom staff and Jack Inman will fulfil that role for East Bengal in the upcoming season. Inman comes to India with a considerable amount of experience as he had stints at clubs like Bury FC and Macclesfield Town.

Analyst- Joseph Walmsley

Joseph Walmsley joins East Bengal as the analyst for the upcoming ISL season. Walmsley has a degree in Sports & Performance and has had two years of performance analysis experience at Preston North End's U-18 team. He was later promoted as the performance analyst of the senior team.

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