Churchill Bros. complain about not practicing at venue
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Mohun Bagan coach & captain holding their pre-match press conference against a Federation Cup back-drop on Saturday. Image Source: Xtra Time[/caption]Kolkata: A day after National Green Tribunal (NGT)'s order forced Mohun Bagan to change their venue from Rabindra Sarovar Stadium to Barasat Stadium, the green and maroons were further embarrassed when the backdrop at the pre-match press conference was a wrong one.
A backdrop with a Federation Cup logo (instead of I League) was kept behind the pre match conference table, leading to them risking a fine from the league committee.
The league official who was keeping a watch on proceedings was not pleased, with the Bagan officials scurrying for cover after the last minute gaffe.
Bagan’s opponent on Sunday, Churchill Brothers also complained about not getting an opportunity to train at the venue. The rules laid down by the I League committee states that both teams will have an opportunity to train at the venue ahead of the match.
According to Churchill coach Alfred Fernandes, ““That was an issue I discussed with the manager as well. It doesn’t make any sense to play on the natural turf here when we have to play on the synthetic turf. We cannot practice our strategy here on their (Mohun Bagan) ground as it is open. We could not do anything.
Asked if they will be making an official complain, Churchill coach immediately gave a negative reply. He said, “No, we are not making an official complaint.”
Meanwhile the former I League champions will be without any foreigner for the first match. Trinidad & Tobago striker Anthony Wolfe, who has plied his trade with the Goan club earlier, will join them ahead of the second match. Churchill has also signed Ganefo Ansumana Cromah who played in the Kolkata League for Peerless. They have also signed an Asian quota footballer Bracto from Kyrgyzstan.
“You cannot underestimate our local players. They cannot be neglected just because of the foreigners. The foreigners will join us shortly. Anthony Wolfe’s ITC is about to arrive and will be available before the second match.”
Alfred further added, “We got the confirmation only by the first week of January. We have to negotiate and bring them. We were in touch with a lot of foreigners. They were coming for trials. Nothing was going through. Only Anthony Wolfe, who was with us earlier, will join us. He just played the Trinidad League.”
The Goan club is also in talks with another foreign defender. All the foreigners are expected to join the training before the third match.
There is no word on Joseph Afusi, who was supposed to join Churchill Brothers as the head coach.
“At present there is no communication from him,” said Alfred Fernandes about Afusi.
The Goan club had only five days to prepare themselves. On being asked whether it will be tough for them ahead of facing a tough opponent like Mohun Bagan, Alfred said, “To tell you frankly we just got five days to train because the Goa Pro League finished on Dec 31. We could only start our training from January 03. But I am not complaining. We have to fight with whatever resources we have.”
The Churchill coach added, “When we were re-admitted in the I League after two years, we actually had a young squad for the Goa League. Most of the players in the squad were U’20 footballers. That was a big issue for us as we did not have any experienced players. Most of our junior players left for bigger clubs, like Subhasish Bose who was with me for two years. I brought him from Pune academy and trained him for two years. Hopefully he doesn’t play good against us.”
The realistic target for the Goan club will be to have a top 4 finish in the I League.
“We want to finish top 4 in the I League,” said Alfred Fernandes.
As many as three players from Bengal will be part of the Goan outfit tomorrow. Players like Surabbudin, Priyant Singh and Sathish Singh.
“To tell you frankly I have some Bengali talents to tackle Mohun Bagan,” signed off the Churchill coach.
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