KOLKATA: Veteran Spanish coach Antonio Lopez Habas arrived in the city on Monday morning to formally take charge of Mohun Bagan SG, currently playing in the Kalinga Super Cup.
Habas was serving the club as its technical director but was unveiled as the senior team’s coach following Juan Ferrando’s sacking earlier this month. The 66-year-old is set to leave for Bhubaneswar to reunite with the team on Tuesday.
In Habas’ absence, assistant coach Clifford Miranda guided the green-and-maroon team to two wins in as many matches in the Super Cup. Mohun Bagan will take on East Bengal FC on Friday to decide which team will progress to the semifinals as group toppers.
I've always considered Kolkata as my second home... As a technical director, I've had a close link with this team. Now it's time to hit the ground running," Habas said in a club statement.
"I've been in regular touch with Clifford from Madrid. We'll meet in Bhubaneswar tomorrow and will also have a chat with the players. The challenge for us is to put the best foot forward as a team," the Spanish coach also maintained.
Having had the distinction of managing both ATK and ATK Mohun Bagan in the ISL, this is Habas’s fourth stint with the Kolkata side — two each before and after Mohun Bagan’s entry in the league.
When ATK and Mohun Bagan — then ISL and I-League champions respectively — merged together to become a new entity in the 2020-2021 season, Habas was in his third stint with the city club. However, he was relieved of the post in the middle of the next season and in a stunning transfer coup, the team — then known as ATK Mohun Bagan — snatched Ferrando from FC Goa’s stable and unveiled him as the new coach in December 2021.
In a strange incident, Habas’s return to the Bagan dug-out has now coincided with the sacking of Ferrando in the middle of the season again.
