The Kolkata derby: Middle of the table, talk of the town
When East Bengal host Mohun Bagan on Sunday, the two teams will find themselves languishing in mid-table, eight points adrift of I-League leaders Chennai City FC.
Yet, the Kolkata derby remains as important as ever.
Former midfielder Renedy Singh describes the clash as "the special one" in Indian football. According to Shabbir Ali, the former India forward who played two seasons in East Bengal colours and more than a decade further in Kolkata, the "charm and the craze will always be in the blood" of the two teams.
East Bengal's Mexican striker Enrique Esqueda, as well as Bagan's triad of defender Sukhdev Singh, midfielder Pintu Mahata and winger Sony Norde are all doubtful to play. It makes for an even contest, considering the form the two teams are in.
Mohun Bagan have just won two matches all season. East Bengal, meanwhile, arrested a sequence of three successive defeats -- two at home -- with a win against Gokulam Kerala last weekend.
"This match is not about the league -- it's about the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan rivalry. It's something way more than the league," says Renedy.
"If you win the match, you are on top of the world, but if you lose, the people will be standing outside. The amount of gaali (abuse) you get -- people wait for two hours until you come out -- who does that, apart from the fans of Kolkata? Kolkata supporters can put you on top and they can also bring you down in couple of days. If you lose, it takes one or two weeks to get over it."
Shabbir thinks the Kolkata giants have not helped themselves by not grooming enough local players, unlike clubs from Goa and the North-East, who have consistently outperformed the two Kolkata clubs in national leagues since 2005.
Despite their league positions, the Kolkata derby will always be 'the special one' in Indian football, according to Renedy Singh.
"One of my Goan friends used to say that when they went to Kolkata to play with East Bengal, Mohun Bagan or even Mohammedan Sporting, they would become a little over-cautious," he says. "But that is gone now. They might not have won the league [in recent years], but at least one of them was always at the top of the league each year. Don't know which way they are going."
Renedy says the way that both Chennai and Churchill are playing, it is unlikely that the derby winner will get into title contention anytime soon.
"Whoever wins will definitely get more confidence, but the players live for that moment. Whether you win the derby or beat a Churchill Brothers, you will get three points in both cases, but the confidence in the team and the happiness in the fans' eyes [after winning the derby] is something else."
Shabbir recalls how the pressure of expectations from the fans would often get to players on the eve of a derby.
"When you are playing, you have to take [pressure] in your stride," says Shabbir. "Even today, friends call me to ask for tickets. They are middle of the table, but talk of the town.
"That charm, craze and everything will always be in the blood of these teams, and that is something you will never get anywhere else."
I-League: Gokulam Kerala and Real Kashmir at loggerheads
It was not football that took centre-stage in Kozhikode as Gokulam Kerala and Real Kashmir clashed...
The team officials of Gokulam Kerala and Real Kashmir were at loggerheads more than 24 hours before their players faced each other on the field for the I-League match on Saturday. The match ended 1-1 without much in the way of fireworks for the viewers but what happened on the previous day was as bewildering as it was unprofessional.
On Friday, the Real Kashmir players and staff entered the EMS Stadium ground in Kozhikode and started training on the small patch of grass available on the side of the playing field. Gokulam Kerala CEO Ashok Kumar, on noticing this, asked the team to leave the field as neither the home or away side has the permission to train inside the stadium designated for their fixture on the day before the match day.
Upon being asked to leave, the Real Kashmir staff and Ashok Kumar got into an argument but not before he was allegedly manhandled by a few officials of the visiting club. The video of the argument was posted on Twitter by Real Kashmir and that was the start of an online furore.
There were support pouring in for both teams but a tweet by Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of J&K, added another angle to the story, one of safety which in no way helped in settling the outcry.
Have been told @realkashmirfc are facing numerous difficulties down south in the run up to their clash against Gokulam Kerala FC to the point where they are unsure they will be safe playing tomorrow. Request local authorities to intervene to ensure safety of players & staff. — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah)December 14, 2018
Real Kashmir’s media manager Omar Babri reasoned to Goal that coach David Robertson only wanted to inspect the pitch ahead of the match, which he is within his rights to do with the permission of the match commissioner. He also admitted the club’s first tweet on the issue was a mistake as it depicted Kerala in a bad light.“We love Kerala. We have nothing against the state, Gokulam Kerala is not Kerala. We are only against the actions of a few of the officials.
“We were allotted 10 AM - 11 AM for training and were waiting at the hotel for the bus to arrive from 9:30 onwards. We came here and entered the stadium and the CEO of Gokulam Kerala rudely asked us to leave, using words like ‘Poda’ which we know is bad language.
“The first tweet was a mistake by our social media person. It had the hashtag #GodsOwnCountry and it is wrong to mention the state as a whole in this. It was just the behaviour of a few officials (that was problematic). We have no issues with Kerala or the people here,” he affirmed.
Goal was able to confirm that the bus did arrive but there was a delay, due to Hartal. The hotel where the visiting team stayed was a few hundred metres away from the stadium and the players and the staff were seen waiting for a few minutes at the stadium gate. However, a second video posted by Real Kashmir on Twitter showed the players warming up inside the stadium.
Gokulam Kerala President VC Praveen told Goal , “There was definitely no mistake committed by Gokulam Kerala. They have no authority to come into the stadium. Even our own team is not allowed to practice inside the stadium on the day before the match day.
He further added, “Real Kashmir, being a new entry (in I-League), probably did not know the rules and regulations. They manhandled our CEO and when a person tried to shoot the video, they destroyed the camera. What was shot on video was our CEO asking them to leave the ground.”
Praveen also condemned Omar Abdullah’s tweet, “It was blown out of proportions, two hundred per cent. I don’t see why any of those people have to get into this.”
Ashok Kumar, CEO of Gokulam Kerala, told Goal that the Real Kashmir staff started the ruckus. “I cannot tolerate abusive language on the field, it is my workplace. I greeted them when I saw them, they rudely asked ‘Why the hell are we not being allowed to train?’. They kept asking why I did not allow (them to train).
“I am not bothered about their tweets because they did not give the right picture. They posted the last part of the picture. I was not violent against them, they were violent against me. If I had retaliated, the match would not have taken place. I don’t have complaints but I want the facts to be known the world,” said Kumar.
Gokulam Kerala’s team manager Rajah Rizwan, who arrived at the stadium from the training ground upon receiving Ashok’s call saying he was manhandled, told Goal, “If they came to inspect the ground, how come they had all the training equipment. When I arrived, I saw them changing to their training kits. It is a blatant lie. They shot a video saying they are training here while their bus was waiting outside.
“From their two videos itself, we can see that the runner boards were destroyed. It was done by Nagen Tamang who threw bottles at them. They invaded the property and destroyed it. We are ready to apologize for shortcomings from our side but cannot accept manhandling.
“One of their officials repeatedly threatened us, “You will come to Kashmir but you won’t go back”. He said it again today (Saturday). He was in the dugout today during the game, I believe he is their technical director."
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The Kolkata derby: Middle of the table, talk of the town
When East Bengal host Mohun Bagan on Sunday, the two teams will find themselves languishing in mid-table, eight points adrift of I-League leaders Chennai City FC.
Yet, the Kolkata derby remains as important as ever.
Former midfielder Renedy Singh describes the clash as "the special one" in Indian football. According to Shabbir Ali, the former India forward who played two seasons in East Bengal colours and more than a decade further in Kolkata, the "charm and the craze will always be in the blood" of the two teams.
East Bengal's Mexican striker Enrique Esqueda, as well as Bagan's triad of defender Sukhdev Singh, midfielder Pintu Mahata and winger Sony Norde are all doubtful to play. It makes for an even contest, considering the form the two teams are in.
Mohun Bagan have just won two matches all season. East Bengal, meanwhile, arrested a sequence of three successive defeats -- two at home -- with a win against Gokulam Kerala last weekend.
"This match is not about the league -- it's about the East Bengal-Mohun Bagan rivalry. It's something way more than the league," says Renedy.
"If you win the match, you are on top of the world, but if you lose, the people will be standing outside. The amount of gaali (abuse) you get -- people wait for two hours until you come out -- who does that, apart from the fans of Kolkata? Kolkata supporters can put you on top and they can also bring you down in couple of days. If you lose, it takes one or two weeks to get over it."
Shabbir thinks the Kolkata giants have not helped themselves by not grooming enough local players, unlike clubs from Goa and the North-East, who have consistently outperformed the two Kolkata clubs in national leagues since 2005.
"One of my Goan friends used to say that when they went to Kolkata to play with East Bengal, Mohun Bagan or even Mohammedan Sporting, they would become a little over-cautious," he says. "But that is gone now. They might not have won the league [in recent years], but at least one of them was always at the top of the league each year. Don't know which way they are going."
Renedy says the way that both Chennai and Churchill are playing, it is unlikely that the derby winner will get into title contention anytime soon.
"Whoever wins will definitely get more confidence, but the players live for that moment. Whether you win the derby or beat a Churchill Brothers, you will get three points in both cases, but the confidence in the team and the happiness in the fans' eyes [after winning the derby] is something else."
Shabbir recalls how the pressure of expectations from the fans would often get to players on the eve of a derby.
"When you are playing, you have to take [pressure] in your stride," says Shabbir. "Even today, friends call me to ask for tickets. They are middle of the table, but talk of the town.
"That charm, craze and everything will always be in the blood of these teams, and that is something you will never get anywhere else."
I-League: Gokulam Kerala and Real Kashmir at loggerheads
The team officials of Gokulam Kerala and Real Kashmir were at loggerheads more than 24 hours before their players faced each other on the field for the I-League match on Saturday. The match ended 1-1 without much in the way of fireworks for the viewers but what happened on the previous day was as bewildering as it was unprofessional.
On Friday, the Real Kashmir players and staff entered the EMS Stadium ground in Kozhikode and started training on the small patch of grass available on the side of the playing field. Gokulam Kerala CEO Ashok Kumar, on noticing this, asked the team to leave the field as neither the home or away side has the permission to train inside the stadium designated for their fixture on the day before the match day.
Upon being asked to leave, the Real Kashmir staff and Ashok Kumar got into an argument but not before he was allegedly manhandled by a few officials of the visiting club. The video of the argument was posted on Twitter by Real Kashmir and that was the start of an online furore.There were support pouring in for both teams but a tweet by Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of J&K, added another angle to the story, one of safety which in no way helped in settling the outcry.
Real Kashmir’s media manager Omar Babri reasoned to Goal that coach David Robertson only wanted to inspect the pitch ahead of the match, which he is within his rights to do with the permission of the match commissioner. He also admitted the club’s first tweet on the issue was a mistake as it depicted Kerala in a bad light.“We love Kerala. We have nothing against the state, Gokulam Kerala is not Kerala. We are only against the actions of a few of the officials.
“We were allotted 10 AM - 11 AM for training and were waiting at the hotel for the bus to arrive from 9:30 onwards. We came here and entered the stadium and the CEO of Gokulam Kerala rudely asked us to leave, using words like ‘Poda’ which we know is bad language.
“The first tweet was a mistake by our social media person. It had the hashtag #GodsOwnCountry and it is wrong to mention the state as a whole in this. It was just the behaviour of a few officials (that was problematic). We have no issues with Kerala or the people here,” he affirmed.
Goal was able to confirm that the bus did arrive but there was a delay, due to Hartal. The hotel where the visiting team stayed was a few hundred metres away from the stadium and the players and the staff were seen waiting for a few minutes at the stadium gate. However, a second video posted by Real Kashmir on Twitter showed the players warming up inside the stadium.
Gokulam Kerala President VC Praveen told Goal , “There was definitely no mistake committed by Gokulam Kerala. They have no authority to come into the stadium. Even our own team is not allowed to practice inside the stadium on the day before the match day.
He further added, “Real Kashmir, being a new entry (in I-League), probably did not know the rules and regulations. They manhandled our CEO and when a person tried to shoot the video, they destroyed the camera. What was shot on video was our CEO asking them to leave the ground.”
Praveen also condemned Omar Abdullah’s tweet, “It was blown out of proportions, two hundred per cent. I don’t see why any of those people have to get into this.”
Ashok Kumar, CEO of Gokulam Kerala, told Goal that the Real Kashmir staff started the ruckus. “I cannot tolerate abusive language on the field, it is my workplace. I greeted them when I saw them, they rudely asked ‘Why the hell are we not being allowed to train?’. They kept asking why I did not allow (them to train).
“I am not bothered about their tweets because they did not give the right picture. They posted the last part of the picture. I was not violent against them, they were violent against me. If I had retaliated, the match would not have taken place. I don’t have complaints but I want the facts to be known the world,” said Kumar.
Gokulam Kerala’s team manager Rajah Rizwan, who arrived at the stadium from the training ground upon receiving Ashok’s call saying he was manhandled, told Goal, “If they came to inspect the ground, how come they had all the training equipment. When I arrived, I saw them changing to their training kits. It is a blatant lie. They shot a video saying they are training here while their bus was waiting outside.
“From their two videos itself, we can see that the runner boards were destroyed. It was done by Nagen Tamang who threw bottles at them. They invaded the property and destroyed it. We are ready to apologize for shortcomings from our side but cannot accept manhandling.
“One of their officials repeatedly threatened us, “You will come to Kashmir but you won’t go back”. He said it again today (Saturday). He was in the dugout today during the game, I believe he is their technical director."