Mohammedan Sporting, plagued by a dismal performance by their team, decided to drop nine players and their coach, Mohammad Habib, and look for replacements.
The list of the players to be released include Akbar Singh, Amjad Ansari, Arjan Ali, Trijit Das and Somen Sarkar, Sporting sources said at Kolkata.
The club also decided to remove coach Habib following the team's poor show in Kolkata Super Division league and the ongoing IFA Shield tournament.
Sporting suffered a major jolt after the 1-3 drubbing against Everready in the group league match of the IFA Shield on September 22 which led to the unceremonius exit of the fancied outfit.
While the club will look for a replacement for Habib, technical director P K Banerjee and assistant coach Nasir Ahmed will take charge of the team.
The club, however, is looking for some foreign recruits to strengthen the side before the National Football League.