Stanley Rozario Mohun Bagan's new coach

Mohun Bagan set the ball rolling for a new football season after a tumultuous year that saw them finishing fifth in the I-League by appointing Stanley Rozario as their head coach.

The Kolkata giants, who had a disappointing 2009-10 season that saw three coaches at the helm and the team finishing fifth in I-League, also announced a 34-member squad, with former Mahindra United striker Muritala Ali as their third foreigner.

Ishfaq Ahmed was named captain while a slot for the Asian player quota would be announced later, the club management said.

A former India assistant coach Rozario, who was sacked after East Bengal's Federation Cup debacle in 2008-09 season, said he is happy to be back "in the football-loving city of Kolkata".

Rozario, who left I-League debutantes Shillong Lajong FC, which is facing relegation, said Mohun Bagan would give his coaching career the right platform.

"With Mohun Bagan I can become the coach of the champion club of India. I have come to the right platform. This club has history and it's always my favourite club," said Rozario.

Terming his new assignment a "hot seat", Rozario said, "I know the pressure of being a coach of a Kolkata side. I am taking this as a challenge and I have self-belief and confidence to do well for the club."

He said Mohun Bagan have a balanced squad that has 20 players from the region which is really a positive aspect.

"This team will play as a unit, we have players from the region and it will be easy to be like a family. Besides, we have the three top strikers (in Muritala, Barreto and Chidi)," Rozario added.

Rozario also said he had an offer from East Bengal but opted for Mohun Bagan.

"I respect all the clubs. But I had coached them previously. There is no permanent place for a coach. Everywhere in the world it's the same," he said.

Talking about his Lajong experience, he said, "The boys were totally new, except for Daniel Bidemi. I built up the team and we made the Federation Cup final. It's unfortunate that the side got relegated. The race was so close and one point mattered the most in the end."

A Bob Houghton understudy, Rozario, was roped in by East Bengal for the 2008-09 season but the Banglorean was sacked following their Federation Cup debacle.

Rozario then joined Salgaocar and helped the Goans regain the I-League berth and later switched to Lajong before the start of the 2009-10 season.

An AFC A licence holder, Rozario, was with Services earlier.

I-League 2008-09 runners-up Mohun Bagan had Karim Bencherifa, Satyajit Chatterjee and Biswajit Bhattacharya as their coaches in the just-concluded season.

Mohun Bagan will begin the 2010-11 season with a camp, starting July 17, and the club is next planning an outstation camp either in Jalpaiguri or Guwahati in August.

Mohun Bagan squad:

Goalkeepers: Sangram Mukherjee, Shilton Paul, Pralay Dutta, Sudipta Banerjee.

Defenders: Sheikh Azim, Sangram Mandi, Karan Atwal, Kinshuk Debnath, Rahul Kumar, Surkumar Singh, Habibur Rahman Mondal, Biswajit Saha, Parminder Singh, R Dhanarajan, Nagimuddin Mollick, Suman Dutta.

Midfielders: Ishfaq Ahmed, Rakesh Masih, Snehashish Chakraborty, Manish Mathani, Souvik Chakraborty, Dipendu Dowary, Jayanta Sen, Sheikh Jewel Raja, Gouranga Dutta, Satish Kumar (Jr), Santosh Oraon, Surabuddin Mollick.

Forwards: Jose Ramirez Barreto, Edeh Chidi, Muritala Ali, Jagtar Singh, Jacken Sebastian.

Chief coach: Stanley Rozario

Goalkeeping coach: Hemanta Dora.