Irked by the team's failure to retain the Federation Cup and a string of poor performances in the first-leg of the I-League, East Bengal on Wednesday decided to remove coach Stanley Rozario with former coach Subhash Bhowmick likely to be his successor.
Although name of former India coach Sayeed Nayemuddin is also making rounds ahead of an official announcement due for Thursday, sources said Bhowmick enjoys a clear edge over Nayemuddin for the top post.
"We have decided to change our coach. There is no specific reason but after the failure, we need a change at the top. The name of the new coach will be announced tomorrow," East Bengal President Pranab Dasgupta said on Wednesday.
According to sources, East Bengal top brass have given their vote of confidence to Bhowmick despite the fact that a section of the officials were in favour of retaining Rozario.
An understudy to India coach Bob Houghton, Rozario has guided the club to seventh position with 12 points, 13 adrift from the top spot.
In the Federation Cup, East Bengal won all their league matches before they were done in by arch-rivals Moun Bagan via tie-breaker in the semi-finals.
The Bangalorean, by the way, was unlucky not to have the full squad at his disposal. Speculation about his future did the rounds when Bhowmick resigned from Salgaocar SC after failing to guarantee a place in the Federation Cup.
East Bengal General Secretary Kalyan Majumdar had submitted his resignation letter to the President after the semi-final defeat to Mohun Bagan.
