ISL 2023-24: Mohun Bagan Sack Head Coach Juan Ferrando; Antonio Lopez Habas Takes Charge

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Mohun Bagan Super Giant on Wednesday (December 3) sacked Juan Ferrando as their manager following a string of poor results in the ongoing ISL 2023-24 season. Technical director Antonio Lopez Habas was named interim head coach and will be taking charge of the squad during the Kalinga Super Cup 2024.

Juan Ferrando, who was named head coach of the Mariners in December 2021, took Mohun Bagan to the AFC Cup inter-zonal semifinals and won the ISL championship last season. This season, Mohun Bagan emerged victorious in the Durand Cup under Ferrando's leadership and were on a five-match winning run in ISL 2023-24 before a slump in form.

Mohun Bagan's form declined this season as they lost three straight games and crashed out of the AFC Cup in the group stage. They also dropped to fifth place in the ISL standings.

Antonio Lopez Habas, who previously led ATK Mohun Bagan in the 2021-2022 season, is the first head coach to win two ISL titles. The Spaniard, who began his career with Atletico de Kolkata in the league's inaugural 2014 season, became the first head coach to win the ISL title.

Later on, he worked for FC Pune City. After that, he returned to India and joined ATK FC, helping them win the ISL championship in the 2019-20 season. The next season, Habas returned to ATK Mohun Bagan and led them to the ISL championship. Midway through the 2021-22 season, he left the Mariners, with Ferrando taking over as manager.

Ahead of the ongoing season, Habas made a return to the Sanjiv Goenka-owned franchise, this time as the technical director. Mohun Bagan are clubbed with arch-rivals East Bengal in the Kalinga Super Cup. The Mariners will begin their campaign on January 9. The arch-rivals will lock horns against each other on January 19. The other two rivals in the group are Hyderabad FC and Sreenidi Deccan.