ISL 2017/18: Sanjoy Sen to take charge of ATK junior teams

What’s the story?

Just a week after stepping down as the head coach of Mohun Bagan, Sanjoy Sen is all set to return to coaching.

The I-League winning coach is all set to sign a 12-month contract with ISL club ATK. However, he will not be directly involved in Teddy Sheringham’s setup as he will be taking charge of all the junior teams of the club.

An ATK official told Sportskeeda that Sen will sign the contract over the weekend and is likely to start training the junior players from next week.

This comes after the ATK junior team was handed a drubbing by the youth teams of both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

In case you didn’t know…

Sanjoy Sen joined Mohun Bagan in the December of 2014 and went on to win the I-League in his first season at the club. It was Bagan’s first league title in 13 years, having won their last on back in 2001-02 under Subrata Bhattacharya. He also led the team to the Federation Cup title in 2016.

The heart of the matter

Sen resigned as the coach of Mohun Bagan last Tuesday after his team suffered a shock defeat against Chennai City FC. Apparently, ATK officials contacted him the very next day.

According to reports, two other ISL clubs, Jamshedpur FC and Delhi Dynamos were also interested in onboarding Sen in some capacity. However, he was convinced to take up the ATK job after Sanjiv Goenka, the owner, contacted him personally.

Furthermore, Sen is excited at the prospect of working with the youth teams.

What’s next?

It has been learnt that Sen might get involved with the first team from next season. He might take up the role of the Technical Director. He might even be involved in the selection of the Indian players, a role previously taken upon by Baichung Bhutia and Ashley Westwood.

Author’s take

Sen’s experience is invaluable for any club. He was also instrumental in the development of many young players like Jeje, Pritam Kotal and others. There is no doubt that the young players in the ATK junior teams will benefit from his appointment.