East Bengal shortlists Zoran, Ridder for coach

Kolkata: East Bengal shortlisted Serbian Zoran Djordjevic and Philippe De Ridder of Belgium as the probable candidate to succeed Subhas Bhowmick but said a final decision on the coach`s name would be taken within the next two days. Following a two-hour long core committee meeting here, East Bengal president Pranab Dasgupta said the club`s football secretary Santosh Bhattacharya would negotiate with the duo and finalise a name within 48 hours. In the aftermath of their derby debacle against Mohun Bagan in which custodian Abhra Mondal conceded five goals, East Bengal also roped in Atanu Bhattacharya as their goalkeeping coach.A former Mohun Bagan goalkeeping coach, Atanu will join assistant coach Tushar Rakshit who will work in tandem with the yet to be named coach. "We had about six-seven names and finally we shortlisted the duo as we wanted somebody familiar. A couple of things like availability and financial aspects need to be sorted out. We want the coach to be with us as soon as possible," club president Dasgupta said."Till the new coach takes charge, Atanu, Tushar and senior players like Bhaichung will look after the team." According to sources, Ridder, who was with the side in 2005-06, might be preferred over Zoran who had guided Churchill Brothers to their maiden I-League title last season. Bureau Report