Goal.com

The Mariners have decided to dispense off with the services of Prasanta Banerjee and Subrata Bhattacharya after a less than satisfactory season last time round....

Mohun Bagan unveiled Santosh Kashyap as their coach in a press conference on Friday, a move which has seen a mixed response from the Mariners fans.

The former Air India head coach was under no illusion as to what was expected of him at the Kolkatan club and said, "At Air India, avoiding relegation was like winning the I-League. But here we have to achieve the target. I'm, however, confident of the task."

While the move from the Airmen to Mohun Bagan could be termed as a big step-up for Kashyap, the coach rebuffed any suggestions of him being under pressure and reiterated, "Pressure comes, when you are in fear. But I'm confident about my training and skills. I'm looking forward."

A measure of how big a leap it is for the new Mariners coach is the fact that the entire Air India squad last season cost less than the salary of just Tolgay Ozbey and Odafa Okolie, combined.

About his new strike pairing, Kashyap affirmed that rather than focus on the two stalwarts, he would look at the best combination for the team. He stated, "I will treat them as any other individual. I've the best team and the focus would be about team building. I will also focus on developing the talented local youngsters."

Though Mohun Bagan has not won the national league since 2001-02, the 46 year old is under no illusion as to what is expected of him.

"We are very much confident of winning the I-League. But the target is to win every match, and tournament."

Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra said appointing Kashyap was a brave decision.

"He is qualified and we thought if Mohun Bagan do not give him the opportunity, who else will. It's a brave decision but we are confident."

About the reasons behind the dismissal of the earlier management duo of Prasanta Banerjee and Technical Director Subrata Bhattacharya, Mitra said, "It's our development committee's decision and we don't want to make it public."

"But at Mohun Bagan, the doors are not at all closed for anybody. Nobody is permanent, there will be replacements," he further added,

Mohun Bagan, who have handed Kashyap a one season contract, will begin their 2012-13 season with a camp, tentatively in Durgapur from July 15-28

How do you stay up to date with football when on the move? With http://m.goal.com – your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.