Bhowmick will continue to treat the local league as experimental ground

Calcutta: East Bengal will not allow their players to join the national camp till August 11. The camp, ahead of the LG Cup in Vietnam and the World Cup qualifier against Japan, begins here on Thursday.

Club officials said they want the players to work with English physical trainer Peter McNight, whose six-week contract gets over on August 11.

The East Bengal team returned to the city in the early hours of Wednesday from England where they took part in the Leicester City 120th anniversary celebrations tournament. “We have informed the AIFF of our decision,” said an official.

AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco said he is yet to receive East Bengal’s letter. “I have to read it first before giving my reaction.”

Nine East Bengal players, including star striker Bhaichung Bhutia, feature in the list of 35 India probables. The camp will be conducted by chief coach Stephen Constantine.

Though there was no official statement from the club, it was that East Bengal are not happy with the way the AIFF treats those who get injured while attending national camps or while playing for the country.

Coach Subhas Bhowmick refused to comment on this, but added: “The club had informed us about this before we had left England.”

Bhowmick rated the team’s showing in England as satisfactory even though his boys lost both matches — 0-1 against the hosts and 0-3 to Portugal’s Maritimo. “We have at least been able to prove that Indians can play positive football against foreign sides and not rely solely on defence.

“We created three clear openings against Maritimo, while against Leicester City, we should have got a penalty if not two. The point to note here is that we impressed them nonetheless,” the coach said.

Bhowmick informed that the English appreciated the fitness level of his players. The coach, however, is happy and not quite so at the same time.

“It’s good that our players have shown they can do away with ultra-defensive methods and even attack superior opponents. But then, we could have given a far better account of ourselves had the preparation period been longer.”

East Bengal’s next international outing will be the AFC Cup quarter final against Al Jaish of Syria in September. But Bhowmick refused to be drawn into it.

“We still have over a month to go. I need to reassess the situation, speak to club officials about what we can do and then only will I go public on this.”

His wards return to training on Thursday. “Frankly, I am still treating the local league as a stage to experiment.

“The performance of Syed Rahim Nabi and Madhab Das in England has proved me right.”

The coach added that practice sessions will be held twice daily from Day I.