Calcutta: Manoranjan Bhattacharjee is set to continue as East Bengal coach in the next season.

The former India and East Bengal defender, who guided the relegation-threatened team to safety in the ongoing ONGC I-League, is the unanimous choice of the officials.

Barring a major change in idea, Manoranjan’s continuation in the red-and-gold hot seat is expected to be approved by the club’s executive committee on Wednesday.

“Manoranjan is definitely the front-runner. Unless he steps down on personal grounds, he’ll continue,” said a club official on Tuesday.

Manoranjan took over after Subrata Bhattacharya decided to quit last month following a string of failures in the I-League.

The Manoranjan-led East Bengal routed Viva Kerala on Sunday to move up to sixth place, coming out of the relegation threat with a game in hand.

His contract with the club is till the final round I-League match, to be held against Sporting Clube de Goa on Saturday.

Several club officials held a late night meeting with Manoranjan on Tuesday, trying to convince him to continue.

The former defender didn't give his formal nod but the officials were hopeful because he had already discussed with them the club’s future plans, including giving his choice of players for the next season.

He apparently told the officials that he would like to take charge from May, which means East Bengal may play the IFA Shield and the first-round AFC Cup meet under assistant coach Bikash Panji.

A section of the club officials, however, is still rooting for former coach Subhas Bhowmick, now associated with the relegated Salgaocar SC as technical director.

Churchill Brothers’ coach was also in the fray but it has been learnt he would remain with the Goan outfit.

“All names will be discussed in the meeting tomorrow. The executive committee has been given the right to pick the next coach,” said football secretary Santosh Bhattacharya.