Aloke Mukherjee

Calcutta: Former India left-back Aloke Mukherjee on Wednesday was named East Bengal’s interim coach for the remainder of the season after Manoranjan Bhattacharjee stuck to his decision of stepping down after the ONGC I-League.

Aloke, who also played with Manoranjan, will take charge during the IFA Shield and AFC Cup engagements. A senior club official, however, said Manoranjan would return to the post in May.

The East Bengal club executive committee approved Aloke’s appointment. The former Mohun Bagan and Tollygunge Club coach will accompany the red-and-gold team in their final round I-League match at home on Saturday.

“Aloke has been given charge of the team till our AFC Cup engagements. We’ll decided on a full-fledged coach after that,” said club secretary Kalyan Majumdar.

However, according to a senior official, Manoranjan has decided to opt out for two months on personal grounds and has agreed to resume in May.

“I’m not seeing my job as a stop-gap affair. I have no problem with this appointment,” Aloke said.

“I have a good relations with Manoranjan. This team has potential and I’m hopeful we will do well in the next couple of tournaments,” he added.