Spaniard Carles Cuadrat lost his job as East Bengal coach after four consecutive losses in ISL-XI in October last year. Interestingly, his successor, compatriot Oscar Bruzon failed to script a turnaround. East Bengal ended their wretched 2024-25 season with four defeats on the trot in all competitions.
“Four losses in a row. The season ended the way it began!” Cuadrat 56, told The Telegraph earlier this week. “Unfortunately, (after I left) the team did not get the results either. It feels bad that East Bengal could not maintain the growth shown throughout our first season.”
Cuadrat came on board before the 2023-24 season, and East Bengal ended their long trophy drought by lifting the Kalinga Super Cup in January 2024. They had beaten Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the group stage.
“Expectations were very high for our second year, and when the poor run of results came along, some fans looked for someone to blame. Management had trust in me, but there is no patience in big clubs. I was confident we would have had a good year, but East Bengal are always in a hurry.”
During the January transfer window of 2023-24, Cuadrat let go Borja Herrera to FC Goa, much against the wishes of the East Bengal management.
Borja scored a hat-trick for FC Goa in the 3-2 win against his former club in ISL-XI when Cuadrat was still at the helm.
“Borja made it clear that he wanted to live in Goa. He said Goa would be a better place for his family. When someone doesn’t want to stay, it’s no point to stop,” the present assistant coach of the Philippines, put the record straight.”
The former defender, who played for Barcelona’s first team in some friendlies in 1988 alongside Gary Lineker, said East Bengal’s rebuilding cycle lost its way after he left.
“We used to promote young players. This year, only (PV) Vishnu has played. Youngsters like Sayan (Banerjee), Aman (CK), and Shyamal (Besra) have disappeared. East Bengal used to send six or seven players to the national team. Now, only (Anwar) Ali and maybe (Naorem) Mahesh (Singh) have any chance of playing time.”