Calcutta: Biswajit Bhattacharya was unveiled as East Bengal's new coach, on Friday. He has been given a one-year contract. "Biswajit Bhattacharya is our new coach," club president Dr Pronab Dasgupta said.

Biswajit said he would take his new assignment as a challenge. "It's a challenge for me to coach a club of East Bengal's stature. I know there will be pressure to deliver, but I always enjoyed working under pressure. Pressure gets the best out of me," Biswajit said.

Biswajit's appointment, however, does not rule out Trevor James Morgan's return to the club. Morgan completes his two-year contract with Kerala Blasters after the second edition of ISL and will be free to join a club with whom he won seven tournament during his three-year stay.

"He is still available. So may be in December, before the I-League starts, you may see Morgan at the helm," a senior official said. However, if Biswajit delivers then what?

"It's very unlikely that East Bengal will go for a new coach then. So, as of now, it's Biswajit who will be at the helm," the official added.

Biswajit did a commendable job with Mohun Bagan in 2005-06 when the club was staring at relegation in the National League. The club went onto finish third and he was given the job for the next season too. But midway into season, after a string of poor results, he got the boot.

"My career graph as a coach is sort of a roller coaster. I climb up the ladder and then have a steep fall," the coach said with a smile, when asked about his first stint with Bagan. He was again at the helm at Mohun Bagan briefly in early 2010, and the club won the CFL under him - their only major trophy till they won the 2015 I-League title.

Biswajit said he has not decided on when to start the pre-season.

"Let the dates for the CFL be announced. Ideally you need at least a month's time before a season starts. But with IFA you never know... Dates keep changing. We will start practice only after the dates for CFL are announced," he said.

CFL will be Biswajit's target now. "That's my No.1 target. To win the CFL. East Bengal have won five times in a row and the sixth one will see equalling the feat achieved during 1970-75," he said.

Not surprisingly, the name Morgan was lobbed onto Biswajit and the man just said: "He did a very good job. But I am not a person who thinks about the past. For me, the present is more important."