East Bengal FC Editorial Exclusive Interviews Football Football Indian football ISL 2024-25

Oscar Bruzon’s mentality is quite like the past coaches like Subhash Bhowmick, Amal Dutta: Debabrata Sarkar

April 18, 2025
<a href="https://revsportz.in/author/boria/" rel="author" class="url fn n" itemprop="url"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e660b408ca5a915f1c718d0cd98a879b?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e660b408ca5a915f1c718d0cd98a879b?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' decoding='async'/> <span class="" itemprop="name">Boria Majumdar</span></a>
Snap from the interview at East Bengal Club

RevSportz Exclusive

Amid the challenges faced by East Bengal’s men’s team in the Indian Super League (ISL) for the last few years, the club’s women’s team brought home a reason to celebrate by clinching the Indian Women’s League (IWL) title this season. In light of this triumph, and to discuss the road ahead for the senior men’s team, the dynamics of the upcoming Super Cup, and more, Debabrata Sarkar—popularly known as Nitu Sarkar or Nitu Da—and Rupak Saha, the club’s General Secretary, sat down for a conversation with Boria Majumdar.

Boria Majumdar: We did not celebrate the Indian Women’s League win enough. The media might just be slightly gender biased on this. What do you have to say?

Debabrata Sarkar (Nitu Da): We have always supported the women’s and the youth team. I would like to especially thank our CM Mamata Banerjee for the support she has provided to take the women’s team forward. She helped us with getting the financial grant approved. Special thanks to our sponsor Emami. Also, on an individual level, I would like to thank Rahul Todi, Tamal Ghosal (of Shrachi Sports), Ajit Banerjee, and Indrani (to name a few) for their constant participation in getting the financial grants approved so that the tournaments could be run. Their support was the main foundation behind the formation of this year’s team.

 

Boria Majumdar: East Bengal is not just a state-level team, it represents Bengal in the national domain, so the celebration should be on that level. What is your thought on this?

Rupak Saha: Yes, this is true. It’s the joy of Bengal not just East Bengal’s. Under Nitu da’s leadership, we had this target in mind to take the women’s team up and above and showcase their capability on the bigger platforms. We kept in mind to have 6-7 national team players, 2 skilled international players, 2-3 under-19 Indian team players, the best possible coach in India who would understand the minds of the players, and appropriate support staff to state a few. So, this kind of well-curated team is made for the championship.

Boria Majumdar: Aditya Agarwal wants to have a team that becomes a champion. What do you have to say about this?

Debabrata Sarkar (Nitu Da): We (Saikat Ganguly, CEO; Aditya Ji, Manish Ji, and others) were discussing the other day how we are spending money on the team but not being able to become champions (speaking of the senior men’s team in ISL). But to become champions, one must have a champion team. Also, there are factors such as injuries, referees, fixtures etc, which also become reasons that matter behind becoming champions which is not always in our hands.

Even during the ‘poila baishakh bar pujo’, we prayed to the Almighty to save us from poor refereeing and not just injuries.

WATCH: Full Interview in Bangla

Rupak Saha: There should be improvement and training for the referees as well to improve the game overall and not let it get wasted because of a referee’s decision.

Boria Majumdar: What do you have to say about the fans’ disappointment and their faith in the team?

Debabrata Sarkar (Nitu Da): Manish Ji and Aditya Ji have realised how important is financial support to carry on the plan to become champions. So, they are providing that support and we are also trying to coordinate and cooperate.

Also, the mindset of the coach Oscar Bruzon, who is in the first position, is quite similar to the past coaches like Subhash Bhowmick. We have worked very closely with Amal da (Dutta), and Pradip da (PK Banerjee), to name a few, who also had this mindset of thinking that we have not come here to be in the second spot and be bothered about who the opponent is.

So, this mindset, if passed on from the coach to the players, will bring good results.

 

Boria Majumdar: Thoughts on the upcoming Super Cup, and how teams are approaching it?

Debabrata Sarkar (Nitu Da): I won’t name the clubs but I feel if you are participating in any tournament, you should respect it and play with your full strength. If the teams are not putting in their best, then it’s disrespect to the tournament. We will have our full team for the Super Cup.

WATCH: Tutu Bose’s Interview

Boria Majumdar: How do you combat failures when the team fails to perform? How do you bring back the spirit of trying to fight back and make it the best team again?

Debabrata Sarkar (Nitu Da): We are trying to realise what the needs of the team are and what are the downsides. And such requirements are for better-quality international players. We along with the coach are trying to make it happen.

Another thing is trying to make the players practice on our home ground because if they face the audience and practice in front of the fans who come to watch the practice sessions, the team get accustomed to the crowd and pressure. A connection is needed between the fans and the players, which can be built if they practice in front of them.

Earlier, 4000 fans used to attend the training sessions in the club ground – it helps the players build a connection with the fans and understand their pulse better. We’re trying to get the ground ready for that. Even if 500 fans attend the training sessions daily, it will make a difference.

Rupak Saha: We also need to train and prepare the juniors well for the future. This supply line is very important for a good flow of talent to the top.