Eligibility criteria for trials:

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Mumbai FC’s relegation to the second tier of the domestic league was confirmed following the Goan club Churchill Brothers’ resounding 6-1 win over new entrant Chennai City FC.

The win took the Goans’ points tally to 20 which meant Mumbai FC, who are on 13 points after a 1-1 draw against Lajong, with a game in hand, will be shown the exit door, even if they collect the maximum available points, which will take their tally onto 16 points with DSK, Minerva and Chennai city being immune to relegation. This is the first time, Mumbai FC would be relegated since their entry to the top tier back in 2007

DSK Shivajians, the other team from Maharashtra, are in a bit of turmoil themselves. Based on reports from Pune press, the D S Kulkarni conglomerate is allegedly believed to be in a financial instability. Not only had they dismissed important support staff from the Liverpool partner academy, but a dearth of arrears had yet to be handed out to the coaching staff, the players and even the support staff since the beginning of the league in January. In fact, so dire was the situation that the players and academy staff actually resorted to going on strike for their salaries in the mid march.

With Shivajians survival for next season in doubt, Kenkre FC, who are currently plying their trade in the second division finals, could be the only side from Maharashtra in top flight football provided they finish at the top.

Also Read: Indian colts handed tough draws for 2018 U-16 and U-19 AFC Championship qualifiers

Currently occupying the third position after 4 games with 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss, Kenkre can still pull off the miracle. A loss to table topper Neroca FC and draws against Delhi United and Lonestar Kashmir had hurt Kenkre’s start to the finals campaign. But the recent 2-0 win against second placed Southern Samity could well be the much-needed driving force for the remaining fixture with 6 games yet to go.

While there is no denial that Maharashtra has been a cricket dominant state, in recent year’s football too had begun to find its feet. Mumbai FC, Pune FC earlier and now DSK Shivajians in I league and Mumbai City FC and Pune City FC from ISL have played an important part in this growth. While the ISL has just been a 3 month affair, I-league clubs like Mumbai FC and DSK play for a longer duration and even though they have limited fans they are a loyal bunch.

Before ISL, Mumbai FC was the side that brought the cities football enthusiast together. A look at Mumbai’s yellow brigade will tell you that these fans are no less passionate about the club. While Kenkre have been a source for footballers within the Mumbai circuit, It’s now time that the club carry the expectation of the entire Mumbai football, not just for fans but for the overall development of the game around these regions.

Also Read: Mumbai Strikers, RBI romp to easy wins

It’s not impossible to achieve for a young and comparatively small club to achieve its mark at the top flight, Aizawl FC is a prime example of that, the north-eastern club that was almost relegated last year has turned the tables this year with their performances now that they have almost pocketed the I league trophy.

With the ISL-I league merger yet not guaranteed, Mumbai FC at present situation will find itself out in the second division and with that expectation from the fans would be high on Kenkre FC, if top flight football has to return next year at cooperage.

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Mumbai coach, Santosh Kashyap made one change to his starting lineup from the side’s previous outing against Mohun Bagan. An injured Thoi Singh was replaced by Brazilian Anderson Raimundo da Silva. While DSK Shivajians made three changes, as three attack-minded players were introduced by manager David Rogers; Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Sanju Pradhan and Sumeet Passi started for the hosts.

The Maharashtra derby started off in a pretty unusual manner; with both sets of players displaying little control and precision when circulating the ball. Due to which gaps began to appear, all over the park. The hosts, in particular, seemed to make most of the opportunities presented, testing Kattimani time-and-again in the Mumbai goal. On a similar occasion, Holicharan Narzary found himself with space and time to measure a volley past the Mumbai goalkeeper to give the hosts an early lead on 15 minutes.

In the aftermath of the opener, Santosh Kashyap reacted quickly and made a substitution, replacing Clyde Fernandes for the experienced Steven Dias; in an attempt to get themselves back into the match.

Much to the anguish of Mumbai, DSK Shivajians grew into the match, dominating possession and created chances at will. While Mumbai couldn’t string together any passes to cause real damage to their opposition, failing to penetrate through or create positive moments in the match. As the game approached the half hour mark, Sanju Pradhan and Juan Quero combined well down the right, to set up Narzary for his second goal of the match in 27 minutes.

As the first-half of the match came to a closure, DSK Shivajians seemed to have had a firm grip on the game with a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, the away side, Mumbai had a half to forget and start afresh, if there was to be a fightback or any effort, in their bid for survival.

Matters went from bad to worse for Santosh Kashyap’s side, when the home team scored their third goal just three minutes into the second-45. Sanju Pradhan found his name on the scoresheet, after some neat combination play with Quero; in a move which was constructed by the Shivajians’ no.12 and finished off with fine accuracy.

Lallianzuala Chhangte, DSK Shivajians’ second-half substitute, scored in 67th minute, collecting the ball from the halfway line – scoring against the run of play with a delicate finish past Kattimani’s right to make it 4-0 for the hosts. Jerry Mawihmingthanga made good use of his pace to take full advantage of the space behind Mumbai’s defence and score DSK Shivajians’ fifth goal of the match in 83 minutes.

With the game approached the final moments, Mumbai trailed to their rivals 5-0, in a match they were expected to turn their fortunes around. But Santosh Kashyap’s side faced trouble in every department, lacking the resources to answer positively under pressure yet again.

Mumbai had little or no positives to take back to Mumbai after their 5-0 defeat at the hands of DSK Shivajians. As they prepare themselves for two must-win matches at home. Meanwhile, DSK Shivajians can take a breather, but just so – after an all-round performance against Mumbai lifted them four points clear of rock-bottom Mumbai.

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Fans came out with many banners against the coach

After the news broke out couple of days back about three players namely captain Steven Dias, Pratik Choudhary and Allan Dias have been released by Mumbai due to their altercation with Coach Santosh Kashyap, Fans have come out in full support of their players with banners and shouts in the game against Minerva Punjab FC

After being winless in nine consecutive games with just three points as return, Mumbai FC fans have called for Santosh Kashyap to be sacked with immediate effect. On Sunday evening, fans from the stands hurled several abuses and called for Santosh Kashyap to be fired, who was in the dugout.

According to certain reports, few players do not share a good rapport with the coach who is also accused of foul mouthing his own players, As a result, the performances of the team has taken a huge dive after picking two victories from the first two matches of the I-League season.

Also Read: Best Tweets from the Indian Football Stars

Yellow brigade held a banner which stated, “Santosh Out,” and another which depicted his face on the body of a snake. One banner showed a history of clubs managed by Kashyap in the last six years and their fate in the I-league five of them being out of the league this season.

It will be interesting to see whether Mumbai FC’s management would take the big decision, opting to sack the former Air India coach given the growing discontent among players and fans alike and poor run of results.

Their next game is against Aizawl FC where Mumbai FC will face their former coach Khalid Jamil, who is having a dream season with Aizawl having taken the club to top 3 so far.

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A quite odd situation is also been established for the Mumbai FC fans prior to the match as they will be witnessing Ashutosh Mehta and Jayesh Rane who are facing their former clubs for the first time since their move to high-flying Aizawl FC.

Ashutosh and Jayesh has been instrumental for the side in all these years at the Yellow Submarines and has also gone on to become fan favourites. The duo had gain promotion all the way from the youth academy to the senior side of Mumbai FC together and it seems they are bound to play alongside each other after their move to Aizawl FC.Though they are not the only one to make a return to Cooperage, but coach Khaild Jamil who has managed Mumbai FC for a brief spell is also returning as the gaffer of Aizawl FC.

A press conference was held at Cooperage on Saturday evening as both the new coach Santosh Kashyap and Khalid Jamil interacted with the media.

Khalid Jamil was thrilled to make a return at Cooperage Stadium where he has been quite synonymous in the last six years.

“It feels good to make a return at Cooperage. I have not thought about the reception I will receive tomorrow, but I am hopeful it’s good.

On asked about tomorrow’s target, Khalid said: “I am positive heading towards the match. Our only target is to get all three points tomorrow.”

“They (Mumbai FC) have been playing well this season and although they lost against Bengaluru FC due to silly goals, Mumbai FC is still a good side under Santosh Kashyap,” Khalid added.

On preparations, the former Mumbai FC head coach said: “We are just preparing the way we have prepared this season. It will be a tough away match and to take something out of this match, we must not take Mumbai FC lightly at all.”

“There is no difference between Aizawl FC and Mumbai FC’s spell. I have briefly enjoyed my spell at Mumbai, and I feel it will be the same way here,” Khalid said before concluding his press conference.

After suffering a defeat in Bangalore, Mumbai FC’s Captain Steven Dias believes his side will come back strong in the upcoming matches.

“We have a young side just as Aizawl FC. After losing our last game, we are eager to come back strong,” Steven Dias said.

Santosh Kashyap admitted Bengaluru FC is a strong and better side as they suffered the first defeat of the season.

“Bengaluru FC have a good side at their disposal. Not only the players, but the management has also been doing the terrific job. They are strong in each and every department,” Santosh Kashyap admitted.

On Khalid Jamil: “He is a fighter, good coach, and a good motivator. But I don’t believe in this style, I have my very own.”

“The players are giving extra effort, both on the field and off the field. We are gearing to take all three points tomorrow,” Santosh Kashyap said.

The new gaffer also announced two foreign signings. “Yes, we have signed two foreign players. The first one is Densil Theobald, who has played for Trinidad & Tobago and the other signing is Santana who is a Brazilian attacker,” Santosh Kashyap concluded his presser with this statement.

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In the very first game of tenth season of the league, Khalid Jamil’s Aizawl FC managed to draw against one of the tournaments favourites East Bengal putting themselves as one of the sides, too dangerous to be ignored. In the other game, Defending champions Bengaluru FC came to the pitch with the intention of proving that they mean serious business, routing a hapless Shillong Lajong 3-0 at Kanteerava.

While East Bengal’s performances in the first game haven’t been to the expected standard, managing to snatch away a draw against last year relegation team, thanks to their new signing Bukenya’s 90^th minute goal. EB will still be expected to be in top 3 Race. The intention for this season is very clearly shown by the signings. Aizawl’s performance has been heartening, under a new Coach who his known for his strong defence line-counter attacking approach. Although they will not be expected to be a strong title contender, they could still be a pretty strong team at home, with the amount of fans backing them up at home.

Also Read: Bukenya’s Last minute strike earns a point for East Bangal in the 10th Hero I-league opener

Both Mohan Bagan and Bengaluru FC are the close contenders for the title

Despite also being the only two clubs in the Asian competition, Bengaluru FC, along with Mohan Bagan looks favourites in the title race once again. Based on their first game performance BFC seem to be on the right path. On the Asian Front the blues face a tricky situation in ACL Qualifiers but they have been known to defy odds and create history and one cannot rule them out this time either. For Mohan Bagan, the AFC Cup group stage should be an easy one with possible challenge from either BFC or EBFC in the group (Depends on Blues qualification in ACL group stages). Fans will be hoping for a Kolkata derby at an Asian level.

Santosh Kashyap, who took an unheralded Royal Wahingdoh to third place finish two years ago, will aim to replicate the same performances with his Mumbai FC side. Interestingly Mumbai are yet to sign a single foreign player for this season and will be coming out with an all Indian line up in the first game of the season.

While Minerva Punjab FC and Chennai city FC are the two unknown teams for this season, they would still be looking for a top half finish. On the other hand, Shillong Lajong and DSK Shivajians would like to improve their last year’s standings.

Churchill Brothers, the only Goan club left after the departure of Dempo, SCG and Salgaocar, could struggle this season after being out of the I-league for two years. Even their performances in the Goa pro league haven’t been encouraging enough.

With ten teams fighting out for four months, the official football league of the country in what could be its final stand against the merger, will look to prove why it deserves to stay.

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Apart from Santosh Kashyap’s new journey, there shall be another chapter which will be written over by none other than Steven Dias who has been appointed as the new Captain of Mumbai FC for the upcoming season.

Following the departure of Taisuke Matsugae, Jayesh Rane, Ashutosh Mehta, Minchol Son, a new journey lies ahead of ‘Indian Beckham’ Steven Dias when he takes the centre stage on Sunday.

“I feel very happy to captain Mumbai FC. It was one of my dreams to wear the captain armband for my city and Santosh Sir has made this possible for which I feel very grateful. A tough challenge lies ahead of this new journey but I think with the right mentality we can achieve big and overcome all the hurdles,” Steven Dias on being named as the new captain.

When asked about Mumbai FC’s very own Yellow Brigade, Steven Dias stated how important the fans are to the club and the role Yellow Brigade played last season when Mumbai FC finished fifth.

“Yellow Brigade has played a vital role in Mumbai FC’s brilliant performance at home last season. What surprised me is that each one of them cheered for the team throughout the ninety minutes which is quite fascinating. I have been to Goa, Kolkata, but believe me, they are the best I’ve come across.

Even when you look at our last season performance, we have struggled away from home and one of the reasons was away support which has not been the same as home support. I expect the fans to turn up in away matches this season which will be a major boost for each one of us,” Steven expressed.

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After finishing at a respectable fifth position in I-League last season, Mumbai FC appointed former Mahindra United and former Indian International Santosh Kashyap who took the charge from current Aizawl FC’s gaffer Khalid Jamil.

When asked about Mumbai FC’s objectives, Santosh Kashyap seemed positive and replied: “We want to finish in the top three this season. There are challenges to overcome with new settings. We will concentrate and achieve our objective.”

The Delhi-born former attacking player also shed lights on Mumbai FC’s new approach when he promised the club will be playing attacking and beautiful football.“You will see attacking and attractive football from Mumbai FC. Six years the team has played in one style (under former coach Khalid Jamil). The players have to now adapt to my style of play which will be attacking and effective. We will go for wins in all matches,”

Steven Dias who has been named as the new Captain of Mumbai FC following Taisuke Matsugae’s departure seems to receive some tips from his new coach regarding set-pieces.

“I have given him some tips and you will see how dangerous Steven Dias is in dead-ball situations. We have also introduced GPS system to monitor the players’ fitness,” Santosh Kashyap said.

After the departure of key players, a tough task awaits for The Yellow Submarines ahead of the new I-league season. It will be quite intriguing to see how Santosh Kashyap can guide this young and energetic side to new heights.

The Squad:

1) Hitesh Sharma – Midfileder
2) Clyde Fernandes – Defender
3) Karan Sawhney – Forward
4) Chinta Chandrashekhar – Defender
5) Nikhil Kadam – Midfileder
6) Siam Hangal – – Midfileder
7) Shalum Pires – Defender
8) Pratesh Shirodkar – Midfileder
9) Lalchhawnkima –
10) Victorino Fernandes – Forward
11) Shilton Fernandes – Midfileder
12) Allan Dias – Defender
13) Faruk Chaudhary – Forward
14) Laxmikant Kattimani – Goalkeeper
15) Pratik Chaudhari – Defender
16) Steven Dias – Midfileder (Captain)
17) Thoi Singh – Midfileder
18) Munmun Singh – Defender
19) Kunal Sawant – Goalkeeper
20) Raegan Singh – Defender

Mumbai FC will be playing DSK Shivajians in the Maharashtra Derby on Sunday at Cooperage Stadium.

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