Sanjoy Sen is a terrific coach, whose track record of winning trophies in the last four seasons speaks for him, but he is no quote-hunter's dream. He rarely smiles when speaking in press conferences, and his observations are honest to the point of being boring.
Yet, he has found himself laughing frequently, and throwing in witty one-liners over the last week in Kolkata. And much of that has to do with the media here and their obsession with the D-word.
There's a derby against arch-rivals East Bengal this Sunday in Siliguri, and questions about that game have snuck into every press conference Sen has attended since the eve of their I-League game against Bengaluru FC on April 1.
When asked if he had anything to say to East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan, who had reportedly said that he hoped Bengaluru would beat Bagan, Sen was quick with a poker-faced reply,"Bhogobaan onar mongol koruk (May God be kind with him). I hope that he gets everything that he prays for."
There was plenty of banter on Monday on the eve of the AFC Cup game against Dhaka Abahani, and it had seemed one of those throwaway lines when Sen had said he had little idea about the opposition and would need 15-20 minutes to settle into the game.
True to his word, Sen also made a few changes in personnel for this game - resting Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Souvik Chakraborty and even Darryl Duffy from what would normally be his first-choice eleven. It seemed an unseemly gamble at the half-hour mark, with Abahani surprising Bagan with a compact and disciplined 5-3-2 formation, with Waly Faisal on the left and captain Mamum Miah essentially operating as wingers, and Sohel Rana and Jonathan Brown working in tandem to chase down every ball that was being left open in midfield.
Abahani also scored in the 21st minute, seconds after Bagan captain Katsumi Yusa had summed up his team's frustration with a feeble grounded shot from long range that provided Sahidul Alam Sohel in goal with one of his easiest collections of the night. When Brown slotted the ball calmly to the left of Debjit Majumder after a sharp cutback from Mohammad Jiban, it seemed like the home side were falling apart in their bid to balance both league and continental duties. After all, this match represented their 19th competitive match this season inside a little under three months.
Yet, Bagan found their way back, the way that champion teams often do. Jeje Lalpekhlua's goal just at the end of regulation time in the first half was actually the culmination of several minutes of composed and intelligent play by the home side. When holding the ball, they made sure they passed it quickly and often enough to keep the Abahani players on their heels. This momentum stood them in good stead early in the second half, Balwant Singh showing what makes him a ridiculously good player when on song. He turned his marker in the deftest way possible and then with goalkeeper Sohel bearing down on him, chipped his man with effortless ease to put Bagan ahead.
The third goal came at a time when the hosts needed to put the game to bed, especially because Jiban, Brown and Emeka Darlington had run the Bagan defence ragged with their industry, but had failed to find that last bit of inspiration to get past Majumder on the night.
The 3-1 result takes Mohun Bagan to second place in the group, only one team will advance, and within three of top-placed Bengaluru. Both the Indian teams will play home games next in about a fortnight, and neither can afford a slip-up. Bagan, though, will bear in mind that they have a home game against Bengaluru in hand.
And for everything else, there's always the derby. Sen's response to a journalist who asked if this performance would cause East Bengal sleepless nights was a funny but laconic one.
"Whether they will stay awake or asleep, or whether they are laughing or crying, they are the ones best equipped to answer this," said Sen. "For now we will pray together as a team. We will rest tomorrow, and then restart practice day after tomorrow."
A team that has lost just two matches this year, is in the running for the title as well as continental glory, and has shown good depth in its reserves in recent weeks will not be short of motivation come Sunday at the Kanchenjunga Stadium.
Bring on the D-word!