Churchill Brothers SC, the now deposed I-League champions, face a turbulent few days ahead. After it had been revealed that Subhash Bhowmick had vacated his Technical Directors position at the club for a similar position at Mohun Bagan, coach Mariano Dias now faces a fight for his position after it had been brought to light that the clubs management had taken a dim view of recent comments made by him that seemed to cast a negative tinge on the club and its chain of order.

Chairman of the Club and owner, Churchill Alemao expressed his thoughts to questions regarding Dias’ future by simply responding to The Times of India, “I still have to speak with Mariano and see what he has in mind.”

Dias was instrumental in ensuring that Churchill turned a corner at the beginning of the year, saving his team from the disgrace of being the first I-League champions from being relegated the very next year, notable with a crucial win over Salgaocar FC at the fag end of the league. He also revived the club in the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Cup, Asian football second tier club competition.

Most importantly, he led the club to the Federation Cup title in January this year.

It has been widely tipped that former goalkeeper and Ghanaian international Edward Ansah is a hot favourite to take over from Dias should the reins of power be wielded from him. Ansah, now a professional coach, had a glorious spell with the Goan club in the late nineties.

He has been the African powerhouse Ghana’s goalkeeping coach since 2004, taking part in the World Cups that were held in 2006 and more recently in South Africa in 2010. He left the Ghanaian setup in 2012 to join South African side Black Leopards in 2012, who were relegated that very season to the National First Division.