Spaniard Takes On The Mantle From Albert Roca, Signs One-Year Deal With The Blues

Bengaluru: Spaniard Carles Cuadrat has been named the new coach of Bengaluru FC in a one-year deal that keeps him with the Blues till the end of the 2018-19 season, the club announced on Thursday. An assistant coach at the club for two seasons, Cuadrat takes over the baton from Albert Roca who bid farewell to Bengaluru earlier in May.

“We are thrilled at announcing Carles as our new head coach. Alongside Albert, he played a massive part in changing the way we played football. Given the long association the two have shared, it’s reassuring to know that our philosophy remains intact. Carles has been a popular figure in the dressing room and with the fans and we couldn’t have asked for a better choice as we make an important transition,” said club CEO, Parth Jindal.

Cuadrat’s second season with the Blues had to be cut short after a surgery on his knee forced him to resign and return to Spain in December. And the 49-year-old said he was delighted to be able to come back in a new role at the club.

“I am very happy to come back to the club, to the fantastic people who work for it and to the fans who I have always had a special place for, in my heart. I am also grateful to the management for reposing such faith in me. What Albert achieved at the club is special and it won’t be easy to replicate. But I will be giving this opportunity everything I have, and I believe with the right amount of hard work and passion, we can keep achieving success at BFC.”

An academy graduate at FC Barcelona, Cuadrat had coaching stints with the age-group teams at the Catalan giants before traveling to Galatasaray with Roca as part of Frank Rijkaard’s staff. He then became assistant to Roca at the Saudi Arabia and El Salvador national teams before joining Bengaluru FC at the start of the 2016-17 season during which he won the Federation Cup with the Blues.