Kolkata: Former England international and Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler has been appointed the head coach of East Bengal for a two-year tenure, team's principal owner Hari Mohan Bangur said on Friday.
"We have signed the contract last night (Thursday) and Robbie Fowler is expected to join the side directly in Goa within a week," Bangur, who has acquired a majority stake in East Bengal, confirmed the development to media from Dubai.
"As of now, we have offered him a two-year contract which could be extended in due course," Bangur said.
Fowler's name was doing the rounds for more than a week, but the announcement was caught in the logjam of transfer of power from East Bengal to Shree Cement Limited and was made less than 24 hours after the impasse ended on Thursday.
"We have already lost some valuable time but I'm not bitter about it. It's a process and it takes time. We are handicapped as we are short on preparation but hopeful about making up for it. We will put up a competitive squad which will be announced in a couple of days," Bangur said.
Former India captain Rennedy Singh will be Fowler's deputy. Rennedy is a former East Bengal captain also.
The owner and managing director of Shree Cement Limited, who has acquired a majority stake of 76 per cent, further revealed that the team will be known as SC East Bengal as they along with Mohun Bagan make it an 11-team ISL.
"It could be Sporting Club East Bengal or Shree Cement East Bengal as per your interpretation. We as a corporate group and as per the guidelines we cannot prefix 'Shree Cement' to East Bengal so we have decided to name the team as 'SCEB," he said.