''Indians should keep pace at least with the Asians''

SOME BAD portends are seen in Indian football, which seem to be stagnating the game. Even in the 70's and 80's one could see many young children having their workouts in the maidans. There were coaches like the late Bagha Shome, Achyut Banerji, etc., who used to groom footballers. Samaresh Choudhury was the product of late Shome while Surajit Sengupta, Prasun Banerji, Moihul Islam, Sudhir Karmakar were the trainees of the great Achyut-da. Achyut- da's last product was perhaps that ebullient ball-player, Krishanu Dey. After that there has been a big slump. We do not see ball-players of that standard.

Bhaichung Bhutia is a genius. But he learnt the basics in Sikkim. Bengal which used to be considered as the nursery of Indian football, draws blank now. At present plenty of foreign players adorn the `big' clubs like, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and even Tollygunge Agragami. Young children and their parents have lost interest in football as cricket has soaked in all the glamour. Even the key matches of the National league played in Calcutta like, Mohun Bagan-Salgaocar, FC Kochin-Mohun Bagan, Mohun Bagan- Churchill Brothers, and East Bengal-Churchill Brothers fail to draw crowds.

Conditions are almost the same in other parts of the country. Of course can see some players are coming up from Tata Football Academy (TFA) and Manipur. Danny McLennan (64), the veteran football coach of Churchill Brothers had some suggestions to offer to rejuvenate Indian football.

Danny is an old fighter. After playing first class football in Scotland, mostly for Glasgow Rangers, he turned a FIFA accredited coach. ``I've been overseas since 1970 and became the National coach and director of coaches in nine different countries.'' After spending six years in Zimbabwe, Iraq, Iran, Mauritius and Jordan he joined Churchill Brothers in '96.

In the inaugural Philips League after leading the table till the middle of the return league, suddenly Churchill slumped and JCT came from behind to clinch the title. Perhaps, difference of opinion with the management kept McLennan outside next year. He took charge in the third year of the league and this year Churchill emerged the professional league champion of Goa. Again, it was in the lead from the beginning in the fourth edition till towards the end when Mohun Bagan threw a strong challenge. There was always a professional stamp in his team handling though he was not satisfied regarding recruitment of players, where there was scope for lot of improvement. Excerpts from an interview:

Question: You have been watching Indian football for quite sometime. What do you think of it?

Answer: Indian football is like a racing car with damaged engine and flat tyres. I can only pray and hope that it repairs itself and tries to keep pace at least with the Asian countries. It's better not to talk about world football.

Q: What are your suggestions for its improvement?

A: The whole infrastructure, if it exists at all, should be updated and the All India Football Federation should be manned by professional people having sound technical background. In other words, it is better if former National level footballers adorn top posts.

A country's football should not be run like this. There must be a well-thought out calendar, which should be followed till the end. There should be good leadership. The leader should be backed by eager and knowledgeable committee, which is keen to improve. If you are a proper leader you should know how to delegate powers. AIFF President could be seen in the inaugural match of the National league and then, perhaps we only in the last match or at the prize distribution ceremony. On a number of occasions it has been observed that the President announces something but the secretary denies it. There must be more harmony at the top.

Q: Do you think National league can improve our standard?

A: National league is of utmost importance to raise the standard. But it should be strong and broad-based. This league should be given top priority in the calendar. The league should be played over several months, not like at present completed within 3 or 4 months and the matches should be played in the weekends only. Long league is the foundation for any football-playing nation. Japan and Malaysia have come up this way. In Europe this league is played over 7/8 months during weekends only.

The National league should have three divisions marked by promotion and relegation. The peculiarity of Indian football is, apart from 10/12 teams, who figure in the Div I of the National league other teams do not play more than 10 weeks a year. Here all the concentration is on 10/12 teams and there is no plan to develop other junior teams. Here more importance is given to open tournaments than the league, but the AIFF should try to develop local league in all the states as it can build players. Each match of the National league should be preceded by a junior's match so that the young players could watch and learn better brand of football and that would be good exposure for them.

The first Philips league was much better organised. It was televised and was well-attended. There was an all round awareness. But the tournament as a whole deteriorated with the progress of the league. This year the league was marred by mismanagement.

Q: How do you like training young boys?

A: Surprisingly, there's no coaching programme in India. Before international tournaments some thoughtless coaching camps are announced. Players, who would actually figure in the team attend it for the last 3/4 days and get selected. So, what's the use of conducting camps?

There's no plan to groom players from the grassroot level, no programme to coach schoolboys. You can watch over TV how Brazilians train schoolboys from the 7/8 years age group in ball control and passing. Here even the national players err in basic techniques like, receiving, passing, shooting and control. Most Brazilians come from streets. Here instead, everyone is for cricket, because cricket gets more publicity. Even domestic tournaments are focused on TV. Football does not get that support and for that the administration has to be blamed as it is unable to create that awareness, it cannot market the product properly.

There are some good coaches, but where is the coaches' committee? What about national programme for coaches? They should also be sent outside for exposure, but here there is no system.

Then there is no programme for junior footballers. In each of 15 states in Iran u-20 league is played as seriously as the senior league. Here all the National league teams are supposed to have junior (u-19) side, but that exists only on paper. Activity of the juniors is limited to one national championship, and there are no tournaments like Federation Cup.

Q: Has Goa started professional league?

A: Yes. This is the first year. We became champion and Salgaocar, the runner-up. Vasco came third, Dempo fourth and MPT finished last. But my point is, only these five teams were focused and what about the others?

Q: What is your opinion about your team, Churchill Brothers?

A: Frankly, I do not have high hopes on the team. Most of the players have no thinking power. They cannot read the game. They have no discipline and can't play according to the situation. Moreover, recruitment is not being done properly. Then the fixture, especially in the return league is not prepared well. Crucial matches like against Mohun Began, East Bengal and FC Kochin were played within short intervals. There was little time for my players to recuperate. We lost seven points in these three matches which could be vital in the title hunt. The point is, it is not easy to coach club teams. For nine months you have to keep them in training. The main problem is, how to keep them in top class fitness during the national league and how to put them in peak form. Several factors should converge to achieve this and frankly speaking I do not get all these factors together.

Finally, I am pained to see the deplorable condition of Indian football.

ARNAB GHOSH

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