Does Team India need long preparations ahead of friendlies & tournaments?

Since the end of the Group A qualifiers for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup last week in Yangon, Myanmar I have been asking myself if Team India needs longer preparations ahead of the international friendlies and tournaments.

I am saying so as it is something that former India coach Bob Houghton used to say and insists on. He was no fan of one-off international friendlies on FIFA match dates, then that meant pulling out players for two to three days from their I-League clubs with minimal to no real match preparations.

And as friendlies against Singapore (0-2) and Palestine (2-4) under Wim Koevermans have shown such a schedule does not suit the Indian national team players well.

Now the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers preparations in Pune weren't the best either as East Bengal Club and Churchill Brothers SC players had to leave the India camp to play AFC Cup matches for their clubs.

All these are factors to show what has hampered Team India lately as Bob Houghton minutely planned everything for the Nehru Cup's, AFC Challenge Cup and even the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar with long, planned camps. He even took out players from the I-League to prepare for the Asian Cup, the biggest tournament India played in years and maybe in years to come.

Therefore the above is something which needs to happen again and success will surely come...

My Indian football Highlights in 2011

2011 ends later today and I wanted to take a look back at the year gone by in Indian football. It was another year which promised a lot, but did it keep up to its promise or let us down? A difficult question, which does not have a definite answer. Read and make your own opinion...


2011 AFC Asian Cup

The year started with India playing at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, 27 years after its last appearance at the continental champions. India coached by Bob Houghton were drawn in the Group of Death along with Australia, South Korea and Bahrain. We lost 0-4 against Australia, 2-5 against Bahrain and 1-4 against South Korea. 3-13 goals speak a clear language, but if one knows the gulf in standard between the best in Asia and a developing football nation like ours then it was an overall a good show by Team India.

The tournament also marked the career highlight for a generation of Indian footballers led by striker Baichung Bhutia, who was mostly injured and so could only play the final 15 minutes against South Korea. The others were Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Samir Naik, Climax Lawrence, Renedy Singh and Abhishek Yadav; who all have done their bit for Indian football.

But one should not forget the fans. India had the best crowd support in Doha! It was like a home tournament for us...


The Sacking of Bob Houghton

Englishman Bob Houghton did a credible job to qualify India to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and thereafter at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in March 2011 in Kuala Lumpur he started to rebuild his team for the years ahead. But that was cut short by the All India Football Federation as the national body was not happy with the fact that Bob openly criticised the infrastructure and administration as the reason of India's non-development in football. Especially at the Asian Cup in Doha Bob was vocal about the problems that Indian football faces.

The end of the story is a complete disgrace. The AIFF labelled false charges of racism against Bob Houghton for statements he is said to have made against Indian fourth official Dinesh Nair in a international friendly match last year in Pune.

In the end Bob looked fed-up and left the country in haste after the AIFF dropped the charges in April 2011. After nearly five years of being India coach Bob certainly didn't deserve a send-off like this.


I-League: Salgaocar SC champions

The surprise champions of the 2010/11 I-League with 56 points were Salgaocar SC under the able guidance of Moroccan coach Karim Bencharifa. The Goans surprised everyone with their football and after snatching the lead from early leaders East Bengal Club, they never really looked back as they won the championship in style. Their foreigners in Luciano Sabrosa, Ryuji Suoeka and Yakubu Yusif were top besides young Indian talent in Gilbert Oliveira, Francis Fernandes and Anthony Barbosa emerging plus seasoned Karanjit Singh, Jaspal Singh Parmar, Khelemba Singh and Rocus Lamare playing their part.


I-League: JCT relegated, close down

Punjabi side JCT, who have been fighting relegation for the last few seasons, finally went down at the end of last season as they finished 13th amongst 14 teams. It not only ended their stay in the NFL/I-League since the launch of the league, but their management decided to close down the football club overall to concentrate on the Academy and youth development.

It marks the end of an era, leaving Punjab and North India without I-League representation. JCT not only were the flagbearers of the North but also a club to develop talent through the JCT Academy. The players often moved from the Academy to the senior team and there made a name for themselves.

The closure of JCT follows a season after Mahindra United had decided to take the same drastic measure as the clubs say that they cannot sustain themselves without earning revenues. Still things don't seem to change with the clubs unable to generate revenues and other clubs could go this way.


2014 FIFA World Cup: India out at first hurdle

The qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil were over before they had really started for India. This time around seeded into the second Round of Asian qualifiers India had to face the mighty United Arab Emirates and progress would have meant a real upset.

But only 23 minutes into the match in Al Ain it looked all over for India after having goalkeeper Subrata Pal and defender Debabrata Roy send-off for two separate incidents with the team down to nine men and 0-2 behind. It ended 0-3 for the UAE, a credible result for India under the given circumstances, and India earned a hard-fought 2-2 comeback draw at a monsoon flooded Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi, but the overall aggregate of 5-2 speaks a clear language.


Indian Arrows become Pailan Arrows

Over the summer it looked like the Indian Arrows could be shutting shop due to the high costs involved in running the India developmental side in the I-League. But then Kolkata-based Pailan Group came forward and adopted the Arrows, the AIFF rebranded the team as Pailan Arrows and as such they will now play in the I-League in the coming seasons.

The good thing about the Arrows is the fact that their future for the next few years is secure and the youngsters will get a continued chance to play in the I-League with the team not to be relegated. This exposure is necessary and will do Indian football a great service in the future.


Baichung Bhutia retirement

Striker Baichung Bhutia was an upset man that he couldn't help his beloved Team India more at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in January in Qatar due to an injury. He tried a comeback ahead of the India vs Pakistan Series in the UK, but he had to pull out due to a never-ending injury and then Baichung decided and announced his retirement from international football in August 2011 in New Delhi.

Later on in October 2011 the India vs FC Bayern Munich match came around and it will give Indian fotoball the chance to give Baichung a fitting farewell on January 10, 2012 in New Delhi at the Audi Football Summit.


SAFF Cup: India triumph!

The year ended as it started with an international assignment for Team India. But this time around India wasn't the underdog, but rather the overwhelming favourite besides defending champions. And though the team had their problems in the tournament and faced some tough competition India did trash Afghanistan 4-0 in the SAFF Cup final though the result does not really reflect the match with the Afghans the positive surprise of the tournament.


International interest in Indian football

FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation continue to say that Indian football has huge potential and international interest in the Indian market continues to grow, but the necessary development isn't seen as in my opinion a lot of effort goes in vain or is commercially driven rather then by the game.

Surely we have now tons of camps from European top clubs for big city children, but development needs to be taken to the smaller cities and the rural areas where talent lies uptapped.


These are my Indian football highlights from 2011...

New India coach: The search is on

It has been two weeks since Bob Houghton has resigned as India coach and I have to compliment the All India Football Federation in their search for a replacement, then it has been going on calmly and quietly without much fuss or information being leaked to the media.

The only fact really known is that over 50 coaches, mainly from Europe, have applied to become the new coach of the Indian national football team, but that fact was officially confirmed by the AIFF. The AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das has also said that he was surprised at the number of high level coaches who have applied to coach India, but their high salary demands would be a problem or something which takes some of these coaches off the list.

Still some names did come out like that of former Argentina coach Jose Pekerman, Dutchman Ruud Krol and Belgian Tom Saintfiet; but otherwise no one has stated their application or any of the agents in the name of their clients. The AIFF is going by its plans to find a suitable coach for its next phase of development within the national team set-up.

The names of Moroccan Karim Bencharifa of Salgaocar SC, East Bengal Club's English coach Trevor Morgan and that of long-time Dempo SC coach Armando Colaco name been linked though it seems clear that the AIFF is looking to name a foreign coach as new India coach and likely someone not currently coaching in India. This would mean all these coaches would be out of the race for the hot seat.

So it is wait and watch to see who becomes the new India coach...

Indicast Podcast: The Bob Houghton Saga Ends...

Nani and myself cover a lot of topics related to Indian football in the latest the Sportsbench Podcast.
Finally with the 'resignation' of Bob Houghton as Indian national football team coach, a saga that was increasingly turning distasteful has ended. Discussed are possible replacements and the importance of setting up of or following the system that Houghton set up over the last five years, because India is struggling from the development perspective as well. Meanwhile, the I-league is in a very interesting phase & 2nd Division I-League has also surprisingly emerged as a fiercely contested competition. This podcast covers a bit on the teams in these two groups.



Listen Online (64 kbps) : ~ 27 mins





Here the direct link to the Indicast Podcast page: Sportsbench Podcast



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Team India: What kind of coach should replace Bob Houghton?

The All India Football Federation is on the lookout for a new national coach following Bob Houghton's departure after nearly five years in charge. The search is on for the next coach and it needs to be a properly thought through decision as whoever comes in will have to work to take Indian football to the next level and also look at strengthening the national team system from under-14 upwards until the senior national team.

The AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das has been quoted by the media as saying that whoever comes in would have to be able to let his team play 'possession football'. I think it would be nice to have a coach who knows about possession football and allows his teams to play so, but more important once again will be the results he will be able to produce. You bring in a coach who plays lovely football but we lose 10-0, he's gone sooner then we know.

Also the coach should not only have to have a good profile and pedigree, but also a concept on what he would like to do in the coming years with the national team, the ultimate aim being the qualification for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. That also needs to be the duration of the contract with possibilities of terminating it after a certain periods.

Is the new coaches nationality an issue? If I was asked I would say yes, then I would like to see someone from Europe continue after Bob Houghton though it looks unlikely to be another Englishman. I know the AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das has said he would like someone Spanish or from South America, but there is a major issue here in the coach speaking perfect English, so our players can all understand him and he is able to get across what he is trying to teach and coach them.

There I would surely say someone from Germany, the Netherlands, France or Spain would be good; but knowing the changes that have happened here in Germany over the last decade and what changes it has meant in coaching and the approach to the game, I'd love to see a German coach for Team India.

But we might also have some I-League coaches as options, but it looks unlikely that an Indian coach will get the job, so Dempo's Armando Colaco or any other Indian coach seems out of the race; but we have quality foreign coaches like Karim Bencharifa or Trevor Morgan, who might be in the running for the job top.

But the process has only started, the AIFF needs to decide first if they are looking for a coach quickly ahead of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates in July or maybe appoint someone interim and get the new coach in later this year.

What Bob Houghton has done for our football

I have been surprised at the amount of criticism our now former coach Bob Houghton has received from the media and fans. Because I think one thing is for sure, Bob has done a lot of things which were and are important for the development of Indian football, but some facts are often forgotten or maybe not even known, while others just seem to criticise for the sake of doing so.

The nearly five year reign of Bob Houghton as coach of the Indian national team ended on Saturday, so lets focus on what Bob has done or tried to do for Indian football outside of Team India.

But lets first look at how it all started. In June 2006 while the whole planet was looking at Germany during the 2006 FIFA World Cup India appointed a new coach in Bob Houghton, who came with a pedigree of over 30 years of coaching experience from around the world. At the time Bob came to India, England under Sven Goran Eriksson took on his native Sweden at the FIFA World Cup in Cologne. Eriksson is one of the numerous Swedish coaches who where heavily influenced by Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson, who coached in Scandinavia in the 1970s and we actually had a nice conversations about Bob's appointment and Sven had said it was a wise decision by the federation in India.

From those days it is known that Bob Houghton prefers to play a classic 4-4-2, which some would call old fashioned in modern day football though it is result oriented football and in the end results count the most plus it's also known in football circles that Bob mainly relies on a set group of players, he isn't a manager who makes too many changes to his squads. You go with it or leave it.

And when Bob arrived Team India was in a mess. Some players had resigned others like Baichung Bhutia where thinking about resigning and ending their international career, so Bob first had to convince key players to return or stay with Team India.

Some say Bob hasn't developed any talent. Then I simply ask them who where Subrata Pal, Gouramangi Singh or Sunil Chhetri when Bob came to India? None of these boys were anywhere near being key players in the national team. And the next crop of players would have been developed now after the Asian Cup, if given chance as the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers showed.

Bob also ensured extended foreign camps, the best available facilities and that the interest of the players were taken care off, so nobody would have to worry about anything. Things which weren't done in the past and therefore it isn't surprising that Bob was popular amongst his players, though he kept a distance but was there whenever needed and he treated the players like his own sons.

Bob also has been working on getting a youth development system in place. He got Colin Toal as technical director and Desmond Bulpin as coach of the Indian Arrows & Under-23 national side. Along with them he first created and then streamlined Indian football's youth development system. Against opposition from the federation who often said what's the use of spending money on such projects they got long duration camps, foreign exposure trips and better accommodation in place besides fighting for the Arrows to be integrated into the I-League.

The results of youth development work doesn't come overnight it will take time, but to end on an example most of the players in the Indian Arrows are a product of this development work of the last four years and maybe in another four/five years we can judge that work if it is allowed to continue.

You might not like it, but I believe that Bob deserves credit for all the work and whoever comes next has a tough job on hand.

Pradeep & Abranches now also face trouble

First it was Sunil Chhetri for his tweets in support of Bob Houghton, now other internationals in N.P. Pradeep and Joaquim Abranches are set to get in trouble with the AIFF after voicing their disagreement in the sacking of Bob Houghton.

After the AIFF said it would discuss at its next Executive Committee meeting Chhetri's anti-federation tweets, which factually can't be proven; they now they have a bigger issue to deal with as many players who have played under Bob Houghton have come out in support of their former coach and voiced their displeasure at his removal.

It starts with captain Baichung Bhutia, goes on with Arjuna Awardee Deepak Mondal, 'AIFF Player of the Year' Gouramangi Singh, goalkeeper Subrata Pal, winger Syed Rahim Nabi and so on....

But two players could be in real trouble as they openly criticized the federation fr their decision regarding Bob Houghton. While Dempo midfielder Joaquim Abranches did so in a newspaper interview, N.P. Pradeep did it on Facebook. And the Viva Kerala midfielder did go over the top as he used in his Facebook post the f-word against the federation and its officials.

All this highlights that the federation and their players are currently not on the best of terms with new media being something where freedom of speech/expression is easier said then done these days. If a Code of Conduct for the players will change things will have to be seen, then the federation needs to sit down with the players and discuss with them their thought and feelings, then both sides need to work together in the interest of Indian football.

VIDEO: Baichung reacts on Houghton resignation

My colleagues at the news channel Times Now did a news report on Bob Houghton's resignation and spoke over the phone to India captain Baichung Bhutia about Bob leaving India.


Here the video report

Houghton resigns, AIFF drops racism charge

After the AIFF dropped their racism charges against Bob Houghton the Englishman resigned as national coach of India. The end came faster then one would have expected, but the end result wasn't a surprise anymore as Bob's departure looked the only option left after the AIFF and Bob could not work together anymore.

The federation bosses and Bob Houghton held a meeting in New Delhi today and finalised the exit of the Englishman after the federation made it known to the coach that there was no definitive and concrete evidence in the racism allegations against him, which cannot be sustained and therefore the AIFF agreed to withdraw all charges and allegations made against him.

Thereafter Bob Houghton tendered his resignation . It seems he finally was fed up with the AIFF and its ways of working after being in the hot seat for nearly five years. Bob Houghton had come to India in June 2006 during the then summer FIFA World Cup and has had done some really good work with India winning the Nehru Cup twice in 2007 & 2009 besides the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup which led to India playing in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

There at the Asian Cup in Qatar India had to face Australia, Bahrain and South Korea which resulted in three defeats with a goal difference of 3:13, something which the federation and its bosses thought was not a good result and account of Indian football. Also Bob openly criticised the infrastructure and administration as the reason of India's non-development in football.

This led to the federation digging up an old case of fake racism charges against Bob by fourth official Dinesh Nair in an international friendly last year. Interestingly this charge had been denied by Bob Houghton and then manager Pradeep Chowdhury, while no action was taken against Bob then. If any action will now be taken against the concerned match official will have to be seen.

While the AIFF has had its way of getting rid of Bob Houghton, the players surely won't as they have often openly supported their coach over the last few years.

And Bob not only has been working on the senior national team, but he has over the years been forcing the AIFF to develop a youth development system and strategy. The Indian Arrows was one of those ideas and long foreign training camps not only for the senior national team but juniors as well to prepare them better for tougher continental competitions are amongst those ideas.

Thanks Bob for all you have done for our football! And all the best with your future coaching assignments.

AIFF postpones second Bob Houghton hearing

Today was earmarked as the second date for the hearing of Bob Houghton on the show cause notice send to him by the AIFF, but the federation postponed the hearing as the AIFF constituted panel hasn't been able to go through all the concerned documents.

On April 11 the first hearing had been held where Bob Houghton had appeared with his lawyer Anish Dayal. There the India coach presented his side of the three points mentioned in the show cause notice and handed in a document of 75 to 80 pages about the concerned allegations in detail.

The three points where: 1. Allegations of Racism by an Indian fourth official, 2. Under-performance by the national team at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, 3. Open criticism by Bob Houghton against the AIFF in the international media.

The AIFF will finalise the date for a second hearing once the panel has gone through all the documents and has their necessary answers in place. The AIFF hopes that that new hearing date would still be in April.


Here the blog entry: Houghton presents his case, final hearing likely next week .

Houghton presents his case, final hearing likely next week

Many thought it would be decision day in New Delhi when national coach Bob Houghton would appear infront of the three member AIFF Panel - Subrata Dutta, Ankur Datta and C.R. Viswanathan - with also General Secretary Kushal Das present. But today Bob only presented his side of the three point show cause notice with Supreme Court advocate Anish Dayal by his side. Dayal is a specialist in media, sports and entertainment law and has IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals are amongst his clients.

The hearing latest less then 30 minutes with Bob presenting his case in writing at Football House, so the panel decided to take a few days time to go through the documents and then fix another date of meeting. Tentatively the panel would meet again on April 20 with Bob Houghton also having to be present.

After the hearing advocate Dayal told the media, "We have denied all the charges levelled against the coach. We have submitted that all of the charges are baseless. We are expecting a fair decision."

"We have not mentioned anything about giving evidence against the charges. We will wait what the panel says in further proceedings," Dayal added.

Meanwhile the AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das told the media, "They filed a written reply which expectedly denied any racist attack. The committee will examine the response and will arrive at a decision ahead of the second meeting in eight days time."

Houghton to face AIFF panel tomorrow

National coach Bob Houghton will face the AIFF set-up Special Panel at Football House in Dwarka, New Delhi tomorrow to present his case in the three point show cause notice send out to the coach last month. The Englishman is well prepared for the hearing and is set to present his side of the story on the three points which the federation holds against him.

The AIFF Panel is set to contain Vice-Presidents Subrata Dutta and Ankur Datta as well as Treasurer Hardev Jadeja. Originally the panel was supposed to also contain the federations president Praful Patel, but if he will part of the proceedings is unknown at this stage. After the hearing the panel will give its recommendations to the Executive Committee to decide on the future course of action.

As things stand at the moment Bob Houghton has a contract still running for over two years until mid-2013. He is on a monthly salary of US$ 20,000 and if the AIFF fire him then normally there is a settlement which would entitle the coach to most of his pending salary, but with the AIFF bringing up the allegations and the show cause notice the whole issue has reached a whole new level. And Bob could ask for compensation due to false allegations. If not sorted out between the two parties then it could go to the AFC and FIFA, which would hurt our reputation.

The show cause notice was a letter containing three points, the first-ever such letter send out by the national federation to one of its coaches. The first point is alleged racial abuse against Indian referee Dinesh Nair, who was the fourth official in the India vs Yemen international friendly last October in Pune. After the game Nair alleged that Houghton had referred him as a 'Bastard Indian Referee' and therefore lodged an official complaint with the match commissioner. In the meanwhile the national team has send in a signed letter to the AIFF in support of Bob and against the allegations of Dinesh Nair.

Point two is India's poor performance in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and in earlier international friendlies in September/October 2010. India conceded 13 goals against Australia, Bahrain and South Korea in Qatar; which according to the AIFF Technical & Executive Committees isn't acceptable especially due to the high cost involved in the teams preparations.

The third point mentioned is the open criticism by Bob Houghton against the AIFF in the national and especially international media before and during the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. The lack of infrastructure and professionalism in administration where the main points mentioned by Bob why Indian football hasn't developed over the years. And it seems the AIFF isn't happy about its deficiencies being exposed openly infront of the world media.

AIFF show cause Bob Houghton

It was a good week for Indian football when the newly formed Indian national team qualified without any real problems for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, but now it could become sour as it has become public that the AIFF yesterday mailed their coach Bob Houghton a show cause notice, which Bob would get in person once he returns to Goa later today.

Three key points have been mentioned in the letter due to which the show cause notice has been send out. The first one is alleged racial abuse against Indian referee Dinesh Nair, who was the fourth official in the India vs Yemen international friendly last October in Pune. After the game Nair alleged that Houghton had referred him as a 'Bastard Indian Referee' and therefore lodged an official complaint with the match commissioner. In the meanwhile the national team has send in a signed letter to the AIFF in support of Bob and against the allegations of Dinesh Nair.

Point two is India's poor performance in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and in earlier international friendlies in September/October 2010. India conceded 13 goals against Australia, Bahrain and South Korea in Qatar; which according to the AIFF Technical & Executive Committees isn't acceptable especially due to the high cost involved in the teams preparations.

The third point mentioned is the open criticism by Bob Houghton against the AIFF in the national and especially international media before and during the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. The lack of infrastructure and professionalism in administration where the main points mentioned by Bob why Indian football hasn't developed over the years. And it seems the AIFF isn't happy about its deficiencies being exposed openly around the world.

Now Bob Houghton has been asked to appear infront of an four member AIFF committee on April 11 to present his own case and depending on the answers the federation would take a decision to dismiss or retain him until the end of his contract in 2013.

The writing is on the wall, the AIFF is taking the next step to try and dismiss their coach just after a successful qualification campaign. Surely one can discuss the third point of open criticism, but when you get a coach like Bob you should know that he is open, direct and honest in his views, while the first two points normally hold no ground.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming two/three weeks...

AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers: Chhetri to lead India!

Bob Houghton has named Sunil Chhetri as India's new captain for the qualifiers of the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup to be played next week in Kuala Lumpur. In the Malaysian capital India will face Chinese Taipei (March 21), Pakistan (March 23) and Turkmenistan (March 25) in the Group B qualifiers. The top two teams from the group would move into the AFC Challenge Cup proper.

Senior players are being rested by Bob Houghton, so players like Sunil Chhetri, Gouramnagi Singh, Subrata Pal and Steven Dias will have to prove that they are ready to carry the Indian national team. Bob Houghton will also get a chance to test youngsters with talented players like Raju Gaekwad and Jeje Lalpekhulua set for their first international start tomorrow and they will have to prove that they are ready for senior competition.

For India the qualifiers are crucial as they would have to be amongst the top two teams to qualify for the final round, which India could host next year and then try to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup to be played in Australia.


INDIA

Goalkeepers
Subroto Pal (Pune FC), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Indian Arrows), Jagroop Singh (Indian Arrows)

Defenders
Anwar (Mohun Bagan AC), Nirmal Chetri (East Bengal Club), Denzil Franco (Churchill Brothers SC), Raju Gaekwad (Indian Arrows), N.S. Manju (United Sikkim FC), Nalappan Mohanraj (Mohun Bagan AC), Syed Rahim Nabi (East Bengal Club), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Govin Moirangthem Singh (Salgaocar SC)

Midfielders
Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC), Shilton D'Silva (Indian Arrows), Steven Benedic Dias (Churchill Brothers SC), Rakesh Masih (Mohun Bagan AC), Jewel Sheikh Raja (Indian Arrows), Baldeep Singh (Salgaocar SC), Jagpreet Singh (JCT)

Forwards
Sunil Chhetri (Chirag United SC, Captain), Jeje Lalpekhulua (Indian Arrows), C.S. Sabeeth (Viva Kerala), Sushil Kumar Singh (East Bengal Club)

Officials
Chief Coach: Robert Douglas Houghton; Assistant Coach: Savio Medeira; Goalkeeping Coach: Marcos Anthony Pacheco; Physical Trainer: Suresh Babu Kavuluri; Doctor: Dr. Kiran Kumar Kulkarni; Physiotherapist: Gigy George; Masseur: Liyaqat Ali; Media Officer: Brij Mohan Mehta; Manager: Mandhar Tamhane

Players come out in support of Houghton

The players of the Indian national football team and support staff have send a signed letter to the All India Football Federation in support of Bob Houghton on the racism issue. The letter is said to have reached the federation office.

In the letter our internationals state that they where witness of the incidence involving their coach Bob Houghton and fourth official Dinesh Nair, where the foreign coach did not utter anything racist against the concerned match official. And they would be willing to stand witness to a jury or committee if needed.

The letter was signed by most players part of the Asian Cup preparatory camp with some unable to sign the document due to lack of time or coordination with assistant coach Savio Medeira and goalkeeping coach Marcus Pacheco also signing the letter.

This comes after the AIFF Executive Committee said that they would look at ways of getting rid of Bob Houghton and the old racism issue raised again. So far nothing has happened, for the moment Bob is still the India coach and he will travel with the team for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers.

Bob Houghton is back in India!

With the All India Football Federation looking at legal ways to get rid of national coach Bob Houghton, the Englishman returned to India from a break in South Africa to restart his work with the contract running until 2013 till now not terminated by the federation. Bob made a quite return to Goa without talking to the media to not throw more oil into the fire.

Interesting to note is that Bob was supposed to only return on Saturday, but came a few days earlier on Wednesday to start his preparations early on and off the field.

The next assignment for Bob Houghton and the Indian national team are the qualifiers for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. They will be held from March 21 to 25 in Kuala Lumpur with opponents being Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Chinese Taipei. And with Bob deciding to rest many senior players, a large group of 44 players have been called-up for the selection camp for which date and venue haven't been announced.

Bob is said to be considering of travelling with the Indian Under-23 team to Myanmar capital Yangoon for their Pre-Olympic return-leg qualifier to have a look at our youngsters ahead of his own training camp.

Bob Houghton: I am no racist

Still Indian national football coach Bob Houghton has made a statement and hit back at the AIFF that he is anything but a racist and reiterated that he would coach Team India in the upcoming AFC Challenge Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June.

The AIFF has at its Executive Committee meeting earlier this week decided to try and terminate the contract of its English coach and as they would have to pay heavy compensation for a contract running until 2013 they are looking at legal ways to get rid of Bob. The allegation of racism against fourth official Dinesh Nair in the India vs Yemen friendly last October does come in handy.

Bob Houghton in a statement said, "Further to reports in the media that I made a racist remark to a fourth official last year, I wish to categorically deny that allegation."

"Furthermore, remarks made by former team manager Pradeep Chowdhury, are the exact opposite of his comments made at a dinner directly after the match, wherein front of my staff he called the official in question (Dinesh Nair) 'a bad man' and insisted I had said no such thing. My staff are prepared to confirm Chowdhury's comments when and if required."

"I would also like to point out that I have worked in international football at the highest level for 30 years before my arrival in India in 2006, having worked in Africa, China, the United States, Uzbekistan, the Middle East and in many European countries and staffed coaching courses for the AFC throughout Asia without any such nonsensical allegations being made."

"I have no doubt that all the players and staff that I have worked with in India would confirm that I do not have a racist bone in my body and have treated all of them with the utmost respect. The only exception would be Pradeep Chowdhury, who walked out of his position as National Team manager just prior to the Asian Cup 2011 after an argument with me. I refer those who would wish to see a reflection of this man's standing among the Indian Team members to the FPAI (Football Players Association of India) website directly after his walkout."

Bob had also heavily criticised the AIFF, its functioning and the lack of infrastructure in Indian football repeatedly during the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. This has also not gone down too well with the Indian football authorities.

About these statements Bob added, "Regarding the other allegation regarding my criticism of the AIFF during the Asian Cup, my comments were limited only to facilities for football in India. They reflect exactly the comments made by Asian Football Confederation President Mohammed Bin Hamman on a visit to India during my time as head coach, when he described India as '100 years behind' other Asian countries."

Talk of dismissal, but Houghton for the moment India coach

There is confusion in Indian football circles about the future of Bob Houghton as India coach. While some sections of the media have already written that Houghton has been fired, some others say that the AIFF is looking at ways to get rid of him and others say that it is a way of telling the coach not to openly criticise the federation internationally.

The Technical Committee had in its report stated that it was not at all happy with the performance of the team in connection with the money spend on the squad for their 2011 AFC Asian Cup preparations. And that does surprise then what was then expected from the team at the Asian Cup? Getting points, moving on or maybe winning the title. One surely has to put into perspective where India currently is in Asian football and for that we did fine.

But the AIFF Executive Committee accepted the position of the Technical Committee and even went on to endorse them. An AIFF release said, "The Executive Committee expressed its concern over the performance of the National Team and also expressed its unhappiness regarding the conduct and derogatory remarks made by Mr Bob Houghton. The Executive committee has unanimously decided to seek legal opinion regarding its course of action."

So it isn't really clear what the federation can do as legal advice could tell them to keep Bob Houghton due to his contract until 2013 or compensate him, which could be in crores with over two years of the contract left.

What makes this decision tricky is that India play the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in less then four weeks in Kuala Lumpur against Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Chinese Taipei. And if Bob is fired the new coach, who he is, will get less then a week to prepare his team. A mission impossible.

It will be interesting to see how this all develops.

AIFF Executive decides

The AIFF Executive Committee met today at the AIFF Football House in Dwarka, New Delhi to discuss pending issues and the situation surrounding the future of national team coach Bob Houghton.


The future of Bob Houghton
The Executive Commitee went through the main points of the Technical Commitee report which heavily criticised Bob Houghton. Thereafter the Executive Committee expressed its concern over the performance of the National Team and also expressed its unhappiness regarding the conduct and the derogatory remarks made by Bob Houghton. The Executive committee has unanimously decided to seek legal opinion regarding its course of action.
This has been done as Bob Houghton's contract had been extended until 2013 only last year and if fired the AIFF would have to pay heavy compensation.

Santosh Trophy
The National Championship for Santosh Trophy 2010/11 will be held in April/May 2011 in the state of Assam. The boarding lodging allowance for players have been increased to from Rs 450 to Rs 700 per player. There will be a cash prize of Rs 500,000 (5 lakhs) and Rs 300,000 (3 lakhs) for the champions and Runners-up.
Holding it parallel to the I-League means that top players won't be playing the state tournament this time around.

Federation Cup
The prize money for the 2011 Federation Cup has been enhanced to Rs 1,5 Milion (15 lakhs) for the winners and Rs 1 Million (10 lakhs) for the Runners-up.

SAFF Championship
Defending champions India will be hosting the upcoming edition of the SAFF Cup, which will be held in December 2011 in Orissa. But the question here is if Orissa can and should play hosts to an international football tournament.

Nehru Cup
The bi-annual tournament will not be held this year and will be conducted as part of the AIFF Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2012.

SAFF Women's Championship
India won the first-ever edition of the SAFF Women's Championship held in Cox Bazar, Bangladesh late last year. All members of the Senior Women's Football team and support staff will be given a cash incentive of Rs 50,000. If I am right, a positive first in Indian football!

New AIFF Referees Committee
The new Referees committee has been constituted and the following are its members: Amit Dev (Chairman), K. Shankar, J. Ravi Shankar, Col (Retd) Gautam Kar, Anthony D'Costa, Gulab Chauhan, Pradeep Nag, Inayutalla Khan.

India Players: In Bob we trust!

Widely travelled English football coach Bob Houghton has been the chief coach of the Indian national football team since summer 2006 and India having played at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup is a huge success for a football nation which currently is in a developmental stage.

If you talk to the Indian players you will often get similar answers that Bob has been fundamental in the development of the team and it has improved considerably over the last three/four years. If Bob really wanted then most of his players would walk through fire for him, then the level of trust goes that far.

India captain Baichung Bhutia said, "We were at the Asian Cup after 27 years. That is prove enough what Bob Houghton has done for Indian football. He has instilled confidence in us to face tougher opposition with a positive frame of mind."

As a coach Bob Houghton isn’t someone who likes to experiment with his playing system nor with the squad. Since Bob's arrival India have been playing a simple 4-4-2 system. And the squad hasn't seen major fluctuation, rather small changes here and there or forced changes due to injuries.

The Asian Cup started for India with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Asia's number one ranked side Australia. There had been fears that India could be walloped by the Socceroos, but Bob's boys would hold their ground and avoid a heavy defeat. As Bob said afterwards, "we had prepared for this as good as we could."

In their second group match against Bahrain India gave it all against Bahrain, but in the end lost 2-5. The result sadly does not reflect the game as it was at times much closer and a draw could have been possible if the defence had not made so many easy mistakes, while in attack India played one of their best matches against such tough opposition.

In their final group game India were often outplayed by the skillful South Koreans, but only lost 4-1 in a match which for many India players was a dream come true when they faced Manchester United star Ji-Sung Park.

These overall heartening results show that Bon Houghton's persistence with certain players plus his system and tactics paid off. It was clear from the onset that India playing in this group wouldn't be fighting for top position, but to show to Asia that Indian football is there and we are hopefully here to stay.

In a chat before the tournament started Bob had told me that the reason of numerous injuries to players was simply the workload. The players and their bodies had to prepare for the Asian Cup physically likely never before in their career and this lead to numerous muscle injuries.

But the trust goes the other way too. Bob just loves his boys, whom he regards as a great set of lads! Especially with Baichung Bhutia he has a special relationship as Baichung resurrected his India career after Bob became India coach as earlier Baichung had planned to end his international career.

Bob Houghton last year renewed his contract until 2013 with the All India Football Federation until the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Bob himself wants to stay and rebuild the team as senior players like Baichung Bhutia, Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Mondal, Climax Lawrence and Renedy Singh all are getting older and new blood will have to come in.

Indian midfielder Renedy Singh said, "I hope Bob stays many more years India coach. Only then can we improve further."