The Hindu : Sport : Rajinder (jr.) named chief coach

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005

Sport

Sport

Rajinder (jr.) named chief coach

S. Thyagarajan

CHENNAI: The suspense is over, and the search is complete for the present. Putting an end to the month-long speculation over the issue of coaches for the national team, the Indian Hockey Federation last night named Rajinder Singh (jr.) as the chief coach with Narenderpal Singh as his assistant. Romeo James will be the coach for goal-keepers.

If eyebrows are raised over the nominations then the response should be read as spontaneous. Given the IHF's penchant for adhoc arrangements, the naming of coaches for the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament does not really end the search game. On the contrary, it mirrors a trace of despair, leaving scope to conclude that the IHF may opt again for a foreign coach for next year's World Cup.

Deadlock

The pragmatic approach to elevating Jagbir Singh keeping in view the continuity factor is said to have deadlocked. It is gathered that Jagbir was unwilling to give up the option of working also as a columnist. The IHF is right in rejecting this pre-condition. Coaches writing on team's performances in newspaper columns has a demoralising effect on players. The scope for the coach indicating his prejudices or preferences is enormous.

The former coach, Rajinder Singh, was a regular contributor to a leading newspaper while on assignment. His views caused considerable disquiet among the players.

In fact, his ghost writer in Delhi, a commentator and chronicler, was so shocked to note one particular player being hailed almost in every column that he took recourse to sending an e-mail to this writer, who was at the venue, to know whether the player in question was so outstanding to evoke uninhibited praise in every encounter!

Having exhausted a huge list of stalwarts available for one reason or the other, leaving several hurt and humiliated, the IHF is now in an unenviable state of spreading the net far and wide in search of coaches who can take up the job with confidence and with any sort of guarantee. It is a pity the federation now opts for debutants, who will be under tremendous pressure to show results.

More than anyone, the new coaches should be aware of the challenges ahead. It may be premature, or even presumptuous, to dismiss them as not good to handle a national squad. At least two, Rajinder Singh (jr) and Romeo James, are former Olympians. Both played in 1984 at Los Angles and earlier in the New Delhi Asiad.

Clinching factors

What probably won for this new team the approval of the IHF may be the domestic showing. Rajinder Singh (jr) piloted the Punjab and Sind Bank to victory in the National Championship for the Rangaswamy Cup, while Narenderpal Singh coached the Hyderabad Sultans to a trophy triumph in the inaugural PHL at Hyderabad. It is reported that Narenderpal's man management came in for high praise from the Spanish coach, Maruits Hendriks.

The coaches must bear in mind that India is entering the fray at Kuala Lumpur as the team that finished last among the seven last year. A blessing however is that a majority of the players this time will be a matured lot, having been on the circuit for three or four years. Seniors like Dilip Tirkey, Viren Resquinha and Deepak Thakur can help the coaches to establish a quick rapport that is a pre-requisite for success. With only a month left for the event, the coaches should work overtime to get a grasp of the whole situation and win the confidence of the players.

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