Subhas-Subrata to be named as Technical Managers

Friday, 26. June 2009 - Pit Ruddy

To survive the AFC dictum of appointing only 'A' licenced coaches for the I-league teams in order to get Professional League Status the clubs are trying to workout a solution.

But the problem is dearth of such licensed coaches in India. Speaking on the matter Subhas Bhowmick has indicated about a partisan attitude by the AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco, "You will find a lot of people getting the chance of doing 'A' licence from Goa but hardly any names are referred from Bengal." Former Indian captain Debjit Ghosh has applied to do a 'C' licence for a long time but his name has still not been approved. What does such behaviour indicate?

"It has been accused that the aspirants from Bengal are weak in English and so fail to clear the theoretical examinations!" But Subhas is not willing to buy such an excuse, "I have worked in Goa and if necessary can name atleast two coaches who can hardly speak proper English! Yet they are 'A' licence holders! Why accuse the people from Bengal in this manner?"

East Bengal have Sujit Chakrabarty (former ONGC coach) and Birbal Singh (he coached Manipur in the recent Santosh Trophy) in mind and will zero in on one once Subhas is back from Malaysia, where he has gone to watch a PIO (Player of Indian Origin) in action. Both East Bengal Club and Chirag United SC will name Subhas Bhowmick and Subrata Bhattacharjee as their Technical Managers respectively. Chirag has sent in their Brazilian Physio Garcia's papers to find out whether his qualifications match the 'A' licence criteria. If that happens then Garcia will be appointed as coach, Subrata as technical manager. The latter is not bothered by the AFC development, rather he goes on to add, " AFC should have given a timeframe instead of straightaway putting the motion in to action. In that case we could have had some time to prepare. But I don't know what is the justification of such a move? I can name atleast eight world famous coaches who don't have any degree, yet their success is really enviable."

Indian captain Baichung Bhutia has also sided with the likes of Subhas and Subrata. Before leaving for Dubai the superstar said, "It's a welcome move by the AFC. Aspiring coaches should prepare themselves in a proper manner. But as for now to implement such a move would mean putting a stumbling block in front of some of the fine coaches."

Bouyed by the AFC dictum the IFA (West Bengal) is taking it very seriously. They had sent the Bengal team to the Santosh Trophy this year under Raghu Nandi who has no licence. But from next year they don't want to repeat the same.