Bob Houghton insight - Part 3/3

Friday, 14. August 2009 - Arunava Chaudhuri

For over 35 years Bob Houghton has been coaching clubs and national teams across the globe. And since June 2006 he has been the coach of the Indian national football team.

Our Editor-in-Chief Arunava Chaudhuri caught up with him while in Barcelona for the training camp ahead of the Nehru Cup to speak about the first three years in office, his ambitions for the future and he was candid as always keeping Indian football's interest in mind.

Here's the third part of the Interview
To read the 1st part of the interview please visit following page:
http://www.indianfootball.com/en/news/articleId/1419

To read the 2nd part of the interview please visit following page:
http://www.indianfootball.com/en/news/articleId/1421


Arunava: We talked a lot about the critical things. Lets talk about some positives. If you look at the I-League which club or clubs are doing the best work in India from those you have seen.

Bob: If you are looking forward some of the newer clubs like Pune FC, maybe even Lajong FC. I have spoken to their people and they genuinely want to do it properly. They don't get involved in the job of their coach and their job is to get the structure right - training facilities, coaching, development programme, etc.

Also I think JCT have done it recently. And I think Salgaocar also are going about it the right way. There are a few clubs other clubs too who are in the same bracket. So that is a positive. But we need to get all the clubs to be so professional and that would be good for the game.
Because in the long run the only thing which will sustain a very successful national team is a strong I-League. It is true everywhere.

You can shortcut it like we are doing it now, but that is short-term.
Long-term that is the way to go and are working on it.

We have moved the I-League from 10 to 14 clubs in two years. That is a positive. we have stopped the Calcutta and Goa leagues, all local leagues, from playing the same players as in the I-League as that is not good. They now use the younger one's who don't play in the I-League, so the boys from the India Under-19 team or Tata Football Academy are going to get a game every week. We don't want the situation like three years ago that Under-19 internationals join I-League clubs and not play a game in the whole season. That is counter-productive.
So that is surely a positive and those are the two things we have moved forward.
So new clubs coming into the scheme of things is a healthy sign.


Arunava: How important is Colin Toal to your work as senior national team coach?

Bob: Very important. But he also has to do with a lot of problems when he came in. A major issue is getting the boys at the correct age like happened to our Under-16s. They selected a group of boys from the National Under-16 tournament and then they need to send 20 away as they don't pass the age test, then bring in another 20 and again half of them are overage. That is something we have to battle with, but that is now sorted out.

He does some real good work! The results have been really good. But he faces the same problem as the senior national team when you go to play tournaments, the physical aspect becomes a consideration.
They played 34/35 games last year, went to the finals for the Under-16s and lost 5-2 against South Korea in the first game. And it was the first time that the physicallity became an issue.
And this time around we are playing those boys against bigger opposition. We now play our juniors against I-League sides. We are working to rebalance that. So if you have outstanding players, you have to think about the development of the player and not about the particular result of the game or the achievements of the junior national teams. That is coaches making the wrong decisions for the wrong reasons.

Colin has done really well for us. He has a good group of coaches at the Under-19s and Under-16s, who have all developed enormously over time.
But that highlights another area where we have deficiances that is the production of coaches. I have said it to you before, if you don't have enough coaches out there you have a problem.
It isn't any different in football then in other spheres of education.
You need good schools and teachers to develop good students.


Arunava: But is there any short-term solution to this problem? We need quality coaches especially for the youth development so we produce players for the junior national teams and the I-League sides.

Bob: There isn't. You know after a year Colin produced a blue print which suggested that all the regions should have their own director of coaching. And that director of coaching should run courses to produce more and more coaches in their region. I think thats the way forward.

There are not many shortcuts in football. You and I discussed it yesterday that there could be a shortcut in keeping our national team boys together between now and the Asian Cup, and base them in Portugal or Spain. That would undoubtedly would give us a better chance to do well in the Asian Cup finals in January 2011.
Maybe that could have been a way because the success of the national team is crucial for football to grow in India - make it more popular in India, give it a better status and more reputation. Maybe there is an argument in doing that, but in the longrun that is not sustainable. I think you cannot have a great I-League if you are always taking the best 30 players out of it and keeping them in Portugal.
So I think don't there is a shortcut. You just have to grow and nurture the right group of players.


Arunava: Looking at the qualification for a senior World Cup looks unlikely in the coming 10 to 15 years, but do you think it our Junior boys might slip into the Under-17 or Under-20 World Cup if proper development work is done?

Bob: Yes I think so! They have a better chance for two reasons. One is that the physic factor isn't such an element at the Under-16 and Under-19 level and therefore we could compesate for it. Those boys are together for a long time, being well coached at good facilities.

Therefore they got good opportunities. But for the senior team to qualify for the World Cup it is a tough ask. There are only four countries that qualify from Asia, maybe a fifth one if you get through the playoffs. If you look at the big one's in Asia today - Japan, South Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, who have strangely enough not qualified this time around, North Korea have sneeked in. Look at Australia who could pick a team of English Premier League players. That is a very high standard today.


Arunava: Thanking for your time and talking to us!

Bob: You are more then welcome!


To read the 1st part of the interview please visit following page:
http://www.indianfootball.com/en/news/articleId/1419

To read the 2nd part of the interview please visit following page:
http://www.indianfootball.com/en/news/articleId/1421