IndianFootball.Com Interview: BOB HOUGHTON

Our Dubai-based correspondent Jerry Joy had yet another chance to speak to national coach Bob Houghton during Team India's camp in Dubai and after last year's interview, Jerry eagerly lapped it up after one of the training sessions at the Al Ahli club in Dubai.

First of all Bob, congrats on the Nehru Cup Victory and it has been a real moral booster for Indian Football!

Thank You and yes I must say, it was a real morale booster for Indian football and it has been my best result after taking over the Indian team.

Bob, you were appointed as the Indian coach in May 2006. What is the main difference between the Indian team which you took over last year and the Indian team of today?

Undoubtedly it has to be the confidence factor between the team of today and last year. Ever since we were here last year before the Doha Asian Games we have a played about 15 games and we have lost about two which itself is a quite good result. Also another factor has been the number of games which the team has played which helps in improving our rankings.

What is your opinion on the domestic schedule and do you feel that the national team in the long run tends to be harmed due to the domestic calendar with recently Dempo SC refusing to release the players for the camp before coming over to Dubai due to domestic commitments?

The question is do we maintain the traditional tournaments like the Santosh Trophy, Presidents Cup , Durand Cup, Federation Cup along with the NFL. If we maintain it the tradition part is kept alive but it becomes virtually impossible for the national team to develop. The top nations in the game have the best players playing against the best in the country week in week out and they play for one club. Here there are too many leagues and tournaments happening, which helps in maintaining tradition but then you do not tend to meet high quality opposition week in and week out which helps in improving the standard of football in India. We could do with a better domestic calendar and more number of quality games rather than the number of games.

Last year when you took over you had mentioned about having a look at PIOs to play for India. Are you still looking at that option?

With the amount of naturalized players playing in Middle Eastern countries increasing AFC has become stricter on the criteria and also there is some sort of embargo on the same now and therefore I am not planning on that option at least for the time being.

Last year you had mentioned about one of your priorities being youth football development by appointing a technical director and trying to attract more sponsorship for the game. Kindly update us on that.

Like I mentioned last year we have got a technical director Colin Joseph Toal on board who has been spending time with the Under-15 and Under-18 Teams, and these players will kept under the radar even beyond the Asian qualifiers and their development will be looked after as these are the future. As for the corporate sponsorship with clubs like Mumbai FC coming up based on corporate sponsorship the game is on the way forward in India.

Coming back to the Indian team, the team after the injury of Deepak Mondal seems to have only one out and out central defender in Mahesh Gawli while you tend to play Gouramangi Singh a midfielder by trade in that position. But you do have cover in that position in NP Pradeep and NS Manju who play for their clubs at the central defence position. Any reasons for the same or is that you are looking for multi utility players?

As you rightly pointed out we do have cover out there and we can have Pradeep or Manju play there in case of any injury. But I prefer to have Gouramangi and Mahesh Gawli as my central defenders as of now with Manju lining up at left wing back and Pradeep in the midfield. But with Mehraj din Wadoo playing well I am keeping my options open about midfield and defence.

Two players who have seemed to fall out from your radar are Shanmugam Venkatesh and Muttath Suresh, proven performers on the domestic front. Any reasons for the same?

Are you from Calcutta? No offence but I never ever comment on individual players but only about the team as a whole.

Expectations about the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers?

Frankly speaking I do not think anyone except for AFC knew before three months that the format would be changed and it has caught out the teams by surprise. We have also had to change our plans as we had our plans in line with the earlier dates of February 2008 and the qualifiers being played in groups. But in the new system you have the teams playing 2 rounds of home and away games and then only do the group stages start with 5 groups of 4 teams. Since the seeding was done in such a way with top seeds playing the bottom seeds if we win the first match against Lebanon theoretically the second game should be easier for us. Also by the end of knockout stages you have 23 countries going out and therefore in a sense it is an interesting idea and gives teams like ours a chance provided we get over the first knockout game. It is always said the next game is the most important game but in our case it becomes doubly important so as to sustain the tempo gained from the Nehru Cup victory. So let's hope for the best.

Any update on the injured players during the game against Al Nasr on Monday?

Abhishek Yadav and Sandip Nandy will have flown back. Abhishek has been advised three weeks rest for precautionary reasons, while Mahesh and Climax are fine.

Bob thank you for your time and all the best for the qualifiers!

Thank you and I hope I am able to take a lead back home from Lebanon!

the interview was conducted by Jerry Joy (October 2007)

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