Moving away from Cricket, last year Michael Nobbs' was removed from being head coach of the Indian hockey team- and the clamour for a 'desi' coach grew as former players advocated the need of an Indian coach who would understand the 'Indian mindset'. Dutch player Roelant Oltmans, the high-performance director of the Indian team, prescribed English-learning classes for Indian players, right from the grassroots level. Now we have Terry Walsh at the helm, the West Australian says he wants to see India back among the top six nations of the world. A top-eight finish at the World Cup would be a realistic way of assessing India’s hockey status but is Walsh’s optimism of a better finish is infectious ? In Walsh’s opinion, India would do well to “imbibe” some of the Australian way. “Australia has taken some of the best things from the Indian game and utilised it most effectively in the modern era. It is quick and furious and forever playing with pressure. He advocates that for India to take advantage of the interchange rule, they should make use of the physiology. You look at the second league (‘A’ division) of the Indian national hockey championship where you see probably four or five interchanges in the game. “There are 70 if you are watching Australia or Germany playing. Seventy in a match!” he exclaimed emphasising the astonishing difference. The game, Walsh insists, is much faster with stress on power.
“My favourite memory of hockey is India playing Pakistan, five vs. five. It doesn’t exist in today’s hockey.” Now here, he is advocating coaching system to become more professional….. Coaching is not just about technical issues. It is also about concepts of play. If the player is making mistakes, it is not his fault; it is the coach’s fault. “The player is trying his best. You have to analyze what best you can do in the traditional way.” ~ sounds great, but we have seen many ‘over paid non-performers’ especially foreigners (in Cricket and in other Sports too)
Here is something more on a different playing ground …. David Moyes traumatic reign in charge of Manchester United took a chilling turn for the worse after an aeroplane flew over Old Trafford carrying a banner that the manager should be sacked. Disgruntled suppporters paid in excess of £800 for a plane to fly over Old Trafford in the opening moments of clash with Aston Villa carrying the message ‘Wrong One — Moyes Out’ in red lettering. A second plane hovered over the stadium moments after, with bookmakers Paddy Power grabbing their slice of the publicity with a banner offering odds for the return of Sir Alex Ferguson to the managerial hot seat.
David William Moyes is a Scottish football manager and former player. He has been the manager of Manchester United since July 2013. Moyes made over 540 league appearances as a centre-half in a playing career that began with Celtic, where he won a championship medal. Following Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement as Manchester United manager after 26 years in the position, Moyes was appointed his successor. He began his post as Manchester United manager in July 2013, on a six-year contract.
The one remaining English man of the T20 finals was not a player – but a coach - Sri Lanka’s head coach Paul Farbrace, who was second-in-charge during the attack on the team bus in Lahore and was re-hired from Yorkshire on the recommendations of senior players last year; he had reasons to celebrate ate Sri Lanka pipped India to become the Champions
With regards – S. Sampathkumar.
9th April 2014.