Chennai City flying under the radar in adopted home of Coimbatore
Saravanan, 42, has been in Coimbatore all his life. A cab driver since 2015, his vast knowledge of the city comes in handy while transporting patrons to and from various corners of the city.
Naturally, Saravanan was taken aback when he couldn't find the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in ATT Colony, Gopalapuram. Even after putting his topographical pride aside and resorting to Google maps, he still had trouble reaching the actual location.
"Football na inga dhaan, sir (If you're looking for a football ground, this must be it, sir)," he said with uncertainty, pointing to a small acre of land filled with a dozen school kids.
In Saravanan's defence, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium hasn't exactly been the most sought-after destination in all his years of chauffeuring. Coimbatore has never hosted a high-profile football tournament before, and there aren't many indications that it is hosting one now.
It was only fair Saravanan had no idea that he was still one street away from the home of Chennai City FC. He has never heard of the I-League, so has no reason to care that Chennai are currently leading the table, on course to a historic title win. Not one of his customers once spoke to him about head coach Akbar Nawas' philosophy, so he wouldn't be expected to know that Chennai have outscored all other teams in the league.
Saravanan isn't alone. Outside football circles, most of Coimbatore is still in the dark about the club it has been hosting since last year.
In fact, the closest you'd come to finding any reference of the sport in the city is teenagers discussing PSG. At least until you realise they're talking about the Arts and Science College, rather than the pace of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. "But that is to be expected," explains Guru Krishna, who runs the Chennai City fan club Southerners. "Obviously there is more knowledge and awareness of football in Chennai than in Coimbatore, so what we're trying to do is organically grow a fan base here.
"Every home game, about 30 of us go to the stadium with flags and banners, singing and chanting the players' names. It's all about supporting them however we can."
Guru does have a point.
Chennai isn't really starved of representation (or even success) in franchise sport. Chennaiyin FC, ISL champions in 2015 and 2018, fill up the football quota, while in cricket, Chennai Super Kings are current holders of the IPL crown. On Friday, Chennai Spartans carved their own place in the city's history by winning the inaugural Pro Volleyball League.
All three of those teams enjoy a fairly substantial following on social media, with their laurels covered by the media, and unabashedly celebrated by the fans.
The I-League, in stark contrast, functions at a surprising level of anonymity in Coimbatore. Press conferences are conducted in a small room without any microphones or cameras, with sometimes as few as three reporters present. To encourage more local coverage, journalists aren't even required to get accredited before a match.
There are practical difficulties, too. ESPN understands that the stadium lacks a proper sewage system, and still faces a challenge in getting a regular supply of water from the local corporations.
It is not all bad, though.
"When we were playing in Chennai, the attendance was not good due to the ISL, so the club had to find a new home," Guru says.
"We had to move to Coimbatore in the last minute, and the pitch initially wasn't great. We had to make multiple requests to revamp the stadium. Thankfully, Chennai City stepped in themselves and invested in various things, including new floodlights."
With the race for the title heating up and sensing the need for a more vociferous home crowd, Chennai on their part have decided not to charge fans for the vital game against Mohun Bagan.
Chennai coach Akbar Nawas says he wanted to elevate his players' understanding of the game this season. AIFF
"The crowd here has been fantastic," Nawas admits. "I don't have the actual numbers with me, but I was told that more people turn up for our matches here in Coimbatore than in Chennai, which is highly encouraging."
According to Guru, a large part of that is down to Nawas' attacking brand of football, as well as the emergence of local talents.
"The attendance here has been around 8000 on average. Yes, that's not the biggest number, but it shows that the interest is growing.
"So many casual fans, including school children, turn up regularly for matches. For them, it is about watching 90 minutes of action and seeing players show determination. That is the crowd puller here."
Of course, ultimately all of that could amount to nothing more than temporary respite, with the very future of the I-League itself currently under a cloud.
Even so, Guru believes every Chennai fan should hold their heads up high, come what may at the end of the season.
"Last season we were on the verge of relegation, so even finishing mid-table seemed like an achievement at the time.
"Akbar Nawas and the owner Rohit Ramesh deserve every bit of credit for this transformation. They scouted and recruited players from across various places such as the local league in Kanyakumari. Nobody else in Tamil Nadu could have thought of that.
"As fans, the one thing we cherish most is local talents being nourished. People often call India as the sleeping giant in world football. What they don't realise is that Tamil Nadu is the sleeping giant of Indian football."
Mr. Subrata Dutta, Senior Vice President, All India Football Federation’s chaired AIFF League Committee Meeting at Football House on Monday (February 25, 2019).
All other members except Mr. BK Roka, Mr. Lalnghinglova Hmar and Mr. Rochak Langer, attended the meeting. AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das, and I-League CEO Mr. Sunando Dhar were also present as ex-officio members.
The Committee gave a hearing to representatives from both Real Kashmir FC, and Minerva Punjab FC over MPFC not turning up in Srinagar on February 18, 2019 for their Hero I-League match against RKFC.
After due deliberation, the Committee keeping in view the Hero I-League regulations, decided to refer the matter to the AIFF Executive Committee for a decision.
Meanwhile, RKFC informed in writing that in view of the current uncertainty prevailing in Kashmir due to Article 35A, they want to play their forthcoming Hero I-League match against Quess East Bengal on February 28, 2019 in a neutral venue like New Delhi. Accordingly, the Committee decided to shift the match to Delhi.
RKFC in their letter also reiterated that this uncertainty was not prevalent in Srinagar for the period from February 16-19, 2019.
Meanwhile, the Hero Second Division League match (Lonestar Kashmir vs JSW Bengaluru FC Reserves) scheduled at Srinagar on 27th Febraury is postponed as well.
Furthermore, the qualifiers for the Hero Super Cup will be played in Bhubaneswar from March 15-16, 2019, while the final round of the tournament will be played from March 29 to April 13, 2019. The exact dates of the matches for the final round of the tournament will be announced once the schedule of the AFC Cup is finalised.
The final round of the Hero Indian Women’s League will be held in May 2019.
Barcelona, tiki-taka trigger India's own Spanish evolution
February 6, 2019, the clock reads 54:08. Bengaluru FC 0 - 2 Kerala Blasters.
Under pressure, BFC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, receives the ball. Sixteen seconds and seven passes later, Sunil Chhetri forces a smart save from Dheeraj Singh at the other end. In that time, the ball has rarely lost contact with the Kanteerava grass. The move will only be recorded as a shot on target in a match that ended 2-2. It may not even make a tightly packaged highlights reel.
Why, then, was that brief passage of football so important? Because the ball was always in Bengaluru's control. They could easily have punted it long and hoped to chase it down. But they chose not to, because they understood the advantages of not losing control.
That's where Spain comes in. You see, the move may have been played out in Bengaluru, but it had been born in Barcelona.
***
Over the years, Indian football has seen its fair share of foreign imports. West Asians and West Africans (particularly from Iran and Nigeria) have been stars across the Indian leagues since the 80s while there was an influx of Brazilians in the early 2000s during the days of the erstwhile National Football League.
In the recent past, though, Indian football has seen a wave of athletes coming in from a hitherto unfamiliar market - Western Europe. Especially Spain.
Since 2012, 74 Spaniards have plied their trade in India, 31 of whom are still active across the ISL and the I-league. Six of the 21 coaches in the I-league and the ISL currently are Spanish. Very few nations have had such a massive presence in the top tiers of the Indian game.
***
Carles Cuadrat, Bengaluru FC's head coach, spent a decade as a youth team player in 'La Masia', the famed cathedral of the Barca-Ajax ball-worshippers, and returned there as an assistant coach -- a job he did for a further decade before becoming a part of Frank Rijkaard's staff with the senior team for two years.
He took over this season from his former boss Albert Roca, a man with much the same credentials.
That move in the 55th minute of the Blasters game -- like the innumerable others we've seen all season from the ISL leaders -- wasn't an accident.
"In football, we try one very, very simple thing. Three-four short passes to attract the opposition to the ball, and taking advantage of the space that's created behind them," says Cuadrat. "Of course, that's not my invention. It's something very common in football.
"On the pitch you have to take decisions when your heart is going at 180 rpm, when there's a lot of passion - so it's not easy for the players, but I am really happy [they stuck to the plan]."
As well he might be. After all, it's for exactly implementing this style of football that Cuadrat -- and Roca before him -- were brought to Bengaluru.
***
In neighbouring Goa, another La Masia product, Sergio Lobera, was brought in by FC Goa to do much the same. To play possession football. To entertain. To believe in the youth. To aid in the Barcelona-fication of the club, as it were. And he's done that - and more.
Lobera believes he owes his success to the freedom that his board has give him to develop the "project". It's for this, he says, that he left Spain for opportunities elsewhere.
"First of all, before leaving Las Palmas, I beat the record of being the coach with most appearances for that club in the last 18 years, and that was only two seasons. That reflects the instability that exists in Spanish football with the coaches. I think in football these projects have to be rolled out by people who know this business," he says.
"I think in India, there is more respect for the coach's job. Before taking any decision, I flew here to Goa to meet the president, the board, the people I was going to work with. Everything I saw, I was delighted. I thought it was the perfect environment to develop my job," he says.
Cuadrat, a man with a more pragmatic outlook on life, and football, agrees - up to a point.
"When we started out, we went eight games without a win and had a lot of meetings with Mustafa [Ghouse, CEO] and Mandar [Tamhane, Technical Director]. They told us 'don't worry, we believe in you and what you want to do'," he says, before adding with a laugh, "I have heard a lot of stories about presidents in India, so I don't think it's so different [from Spain]. Some clubs yes, but others... In the ISL we are ten teams, and we've had two coaches sacked - that's international [standard]."
Both BFC and Goa, though, have stuck with their coaches, their projects, and appear willing to back them for the near future.
This is only one article...I have presented it in 4 parts because I could not post the whole thing in one post and I believe that the article in its entirety needs to be there on IFN. I could have just posted the title and the link (as some members suggested) but then some members might have missed the whole article...I have done this before too
Bhupender Singh who was a part of U17 world cup camp played his first match in Spanish U18 league (2nd division) for Olimpic Xativa(Owned by Sudeva FC)
Comments
Chennai City flying under the radar in adopted home of Coimbatore
Saravanan, 42, has been in Coimbatore all his life. A cab driver since 2015, his vast knowledge of the city comes in handy while transporting patrons to and from various corners of the city.
Naturally, Saravanan was taken aback when he couldn't find the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in ATT Colony, Gopalapuram. Even after putting his topographical pride aside and resorting to Google maps, he still had trouble reaching the actual location.
"Football na inga dhaan, sir (If you're looking for a football ground, this must be it, sir)," he said with uncertainty, pointing to a small acre of land filled with a dozen school kids.
In Saravanan's defence, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium hasn't exactly been the most sought-after destination in all his years of chauffeuring. Coimbatore has never hosted a high-profile football tournament before, and there aren't many indications that it is hosting one now.
It was only fair Saravanan had no idea that he was still one street away from the home of Chennai City FC. He has never heard of the I-League, so has no reason to care that Chennai are currently leading the table, on course to a historic title win. Not one of his customers once spoke to him about head coach Akbar Nawas' philosophy, so he wouldn't be expected to know that Chennai have outscored all other teams in the league.
Saravanan isn't alone. Outside football circles, most of Coimbatore is still in the dark about the club it has been hosting since last year.
In fact, the closest you'd come to finding any reference of the sport in the city is teenagers discussing PSG. At least until you realise they're talking about the Arts and Science College, rather than the pace of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. "But that is to be expected," explains Guru Krishna, who runs the Chennai City fan club Southerners. "Obviously there is more knowledge and awareness of football in Chennai than in Coimbatore, so what we're trying to do is organically grow a fan base here.
"Every home game, about 30 of us go to the stadium with flags and banners, singing and chanting the players' names. It's all about supporting them however we can."
Guru does have a point.
Chennai isn't really starved of representation (or even success) in franchise sport. Chennaiyin FC, ISL champions in 2015 and 2018, fill up the football quota, while in cricket, Chennai Super Kings are current holders of the IPL crown. On Friday, Chennai Spartans carved their own place in the city's history by winning the inaugural Pro Volleyball League.
All three of those teams enjoy a fairly substantial following on social media, with their laurels covered by the media, and unabashedly celebrated by the fans.
The I-League, in stark contrast, functions at a surprising level of anonymity in Coimbatore. Press conferences are conducted in a small room without any microphones or cameras, with sometimes as few as three reporters present. To encourage more local coverage, journalists aren't even required to get accredited before a match.
There are practical difficulties, too. ESPN understands that the stadium lacks a proper sewage system, and still faces a challenge in getting a regular supply of water from the local corporations.
It is not all bad, though.
"When we were playing in Chennai, the attendance was not good due to the ISL, so the club had to find a new home," Guru says.
"We had to move to Coimbatore in the last minute, and the pitch initially wasn't great. We had to make multiple requests to revamp the stadium. Thankfully, Chennai City stepped in themselves and invested in various things, including new floodlights."
With the race for the title heating up and sensing the need for a more vociferous home crowd, Chennai on their part have decided not to charge fans for the vital game against Mohun Bagan.
"The crowd here has been fantastic," Nawas admits. "I don't have the actual numbers with me, but I was told that more people turn up for our matches here in Coimbatore than in Chennai, which is highly encouraging."
According to Guru, a large part of that is down to Nawas' attacking brand of football, as well as the emergence of local talents.
"The attendance here has been around 8000 on average. Yes, that's not the biggest number, but it shows that the interest is growing.
"So many casual fans, including school children, turn up regularly for matches. For them, it is about watching 90 minutes of action and seeing players show determination. That is the crowd puller here."
Of course, ultimately all of that could amount to nothing more than temporary respite, with the very future of the I-League itself currently under a cloud.
Even so, Guru believes every Chennai fan should hold their heads up high, come what may at the end of the season.
"Last season we were on the verge of relegation, so even finishing mid-table seemed like an achievement at the time.
"Akbar Nawas and the owner Rohit Ramesh deserve every bit of credit for this transformation. They scouted and recruited players from across various places such as the local league in Kanyakumari. Nobody else in Tamil Nadu could have thought of that.
"As fans, the one thing we cherish most is local talents being nourished. People often call India as the sleeping giant in world football. What they don't realise is that Tamil Nadu is the sleeping giant of Indian football."
AIFF LEAGUE COMMITTEE MEETS AT FOOTBALL HOUSE
Mr. Subrata Dutta, Senior Vice President, All India Football Federation’s chaired AIFF League Committee Meeting at Football House on Monday (February 25, 2019).
All other members except Mr. BK Roka, Mr. Lalnghinglova Hmar and Mr. Rochak Langer, attended the meeting. AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das, and I-League CEO Mr. Sunando Dhar were also present as ex-officio members.
The Committee gave a hearing to representatives from both Real Kashmir FC, and Minerva Punjab FC over MPFC not turning up in Srinagar on February 18, 2019 for their Hero I-League match against RKFC.
After due deliberation, the Committee keeping in view the Hero I-League regulations, decided to refer the matter to the AIFF Executive Committee for a decision.
Meanwhile, RKFC informed in writing that in view of the current uncertainty prevailing in Kashmir due to Article 35A, they want to play their forthcoming Hero I-League match against Quess East Bengal on February 28, 2019 in a neutral venue like New Delhi. Accordingly, the Committee decided to shift the match to Delhi.
RKFC in their letter also reiterated that this uncertainty was not prevalent in Srinagar for the period from February 16-19, 2019.
Meanwhile, the Hero Second Division League match (Lonestar Kashmir vs JSW Bengaluru FC Reserves) scheduled at Srinagar on 27th Febraury is postponed as well.
Furthermore, the qualifiers for the Hero Super Cup will be played in Bhubaneswar from March 15-16, 2019, while the final round of the tournament will be played from March 29 to April 13, 2019. The exact dates of the matches for the final round of the tournament will be announced once the schedule of the AFC Cup is finalised.
The final round of the Hero Indian Women’s League will be held in May 2019.
https://the-aiff.com/news-center-details.htm?id=9481
Barcelona, tiki-taka trigger India's own Spanish evolution
February 6, 2019, the clock reads 54:08. Bengaluru FC 0 - 2 Kerala Blasters.
Under pressure, BFC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, receives the ball. Sixteen seconds and seven passes later, Sunil Chhetri forces a smart save from Dheeraj Singh at the other end. In that time, the ball has rarely lost contact with the Kanteerava grass. The move will only be recorded as a shot on target in a match that ended 2-2. It may not even make a tightly packaged highlights reel.
Why, then, was that brief passage of football so important? Because the ball was always in Bengaluru's control. They could easily have punted it long and hoped to chase it down. But they chose not to, because they understood the advantages of not losing control.
That's where Spain comes in. You see, the move may have been played out in Bengaluru, but it had been born in Barcelona.
***
Over the years, Indian football has seen its fair share of foreign imports. West Asians and West Africans (particularly from Iran and Nigeria) have been stars across the Indian leagues since the 80s while there was an influx of Brazilians in the early 2000s during the days of the erstwhile National Football League.
In the recent past, though, Indian football has seen a wave of athletes coming in from a hitherto unfamiliar market - Western Europe. Especially Spain.
Since 2012, 74 Spaniards have plied their trade in India, 31 of whom are still active across the ISL and the I-league. Six of the 21 coaches in the I-league and the ISL currently are Spanish. Very few nations have had such a massive presence in the top tiers of the Indian game.
***
Carles Cuadrat, Bengaluru FC's head coach, spent a decade as a youth team player in 'La Masia', the famed cathedral of the Barca-Ajax ball-worshippers, and returned there as an assistant coach -- a job he did for a further decade before becoming a part of Frank Rijkaard's staff with the senior team for two years.
He took over this season from his former boss Albert Roca, a man with much the same credentials.
That move in the 55th minute of the Blasters game -- like the innumerable others we've seen all season from the ISL leaders -- wasn't an accident.
"In football, we try one very, very simple thing. Three-four short passes to attract the opposition to the ball, and taking advantage of the space that's created behind them," says Cuadrat. "Of course, that's not my invention. It's something very common in football.
"On the pitch you have to take decisions when your heart is going at 180 rpm, when there's a lot of passion - so it's not easy for the players, but I am really happy [they stuck to the plan]."
As well he might be. After all, it's for exactly implementing this style of football that Cuadrat -- and Roca before him -- were brought to Bengaluru.
***
In neighbouring Goa, another La Masia product, Sergio Lobera, was brought in by FC Goa to do much the same. To play possession football. To entertain. To believe in the youth. To aid in the Barcelona-fication of the club, as it were. And he's done that - and more.
Lobera believes he owes his success to the freedom that his board has give him to develop the "project". It's for this, he says, that he left Spain for opportunities elsewhere.
"First of all, before leaving Las Palmas, I beat the record of being the coach with most appearances for that club in the last 18 years, and that was only two seasons. That reflects the instability that exists in Spanish football with the coaches. I think in football these projects have to be rolled out by people who know this business," he says.
"I think in India, there is more respect for the coach's job. Before taking any decision, I flew here to Goa to meet the president, the board, the people I was going to work with. Everything I saw, I was delighted. I thought it was the perfect environment to develop my job," he says.
Cuadrat, a man with a more pragmatic outlook on life, and football, agrees - up to a point.
"When we started out, we went eight games without a win and had a lot of meetings with Mustafa [Ghouse, CEO] and Mandar [Tamhane, Technical Director]. They told us 'don't worry, we believe in you and what you want to do'," he says, before adding with a laugh, "I have heard a lot of stories about presidents in India, so I don't think it's so different [from Spain]. Some clubs yes, but others... In the ISL we are ten teams, and we've had two coaches sacked - that's international [standard]."
Both BFC and Goa, though, have stuck with their coaches, their projects, and appear willing to back them for the near future.
They believe.
But in what exactly?
***
http://www.espn.in/football/club/india/4385/blog/post/3780640/barcelonatiki-taka-trigger-indias-own-spanish-revolution
Do you even know the meaning of "spam"?
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/spam
BTW, I believe posting unverified conspiracy theories about rigging in I-League is as bad as spamming...cheers!
Thought he wrote them thrice sorry you can post agains