whats the problem in having the number of foriegners increased? that will ensure indian players also come up the curve quicker. average indian fan doesnt care of quotas. he cares for value for money. sure he will need home grown players to emotionally connect but by and large u need quality on the pitch. Isl has proved that with increased quality and competition and better coaching u can have the indian players punch above their wieight and thats what u need. not automatic places just bcos u have a strict quoto to ensure.
@DX you are right. Indian consumer demands value for money. This ISL has clearly shown the level of Indian footballers go up when they train and play alongside good foreign recruits.
@DX, exactly. And if indian fans see a good quality product and understands that by playing football you can make money, parents will be more interested in training their children in football. Its benefit all around.
You guys are focusing WAY TO MUCH on the product. Look at Bengaluru FC... only 4 foreigners on the pitch and they still draw around the same as FC Pune City with a marquee like David. Now, sure, there are a lot of factors that come into it but you get the point.
The ISL is a product but we also need to focus on the development of Indian football. We are not ready to go full Premier League and focus 100% on product... we need to focus on the development of Indian football as well and the key to that is having a strict quota.
Yes it is important to develop youth but then good playing youth players and their parents need to see football as a source of income, only then will they allow their children to pursue a career in football. For this reason we need to have good quality foreign players to come to play which in turn will attract supporters and fans. Seeing spectators and fans , Corporate's will be more than eager to spend money for sponsorship/advertisement.
@ArsenalFan700: Why are you comparing FC Pune city to Bengaluru FC. These are two exactly different cities. Compare them to Pune Fc who find it difficult to sell even 100 tickets for their home games. Almost 90% of their crowd is on free passes, students from schools, colleges. And Bangalore was deprived of top action for a very long time. Bengaluru FC en cashed on that and luckily they got fruitful results. The question is, Can they manage a bigger crowd in excess of 15K?? I don't think so.
What ISL has done is that they have made average product look very good on TV, courtesy the production from Star Sports. And it ain't that bad an experience in stadiums. This I can confirm for sure. Its about getting people out of their homes into stadiums. To experience something new.People now are talking about our very own Indian players. A sense of belonging which was previously absent is now there. People are talking about Boros', Francos'. Subrata pal that day reported that his popularity has increased. He went to a mall that day and lots of people said " You play for Ranbir's team?? Right??" I know that its sad he is not being recognized for footballing reasons. But, if we can latch onto the support from bollywood and make our players famous. that's not wrong IMO. That called equity benefit. A win-win situation. People need to feel proud of their teams. And I think they are going on the right track.
If the product is not there, if we have same standards as I-League, we can never attract people. People have top quality action right on their TV screens. Flip the channel and watch something decent. Why would someone want to waste precious 90 minutes of their lives watching bullshit..
Comments
average indian fan doesnt care of quotas. he cares for value for money.
sure he will need home grown players to emotionally connect but by and large u need quality on the pitch.
Isl has proved that with increased quality and competition and better coaching u can have the indian players punch above their wieight and thats what u need.
not automatic places just bcos u have a strict quoto to ensure.
In i-league imdians should mass to Odafa lolie or Aunty or Chaddi everytime or else they will slap u as Odafa did to Ram Malik
ISL i see lots diffrence in Indian players they combine with foriegners well
U rarely get to see Indian Center Forwards start in i-league but in ISL 5 out of 8 teams start with Indian center forward
Indians try to score and i saw Anelka some times to set up Subash singh in an unselfish way
I see alot of improvement in Indian players like @arcaderoar sAId
I hope ISL become a long full time league
What ISL has done is that they have made average product look very good on TV, courtesy the production from Star Sports. And it ain't that bad an experience in stadiums. This I can confirm for sure. Its about getting people out of their homes into stadiums. To experience something new.People now are talking about our very own Indian players. A sense of belonging which was previously absent is now there. People are talking about Boros', Francos'. Subrata pal that day reported that his popularity has increased. He went to a mall that day and lots of people said " You play for Ranbir's team?? Right??" I know that its sad he is not being recognized for footballing reasons. But, if we can latch onto the support from bollywood and make our players famous. that's not wrong IMO. That called equity benefit. A win-win situation. People need to feel proud of their teams. And I think they are going on the right track.
If the product is not there, if we have same standards as I-League, we can never attract people. People have top quality action right on their TV screens. Flip the channel and watch something decent. Why would someone want to waste precious 90 minutes of their lives watching bullshit..