Lets deliberate basis facts and not assumptions/without creating confusion. Clearly the kinda free hand Sanjoy was given this year, none of his predecessors had ever got during their reign. No point blaming the Bagan management(DD and team) for every debacle. If anything, I wud say Bagan management this year was more methodical/pragmatic in their approach with very less intervention regarding football matter - better than EB management (its not the benchmark though)
1. Who had brought Gustavo after Bello's exit ? Bagan Coach and certainly not the Bagan recruiters. 2. Aveska was brought in by DD and co., at the behest of Sony - and we all have seen the opportunity Aveska was given. If the bugger was not convinced with his performance why have him with the Team till almost the beginning of the I-League? Or is it that he doesn't even have the capability to select a player till the very last moment? 3. What made him choose Sabrosa - when this guy was not even playing (he hardly got any chance to play in ISL, nor did he play CFL); or did he mean a non tested 36 yrs old defender is more suited to play than someone (Aveska/Gustavo) whom he rejected after having kept them on trial for such a longer period. A coach should have the same yardstick while selecting a player and not keep personal bias in place. His selection of Sabrosa defied any logic (His only logic could be that since an untested Bello became a hit last year, so in the same way his whimsical decision to bring Sabrosa out of nowhere wud also work!). Sadly my friend, it doesn't work that way everytime - u can win a lottery once, but to expect it to win a everytime just doesn't work.
A defender simply CANNOT make the same mistake in every match, especially if u have a coach who is a bloody ex defender! This wudn't have happened in Subrata's tenure. And since the team kept on making the same mistake, it makes things very clear on his capability as coach. How come a Pritam Kotal went from one of the best right back to worse in his tenure? Why was Souvik Ghosh not even tested for even a match in the entire season, in place of Dhana - so that one cud have assessed the bench strength.
Sanjoy only fell back on his much vaunted bench strength, in case of an injury/suspension - this apart he did not have the balls to even try and change the playing eleven. This is only possible if u do not have confidence on ur team/individual and this therefore is a reflection of his preparation/homework.
This is precisely what he has done for the better part of the year. In the sports page of virtually every Kolkata newspaper, he made those arrogant comment - be it against the establishment/against club management , without concentrating on the job at hand. To build a side, it requires lot of planning and he was busy giving lip smacking bytes to the media! How many coaches u have seen boasting about his performance after he has won a major League? Normally its their performance who does the talking and not the individual. To be fair to him, the only blemish which the club officials deserve this year was that the resumption of practice before the start of I -League got delayed by 2 weeks b'cos of financial issue.
Even his preparation for AFC was restricted to YouTube videos! How come TJM did a better homework of opposition sitting in the same city as is Sanjoy when EB was playing AFC?
And most importantly he lost the plot after the AFC win against the foreign teams, with complacency creeping in to him.
If MB management were less intervening, this was not groundbreaking: this IS the norm everywhere. But far from it being a novel step: instead of giving full powers to the coach MB management put him on a tight leash in the form of a technical committee (now this is never heard in football circles worldwide -- call it broad-basing of cut-money if you will). So they controlled player recruitment from behind the curtain through the yes-men.
The knowledge of the TC (technical committee) on foreigners are limited on only those players who are playing or have played in India, no knowledge of players in leagues abroad. They gave Sanjay Dudu and Glenn to choose from (thankfully spared us from Odafa). Sen reluctantly picked Glenn (Dudu wouldn't have been a worse choice either). Luciano was also thrust upon him.
We are discussing selection of players. How a particular player manages to get into the first team is a different story. for that we need to attend training sessions. Who knows which player impresses the coach and who cannot. A player who is good during training matches may not turn out good in real matches also. We should leave these to the coach.
If there is a TC for player selection, the responsibility for it should go to them, whoever brings them into the scenario. They cannot evade the responsibility. Sen talks big, doesn't train hard, is not flexible enough, all these are somewhat true, but fingers should be pointed to TC for player selection.
1. Dudu was suggested by none other than Sanjoy. And after few matches he realised Dudu was not fit enough for the I-League!
2. Gustavo was brought by him solely and he had gone on record saying that he would be by far the best foreign defender to have played in India - only to contradict himself after few weeks!
Thats Sanjoy Sen for u... All knowing/ever contradicting/khadoosh so called coach - and as rightly said since he is not "flexible", he is not open to suggestion. Look at the involvement of the TC last year(and hence the result) and their presence this year - Sanjoy with sheer arrogance have shoved them aside.
Sanjoy rejected a 30 year old Honduran International for 36 year old Glen, just because he scored 16 goals last season, forgetting that he's not getting any younger. Also Luciano is a typical Sanjoy signing as he coached him earlier..I remember Sanjoy Sen saying during pre season that he has got lots of DVDs of players, and is in no hurry to sign anyone.. After all that he "Scouted" Luciano and Glen!
I have not said that the criticism is not constructive. My point was that some of the members seemed hell bent on proving that his opinion was the only valid one, and others were not aware of the ground realities.
As for clubs not having coaches and no road-map, MB have been in these positions a lot of times earlier. It is only during that the last two seasons that they have somewhat cleaned up their act.
I was reading an article in Anandabazar, Bengali daily, about Majid Baskar (According to most ex players, he was probably the best foreigner to have played in India with very deft skills)
When he first came to Mohun Bagan, he was recruited from, as far as I remember from the article, some university in Hyderabad. Mohun Bagan had a lot of talent searchers who used to be doing a lot of work in the past, picking up Indian anf foreign players from whatever resources they had
Now frankly for a lot many years, this poaching of new talents is no more in indian football, including either of the 3 big clubs of Kolkata. This is one of the many reasons, that we see such dearth of talents in India.
In the past, India did have an amateur structure, but frankly that structure was much better than our semi-professional one we see today. No talent hunts and nill academy structure. No matter our ranking in deteriorating at such an alarming pace.
I mean, back then I feel it was easier to simply pick out a guy from a university in Hyderabad but is it really that simple to this day? How many guys back then were even selected like that besides Baskar?
Signings from the local leagues still happen. The Maharashtra and North Eastern clubs do it all the time.
Comments
1. Who had brought Gustavo after Bello's exit ? Bagan Coach and certainly not the Bagan recruiters.
2. Aveska was brought in by DD and co., at the behest of Sony - and we all have seen the opportunity Aveska was given. If the bugger was not convinced with his performance why have him with the Team till almost the beginning of the I-League? Or is it that he doesn't even have the capability to select a player till the very last moment?
3. What made him choose Sabrosa - when this guy was not even playing (he hardly got any chance to play in ISL, nor did he play CFL); or did he mean a non tested 36 yrs old defender is more suited to play than someone (Aveska/Gustavo) whom he rejected after having kept them on trial for such a longer period. A coach should have the same yardstick while selecting a player and not keep personal bias in place. His selection of Sabrosa defied any logic (His only logic could be that since an untested Bello became a hit last year, so in the same way his whimsical decision to bring Sabrosa out of nowhere wud also work!). Sadly my friend, it doesn't work that way everytime - u can win a lottery once, but to expect it to win a everytime just doesn't work.
A defender simply CANNOT make the same mistake in every match, especially if u have a coach who is a bloody ex defender! This wudn't have happened in Subrata's tenure. And since the team kept on making the same mistake, it makes things very clear on his capability as coach. How come a Pritam Kotal went from one of the best right back to worse in his tenure? Why was Souvik Ghosh not even tested for even a match in the entire season, in place of Dhana - so that one cud have assessed the bench strength.
Sanjoy only fell back on his much vaunted bench strength, in case of an injury/suspension - this apart he did not have the balls to even try and change the playing eleven. This is only possible if u do not have confidence on ur team/individual and this therefore is a reflection of his preparation/homework.
This is precisely what he has done for the better part of the year. In the sports page of virtually every Kolkata newspaper, he made those arrogant comment - be it against the establishment/against club management , without concentrating on the job at hand. To build a side, it requires lot of planning and he was busy giving lip smacking bytes to the media! How many coaches u have seen boasting about his performance after he has won a major League? Normally its their performance who does the talking and not the individual. To be fair to him, the only blemish which the club officials deserve this year was that the resumption of practice before the start of I -League got delayed by 2 weeks b'cos of financial issue.
Even his preparation for AFC was restricted to YouTube videos! How come TJM did a better homework of opposition sitting in the same city as is Sanjoy when EB was playing AFC?
And most importantly he lost the plot after the AFC win against the foreign teams, with complacency creeping in to him.
The knowledge of the TC (technical committee) on foreigners are limited on only those players who are playing or have played in India, no knowledge of players in leagues abroad. They gave Sanjay Dudu and Glenn to choose from (thankfully spared us from Odafa). Sen reluctantly picked Glenn (Dudu wouldn't have been a worse choice either). Luciano was also thrust upon him.
We are discussing selection of players. How a particular player manages to get into the first team is a different story. for that we need to attend training sessions. Who knows which player impresses the coach and who cannot. A player who is good during training matches may not turn out good in real matches also. We should leave these to the coach.
If there is a TC for player selection, the responsibility for it should go to them, whoever brings them into the scenario. They cannot evade the responsibility. Sen talks big, doesn't train hard, is not flexible enough, all these are somewhat true, but fingers should be pointed to TC for player selection.
2. Gustavo was brought by him solely and he had gone on record saying that he would be by far the best foreign defender to have played in India - only to contradict himself after few weeks!
Thats Sanjoy Sen for u... All knowing/ever contradicting/khadoosh so called coach - and as rightly said since he is not "flexible", he is not open to suggestion. Look at the involvement of the TC last year(and hence the result) and their presence this year - Sanjoy with sheer arrogance have shoved them aside.
Anyway, enjoyed the debate here.
Of course, there are clubs whose road in front has ended, and don't have a coach, either. Or any roadmap. But better not discuss those ...
Also Luciano is a typical Sanjoy signing as he coached him earlier..I remember Sanjoy Sen saying during pre season that he has got lots of DVDs of players, and is in no hurry to sign anyone.. After all that he "Scouted" Luciano and Glen!
As for clubs not having coaches and no road-map, MB have been in these positions a lot of times earlier. It is only during that the last two seasons that they have somewhat cleaned up their act.
I was reading an article in Anandabazar, Bengali daily, about Majid Baskar (According to most ex players, he was probably the best foreigner to have played in India with very deft skills)
When he first came to Mohun Bagan, he was recruited from, as far as I remember from the article, some university in Hyderabad. Mohun Bagan had a lot of talent searchers who used to be doing a lot of work in the past, picking up Indian anf foreign players from whatever resources they had
Now frankly for a lot many years, this poaching of new talents is no more in indian football, including either of the 3 big clubs of Kolkata. This is one of the many reasons, that we see such dearth of talents in India.
In the past, India did have an amateur structure, but frankly that structure was much better than our semi-professional one we see today. No talent hunts and nill academy structure. No matter our ranking in deteriorating at such an alarming pace.
Signings from the local leagues still happen. The Maharashtra and North Eastern clubs do it all the time.