Indian Football Transfer News 2017-18, Rumours, Gossips, Signings

deepakc

We have a zico clone in bfc...that is why sporting directors are needed at clubs...

Ashkaul5

Doutie to men of steel 

debarghya89

Mumbai City sign Marcio Rosario

sparta

Indian Super League outfit Jamshedpur FC have announced the signing of South African winger Sameehg Doutie for the upcoming season. 

DX

Coppell, Tiri, Dougtie. They are building a decent team.

Naujawan

There's nothing wrong with signing Spanish players with a Spanish backroom, easier to deal with players with similar foundations and experience in familiar systems. Arsenal keeps signing french players.  How good a player is he? That's a separate debate.

karenesudhakar2050

NOT ISL, NOT I-LEAGUE: NAGEN TAMANG'S

BHUTAN STINT A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?

A diminutive striker, who has played in the I-League before,

has taken a route that many may like to follow in the future.

An Indian striker scored the winner in his team's 4-3 victory

in a top division foreign league on Sunday afternoon, helping

the outfit retain the second place in the points table.

Even Indian football aficionados may struggle to get the

context readily, but the fact remains that Nagen Tamang, an

out-of-favour Indian striker who had played for a couple of I-

League sides in the recent past is taking the Bhutan

National League by storm. The Darjeeling boy scored the

winner for his team Transport United last weekend as the

team remained tied on the top of the table in terms of points

with the league reaching its halfway mark.

In footballing sense, this is no major achievement. Ever

since their inclusion in the FIFA Ranking, Bhutan

had remained stuck at the bottom, before two victories

against Sri Lanka pulled them higher a couple of years

back. Describing the country's club football scene as

nascent can be counted as an exaggeration by many, with

only six teams competing in the premier football league.

Against such a back-drop, Tamang has shown prudence to

take up an assignment in the Kingdom and has become an

instant hit. In the first five matches of the campaign, he has

scored once and made five assists, playing a role in 50

percent of his side's 12 goals so far. He has been a regular

face in the Indian football circuit for the last half-decade,

having represented Royal Wahingdoh in their breakaway

season, other than playing for the likes of Mohammedan

Sporting, Rangdajied United and Southern Samity.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has provided more

exposure to the footballers from the continent, coming up

with regulations on Asian foreigners in the club squads. The

I-League clubs, for example, now need to sign at least two

Asians to fill their quota of six foreigners.

While these rules have resulted in a number of mediocre

footballers from the continent making their way into the top-

flight Indian league, the local footballers have not been able

to reap the same dividends. One major reason behind that is

the high pay cheques even second-rung professionals

receive here, while footballers from war-ravaged Middle-

East countries made up a significant chunk of the Asian

foreigners in many leagues.

However, as India try to claw back to the top 10 of the

continent, Indian footballers who do not find a spot in the

ISL or the I-League will increasingly find it beneficial to hear

offers from other Asian countries, where they can become

match-winners and create their own set of followers - like

the way Ryuji Sueoka had done in India. While it's difficult to

name many current players who can turn out to be match-

winners overseas, the success of Tamang shows the

standard is pretty low.

Also, it may make monetary sense as well. Top Indian

players moving abroad have always had to take a pay-cut,

with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu being the most recent example.

In the lower tier, however the economics may pan out the

opposite way, as Tamang mentions.

"I am getting a six-digit salary per month, which is quite

good if you consider remunerations of other players here.

Also it's better than what most footballers earn in second

division I-League," he told Goal on Sunday. It's also

significantly higher than the price tags of many youngsters

in the recent ISL draft.

While the small leap of faith taken by him has the ability to

become a new trendsetter in Indian football, Tamang is

eyeing continental championship for his team. "If we win the

league, we will play the AFC Cup play-offs. We are level on

points, so I think we can do it," he said.

Except for Bhaichung Bhutia's short stints at Perak and

Selangor in Malaysia a decade back, Indian footballers have

never enjoyed first team football consistently in the Asian

countries and whether that demand rises or not in the next

few years, will help us assessing how well-founded are the

claims of India becoming a power to reckon with in Asian

football. 

deepakc

I agree with Rohan/IMG's view...a "state" league held in 1 city with no age group state league to give playtime to kids is a much better model than a 4-5 month league spread over 5-6 towns and with almost allteams fielding teams in u12/u14/u18 state leagues.
I am surprised you didn't say Kerala premier league (the sort of 20 day shams IMG wants as substitutes to proper state leagues)

munna219777

Guys Please stick to the topic of Transfer News here.

ArsenalFan700

@deepakc Do you really believe that the MPL is a sham league when the league champions won the league with majority players from the MPL?