I am sorry but I am sensing more bad times for PLS now.
Good luck getting a TV audience for PLS in the Americas (North and South America). Also how many people in the eastern euro and asian areas know about the league.
Even in America we have all the Major League Soccer games at 7 o'clock PM which is the best time to broadcast any game yet TV audience is average at best. How well do you think PLS will do in America when Americans have to stay up at 2 am for a match in India being played by past prime stars. Sure some will watch at the beginning but eventually they will see how bad the quality is and they will leave. Indian Football, even with "stars" is not read for International Broadcasting. Its such a financial waste.
PLS team names are very, very poor: Uro Musketeers is not acceptable, Howrah Manchester SC is downright ridiculous, Siliguri Rhinos (hinted by ABP) is queer. None of the team names reflect the dynamism, power or the glamour befitting a top-notch club. Even ICL team names were much better. Why don’t they look into MLS or A League for inspiration? Or still better, call for naming competitions?
PLS team names are very, very poor: Uro Musketeers is not acceptable, Howrah Manchester SC is downright ridiculous, Siliguri Rhinos (hinted by ABP) is queer. None of the team names reflect the dynamism, power or the glamour befitting a top-notch club. Even ICL team names were much better. Why don’t they look into MLS or A League for inspiration? Or still better, call for naming competitions?
That is embarrassing,were the owners born and bought up in Manchester ??? Or did they hire Old Trafford for their home games <!-- s:violence-smack: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/violence/smack.gif" alt=":violence-smack:" title="Smack" /><!-- s:violence-smack: -->
PLS team names are very, very poor: Uro Musketeers is not acceptable, Howrah Manchester SC is downright ridiculous, Siliguri Rhinos (hinted by ABP) is queer. None of the team names reflect the dynamism, power or the glamour befitting a top-notch club. Even ICL team names were much better. Why don’t they look into MLS or A League for inspiration? Or still better, call for naming competitions?
That is embarrassing,were the owners born and bought up in Manchester ??? Or did they hire Old Trafford for their home games <!-- s:violence-smack: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/violence/smack.gif" alt=":violence-smack:" title="Smack" /><!-- s:violence-smack: -->
None … the owners are half-literate: that’s the reason.
It’s peculiar that no mainstream corporate groups came forward to buy clubs, unlike IPL. No JVs were formed (OK, let’s say they were confident that they could muster enough money by themselves), no celebrities were attached to any of the groups.
Uro (Barasat) was a chit fund operator, Tulip (Dgp) and Syncsys (Hwh) are small time IT companies, Camelia (Kol) were small time hotel/ education group, and nobody knows what Ajay (Sil) does.
Now Uro, Syncsys and Ajay are showing their colours.
PLS team names are very, very poor: Uro Musketeers is not acceptable, Howrah Manchester SC is downright ridiculous, Siliguri Rhinos (hinted by ABP) is queer. None of the team names reflect the dynamism, power or the glamour befitting a top-notch club. Even ICL team names were much better. Why don’t they look into MLS or A League for inspiration? Or still better, call for naming competitions?
That is embarrassing,were the owners born and bought up in Manchester ??? Or did they hire Old Trafford for their home games <!-- s:violence-smack: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/violence/smack.gif" alt=":violence-smack:" title="Smack" /><!-- s:violence-smack: -->
I was eagerly waiting for PLS auction and now am waiting for its inaugural. I must admit here that I had huge expectation from it. Though signs of the PLS aren't as great I expected it to be, but there are a bunch of positives and as well as negatives (to be frank a large number of negatives).
POSITIVES:
1) Indian Corporates are interested in football and ready to splash cash : PLS auction threw some lights about Indian corporates and their monetary powers. The amount of money spent in Indian football is unprecedented. The highest amount paid for a footballer till now (recently enough in 2011) was around 1.5 crore INR (Odafe Onyeka Okolie - MB). But PLS has broken all those records. Nobody expected to pay around 1 crore for coaches in Indian football. Given, this is a local region league, I must say this would be a huge boost to Indian football. If successful (note : if successful), this could open the gates for other corporates to invest in football. <!-- s:dance: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/dance.gif" alt=":dance:" title="Dance" /><!-- s:dance: -->
2) Media attention towards Indian football : Frankly speaking, Indian football lacked media attention, even when National Team is playing. I - league case is even pathetic. Thanks to PLS, not only Indian media, but foreign media is closely following Indian football. Thanks to PLS, I - league is also getting some indirect attention. <!-- s:clap: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/clap.gif" alt=":clap:" title="Clap" /><!-- s:clap: -->
3) Exposure of local and unknown talent : I always felt that India has huge talent, but lack of good scout and scouting system has ensured this talent does not reach to its true potential. Not with some internationally experienced coaches and their support staff, I hope some good talent will definitely come up and are better handled by foreign coaches. Even playing along international players would help them tremendously. <!-- s:pray: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/pray.gif" alt=":pray:" title="Pray" /><!-- s:pray: -->
4) Competition to I-league and AIFF - IMG partnership : PLS has thrown an open challenge to I - league organizers. I - league, being India's premier football league, was never able to step up to highest level. Now presence of direct competitor will definitely make the i-league clubs to thinks about their marketing plans, thus helping Indian football in long run. <!-- s:pray: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/pray.gif" alt=":pray:" title="Pray" /><!-- s:pray: -->
5) Possible Improvement of infrastructure : Everybody knows India lacks proper infrastructure. Through PLS, Infrastructure (atleast in Bengal) would be improved and will definitely help in long run. <!-- s:pray: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/pray.gif" alt=":pray:" title="Pray" /><!-- s:pray: -->
NEGATIVES:
1) Quality of corporates participating : The quality of corporates has been the biggest disappointment. I have serious doubt about the longevity of these owners for 10 years. Most of these corporates yearly turnovers aren't so great given their previous exposures. They are surely backing on PLS for their business, not the other way round. Also, having seen most of EPL clubs and theirs debts, I seriously doubt about them to stick around 10 years. <!-- s:angry-screaming: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/angry/screaming.gif" alt=":angry-screaming:" title="Screaming" /><!-- s:angry-screaming: -->
2) Quality of players : Because of AIFF restriction of I - league players joining PLS, I am bit skeptical about the quality of players playing in the league. Football is a team game, a bunch of players can't increase the quality of the league. <!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/handgestures/fingerscrossed.gif" alt=":handgestures-fingerscrossed:" title="Fingers Crossed" /><!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: -->
3) Duration of league : Since, the duration of the league is only 2 - 3 months, there is a serious doubt about the growth and development players selected in the rooster. <!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/handgestures/fingerscrossed.gif" alt=":handgestures-fingerscrossed:" title="Fingers Crossed" /><!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: -->
4) Contained to one state : This is the biggest hindrance to the growth of PLS. Though in initial stages, PLS needs to expand to become successful. <!-- s:confusion-scratchheadyellow: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/confusion/scratchheadyellow.gif" alt=":confusion-scratchheadyellow:" title="Yellow Scratching Head" /><!-- s:confusion-scratchheadyellow: -->
5) Possibility of BCCI - ICL drama in Indian football : One of my biggest concern is the possibility of AIFF - PLS tussle and thus spanning ICL - BCCI drama in Indian football. Though there are a lot differences in both the scenarios, but if this occurs then the biggest losers would be to Indian players playing in PLS. <!-- s:confusion-shrug: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/confusion/shrug.gif" alt=":confusion-shrug:" title="Shrug" /><!-- s:confusion-shrug: -->
6) Quality of Indian match officials : Though there is no word about the the match officials, but I sincerely pray that some foreign referees and match officials are invited (more of a tip to PLS). Indian referees are pathetic to be said. Hence a low quality of I - league matches. Given, the exposure of PLS to world, high profile match officials are mandatory. <!-- s:confusion-shrug: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/confusion/shrug.gif" alt=":confusion-shrug:" title="Shrug" /><!-- s:confusion-shrug: -->
7) Rocky start to the league : Very less number of corporates came forward and as a result Haldia remained unsold. This had sent a wrong message to the world about the league. <!-- s:handgestures-thumbdown: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/handgestures/thumbdown.gif" alt=":handgestures-thumbdown:" title="Thumb Down" /><!-- s:handgestures-thumbdown: -->
Though I tried to consolidate the negatives and positives, I would like others to join and point other key features about the league which I might have overlooked.
Nicely put reddevil. I am guessing you will be supporting the Manchester Team in PLS lol.
Positives:
1) West Bengal has its own real state league: Did you really count the Kolkata Football League as the state league of West Bengal. Not even close.
2) Like Reddev said we have interest from corporates and these ones are good enough for state leagues. If there guys were owners of I-League (National) teams then they would fail because I-League is more expensive than PLS to run a team.
3) Better facilities and players which Bengal needed of course this mixes with a negative which I will mention
Negatives:
1) Team Names: WTF! Manchester? URO? What is this. A state franchise version of I-League/Euro Football Lovers. What does Manchester have to do with West Bengal. NO WAIT. The owner probably supports Manchester (most likely Manchester United) BUT still you should name the team either FC, AC, United, Rovers, Real etc or have a nickname but have it correspond with they cities history
2) Foreigners: Already 5 foreigners to a team and most of them attackers! This is going to be like I-League in which a foreigner is leading the race in goals, but now also in assists, saves etc. Also most of the foreigners havnt played in years.
3) Managers: MOST OF THE MANAGERS HAVE NO EXPERIENCE! THEY EITHER HAVE ONE YEAR OR NONE! They were good players but who knows about there coaching.
4) Attention in the media: While it is good for PLS to have the media as its bitch I dont think it has helped Indian Football the way it can. For instance the league was reported in America on notable soccer sites like soccerbyeves, New York Times blog, insideminnesotasoccer etc. and what the said was appalling...
India has finally got its own league
I mean, do some fucking research! We have a league and it will better than I-League will. PLS is stuck in West Bengal, may expand a little but for us, everyone here, do some research of IMG. They are damn good when it comes to sports. They know what they are doing and sure they are being slow but trust me. In the long run this will pay off.
In 10 years those contracts will end and I-League will be 18 teams scattered across India while PLS is struggling to find new owners after 9 years ago when they lost all the icon players.
Hey arsenal fan, though I am Manchester United Fan, I wont support Manchester team at all. The name is pathetic.
1) Rightly said, Team names are pathetic!!! Manchester?? How can you relate Manchester to PLS? (If the owners was from Manchester United or City, it would have made some sense).
2) I agree there has been some bad reviews about Indian football. But any form of media exposure is good enough as of now. Atleast football fraternity is taking note of Indian football. I feel time is around the corner, when Indian football gets some positive recognition to outside world.
3) IMG is a very good sports management group. And we Indians needs to be patient with what IMG is trying to do. They are still understanding Indian football and I am sure next year there would be drastic changes that will be visible. But with CMG coming into picture, there is a direct competition between both of them. CMG has taken the first step, now waiting for IMG reply.
4)In your negatives 4 point
I mean, do some fucking research! We have a league and it will better than I-League will.
I guess you meant to say I - league will be better than PLS.
5) I totally support the point that most of the foreigners are attackers. PLS needs to take a note of it.
Comments
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I am sorry but I am sensing more bad times for PLS now.
Good luck getting a TV audience for PLS in the Americas (North and South America). Also how many people in the eastern euro and asian areas know about the league.
Even in America we have all the Major League Soccer games at 7 o'clock PM which is the best time to broadcast any game yet TV audience is average at best. How well do you think PLS will do in America when Americans have to stay up at 2 am for a match in India being played by past prime stars. Sure some will watch at the beginning but eventually they will see how bad the quality is and they will leave. Indian Football, even with "stars" is not read for International Broadcasting. Its such a financial waste.
That is embarrassing,were the owners born and bought up in Manchester ??? Or did they hire Old Trafford for their home games <!-- s:violence-smack: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/violence/smack.gif" alt=":violence-smack:" title="Smack" /><!-- s:violence-smack: -->
It’s peculiar that no mainstream corporate groups came forward to buy clubs, unlike IPL. No JVs were formed (OK, let’s say they were confident that they could muster enough money by themselves), no celebrities were attached to any of the groups.
Uro (Barasat) was a chit fund operator, Tulip (Dgp) and Syncsys (Hwh) are small time IT companies, Camelia (Kol) were small time hotel/ education group, and nobody knows what Ajay (Sil) does.
Now Uro, Syncsys and Ajay are showing their colours.
RIDICULOUS!
POSITIVES:
1) Indian Corporates are interested in football and ready to splash cash : PLS auction threw some lights about Indian corporates and their monetary powers. The amount of money spent in Indian football is unprecedented. The highest amount paid for a footballer till now (recently enough in 2011) was around 1.5 crore INR (Odafe Onyeka Okolie - MB). But PLS has broken all those records. Nobody expected to pay around 1 crore for coaches in Indian football. Given, this is a local region league, I must say this would be a huge boost to Indian football. If successful (note : if successful), this could open the gates for other corporates to invest in football. <!-- s:dance: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/dance.gif" alt=":dance:" title="Dance" /><!-- s:dance: -->
2) Media attention towards Indian football : Frankly speaking, Indian football lacked media attention, even when National Team is playing. I - league case is even pathetic. Thanks to PLS, not only Indian media, but foreign media is closely following Indian football. Thanks to PLS, I - league is also getting some indirect attention. <!-- s:clap: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/clap.gif" alt=":clap:" title="Clap" /><!-- s:clap: -->
3) Exposure of local and unknown talent : I always felt that India has huge talent, but lack of good scout and scouting system has ensured this talent does not reach to its true potential. Not with some internationally experienced coaches and their support staff, I hope some good talent will definitely come up and are better handled by foreign coaches. Even playing along international players would help them tremendously. <!-- s:pray: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/pray.gif" alt=":pray:" title="Pray" /><!-- s:pray: -->
4) Competition to I-league and AIFF - IMG partnership : PLS has thrown an open challenge to I - league organizers. I - league, being India's premier football league, was never able to step up to highest level. Now presence of direct competitor will definitely make the i-league clubs to thinks about their marketing plans, thus helping Indian football in long run. <!-- s:pray: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/pray.gif" alt=":pray:" title="Pray" /><!-- s:pray: -->
5) Possible Improvement of infrastructure : Everybody knows India lacks proper infrastructure. Through PLS, Infrastructure (atleast in Bengal) would be improved and will definitely help in long run. <!-- s:pray: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/eusa/pray.gif" alt=":pray:" title="Pray" /><!-- s:pray: -->
NEGATIVES:
1) Quality of corporates participating : The quality of corporates has been the biggest disappointment. I have serious doubt about the longevity of these owners for 10 years. Most of these corporates yearly turnovers aren't so great given their previous exposures. They are surely backing on PLS for their business, not the other way round. Also, having seen most of EPL clubs and theirs debts, I seriously doubt about them to stick around 10 years. <!-- s:angry-screaming: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/angry/screaming.gif" alt=":angry-screaming:" title="Screaming" /><!-- s:angry-screaming: -->
2) Quality of players : Because of AIFF restriction of I - league players joining PLS, I am bit skeptical about the quality of players playing in the league. Football is a team game, a bunch of players can't increase the quality of the league. <!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/handgestures/fingerscrossed.gif" alt=":handgestures-fingerscrossed:" title="Fingers Crossed" /><!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: -->
3) Duration of league : Since, the duration of the league is only 2 - 3 months, there is a serious doubt about the growth and development players selected in the rooster. <!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/handgestures/fingerscrossed.gif" alt=":handgestures-fingerscrossed:" title="Fingers Crossed" /><!-- s:handgestures-fingerscrossed: -->
4) Contained to one state : This is the biggest hindrance to the growth of PLS. Though in initial stages, PLS needs to expand to become successful. <!-- s:confusion-scratchheadyellow: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/confusion/scratchheadyellow.gif" alt=":confusion-scratchheadyellow:" title="Yellow Scratching Head" /><!-- s:confusion-scratchheadyellow: -->
5) Possibility of BCCI - ICL drama in Indian football : One of my biggest concern is the possibility of AIFF - PLS tussle and thus spanning ICL - BCCI drama in Indian football. Though there are a lot differences in both the scenarios, but if this occurs then the biggest losers would be to Indian players playing in PLS. <!-- s:confusion-shrug: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/confusion/shrug.gif" alt=":confusion-shrug:" title="Shrug" /><!-- s:confusion-shrug: -->
6) Quality of Indian match officials : Though there is no word about the the match officials, but I sincerely pray that some foreign referees and match officials are invited (more of a tip to PLS). Indian referees are pathetic to be said. Hence a low quality of I - league matches. Given, the exposure of PLS to world, high profile match officials are mandatory. <!-- s:confusion-shrug: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/confusion/shrug.gif" alt=":confusion-shrug:" title="Shrug" /><!-- s:confusion-shrug: -->
7) Rocky start to the league : Very less number of corporates came forward and as a result Haldia remained unsold. This had sent a wrong message to the world about the league. <!-- s:handgestures-thumbdown: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/handgestures/thumbdown.gif" alt=":handgestures-thumbdown:" title="Thumb Down" /><!-- s:handgestures-thumbdown: -->
Though I tried to consolidate the negatives and positives, I would like others to join and point other key features about the league which I might have overlooked.
Positives:
1) West Bengal has its own real state league: Did you really count the Kolkata Football League as the state league of West Bengal. Not even close.
2) Like Reddev said we have interest from corporates and these ones are good enough for state leagues. If there guys were owners of I-League (National) teams then they would fail because I-League is more expensive than PLS to run a team.
3) Better facilities and players which Bengal needed of course this mixes with a negative which I will mention
Negatives:
1) Team Names: WTF! Manchester? URO? What is this. A state franchise version of I-League/Euro Football Lovers. What does Manchester have to do with West Bengal. NO WAIT. The owner probably supports Manchester (most likely Manchester United) BUT still you should name the team either FC, AC, United, Rovers, Real etc or have a nickname but have it correspond with they cities history
2) Foreigners: Already 5 foreigners to a team and most of them attackers! This is going to be like I-League in which a foreigner is leading the race in goals, but now also in assists, saves etc. Also most of the foreigners havnt played in years.
3) Managers: MOST OF THE MANAGERS HAVE NO EXPERIENCE! THEY EITHER HAVE ONE YEAR OR NONE! They were good players but who knows about there coaching.
4) Attention in the media: While it is good for PLS to have the media as its bitch I dont think it has helped Indian Football the way it can. For instance the league was reported in America on notable soccer sites like soccerbyeves, New York Times blog, insideminnesotasoccer etc. and what the said was appalling...
I mean, do some fucking research! We have a league and it will better than I-League will. PLS is stuck in West Bengal, may expand a little but for us, everyone here, do some research of IMG. They are damn good when it comes to sports. They know what they are doing and sure they are being slow but trust me. In the long run this will pay off.
In 10 years those contracts will end and I-League will be 18 teams scattered across India while PLS is struggling to find new owners after 9 years ago when they lost all the icon players.
1) Rightly said, Team names are pathetic!!! Manchester?? How can you relate Manchester to PLS? (If the owners was from Manchester United or City, it would have made some sense).
2) I agree there has been some bad reviews about Indian football. But any form of media exposure is good enough as of now. Atleast football fraternity is taking note of Indian football. I feel time is around the corner, when Indian football gets some positive recognition to outside world.
3) IMG is a very good sports management group. And we Indians needs to be patient with what IMG is trying to do. They are still understanding Indian football and I am sure next year there would be drastic changes that will be visible. But with CMG coming into picture, there is a direct competition between both of them. CMG has taken the first step, now waiting for IMG reply.
4)In your negatives 4 point I guess you meant to say I - league will be better than PLS.
5) I totally support the point that most of the foreigners are attackers. PLS needs to take a note of it.