Well so called "professional" approach didn't save Pune FC, Mahindra United, Delhi Dynamoes, FC Pune City. Don't underestimate our clubs, we will continue and grow, Quess or not!
Yep but @EastBengalPride ; will never be professional. Will remain substandard on the other side. Taking a jibe at other club isnt gonna do anything. They need change from with in.
@Soccerlover: I am absolutely not contesting your point that a culture change is necessary at the Maidan and that professionalism is the need of the hour or, as you say, that process doesn't happen in a day. Nor do I want to belittle the positive impact that Quess and Alejandro have brought in the club in this short time. What I lament is Isaac's statement that "Quess Corp is a multi-million dollar company and we have a host of other things to do other than talking about East Bengal". As I said, it is an insult to the fans on whose insistence Quess came to be be associated with EB in the first place. These supporters, disgusted with the way things were at the club, had insisted on professionalism and corporate culture and had forced the jokers and thugs running the club to form the association with Quess. They had (except a few) stood by the coach when his "experiments" did not work out in certain matches in the CFL. So one can say that the officials were not interested in "process" but the supporters certainly were. Hadn't Isaac told that he was interested in forging the bond with EB because of its massive fan base?
@giridharan: You may or may not agree with @EastBengalPride but I think there's a need for introspection regarding why some of the professional/corporate clubs of India (and clubs like Mahindra and Pune FC were really doing a good job) have shut down. IMO there needs to be a right mix of passion and professionalism (and several other factors) needed to run a football club. At the moment, there is only one club in India who seems to have the right balance--Bengaluru FC.
How many BFC actually has outside Bangalore? EB can play home matches at Kalyani (80kms) and Siliguri (500kms) away from Kolkata and still get more people in grounds. Will they still be able to remain functional if they don't win silverware for say 5 years? We have seen how these corporate clubs go, it's too early to celebrate BFC as a sustainable model. If India enters recession, will JSW still pump in 30 crores a year on a CSR venture?
I am not saying East Bengal was run the ideal way before Quess. The biggest problem is the entire Indian football eco system, the mess created by FSDL and AIFF. They replaced a non viable structure by an even more non viable structure. The result is there to see for everyone, clubs closing down across the board and our NT players play 20 matches a year earning in crores.
What East Bengal has is fortunate, the fan base which has grown consistently and now makes their presence felt globally. In uncertain times, you don't go for wholesale changes, you put up walls, protect yourself and punch out whenever you can. As I said, Quess is not a professional sports management organisation, that's what we need as investors. People who understand how to run and grow a football club.
Just a perspective - dig deep and find out whether the fan base for both Bagan & EB has been going up...
Not sure it has, and that should be a cause of concern for lot of us from our generation who have grown up watching Bagan-EB in India(expecting the all knowing officials to take note of that is foolish!); And that is a reflection of present times - that whatever steps are being taken by Kolkata clubs, it is not making sense any more to the growing football population in India - more so when top European football is available on your TV room & u follow the growth stories of these clubs in this era of social media. This is precisely the reason, BFC has more relevance to the new age football population in India than Bagan-EB.
Majority of today's millennials who follows/have interest in football and have grown with the internet, may not be even aware of the history of Bagan-EB(not even in Kolkata) & that is where the change is needed to draw the attention of these guys - which in marketing lingo could be termed as "relaunch" of a brand which has had a brilliant past but isn't very relevant to the present audience and hence a complete overhauling is required which starts from having professional people/administrators at the helm, have right process,setup, promote grass root level football, market it, make the brand Bagan-EB synonymous with the present generation - which the current promoters of both these clubs are simply incapable of.
@EastBengalPride I feel you brother. I see you have been incredibly salty over the last few months, and understandably too. But Kalyani and SiliGuri are still in West Bengal so the example isn't really apt. Your passion for the club is clearly visible but you anger is misdirected. The club supporters need to grill the administration, not the guys who came wiyh money to save it's ass. I come from the east too and am very aware of this "shob janta" attitude. All big clubs fall and rise, that's when your true character shows.
EB gets crowd in SLG and Kalyani because in bengal the fans are divided among big two along sub ethnic lines. This I have said repeatedly. The whole WB supports either EB or MB as there are just two sub ethnic groups, bangal and ghoti. You can't be anything else. This is unsustainable as hell for modern football. You can never have a 3rd team from WB no matter how much money you pump in. Except of course MDS as there are muslims. You are talking about Kalyani being 500 km afar from kolkata, travel that 500 km westwards. I'll see how much crowd EB MB will have. Within WB at any city EB MB will get crowd.
True. MB-EB duopoly is the cause of popularity of football in Bengal, and also cause of stagnation at the same time.
The Big Two office-bearers happily indulged into petty politics since ages and criminally neglected developing fanbases and infrastructure. Because they knew they have a natural supply of fans, and as long as fans continue to come in, they don't need infrastructure or promotion. Even if the fans get extremely pissed off with a club, they won't support a third club. So chances of club culture getting spread in the districts or having a pan Bengal league is zero.
Would BFC get 5000 in Uttara Kannada? EB and MB are Kolkata clubs and have the support of the entire state. Also we need a better EB MB, we don't need a third club in Bengal, MSC and ATK are irrelevant.
Comments
@giridharan: You may or may not agree with @EastBengalPride but I think there's a need for introspection regarding why some of the professional/corporate clubs of India (and clubs like Mahindra and Pune FC were really doing a good job) have shut down. IMO there needs to be a right mix of passion and professionalism (and several other factors) needed to run a football club. At the moment, there is only one club in India who seems to have the right balance--Bengaluru FC.
I am not saying East Bengal was run the ideal way before Quess. The biggest problem is the entire Indian football eco system, the mess created by FSDL and AIFF. They replaced a non viable structure by an even more non viable structure. The result is there to see for everyone, clubs closing down across the board and our NT players play 20 matches a year earning in crores.
What East Bengal has is fortunate, the fan base which has grown consistently and now makes their presence felt globally. In uncertain times, you don't go for wholesale changes, you put up walls, protect yourself and punch out whenever you can. As I said, Quess is not a professional sports management organisation, that's what we need as investors. People who understand how to run and grow a football club.
Not sure it has, and that should be a cause of concern for lot of us from our generation who have grown up watching Bagan-EB in India(expecting the all knowing officials to take note of that is foolish!); And that is a reflection of present times - that whatever steps are being taken by Kolkata clubs, it is not making sense any more to the growing football population in India - more so when top European football is available on your TV room & u follow the growth stories of these clubs in this era of social media. This is precisely the reason, BFC has more relevance to the new age football population in India than Bagan-EB.
Majority of today's millennials who follows/have interest in football and have grown with the internet, may not be even aware of the history of Bagan-EB(not even in Kolkata) & that is where the change is needed to draw the attention of these guys - which in marketing lingo could be termed as "relaunch" of a brand which has had a brilliant past but isn't very relevant to the present audience and hence a complete overhauling is required which starts from having professional people/administrators at the helm, have right process,setup, promote grass root level football, market it, make the brand Bagan-EB synonymous with the present generation - which the current promoters of both these clubs are simply incapable of.