The job of the fans is to help their team win but even in defeat they should continue to support their team. In India, we dont have this character - we get overjoyed when the team wins, we abuse them when they lose. Scoeity should laugh at these fair weather fans.
Another point, we need sponsors for lower level games - like college games. Those are the ones who can do with facilities. Money will come anyway to the national players. This is another thing we can learn from the west.
The world of field hockey is deeply saddened by the slow and painful death of Indian Hockey. I am lost for words for my disgust with the IHF officials, coaches, and players. They all share the blame for where Indian Hockey stands today. Shameful!!!
Something was not right for this team right from beginning -
1. The top drag-flicker of the team Sandeep Singh was not selected. He just was the top scorer in the premier league and the dutch tournament. Neither were Halappa and Deepak Thakur. Why? 2. Rajpal Singh almost quit the tour? what happened? 3. Why was Rick Charlesworth not used to help the team? Why r we not using his expertise? 4. Why was the best forward of the team Prabhjot sitting on the bench and Raghunath, a defender was playing as a forward? Brilliant strategy by the coach??? 5. Why was injured Diwakar Ram not replaced by Sandeep Singh? Here was another opportunity to get Sandeep but poor judgement again.
So where do we go now:
1. Fire KPS Gill and Jootikumaran straightaway! 2. Bring in Rick Charlesworth aa coach with full powers. 3. Groom hockey among the 10-14 year olds now so that we have a good selections of upcoming players in 5-6 years time.
My head today salutes the all time greats such as Dhyanchand, Balbir singh Snr, Babu, Ajitpal Singh, Surjit Singh, Ashok Kumar, Govinda, Pargat Singh, and Dhanraj Pillai. Alas, we could not keep it up for too long ...
We play rubbish hockey nowadays. ach year other countries progress and we go backwards. That's the reason we are not going to the Olympics. Forget 80 years of history etc.. Some of the quotes in this article make me laugh. Gagan Ajit is angling for a recall. How can Kanwalpreet and a good player be mentioned in the same sentence. The guy is awful.Sandeep's outfield play is horrible.There is no future at the highest level for Indian hockey any more.Our players are second rate and our coaches have zero tactics. What would qualifying for the Olympics have achieved? 6 more months for Carvalho, 1-2 month long camps and meaningless foreign trips for the team (playing provincial Australian sides!!) and then 6 defeats and maybe a draw in the actual competition. Now we will be spared the ebarrassment. The furore will die down in a short while and we will then prepare for the next disastrous competition with renewed hope because their will another idiotic coach in charge who will claim to have rectified the few 'grey areas' of this team!! Nothing will change in the way we play the game. Some former players will advocate reverting to the old style of play with 5 forwards etc...All of this is nonsense.
