yup...very much...just got tied down with the world cup and then work...but i am there...and am gonna make a honest effort to keep this blog alive
so in the words of Ali G - BOO YAH
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Everton FC: Innovative Toffees look to crack lucrative Indian market
Everton FC have struck a lucrative mobile phone deal in India as the club looks to meet the needs of an emerging fan base across Asia.
Sports marketing specialists Total Sports Asia helped the English Premier League side to secure a mobile content deal with Indiatimes, as the Toffees look to crack the potentially lucrative Indian market.
The new contract with Indiatimes has been agreed via TSA, Everton's licensed mobile content provider in Asia. Indian Blues will now be able to download, via web and WAP sites, Everton ringtones, wallpapers and videos of their favourite players straight to their mobile devices.
Everton is the first Premier League football club to partner with Indiatimes, which is the most popular internet and mobile service in India. However, the Toffees are not the first English club to eye the Indian market - Manchester United last year opened a restaurant in the country, while Tottenham Hotspur sponsored the Indian team at the Homeless World Cup in Milan.
Meanwhile, Everton's popularity across Asia continues to grow thanks to the Toffees' strong links with main partner Chang, who are based in Thailand. "The Everton fanbase is going from strength to strength across Asia and it is vital we reach as many fans as possible using a range of media platforms," said Mark Rowan, head of media and communications at Everton. "Mobile media is just one extension of the services we provide to communicate with our supporters across the world."
Julian Jackson, senior vice president of media at Total Sports Asia, added: "We are very pleased to conclude this deal in India and for Everton, as it gives them the chance to reach out to the millions of English Premier League Fans, that many other clubs have not had yet. Everton's professionalism has once again impressed us and is what made the deal possible."
TSA is licensed to distribute official Everton mobile content throughout Asia with the exception of China.
Source: http://www.leadersinfootball.com/business/707/
Sports marketing specialists Total Sports Asia helped the English Premier League side to secure a mobile content deal with Indiatimes, as the Toffees look to crack the potentially lucrative Indian market.
The new contract with Indiatimes has been agreed via TSA, Everton's licensed mobile content provider in Asia. Indian Blues will now be able to download, via web and WAP sites, Everton ringtones, wallpapers and videos of their favourite players straight to their mobile devices.
Everton is the first Premier League football club to partner with Indiatimes, which is the most popular internet and mobile service in India. However, the Toffees are not the first English club to eye the Indian market - Manchester United last year opened a restaurant in the country, while Tottenham Hotspur sponsored the Indian team at the Homeless World Cup in Milan.
Meanwhile, Everton's popularity across Asia continues to grow thanks to the Toffees' strong links with main partner Chang, who are based in Thailand. "The Everton fanbase is going from strength to strength across Asia and it is vital we reach as many fans as possible using a range of media platforms," said Mark Rowan, head of media and communications at Everton. "Mobile media is just one extension of the services we provide to communicate with our supporters across the world."
Julian Jackson, senior vice president of media at Total Sports Asia, added: "We are very pleased to conclude this deal in India and for Everton, as it gives them the chance to reach out to the millions of English Premier League Fans, that many other clubs have not had yet. Everton's professionalism has once again impressed us and is what made the deal possible."
TSA is licensed to distribute official Everton mobile content throughout Asia with the exception of China.
Source: http://www.leadersinfootball.com/business/707/
Lionel Messi , Wayne Rooney : If they can so can you
Stayed awake to watch both legs of the Arsenal-Barca tie.It was heart breaking to see Wenger's young guns booted out of the the Champs league but on the other hand it was heartening to see Messi's performance.It gave me hope that there can be billions of IPL matches and Lalit Modi may reckon that IPL will be bigger than the EPL and football soon but, as long as the likes of Messi,Rooney,Ronaldo etc. have something to say about it football will always hold sway.You know that a performance is special when even the opposing team fans applaud and praise you.Right from Wenger , to the players to fans like me there is a general feeling in the Arsenal world that there was no shame in those losses and we lost to an exceptional team with an exceptional player.
On the other hand this Wednesday Rooney delighted the neutral with his mad dog perfromance against Bayern in the CL QF.it was obvious that he was playing in pain but the drive and hunger for being on the field was there for all to say.Rooney is an absolute delight to watch and i find him to be a very selfless player.
The structure of both these players makes for interesting reading that seems to tell kids around the world that "if we can so can you"
Rogan Taylor on Leaders in Football makes a very intersting point.
Genius in football very rarely occurs in players with the 'ideal body' for the modern game. If you're looking for tall strapping athletes in that supreme class of men who jostle for the 'greatest ever' mantle, you won't find any. What you will find is quite a few little fat guys, and skinny ones too; from Puskas to Pele, Cruyf to Maradona and, well, maybe Messi too.
This is an Argentinean boy with a growth hormone deficiency who arrived at Barca, aged 13yrs, where they picked up the bill for his treatment. Then there's Wayne Rooney, for whom the opposite was true: no problem with growth (or any other) hormones as a youngster. In fact, he looked a man before he was a teenager, but he looked (as many of the family of 'battling Rooneys' do) like a boxer, not a football player. He looks like the opposite; a muscled, squat, middleweight, almost square in shape. They say Liverpool FC turned him down as a kid on the basis of his body.
But Rooney is on the verge of greatness too; certainly the only English player in the running; a complete 'natural'. I was there at Goodison Park at his debut, and before he had sprinted five yards onto the pitch from the tunnel, he appeared more of a pro than many around him with years of top football under their belts. These days, his touch, pace, vision, shooting and passing are almost invariably superb. Almost impossibly, it seems, even aerial power is at his command, despite looking like a machine that could never fly.
It is this physical democracy that gives football its great charm - everyone has a chance, not just to play but to dream of being eventually in that special chamber where the greatest of all are gathered. Almost any kid in the world can look in the mirror at an unprepossessing body and think: I can make it - Messi and Rooney did.
It may be that the complete unlikelihood of ever being able to properly control a ball with the distant lumps on the end of your legs is the very aspect of the game which allows the most unlikely looking physical types to succeed at the very highest level. The fact so many millions of the rest of us around the world play the game willingly every week is a testament to human optimism.
In the end, football is like Peter Crouch - the miracle is that we can play it at all.
On the other hand this Wednesday Rooney delighted the neutral with his mad dog perfromance against Bayern in the CL QF.it was obvious that he was playing in pain but the drive and hunger for being on the field was there for all to say.Rooney is an absolute delight to watch and i find him to be a very selfless player.
The structure of both these players makes for interesting reading that seems to tell kids around the world that "if we can so can you"
Rogan Taylor on Leaders in Football makes a very intersting point.
Genius in football very rarely occurs in players with the 'ideal body' for the modern game. If you're looking for tall strapping athletes in that supreme class of men who jostle for the 'greatest ever' mantle, you won't find any. What you will find is quite a few little fat guys, and skinny ones too; from Puskas to Pele, Cruyf to Maradona and, well, maybe Messi too.
This is an Argentinean boy with a growth hormone deficiency who arrived at Barca, aged 13yrs, where they picked up the bill for his treatment. Then there's Wayne Rooney, for whom the opposite was true: no problem with growth (or any other) hormones as a youngster. In fact, he looked a man before he was a teenager, but he looked (as many of the family of 'battling Rooneys' do) like a boxer, not a football player. He looks like the opposite; a muscled, squat, middleweight, almost square in shape. They say Liverpool FC turned him down as a kid on the basis of his body.
But Rooney is on the verge of greatness too; certainly the only English player in the running; a complete 'natural'. I was there at Goodison Park at his debut, and before he had sprinted five yards onto the pitch from the tunnel, he appeared more of a pro than many around him with years of top football under their belts. These days, his touch, pace, vision, shooting and passing are almost invariably superb. Almost impossibly, it seems, even aerial power is at his command, despite looking like a machine that could never fly.
It is this physical democracy that gives football its great charm - everyone has a chance, not just to play but to dream of being eventually in that special chamber where the greatest of all are gathered. Almost any kid in the world can look in the mirror at an unprepossessing body and think: I can make it - Messi and Rooney did.
It may be that the complete unlikelihood of ever being able to properly control a ball with the distant lumps on the end of your legs is the very aspect of the game which allows the most unlikely looking physical types to succeed at the very highest level. The fact so many millions of the rest of us around the world play the game willingly every week is a testament to human optimism.
In the end, football is like Peter Crouch - the miracle is that we can play it at all.
Friday, April 2, 2010
la liga players could go on strike just before el classico
Just came across this article...Top teams from la liga could go on strike to help lower division teams to get their money.
****************************************
Panic stations. The eagerly-awaited return clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday April 10 is at risk because of a possible strike of Spanish league footballers. This is not the first time the Asociacin de Futbolistas Espaoles has raised such a threat in support of player grievances and, given the games perpetual financial turmoil, it will not be the last.
Clearly, by picking the weekend of April 10/11 the union has found a target date which, it hopes, will concentrate minds. Spanish and Italian league players are among the most militant in Europe. This may surprise outsiders, considering these are the two leagues whose pay rates compete with the Premier League at the highest level.
Appearances, however, are deceptive.
When players in Italy and Spain threaten to take, or even take concerted industrial action the cause is not one which sees the likes of Del Piero and Francesco Totti or Iker Casillas and Leo Messi claiming higher wages themselves. Quite the opposite. The superstars line up in support of fellow footballers, usually in the lower divisions, who have gone weeks, maybe months, without being paid themselves.
The AFE claims that only 15 per cent of clubs in the lower divisions in Spain are up-to-date with wages payments. Remember the problems with Portsmouth in the Premier League earlier this season? The players were not being paid on time. But did any of their colleagues in other clubs seek to force the issue through industrial action? They did not.
Certainly the Professional Footballers Association worked hard to try to resolve matters which were, perhaps, a more rational way of moving forward in the derided English context. But perhaps the Premier League model is not as reckless as critics, particularly within UEFA, claim. The problem in Spain and Italy is that clubs football/financial models do not fall under similar corporate rigor as clubs in England.
In the case of Portsmouth, a formal path was evident by which the clubs inability to sustain its outgoings could be regulated and controlled all the way down into administration. The foresight of the PFA also means that player's contracts are virtually ring-fenced.
Footballers elsewhere do not benefit from such good fortune. The smaller Spanish clubs are notorious for delayed wage payments and only when the superstars become involved do the governing bodies start to sit up and seek solutions, albeit short-term ones. Such solidarity of purpose is, at the least, impressive.
Real Madrid's club captain Raul Gonzalez has long been on record as explaining the reasoning. As he said the last time a strike threat was raised: 'We all started in junior football, we all depend on football for our livelihood. Some of us have been very fortunate but that does not mean we forget our roots. Football is not only about the Real Madrid's and Barcelona's.'
Source: http://www.leadersinfootball.com/column/141/
****************************************
Panic stations. The eagerly-awaited return clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday April 10 is at risk because of a possible strike of Spanish league footballers. This is not the first time the Asociacin de Futbolistas Espaoles has raised such a threat in support of player grievances and, given the games perpetual financial turmoil, it will not be the last.
Clearly, by picking the weekend of April 10/11 the union has found a target date which, it hopes, will concentrate minds. Spanish and Italian league players are among the most militant in Europe. This may surprise outsiders, considering these are the two leagues whose pay rates compete with the Premier League at the highest level.
Appearances, however, are deceptive.
When players in Italy and Spain threaten to take, or even take concerted industrial action the cause is not one which sees the likes of Del Piero and Francesco Totti or Iker Casillas and Leo Messi claiming higher wages themselves. Quite the opposite. The superstars line up in support of fellow footballers, usually in the lower divisions, who have gone weeks, maybe months, without being paid themselves.
The AFE claims that only 15 per cent of clubs in the lower divisions in Spain are up-to-date with wages payments. Remember the problems with Portsmouth in the Premier League earlier this season? The players were not being paid on time. But did any of their colleagues in other clubs seek to force the issue through industrial action? They did not.
Certainly the Professional Footballers Association worked hard to try to resolve matters which were, perhaps, a more rational way of moving forward in the derided English context. But perhaps the Premier League model is not as reckless as critics, particularly within UEFA, claim. The problem in Spain and Italy is that clubs football/financial models do not fall under similar corporate rigor as clubs in England.
In the case of Portsmouth, a formal path was evident by which the clubs inability to sustain its outgoings could be regulated and controlled all the way down into administration. The foresight of the PFA also means that player's contracts are virtually ring-fenced.
Footballers elsewhere do not benefit from such good fortune. The smaller Spanish clubs are notorious for delayed wage payments and only when the superstars become involved do the governing bodies start to sit up and seek solutions, albeit short-term ones. Such solidarity of purpose is, at the least, impressive.
Real Madrid's club captain Raul Gonzalez has long been on record as explaining the reasoning. As he said the last time a strike threat was raised: 'We all started in junior football, we all depend on football for our livelihood. Some of us have been very fortunate but that does not mean we forget our roots. Football is not only about the Real Madrid's and Barcelona's.'
Source: http://www.leadersinfootball.com/column/141/
Mohammed Salim - the first indian footballer to play overseas
The Daily Telegraph had a great write up, and the Green Brigade Forum posted about Mohammed Salim, the first Indian to play in European Football. Of course, Salim played for Celtic. Here is his story:
Celtic were not only the first British club to win the European Cup, they were also the first European club to play an Indian and, what is more, he performed in bare feet.
The extraordinary story of how Mohammed Salim, an Indian from Calcutta,came to play for Celtic in the 1936-37 season has been unearthed by a Rhodes scholar.
Boria Majumdar, deputy editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport says: “It shows how in the days of the Empire Celtic broke barriers, living up to the ideal of the civilising mission and how this Indian in bare feet enchanted one half of Glasgow.”
Salim was born in colonial Calcutta in 1904. Majumdar says: “At that time, with Indian nationalists fighting for independence from British colonial rule, many Indians took to football to answer British jibes that Indians were not manly enough to rule themselves. The Indians played in bare feet and despite this they defeated English men in boots which was seen as evidence that Indians were not inferior to the British.”
By the mid-1930s Salim, a winger, was an essential member of Calcutta’s Mohammedan Sporting Club side, and helped them to claim five successive Calcutta League titles.
After the title win of 1936, Salim was invited to play two friendlies against the Chinese Olympic side. A cousin called Hasheem who lived in England, and was then visiting Calcutta, witnessed the first match. Having seen Salim’s exceptional display, Hasheem urged Salim to try his hand at European football.
Hasheem was so persuasive that instead of playing in the second Chinese friendly, Salim sailed with him on the City of Cairo for England. After a few days in London, Hasheem took him to Glasgow and Celtic Park.
Salim was surprised to note that all the Celtic players were professionals.
However, when asked whether he would be able to compete with them he nodded in approval. Salim’s confidence encouraged Hasheem to speak to Willie Maley, the Celtic manager.
Hasheem told him: “A great player from India has come by ship. Will you please take a trial of his? But there is a slight problem. Salim plays in bare feet.”
Maley laughed, the idea of a bare-footed amateur from India competing against Scottish professionals was difficult to believe. But Hasheem was persistent and the Celtic manager agreed to give him a trial. Salim was asked to demonstrate his skill before 1,000 club members and three registered coaches.
Salim’s ability, even in bare feet, astonished them. They decided to play him in a match against Hamilton.
Salim, in bare feet, proved exceptional helping Celtic win 5-1. In his second match against Galston, Celtic won 7-1 and his performance led the Scottish Daily Express of Aug 29, 1936, to carry the headline: “Indian Juggler – New Style.”
The paper wrote: “Ten twinkling toes of Salim, Celtic FC’s player from India, hypnotised the crowd at Parkhead last night. He balances the ball on his big toe, lets it run down the scale to his little toe, twirls it, hops on one foot around the defender.”
However, after a few months in Scotland, Salim began to feel homesick and was determined to return to India.
Majumdar was told by Salim’s son Rashid, who lives in Calcutta: “Celtic tried to persuade my father to stay by offering to organise a charity match in his honour, giving him five per cent of the gate proceeds. My father did not realise what five per cent would amount to and said he would give his share to orphans who were to be special invitees for the match. Five per cent came to £1,800 [colossal money then] but although my father was astonished, he kept to his word.”
Many years later Rashid wrote to Celtic stating that his father was in distress and he needed money for his father’s treatment.
Rashid said: “I had no intention of asking for money. It was just a ploy to find out if Mohammed Salim was still alive in their memory. To my amazement, I received a letter from the club. Inside was a bank draft for £100. I was delighted, not because I received the money but because my father still holds a pride of place in Celtic. I have not even cashed the draft and will preserve it till I die.”
Majumdar says Rashid has kept the cheque and a Celtic green and white jersey as a memory of his father’s days at Parkhead.
Celtic were not only the first British club to win the European Cup, they were also the first European club to play an Indian and, what is more, he performed in bare feet.
The extraordinary story of how Mohammed Salim, an Indian from Calcutta,came to play for Celtic in the 1936-37 season has been unearthed by a Rhodes scholar.
Boria Majumdar, deputy editor of the International Journal of the History of Sport says: “It shows how in the days of the Empire Celtic broke barriers, living up to the ideal of the civilising mission and how this Indian in bare feet enchanted one half of Glasgow.”
Salim was born in colonial Calcutta in 1904. Majumdar says: “At that time, with Indian nationalists fighting for independence from British colonial rule, many Indians took to football to answer British jibes that Indians were not manly enough to rule themselves. The Indians played in bare feet and despite this they defeated English men in boots which was seen as evidence that Indians were not inferior to the British.”
By the mid-1930s Salim, a winger, was an essential member of Calcutta’s Mohammedan Sporting Club side, and helped them to claim five successive Calcutta League titles.
After the title win of 1936, Salim was invited to play two friendlies against the Chinese Olympic side. A cousin called Hasheem who lived in England, and was then visiting Calcutta, witnessed the first match. Having seen Salim’s exceptional display, Hasheem urged Salim to try his hand at European football.
Hasheem was so persuasive that instead of playing in the second Chinese friendly, Salim sailed with him on the City of Cairo for England. After a few days in London, Hasheem took him to Glasgow and Celtic Park.
Salim was surprised to note that all the Celtic players were professionals.
However, when asked whether he would be able to compete with them he nodded in approval. Salim’s confidence encouraged Hasheem to speak to Willie Maley, the Celtic manager.
Hasheem told him: “A great player from India has come by ship. Will you please take a trial of his? But there is a slight problem. Salim plays in bare feet.”
Maley laughed, the idea of a bare-footed amateur from India competing against Scottish professionals was difficult to believe. But Hasheem was persistent and the Celtic manager agreed to give him a trial. Salim was asked to demonstrate his skill before 1,000 club members and three registered coaches.
Salim’s ability, even in bare feet, astonished them. They decided to play him in a match against Hamilton.
Salim, in bare feet, proved exceptional helping Celtic win 5-1. In his second match against Galston, Celtic won 7-1 and his performance led the Scottish Daily Express of Aug 29, 1936, to carry the headline: “Indian Juggler – New Style.”
The paper wrote: “Ten twinkling toes of Salim, Celtic FC’s player from India, hypnotised the crowd at Parkhead last night. He balances the ball on his big toe, lets it run down the scale to his little toe, twirls it, hops on one foot around the defender.”
However, after a few months in Scotland, Salim began to feel homesick and was determined to return to India.
Majumdar was told by Salim’s son Rashid, who lives in Calcutta: “Celtic tried to persuade my father to stay by offering to organise a charity match in his honour, giving him five per cent of the gate proceeds. My father did not realise what five per cent would amount to and said he would give his share to orphans who were to be special invitees for the match. Five per cent came to £1,800 [colossal money then] but although my father was astonished, he kept to his word.”
Many years later Rashid wrote to Celtic stating that his father was in distress and he needed money for his father’s treatment.
Rashid said: “I had no intention of asking for money. It was just a ploy to find out if Mohammed Salim was still alive in their memory. To my amazement, I received a letter from the club. Inside was a bank draft for £100. I was delighted, not because I received the money but because my father still holds a pride of place in Celtic. I have not even cashed the draft and will preserve it till I die.”
Majumdar says Rashid has kept the cheque and a Celtic green and white jersey as a memory of his father’s days at Parkhead.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Indian Football : Not a crib but just some thoughts
Last week I spoke with a friend who has deep rooted connections with a very stellar club of India,Mohun Bagan.
I did not know that Mohun Bagan has a similar business model to Bayern Munich i.e. it is majorly a public owned club and depends on contributions from these members for its functioning , expenditures and in return, the shareholders have voting rights and plus they have that special feeling of ‘owning ‘ a part of the club.
My mate’s family has been involved with the club for the past 30 years now. So obviously within a matter of minutes the discussion became very India centric.
Sunil Chetri’s signing with the MLS club , Kansas City Wizards was obviously the first thing we discussed. I think after Baichung Bhutia’s brief spell at FC Bury in England this is probably the biggest overseas signing for an Indian.With such a big population it is a bit strange that we can only boast of 2 players who have tried their luck abroad.
It’s always been a question in my mind as to why there are no talent scouts who visit India .Arsene Wenger for example has an army of talent scouts (allocated on a continent business) who travel the length and breadth of the world looking for talented young players, ranging from 12 year olds to experienced players who they then try to recruit into the Arsenal training academy in London.Wenger has scouts in places like Brazil, Ivory Coast, Russia,Japan, The European Continent…so why not in India ?
My friend was of the opinion that this is mainly because there are no agents to represent players here. Big European clubs usually never like dealing with players directly. They prefer an in-between who is well versed in business, negotiation skills and of course a deep rooted knowledge of the game. Unfortunately, here in India these sort of agent representation is almost nonexistent. Players usually try to put in their own money to contact clubs and agents from abroad and invariably end up losing all of it. We only get talent scouts from places like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who come to take a look at the players. Apparently, there are a few certifications from FIFA that can be cleared in order to become an official agent but the handful of agents here are most probably not qualified.
I believe this is an important point. In a nation which even Sepp Blatter has termed the “Sleeping Giant Of Football” surely there would be quite a few youngsters out there with the talent to qualify for academies abroad. Secondly, I am sure 2 is not a true representation of the number of players who can be tried in foreign leagues. We do not need to look only at Europe and the US.I think the Japanese and Chinese leagues will also prove as invaluable experience for some of our players. I am sure if the price is right and they are kept comfortable and goal driven they would have no problems to play in these leagues.
For Indian football to improve we need to get a few of our players in foreign leagues. It’s only through this sort of experience that players can become conversant with new training techniques, technologies and strategies and then , most importantly bring this knowledge home.
So one thing we narrowed upon were : Lack of Agents who can represent players and hence lack of opportunities abroad
We then got talking about the academies in India and neither of us could name more than 4.
Tata Football Academy ( who are in a tie up with Arsenal FC), JCT Football Academy, Mohunbagan - SAIL football academy and a few local academies set up by some of the big Indian clubs.
But how much press coverage do you get about these academies. I consider me and a few mates pretty ardent followers of the game ( local and international) and even we could not think of many.
To make matters worse my mate narrated an incident which gave me a good feel of how bad things are.
When my mate was studying for his engineering he was next door to a training academy of a reputed Indian club. Purely out of interest he went about understanding how things are run there and found one major flaw. This academy was trying to attract children from the city to join the academy. Now we all know cricket rules the roost in cities. So forget children, a parent would think twice before sending his/her kid to a football training academy when all the moolah is in cricket. My mate felt that the target audience itself was wrong. Since Cricket is the sport of choice in the cities we should try to look at villages and the game should be introduced at grassroot levels here. The replies he got was
"bahut mahnat karna padega yaar" ( will be too hard)
"paisa tu dega?" ( will you fund this)
"dekh lena mene jo jo ladka choose kia he ye saal sab star hoga...kahin jane ki jarurat nehi he" ( all the lads I have chosen will be stars no need to go anywhere)
"tu kar sakta he to kar" ( if you can implement this go ahead)
So another conclusion : A lack of good academies and even those around lack a defined market and purpose. Plus I think the staff themselves lack belief in what they are doing. Grassroot level football is encouraged by all big clubs in the UK.
I did some more thinking on the same and came up with a few points.
More on this in the next post
I did not know that Mohun Bagan has a similar business model to Bayern Munich i.e. it is majorly a public owned club and depends on contributions from these members for its functioning , expenditures and in return, the shareholders have voting rights and plus they have that special feeling of ‘owning ‘ a part of the club.
My mate’s family has been involved with the club for the past 30 years now. So obviously within a matter of minutes the discussion became very India centric.
Sunil Chetri’s signing with the MLS club , Kansas City Wizards was obviously the first thing we discussed. I think after Baichung Bhutia’s brief spell at FC Bury in England this is probably the biggest overseas signing for an Indian.With such a big population it is a bit strange that we can only boast of 2 players who have tried their luck abroad.
It’s always been a question in my mind as to why there are no talent scouts who visit India .Arsene Wenger for example has an army of talent scouts (allocated on a continent business) who travel the length and breadth of the world looking for talented young players, ranging from 12 year olds to experienced players who they then try to recruit into the Arsenal training academy in London.Wenger has scouts in places like Brazil, Ivory Coast, Russia,Japan, The European Continent…so why not in India ?
My friend was of the opinion that this is mainly because there are no agents to represent players here. Big European clubs usually never like dealing with players directly. They prefer an in-between who is well versed in business, negotiation skills and of course a deep rooted knowledge of the game. Unfortunately, here in India these sort of agent representation is almost nonexistent. Players usually try to put in their own money to contact clubs and agents from abroad and invariably end up losing all of it. We only get talent scouts from places like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who come to take a look at the players. Apparently, there are a few certifications from FIFA that can be cleared in order to become an official agent but the handful of agents here are most probably not qualified.
I believe this is an important point. In a nation which even Sepp Blatter has termed the “Sleeping Giant Of Football” surely there would be quite a few youngsters out there with the talent to qualify for academies abroad. Secondly, I am sure 2 is not a true representation of the number of players who can be tried in foreign leagues. We do not need to look only at Europe and the US.I think the Japanese and Chinese leagues will also prove as invaluable experience for some of our players. I am sure if the price is right and they are kept comfortable and goal driven they would have no problems to play in these leagues.
For Indian football to improve we need to get a few of our players in foreign leagues. It’s only through this sort of experience that players can become conversant with new training techniques, technologies and strategies and then , most importantly bring this knowledge home.
So one thing we narrowed upon were : Lack of Agents who can represent players and hence lack of opportunities abroad
We then got talking about the academies in India and neither of us could name more than 4.
Tata Football Academy ( who are in a tie up with Arsenal FC), JCT Football Academy, Mohunbagan - SAIL football academy and a few local academies set up by some of the big Indian clubs.
But how much press coverage do you get about these academies. I consider me and a few mates pretty ardent followers of the game ( local and international) and even we could not think of many.
To make matters worse my mate narrated an incident which gave me a good feel of how bad things are.
When my mate was studying for his engineering he was next door to a training academy of a reputed Indian club. Purely out of interest he went about understanding how things are run there and found one major flaw. This academy was trying to attract children from the city to join the academy. Now we all know cricket rules the roost in cities. So forget children, a parent would think twice before sending his/her kid to a football training academy when all the moolah is in cricket. My mate felt that the target audience itself was wrong. Since Cricket is the sport of choice in the cities we should try to look at villages and the game should be introduced at grassroot levels here. The replies he got was
"bahut mahnat karna padega yaar" ( will be too hard)
"paisa tu dega?" ( will you fund this)
"dekh lena mene jo jo ladka choose kia he ye saal sab star hoga...kahin jane ki jarurat nehi he" ( all the lads I have chosen will be stars no need to go anywhere)
"tu kar sakta he to kar" ( if you can implement this go ahead)
So another conclusion : A lack of good academies and even those around lack a defined market and purpose. Plus I think the staff themselves lack belief in what they are doing. Grassroot level football is encouraged by all big clubs in the UK.
I did some more thinking on the same and came up with a few points.
More on this in the next post
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Official Biography Of Arsenal Footbal Club - Steve Stammers
Some wonderful facts about Arsenal Football Club
- Arsenal FC was formed in a pub and the guy who thought of starting a football club was a Scot
- they were originally a south london club and then shifted north as it was thought to be commercially viable
- the first team to get an underground station named after a football team
- Sir henry Norris the chairman of the club was originally the chairman of Fulham and there was a time he was the chairman of both teams till the FA asked him to choose one
- Through the 30s Arsenal had a Chelsea type image..they were setting record transfers almost every year..they played a team in the FA once which was worth 2000 pounds and just the Arsenal players shoes was worth 1800 pounds at that point !!!
- Closely associated with both world wars since most team players were working in the ammunitions factory, a lot of players went to serve in the wars.During this team as a goodwill gesture stars from other teams stepped in to play for Arsenal ..including one Bill Shankly ( the great Liverpool legend)
- The legendary cricket player Dennis Compton and his younger brother Leslie both played for Arsenal.During the second world war Dennis Compton served in India
Just some of the wonderful facts contained in the beautifully written “The Official Biography Of Arsenal” by Steve Stammers
Stammers is a respected football journalist in London who has been writing for leading dailies for nearly 35 years now.He has a wealth of knowledge and wonderful way of writing.I finished this 300 + page book in just 2 sittings.
The best part of this book is that it is not just a celebration of a football club but a tribute to the working class's beautiful game.It talks about how football has been interlinked with the British culture from the early 1900s ,through the two world wars, the swinging sixties, through the seventies and eighties till what it has become today.
In fact the story of football in the UK is quite similar to that of hockey in india except that unfortunately in our case hockey got lost in layers of bureaucracy and the general public was ignored.Of course everyone wanted to make a buck out of football in the UK too but public interest was never forgotten ( similar to the Bundesliga in Germany)
The best part about this book is apart from the brilliant way in which the history of the club unfolds before your eyes you also get a glimpse into how football in Britain was affected through the ages because of
- the two world wars
- unemployement
- hooliganism through the 80s
- the Munich Air Disaster
- The Heysel and Hillsborough tragedies
- professionalism
- entry of foreign players into the league
Wonderfully written,almost like a fairy tale, the outstanding classic photographs of the club,London,Highbury, supporters and of course players greatly enhance the reading experience.
I think this is one of the best football books i have read.If you are an Arsenal supporter you should read this and if you are not i still encourage you to read it. You will fall in love with the beautiful game all over again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
