The Tribune: Coach conundrum continues

By Indervir Grewal

With just one year to go for World Cup, HI’s sacking of Oltmans defies logic

Even though Indian hockey fans are used to foreign coaches being fired without notice, Roelant Oltmans’ exit would have come as a big surprise. Among all the foreign coaches Hockey India (HI) has hired in the recent past, the Dutchman had the best relationship with the federation. After over four years, he was becoming used to the workings in the country, and had worked in various capacities — he was HI’s high performance director, worked with the senior women’s and men’s junior teams, apart from being the men’s coach.

The explanations offered by HI’s review committee for firing the 63-year-old are questionable. But even if HI believes the reasons are justified, the timing of the Dutchman’s departure is beyond reason; and the way in which such a renowned coach was fired was disheartening.

Odd timing

The committee said that it was not satisfied with the team’s performance in 2016 and 2017. In that case, why was Oltmans not fired last year after the Rio Olympics, where India finished eighth?

Harbinder Singh, chairman of HI’s selection committee, said that in the review meeting after the Olympics, Oltmans didn’t have any clear explanation about the performance. What were Oltmans’ targets for the future? “There were none,” Harbinder said.

Then what saved his job? Harbinder had no answer; instead, he justified sacking Oltmans now by saying it had to be done “sooner than later”. What was the logic behind offering him a contract till the 2020 Tokyo Olympics if HI was going to fire him within nine months?

Finding a coach now — a year into the next Olympics cycle and with 15 months left for the World Cup — will be tough as most top coaches will already be busy.

High performance director David John, who has been appointed interim coach, has said that it could take up to three months to find Oltmans’ replacement. That means a year left for the new coach to make the changes before the World Cup. But what has not been talked about, and what Oltmans reminded in a television interview recently, is that the Asian Games is in August next year. India must win the title to get an automatic qualification for the 2020 Olympics.

Running out of ideas?

Having not taken this “hard decision” last year, HI should have waited till after the World Cup to fire Oltmans. But the federation ran out of patience, saying that the Dutchman was not producing results. The tipping point was India’s sixth-place finish at the World League Semifinal in London, where they suffered defeats to lower-ranked Malaysia and Canada.

However, India’s performance wasn’t as alarming as the federation believes. India was among the top teams in terms of chances created and dominated most matches. However, the committee wasn’t satisfied with India’s dominance in Asia alone, and wanted better results against the top nations.

The committee said that “the current format of coaching was not showing results beyond a certain level”. Oltmans came under criticism that he was running out of ideas; that the last couple of tournaments showed that the team was becoming somewhat predictable.

But Oltmans said he was making changes. After the defeats in London, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the team’s defence. In the last camp, he tried out a new system. A player in the national camp confirmed that the team was trying out something new, with more emphasis on zonal marking rather than man-to-man marking. The player said that the recent Europe tour was the first time where the team tried out the new tactics.

Contention over young blood

The “noteworthy performance” by a “much younger team” on the tour, which included two wins over the Netherlands, was another reason that made HI feel it was time to “recalibrate”.

In the days following Oltmans’ sacking, news emerged about John’s disagreement with the Dutchman over team selection. While the Australian wanted the induction of more young players into the team, Oltmans was against the idea. Sources said that John forced many junior players into the team for the Europe tour, which led to Oltmans not signing on the final team list. Sources also said that John flew to Europe without informing Oltmans, so that he could see the team’s performance himself.

The team performed well, giving HI a reason to question Oltmans’ methods. Even after being let go, Oltmans stuck to his “utmost belief” that youngsters should be introduced gradually at the senior level. “They need time to start performing at the senior level,” he said in the interview.

HI should have supported his belief. One tour should not have made them question him. The team’s performance on the tour — all warm-up matches for the European teams before their continental championships — cannot be considered a benchmark.

Even if the Belgian and Dutch teams were full strength, they would still not have revealed their main strategies so close to such an important event. And the pressure level at major tournaments is much higher. Despite being a junior sensation, Akashdeep Singh was a late bloomer in the senior squad. He once said that the big change in level was unsettling at the beginning and he took a long time to find his feet.

Two power centres

What also went against Oltmans was the accusation of favouritism. The players present at the committee meetings accused Oltmans of shielding a few players. They said that it was affecting team morale. Players getting involved in selection matters leads to politics in the team. This is where HI and the selection committee should have stepped in and had a discussion with Oltmans.

Instead, HI let John, whose field of expertise is fitness, meddle in team decisions, undermining Oltmans’ authority; thus setting a wrong precedence. Ironically, the trend started when Oltmans was himself the high performance director, but his role in team selection was never this obvious.

HI should have supported Oltmans, given him time till at least the World Cup. He deserved it because of the team’s success under him. Unfortunately, the committee termed the success over the last two years as “more incidental than deliberate”. Winning medals at two global tournaments — bronze at World League Final and silver at Champions Trophy — and rising from 12th rank to sixth should not be considered incidental.

Work on development to get consistency

Despite his shock exit and the committee members belittling his achievements, Oltmans has been gracious, if a little diplomatic, in his interviews. HI demanded consistency in the team’s performance under Oltmans. Just like all his predecessors from abroad, Oltmans left while emphasising on the need for setting up a proper system. He stressed on youth development. He said that consistency came from consistent development, citing the rise of Belgium and Argentina over the last decade. He added that countries such as Germany and Netherlands have had a programme in place for a long time, which is why they were so consistent. There has even been talk over whether India needs a foreign coach. But the disappointing fact is that the country doesn’t even have a coach development system matching the level of the top nations.

The committee termed the success over the last two years as “more incidental than deliberate”. Winning medals at two global tournaments — bronze at World League Final and silver at Champions Trophy — and rising from 12th rank to sixth should not be considered incidental