Awesome challenges ahead for Nobbs

S. THYAGARAJAN

A handsome pay packet, improved facilities, and a bonanza of a five year stint have all proved irresistible for Michael Nobbs to court Indian hockey as the fourth foreign coach. His appointment on Wednesday puts an end to a long search and suspense.

How far the 57-year-old Nobbs influenced the selection board with his insight and programmes remain in the realm of guess. Laudatory references to the Aussies’ “organisational capabilities,” remain unsubstantiated. With an Olympic appearance in 1984 at Los Angeles, where the team finished fourth, Nobbs has remained invisible in contemporary hockey unlike his renowned colleagues Ric Charlesworth, Terry Walsh and Colin Batch.

That Nobbs prevailed over the Dutch duo, Roelant Oltmans and Jacques Brinkmann, in the race for the post makes interesting reading. While the “uncertainty” factor is cited in brushing aside the candidacy of the Dutchmen, there are reasons to assume that their demands on certain issues were unacceptable. In other words, Nobbs was more flexible, and was ready to conform.

WORTH EXAMINING

Interpretations and inferences apart, it is worth examining how well the Aussie could serve India’s cause in the sport that is so dear to its people. Nobbs knows best on how challenging it is going to be in a country constantly fed on expectations.

But the five year contract gives him sufficient scope to craft a credible and viable programme. Again, it is easily said than done, given the checks and balances that are usually placed in the functioning of a foreign coach. Bureaucracy will be a big hurdle as it was in the case of Ric Charlesworth and Jose Brasa. Even assuming that the officials have guaranteed better co-ordination, the challenges lie in tackling the administration, whose “uncertainty” is a bigger problem. At the moment everything is in a state of flux.

It is unclear as yet who will frame the work chart for Nobbs. Will he be confined to working with the national team or get seriously involved in the junior development programme.

Hockey India’s junior programme is a big zero. Isn’t it pathetic to know that Hockey India had expressed its inability to field an under-18 team in the recent junior Asian Championship at Singapore? So where and when will there be a beginning for a junior programme, so vital for growth and development? Given the complexities of the issues clouding the administration Nobbs is bound to find the going tough. A silver lining however is the composition of the three member support staff of Riaz, Lobo and Jugraj. In this trio, Riaz, a former Olympian who handled the junior squads successfully not long ago, is a newcomer bristling with ideas. Lobo and Jugraj maintain a link of continuity.