“A player with 10 international caps gets the captaincy. Your best players — such as Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh and Vinaya — refuse to attend the training camp. If he continues like this, the team will come apart.”
TALKS of a rift between players and chief coach Jose Brasa have gained momentum, so much so that Hockey India president AK Mattoo is flying to Pune — where the national team are training for the upcoming Champions Challenge tournament — on Thursday to meet both parties and try and sort out the issues.
The problems, some players say, have surfaced due to the coach’s style of functioning and they allege the Spaniard favours a few members of the team over others. “As coach, he may have a good track record but the way he is going about his job here is not right. He has his own favourites in the team,” said a senior player, who did not wish to be named.
The fact that Rajpal Singh was named the new captain, replacing Sandeep Singh, seems to have added to the problems. Though Brasa said Sandeep was removed because of a back injury, not everyone is willing to accept that. “A player with 10 international caps gets the captaincy. Your best players — such as Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh and Vinaya — refuse to attend the training camp. If he continues like this, the team will come apart,” said another player.
The developments have left Hockey India officials concerned. “We had thought a foreign coach would not only improve the team but also pass on training methods to our coaches for the future. Neither seems to be happening,” an official said.
On the other hand, there are also those who heap praises on Brasa. Only last week, a senior player had lauded Brasa’s contribution to the victory in Canada, saying that the coach was “perhaps the best thing to happen to the team”.
Meanwhile, Brasa has denied reports of a rift in the team. “I have not received any complaints from any senior players absent from the camp or from Sandeep Singh,” he said on Wednesday. “We gave them an opportunity to train for the Champions Challenge, but they sent letters stating personal reasons for their unavailability.”
The coach also defended his techniques, which have been questioned by the players. “I gave Sandeep some new sticks which will benefit his drag-flicking and he liked it very much,” he said.
But some players say the coach’s methods were too drastic so close to the World Cup. Brasa is not too optimistic about his own World Cup chances either. “I am not even sure that I will be the coach till the World Cup,” he said.