Indian football has over the years often been criticised for relying heavily on foreign coaches and goalkeeper Subrata Pal feels that it is time for a change and Indian coaches should be given more opportunities before judging if they are capable of managing teams, be it at the club or international level.
"Till the time we don't give opportunities to Indian coaches, how can we differentiate? Give the Indian coaches the chance. Let them work for some time, say 2-3 years. Then only something can be said. We are still not in a position to compare. No Indian coach has so far coached any Indian Super League (ISL) team," he told IANS.
According to Subrata, one of the best goalkeepers to have donned the national jersey, the competition between the foreign and Indian coaches in the I-League is also very limited.
"When the National Football League (NFL) started in India, there was no criteria for the coaches to have a degree. From the day this degree thing started, the clubs have recruited foreign coaches as there has been a dearth of degree-holding Indian coaches. And even then, we have seen only a few big clubs were able to afford foreign coaches.
"In the last three or four years, a lot of work has been done on Indian coaches. Number of licenced Indian coaches have increased many fold. There are several Pro-licence coaches and A-licence coaches. I don't have the exact figure with me. So, it is difficult to judge unless you give them an opportunity whether it is ISL or the national team. If the Indian coaches fail to perform then we can say that yes, they are not up to the mark," he pointed.
Subrata feels that debates with relation to professionalism isn't something he would like to get into. "I can't say whether the word professionalism is appropriate or not but then in short I will say that the foreign coaches treat Indian players on the basis of their overall perspective whereas Indian coaches treat players on the basis of the player's own culture," he observed.
"However, what can be learnt from the foreign coaches is the way they organize and plan the whole process of coaching, especially time management."
There have often been talks that the players tend to respect foreign coaches more than the Indian ones, but Subrata doesn't wish to be dragged into the debate as he believes that a coach is a teacher and must always be respected.
"I can't say about others, but as far as I am concerned, every coach -- whether Indian or a foreigner -- is my teacher and I respect them. I have always tried to learn from my coaches. However, like coaches, players too have different philosophy, different mentality but then again I will say a coach's decision is the best decision for the team and no coach wants his team to lose," he said.
