By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, July 9
IT WAS not only below-par performance but also his unimpressive coaching style that forced Hockey India and Sports Authority of India to sack chief coach Michael Nobbs.
Barring the Asian Champions Trophy, qualifying for the London Olympics and a fourth place finish at the Champions Trophy, Australian Nobbs had hardly done anything worthwhile to galvanise the sagging fortunes of Indian hockey. After just two years out of his five-year contract with Hockey India, the Australian, who was rated highly at the time of his appointment, has been unceremoniously sacked as coach due to non-performance.
Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra, in a statement, said that Nobbs’ contract has been terminated and is presently serving a one-month notice period. Roelant Oltmans, who is currently the High Performance Manager, has been given charge of the team until a new coach is appointed.
Olympian Maharaj Kishan Kaushik is the front-runner for the top job. Nobbs became the fourth foreign coach to be shown the door before completion of full tenure after Australian Ric Charlesworth, German Gerhard Rach and Spaniard Jose Brasa were sacked midway.
Sources said it was not only Nobbs’ performance but his mediocre style of coaching also became a reason for his sacking.
Several current players who played under Nobbs said the Australian brought nothing new and wanted only attacking hockey like the Australians play. Players, too, were not happy with Nobbs as he had communication problems with players non-English speaking players.
“He was a normal coach. He was never exceptional nor gave any special tips to us,” one of the players on condition of anonymity told ‘The Hitavada’.
“Nobbs only wanted us to play attacking hockey like the Australians. He was a simple coach and had very limited interaction with players. His communication skills too were poor,” the forward added. Another senior player, who was part of Indian team at London Olympics, said that Nobbs only complicated things.
“There was hardly any new style or movement he taught us as coach. I would rate Jose Brasa much higher than Nobbs. Brasa was exceptional. He brought several new things. Brasa changed players’ position and made them much better than what they used to be. The best example is Sardara Singh. He played as a defender, as a forward and now is world’s best midfielder. It’s all because of Brasa. Nobbs did nothing like that,” said the forward.
“Rather Dutchman Roelant Oltmans (who has been appointed incharge of the team till new coach is appointed) has brought a few new things to the team. He left linkmen free and has asked them to play their own game. It’s just few months and I think Oltmans would bring more good changes to the team,” said the player, who played more than 100 international matches.
Arjun Halappa, one of the great Indian midfielders and newly appointed selector of Indian senior team, said that Hockey India might have taken the decision looking at the future.
“It is a practical decision. Nobbs has not performed upto the expectations for last two years. Hockey India might have taken a tough decision looking at the future of Indian hockey,” said Halappa from Bangalore.
“I won’t call it’s a decision in a haste but yes they should have taken into consideration the immediate tournament, Asia Cup which would be very important for India to qualify for World Cup to be held in The Netherlands,” said Halappa.
Halappa also endorsed other players’ views that Nobbs hardly brought anything new to Indian hockey, “India, though, qualified for Olympics, finished with a wooden spoon in London. At World League we finished sixth. There are hardly any major victories under Nobbs. India’s performance has gone down drastically under him,” he mentioned.
“Unlike Brasa, under whom I played a lot of international matches, Nobbs was less interactive. Brasa treated us like a family. He used to mingle with us, joke with us and was very open in expressing his views. I don’t think Nobbs was that open with players,” the India selector said.
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NAGPUR, July 9
IT WAS not only below-par performance but also his unimpressive coaching style that forced Hockey India and Sports Authority of India to sack chief coach Michael Nobbs.
Barring the Asian Champions Trophy, qualifying for the London Olympics and a fourth place finish at the Champions Trophy, Australian Nobbs had hardly done anything worthwhile to galvanise the sagging fortunes of Indian hockey. After just two years out of his five-year contract with Hockey India, the Australian, who was rated highly at the time of his appointment, has been unceremoniously sacked as coach due to non-performance.
Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra, in a statement, said that Nobbs’ contract has been terminated and is presently serving a one-month notice period. Roelant Oltmans, who is currently the High Performance Manager, has been given charge of the team until a new coach is appointed.
Olympian Maharaj Kishan Kaushik is the front-runner for the top job. Nobbs became the fourth foreign coach to be shown the door before completion of full tenure after Australian Ric Charlesworth, German Gerhard Rach and Spaniard Jose Brasa were sacked midway.
Sources said it was not only Nobbs’ performance but his mediocre style of coaching also became a reason for his sacking.
Several current players who played under Nobbs said the Australian brought nothing new and wanted only attacking hockey like the Australians play. Players, too, were not happy with Nobbs as he had communication problems with players non-English speaking players.
“He was a normal coach. He was never exceptional nor gave any special tips to us,” one of the players on condition of anonymity told ‘The Hitavada’.
“Nobbs only wanted us to play attacking hockey like the Australians. He was a simple coach and had very limited interaction with players. His communication skills too were poor,” the forward added. Another senior player, who was part of Indian team at London Olympics, said that Nobbs only complicated things.
“There was hardly any new style or movement he taught us as coach. I would rate Jose Brasa much higher than Nobbs. Brasa was exceptional. He brought several new things. Brasa changed players’ position and made them much better than what they used to be. The best example is Sardara Singh. He played as a defender, as a forward and now is world’s best midfielder. It’s all because of Brasa. Nobbs did nothing like that,” said the forward.
“Rather Dutchman Roelant Oltmans (who has been appointed incharge of the team till new coach is appointed) has brought a few new things to the team. He left linkmen free and has asked them to play their own game. It’s just few months and I think Oltmans would bring more good changes to the team,” said the player, who played more than 100 international matches.
Arjun Halappa, one of the great Indian midfielders and newly appointed selector of Indian senior team, said that Hockey India might have taken the decision looking at the future.
“It is a practical decision. Nobbs has not performed upto the expectations for last two years. Hockey India might have taken a tough decision looking at the future of Indian hockey,” said Halappa from Bangalore.
“I won’t call it’s a decision in a haste but yes they should have taken into consideration the immediate tournament, Asia Cup which would be very important for India to qualify for World Cup to be held in The Netherlands,” said Halappa.
Halappa also endorsed other players’ views that Nobbs hardly brought anything new to Indian hockey, “India, though, qualified for Olympics, finished with a wooden spoon in London. At World League we finished sixth. There are hardly any major victories under Nobbs. India’s performance has gone down drastically under him,” he mentioned.
“Unlike Brasa, under whom I played a lot of international matches, Nobbs was less interactive. Brasa treated us like a family. He used to mingle with us, joke with us and was very open in expressing his views. I don’t think Nobbs was that open with players,” the India selector said.
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