By IANS
Ludhiana : Lack of communication among coaches and the vindictive attitude of the big clubs are the main reasons behind the decline of Kolkata football, said Dempo coach Armando Colaco here Thursday.
“Today someone is the Mohun Bagan coach and tomorrow he becomes the East Bengal coach. There is no interaction among the coaches in Kolkata and consequently, the game suffers,” said Colaco, on the eve of his team’s first match in the ongoing 29th Federation Cup football tournament.
“But back in Goa, we have a strong bond among the coaches. We sit down regularly and discuss issues and together we have also brought out a manual for the coaches,” he said.
“The Kolkata clubs want to build their team by stealing from other teams. This is not good for Indian football. For coaches and players, the club officials are the most important people. This allows the officials to keep interfering with everything concerning the team. It can be really frustrating,” said Colaco, who guided the Goan club to the national league title last year.
Colaco, one of the few Indian coaches to hold an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) instructor license, added that the club officials in Kolkata are impatient and want immediate results.
“Results come over a period of time. You can never provide instant results and even if you do succeed, it is shortlived. They don’t ponder about the future and that is the main reason why the tide has turned in Goa’s favour.
“Earlier players from Goa and other parts of the country used to go to play in Kolkata, but now it’s the other way round,” he said.
Colaco feels Dempo’s tie-up with Portugal’s league champions FC Porto for an exchange programme has tremendously benefited the Goan outfit.
“We need to have more exchange programmes and our recent tie-up with Porto is a huge bonus. Coaches and players from the clubs go to Portugal and train with experts from Porto will also come here to train us,” he said.
The champion coach added that Dempo would have a stadium of its own soon and that they are close to acquiring land for the purpose.
“Everything is final. We have selected an 80,0000 square-metre plot and are only awaiting clearance from the environment authorities.
“I think every club in the country should have its own stadium. It is quite basic but unfortunately we just don’t have the infrastructure in India,” said Colaco.