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I-League: An Unprofessional Approach To The Game Could Have Led To Mahindra United's Demise - Pune FC And Former Mahindra United Coach Derrick Pereira
An unprofesionnal approach...
02-May-2010 6:58:00 AM
By Rahul Bali
Derrick Pereira became one of the foremost football coaches in India during his stay with Mahindra United where he had a distinguished record of bringing home at least two trophies per season. Shocked like everyone, he reasoned as to probably why the decision to shut down Mahindra United could have been taken.
“I never thought they would disband though things weren’t progressing as they would have liked. As a corporate business house, mileage is important but a lot of negative publicity was seen like after the game against us,” said the Pune FC coach.
The AFC Pro Licensed coach, who also chosen in the Goa All Star XI, pointed the importance of following the AFC club licensing criteria and stated that unprofessional approach to the game caused the demise of the club.
“It’s unfortunate. What must have led towards this is an unprofessional approach towards the game. You need professionals at every stage – coaching, players, marketing, and the management. Everyone has to stay committed including the top level management,” reasoned Derrick.
Generally, anything successful automatically draws attention of many and thereby, the fans are born but that never really happened for Mahindra United despite their good run during Derrick’s reign at the club. Anand Mahindra, the Mahindra supremo, blasted the Mumbai fans for not having shown support to the club by turning up for games.
So what is it that shall help develop a fan base?
“To get people into the stadiums, the right atmosphere has to be created. It’s difficult to play your home games without a a proper fan base as it’s a lot easier to get motivated.
“The games we have are at 3.30 or 4.30 in the afternoon under the hot sun. The players cannot perform and what one gets to see is below par football. This makes it difficult to attract crowds to the stadium,” pointed the former Indian international.
Derrick cited the example of a Mumbai League match between them and Air India played a couple of seasons back which saw a good crowd at the Cooperage.
“We had the final league match against Air India at 7 pm and the response was positive as we got a good crowd. I guess the association and the AIFF should look into this.
“If this continues, it’s not just Mahindra United but other teams may also take the same step. I feel sad for Indian football,” concluded Derrick.
“I never thought they would disband though things weren’t progressing as they would have liked. As a corporate business house, mileage is important but a lot of negative publicity was seen like after the game against us,” said the Pune FC coach.
The AFC Pro Licensed coach, who also chosen in the Goa All Star XI, pointed the importance of following the AFC club licensing criteria and stated that unprofessional approach to the game caused the demise of the club.
“It’s unfortunate. What must have led towards this is an unprofessional approach towards the game. You need professionals at every stage – coaching, players, marketing, and the management. Everyone has to stay committed including the top level management,” reasoned Derrick.
Generally, anything successful automatically draws attention of many and thereby, the fans are born but that never really happened for Mahindra United despite their good run during Derrick’s reign at the club. Anand Mahindra, the Mahindra supremo, blasted the Mumbai fans for not having shown support to the club by turning up for games.
So what is it that shall help develop a fan base?
“To get people into the stadiums, the right atmosphere has to be created. It’s difficult to play your home games without a a proper fan base as it’s a lot easier to get motivated.
“The games we have are at 3.30 or 4.30 in the afternoon under the hot sun. The players cannot perform and what one gets to see is below par football. This makes it difficult to attract crowds to the stadium,” pointed the former Indian international.
Derrick cited the example of a Mumbai League match between them and Air India played a couple of seasons back which saw a good crowd at the Cooperage.
“We had the final league match against Air India at 7 pm and the response was positive as we got a good crowd. I guess the association and the AIFF should look into this.
“If this continues, it’s not just Mahindra United but other teams may also take the same step. I feel sad for Indian football,” concluded Derrick.
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