Stephen in the Media

COACH CONSTANTINE (June 02, 2004)

The First Two Years
By Jason Dasey

taken from espnstar.com

Foreign coaches are definitely in-vogue for Indian sport. New Zealander John Wright is in charge of cricket, Russian Ruslan Scherbakov is guiding the women's chess team while Englishman Stephen Constantine heads up the coaching staff of India's football squad.

Constantine is marking his two-year anniversary in the job by taking India to Saitama Stadium to face Japan in a World Cup Asian Zone first round qualifying match on June 9th.

And the 41-year-old is under pressure after India's inexplicably poor 5-1 home defeat to Oman in their last qualifier before 70,000 fans in Kerala on March 31st.

Constantine has been a vibrant yet sometimes controversial figure during his tenure as national coach. He's won the respect and admiration of members of his young squad who have shown admirable fighting qualities yet alienated some club coaches and ex-players with his abrasive style.

He inspired India's under-23 side to unexpected success in LG Cup in Vietnam in 2002 -- and guided the senior side to the final of the 2003 Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad -- but has also suffered embarrassing defeats: losing to both Pakistan and Bangladesh in the 2003 SAF Cup in Dhaka.

Constantine made his international coaching name at Nepal as the footballing minnows won a silver medal at the 1999-2000 South Asian Games and helping the Nepalese qualify for the 2000 Asian Youth Cup finals in Vietnam.

As a player, he was in the youth teams of both Chelsea and Millwall in the late 1980s and then made a living as a professional in the regional leagues of the north-eastern United States. He's also played and coached in Cyprus from where part of his family originates.

I met Constantine at India's eight-day training camp at Colva Beach near Margao in the southern part of Goa. Constantine, his wife and two daughters have been based in the beach state ever since he took up the appointment. He's two years into a three-year contract.

He's had his 'run-ins' with the media, but I found Constantine to be helpful and friendly. He allowed me to stay in the team hotel and was extremely co-operative when our camera crew filmed one of the team's morning training sessions at the nearby Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.

At the start of the camp, Constantine and I sat down on the golden sands of Colva Beach next to the team's base at the Longuinho Resort for a far-reaching interview. Here are some excerpts:

Q: Stephen, in your two years as India football coach you've raised fitness levels, there's better organisation, but you do have your critics. You've been accused of being too pig-headed and not listening to players from the past. What do you say to that?

A: I think everyone's entitled to their opinion. What's done is done. What they did is in the past. What we need to do is look to the future. There are hard decisions that need to be made for the players, for the staff, for the A.I.F.F (All India Football Federation) and we need to look forward: respect what the ex-players have done but we can't live in the past. We hadn't won anything for 40 years before the LG Cup (in Vietnam in 2002). Perhaps we were resting on our laurels, thinking what we did was good enough. Football is a forward moving, forward thinking game. We can't stand still. If you're standing still you're going backwards.

Q: On everyone's mind now is the World Cup qualifying campaign and that disastrous result against Oman at the end of March, losing 5-1 at home. People are asking questions: how would you answer them?

A: People have every right to ask the questions. Obviously losing to Oman wasn't on the menu, as it were. Having said that though, the boys have played for two years for me and been outstanding. We've played against better teams than Oman and not got beaten like that. Of course it was a disappointment. I think it was one of those games where nothing went right for us. Two or three individual mistakes and we got punished. And at that level against the Omans, the Koreas and the Japans, you can't afford to make those kind of mistakes.

Q: But what now for India's World Cup campaign with that disastrous defeat? Is there any chance at all that India can get through to the next round of World Cup qualifiers?

A: I don't think that anyone really gave us a chance from the beginning. One team qualifies from this group and in our group you've got Oman and Japan. I think we wanted good performances. We got one against Singapore. We didn't get one against Oman. And now we have two games against Japan. If we show our true capabilities perhaps we can give them a scare or at the very least improve on the performance against Oman. People seem to think that Indian football is on a course for disaster. We've had one bad result in two years. We're not about to change the way we play because of one bad result.

Q: Your captain Baichung Bhutia is by far India's most famous player and the only one with true European experience having played for Bury in the English lower divisions. But does India rely on him too much?

A: Does England rely on Michael Owen? Does France rely on Henry? You always have these players. They're the players who are a cut above the rest. They're the players who make things happen. Do we miss him when he's not there? Yes, as much as Arsenal miss Henry. This is a natural thing. We have other players in India who are coming up. But Baichung's had the experience of going abroad... he's done well... he's been absolutely fantastic for me. He's a model professional. The answer to your question is a difficult one. Yes, we do rely on him.

Q: In recent times in Asian football we've seen some very high profile coaches in the job. We've seen Guus Hiddink in South Korea, Bora Milutinovic for China, Philippe Troussier in Japan. With all respect to you, who's Stephen Constantine? Does India need a higher-profile boss?

A: That's question that you need to ask the A.I.F.F. In the two years here, I've shown what I'm capable of even under the difficult conditions we're working in. It's not an easy job. It never is. Would a big name have done some of the things that I have done? Who knows? I'm prepared to get down and dirty. I do everything with the players.

Q: People are still buying into this World Cup 2010 for India... that being the year they qualify. But given India's struggles in World Cup qualifiers in recent times, it doesn't look realistic. Is 2010 still achievable?

A: I think we need to do a lot more if we are going to realise that. The main issue is grassroots development. We've got to get the kids playing. We've got to coach the kids with qualified coaches. I think 2010 is a tough call. But unless we change some policies within the clubs, then it's going to be a lot longer.

Q: Good luck against Japan, Stephen, and many thanks for speaking to us at espnstar.com

A: It's my pleasure. Thank you very much.