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| July 12, 2003 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1424 |
Shahnaz against foreign coach
ISLAMABAD, July 11: Former manager Shahnaz Shaikh on Friday termed Pakistan Hockey Federation’s move to hire a foreign coach as an unwise decision and said it was not the answer to turning around the ailing fortunes of the national team.
“I think imported coaches in every instance have not been able to help a country win major titles and have proved good only in transfering of knowledge,” he told Dawn.
The PHF on Thursday announced it was negotiating with coaches in Australia, Holland and South Korea but had not finalised anything as yet.
But Shahnaz, who resigned late last month as the manager because of a controversy involving him and two Wapda players called on the PHF to exercise patience and give the domestic managers an extended run. “If the team management is to be changed every now and then how can you expect a person to deliver,” he asked.
Shahnaz was in charge for only seven months, a period in which his side won the Azlan Shah Cup before losing badly in back to back tournaments in Australia.
The PHF brought in Abdul Rasheed Junior as the new manager earlier this month, the man who managed the Champions Trophy and World Cup winning sides in 1994 along with Dutch coach Hans Jorritsma.
Shahnaz dismissed the notion that it was Jorritsma who helped Pakistan win those titles. “He was just a trainer and wasn’t even on the team bench, so how can it be claimed that it was him and not Rasheed who masterminded those victories.”
He cited the examples of top coaches Horst Wein, Terry Walsh, Paul Lissek and Barry Dancer and pointed out that none of them had been able to achieve big titles for the countries they had coached.
“Walsh couldn’t do anything worthwhile for Malaysia, similarly Dancer and Wein were unable to achieve big honours for England and Spain respectively.”
Shahnaz wondered if the PHF eventually had to hire an imported coach what was the point of investing in our own coaches for the past three years.
He said that a foreigner would ask for a specific period of say two to three years to produce results, something that the PHF was not used to when it comes to home coaches and managers.
He suggested that the PHF should not rush things and hold a debate before sealing a deal with a foreign coach.
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