KARACHI, March 30: The newly-appointed Pakistan hockey coach, Tahir Zaman, Saturday said a victory was needed as a tonic but added overnight success should not be expected.

“Though we desperately need a win to boost the morale of the boys, it will not be fair to anticipate extraordinary performances by the team. I would say the team management should be given enough time to produce its worth,” Tahir told Dawn from Lahore.

The coach said, though, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) had not specified how long he would stay as the national trainer, he would prefer to be at the helm till 2004 Athens Olympics.

“I would definitely like to be the coach at least till the Athens Games which for me is the main task. A team management for longer period could help the team achieve better results,” he said.

Asked why he was asking for a longer tenure when the previous set of team officials was removed after a year he said “they (the removed officials) were supposed to carry on till 2002 World Cup that’s why they have been replaced.”

The PHF, though, brought in new team officials Friday, did not specifically say whether the former coaches, Hanif Khan, Khuwaja Junaid, and manager Brig Khalid Khokhar were removed as they failed to deliver or their tenure was over.

The former Pakistan captain, who has taken reins of the senior team for the very first time, said he would be mapping out short- term planning since he had to prepare his side for the three major events this year.

Pakistan are to travel to Manchester for the Commonwealth Games in July-August before appearing in the August-September Champions Trophy in Cologne. The Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea, in September-October, will be last outing of the green shirts this year.

Tahir, who was junior team coach before the PHF hierarchy gave him the charge of the senior side, is also an International Hockey Federation (FIH) coach.

Sources said the former skipper might be assisted by either former captain Nasir Ali, Qamar Ibraheem or Asif Bajwa.

Tahir said the team needed to be revamped, organized and he would be suggesting roles for each member of the side.

“The roles have to be identified for the boys. I would be giving different roles to each player according to their capacity and requirement.

The forwards, besides attack, will be taught how to tackle while defending their goal while the defence will be utilised like one unit. A lot has to be done after consultation with manager Zafari.”

Tahir considered Sohail Abbas, the penalty corner executioner, an edge over rivals but added the full-back would be trained in tackling and how to be a useful defender as well.

“In goalkeeping department we have done well. (Mohammad) Qasim always rose to the occasion at the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.”

The coach said players, veterans or youngsters, would be invited for the national camps if they excelled during the ongoing national championship.

He however did not mince words when asked about his close associate and star striker Shahbaz Ahmad saying “Shahbaz (Ahmad) should play for at least a while if he is fit.”

Tahir, a member of the 1994 Sydney World Cup winning team and under whose captaincy Pakistan finished fifth in the Utrecht World Cup in 1998, ruled out the possibility of staging a comeback as a player like Shahbaz.

“I will prefer to stick to my new role as coach rather than come back as a team member. I might have given a second thought had PHF invited me to play bigger events like Rotterdam’s Champions Trophy and World Cup,” he said.

Shahbaz, who has always been in the spotlight due to controversies during his illustrious career including infamous revolt he led against the PHF in 1996, had opted to return for the third time when he played November’s Champions Trophy in Rotterdam last year.