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Graham Roberts was hired as the national team coach on an eight-week contract by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) in October and is expected to be offered a one year deal by the end of 2010.
After playing the role of a coaching consultant in the Asian Games, in which Pakistan was eliminated in the group stages, he says his main priority is to instill a winning mentality into the players and the coaching staff.
“We are a long, long way from qualifying for the World Cup,” said Roberts while talking to the BBC.
“But I want to make Pakistan a regional force. I want teams coming to Pakistan to know they are going to be in for a tough match.
“I want players going onto pitch with a winning attitude. They are not playing to make up numbers or keep score down to one or two.”
“There's some fantastic young talent in Pakistan,” said Roberts.
“But in preparation for some of the games they are spending 32 hours on a train getting from one city to another - we have to be more professional than that. Players have to be in team on merit not due to their family connections.
“The final decision on who plays must be down to manager not PFF president or a politician. I want home grown players to mix in with those Pakistanis who are playing in Europe. Hopefully next summer we can bring team to UK and play games in England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland.”
Roberts says he does not have any security concerns living in Pakistan.
“I can only go on my experience. In two months I was there I never felt for my safety. People were so friendly and made me feel very welcome.”
Pakistan is currently ranked 167 in the world by Fifa and has the Olympic and World Cup qualifiers coming up, along with the South Asian games.
He genuinely believes a Pakistan-India showdown would be a career highlight.
“Pakistan will no doubt come up against India in the South Asian games. I am looking forward to the challenge.”
