A national coach appointed without following protocol, and while accepting that he will simultaneously remain in charge of a club side — the All India Football Federation’s decision to employ Manolo Marquez raises eyebrows, no doubt. These are unconventional moves, if not anomalies, which raise questions about the credibility of the system.
Digging deeper, however, hiring the Spaniard makes sense. That’s because of the context. The AIFF knows that it will likely have to cough up a hefty sum as compensation to the former coach — Igor Stimac — who can legally claim that his contract was arbitrarily terminated. Misguided on this front, the AIFF now realises that it has no option but to choose a coach who will cost less.
Stimac’s monthly salary was $25,000 a month, which was supposed to increase a year from now. He is a World Cup bronze medal winner with experience of coaching the Croatian national side. Marquez, for all his experience and knowledge, would not cost as much. And, as long as he is employed by FC Goa for managing the club in the Indian Super League (ISL), the AIFF doesn’t have to pay him a monthly salary. Marquez’s contract with FC Goa is till the end of the 2024-25 season. Till then, the AIFF can pay him only for the period he spends with the national team, which will be a few weeks at best.
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The bigger positive of hiring someone like Marquez is his experience of being in India. He has coached Hyderabad FC with success before getting involved with FC Goa. This is where the AIFF should be lauded for showing practical sense instead of going for bigger names. A high-profile personality like Stimac or someone else is bound to take time to get adjusted to the chaos that is the Indian football system. People like them come from a different football culture. For them, to get familiar with the ways of India is a learning process. So, their priorities and tasks get multiplied at times.
Someone like Marquez, or other coaches who have been associated with the ISL, are aware of how things are in India. They know the structure, the players and the feeder system. They don’t need time to acclimatise. They are already part of the system, know how things work or do not over here, and hence, do not require the orientation period, which people like Stimac, Wim Koevermans or Bob Houghton did. These are big names.
Yes, the manner of appointing Marquez was awkward. The AIFF shouldn’t have bypassed the technical committee while hiring him. Ideally, the federation should also have gone for someone who would not be coaching a club side simultaneously. But the immediate international calendar is not very busy. So, it’s not necessary for Marquez to spend a lot of time with the India probables right now. He can take his time to settle down to the new role. The fallacies apart, this is a good move. It’s time to back the AIFF instead of being overly critical.
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