Reid tipped for India job

India, for the time being, are under the dual care of John and analytical coach Chris Ciriello.
PTI file image of Hockey sticks used for representational purpose only.
PTI file image of Hockey sticks used for representational purpose only.

CHENNAI: Hockey India might soon bring on board a full-time chief coach for the men’s team. The team has been without one since the management sacked Harendra Singh after a sixth-place finish at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar in December. 

While several highly-regarded coaches had applied for the vacancy, an advertisement of which was on the HI website for more than a month before being removed on February 28, it is learned that Graham Reid has emerged as the front-runner. 

While a HI official dismissed it as ‘pure speculation’, the theory carries weight because that name had been doing the rounds since February. In fact, at the ‘A’ Division Nationals in Gwalior last month, high-performance director David John had namechecked the Australian as a leading candidate to a few seniors. 
The reason why Reid is now considered as the front-runner is because of developments back in the Netherlands over the last 24 to 48 hours. Late on Thursday night, Amsterdam Hockey Club (AH&BC), showed Reid, who was chief coach at the club, the door. The former midfielder’s position at the club was regarded as untenable after they went down 2-8 in a league game on Sunday. As a reaction to the defeat,

AH&BC, on their website, announced that they would be parting ways with Reid. 
“The current disappointing results emphasise the need for change,” the short statement said. “In addition, Reid has indicated that he may have a new challenge in the short term outside of Amsterdam.” Further, Dutch media reported that Reid has told that he has ‘concrete interest from India to become national coach there’. The same website, hockey.nl, also reported that Max Caldas, the Netherlands’ head coach, will soon be looking at appointing a new assistant as Reid was a deputy with the national team. 
While HI has been keeping their cards close, this newspaper had reported last month that several Australians — Reid being one of them — had applied for the post. 

The 54-year-old has a wealth of coaching experience, including leading the Kookaburras to multiple world triumphs (World League Final and Champions Trophy) apart from being a member of the support staff when they won the World Cup in 2014. But he was sacked after overseeing a poor Olympic Games in 2016 when the team even failed to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Chance for youngsters to shine 

This development comes even as the men’s team gets ready to play their first match of the new year. The Manpreet Singh-led outfit will face off against Asian Games champions Japan in the first match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh on Saturday. 

“Japan, South Korea and Malaysia will be the teams to watch out for,” Singh said. “They are travelli­ng with full squads and will pose a st­i­ff challenge for us. The yo­u­ngsters wi­­­­ll ne­­ed to step up their ga­me and I beli­eve ha­ving fresh faces can be an advant­a­ge as the possibility of them (our oppon­e­n­ts) kn­owing much about the ne­wcomers is le­ss. Though losing Gurjant Si­ngh is a setback, Gursahibjit Singh, wh­o is his replacement, is a talented forward.”

India, for the time being, are under the dual care of John and analytical coach Chris Ciriello.

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