CHENNAI: SIEGFRIED Aikman will not be applying for the position of chief coach of the men’s hockey team. Aikman, the current coach of the Pakistan men’s side, said: “No, I have already done it twice (in the past) and I got no response from them on both those occasions. If they want me, they know where to find me.”
Aikman, who led the Japan men’s side to a thrilling gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018, has not been paid his dues for the last 10 months. The Dutchman said he will wait for one more month before going to the Court of Administration for Sport (CAS). “I’m a professional and I’m giving my professional services and I would like to be paid for that. I haven’t been paid for the last 10 months. I will wait for one more month. If I’m not paid, I will go to CAS.
“The Asian Games is beginning in sometime and a lot of teams have asked about my availability. I need to know soon if I can start my preparation with Pakistan or if I should join some other country as a consultant.”
With the 63-year-old ruling himself out of the reckoning, the availability of overseas coaches continues to dwindle. With most of the high-profile ones attached to the national set-up elsewhere as this is the middle of the Olympic cycle, there aren’t many who are unattached as of this point in time. One coach who isn’t involved in full-time coaching right now is Shane McLeod, the Kiwi who led Belgium to the World Cup and Olympic titles in 2018 and 2021 respectively. He was at the World Cup last month as a consultant for the Belgian side so the jury is out on whether he wants to return to a full-time job.
Apart from McLeod and Aikman, there is the tantalising prospect of Max Caldas, who is the coach of the Spanish men’s team. So, there is the question of whether he will even be interested in leaving the Spanish national team. But, Caldas and Hockey India president, Dilip Tirkey, do have an existing relationship (Tirkey moved into Caldas’ former home when Tirkey had gone to play club hockey in Europe and they even put a warm video on social media when the pair had met during the World Cup) so it could be a question of a phone call to ascertain the interest level.
Then, there’s the pool of Indian coaches to pick from. They can either go back to Harendra Singh (currently chief coach of the US men’s team) or the likes of Jude Menezes, currently coach of the Japan women’s side.