MUMBAI, JAN 13: Former National League Champion Jagatjit Cotton Textile Mills (JCT), Phagwara (JCT) are not very fancied for top honours in the ongoing Coca-Cola National Football League (NFL). Hard hit by an exodus of eight first eleven players including Arvind Kumar, Manjinder, Harsharanjit Singh, Jaspreet Singh, Emeka Achelifu, Abdul Latif Seriki, Musa Aliu and Mohammad Nazir, the Punjab side's fortunes contrast sharply to their heady days of the inaugural league in 1996-97, which they won in fine style.Yet, it is not a side to be underestimated as they surprised defending champions Mohun Bagan in the inaugural NFL match at New Delhi despite being a man short. They practiced just for a month before beginning their campaign with a new-look young team.After being awarded best coach of the inaugural National Football League Sukhwinder `Sukhi' Singh has been considered among the best available coaches in the country. And proving his credentials has made him popular with the players, including foreigners. Here are excerpts from an interview with Sukhwinder before the match against Air-India in Mumbai.Q: Why have you not recruited any foreign player this year?A: We have tried foreign players in the last two seasons. They command high fees and recruiting them does not do Indian football much good. On the contrary, we kill domestic talent.Q: How are you managing after the loss of eight main players again this year?A: A coach's job is to manage and train, besides getting the best out of the available players and I'm no exception.Q:How many players have you recruited this year and why such a young lot?A: I have six new players including Hardeep Sangha, Hardeep Gill, Sukhjit Singh, Harinder Singh and all of them are collegians and quite promising. You can see the best of them in the coming couple of years.Q: What special preparation did you carry out with the boys for this, the third edition of NFL?A: I think the boys are capable of finishing in the first six only if they perform consistently. The type of football they displayed at Delhi was commendable. The results speak for themselves. Against Dempo, the weather was very humid. We came from the cold in Delhi, while at Margao, it was hot.Q: What were the reasons for JCT losing the Punjab Football Association Super Division League title?A: The PFA League was conducted in the month of June when depleted JCT side was just five days old. Eight of the playing eleven joined the new club in Mumbai. We just had three days of practice and in fact we defeated the League champions PSEB after three weeks during the Federation Cup match.Q: How do you assess the chances of your teams in the current NFL?A: I took over in the year 1992 and in the very next year (1993), seven of my JCT players were in the India camp, namely Tejinder Kumar, Harjinder Singh, Gurtek Singh, Manjit Singh, Amrik Singh and Rampal Fauji. Narinder Thapa and Kuldip Singh played for junior India. But in the last two years, no player from Punjab has been summoned to the national camp.Q: Do you believe that there has been no talent in Punjab for the last five years?A: No, absolutely not. In fact there were three boys namely Harnek, Kuldeep and Major who were purely India material but they joined Punjab Police who don't play much in the national circuit. So they failed to come into the limelight.Q: What should be done to promote the sport in Punjab?A: The PFA has to take initiative and run some local tourneys. Or at least some workshops where the basics of the game could be imparted correctly. One can then think of a professional league. It is important to give our local players a chance.
