High time that big clubs invest in youth development: Mohun Bagan coach

Without mincing any words, Mohun Bagan's I-League winning coach Sanjoy Sen on Thursday slammed "big" football clubs for doing little for the the development of the sport.

He did not name any club or officials but a miffed Sen hit out at the "Big Two" Kolkata clubs (Mohun Bagan and East Bengal) for their farcial way of management as far as the development of football was concerned.

Urging the sports journalists to take up the cause, Sen said: "It's high time that they took up the youth development.

Football has not been allowed to grow due to some people without the knowledge of things. They take all the wrong decisions. It's time we stood up against them. You people have a major role to play."

"You talk about the big local clubs, what have they done for the youth, what have they done in grassroots?" Sen asked at a news conference organised by the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club on the occasion of International Sports Journalists Day.

"Where will the local players come from? All they have done is farce in the name of youth academies and development.

If they would have done it seriously, we would have had results by now," Sen who renewed his contract with Mohun Bagan, added.

The programme was also attended by East Bengal's newly appointed coach Biswajit Bhattacharya, who urged India coach Stephen Constantine to sit with club coaches to discuss the way forward in the wake of India's recent 1-2 debacle against Guam who are ranked 33 places below them in the FIFA rankings.

"Constantine needs to sit with the club coaches and discuss about grooming players so as to benefit the national side."

Supporting Constantine's view on PIO players, he said: "They can lead to quick development in Indian football. These are players who have played all around the world and their presence will boost the national team."

Citing example of Guam, the national coach in his blog had suggested that if the government can recognise the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card, then the players with Indian roots can play for the country.