After much deliberation, ranging from shortlisting applicants to across-the-table salary negotiations, Terrence Walsh - popularly known as Terry Walsh - has replaced fellow Australian Michael Nobbs as the new coach of Indian men's hockey team.
Salary was the only hindrance in the appointment of Walsh, who was Hockey India's (HI) unanimous choice among a shortlist of four candidates; and in the end it was mutually agreed at AUD 12,000 (approximately Rs. 7 lakh) per month - a thousand dollars more than what Nobbs drew from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) that takes the final call after HI's recommendation.
As finger slides down Walsh's CV, his credentials as a coach gather conviction. A former Australia, Holland and Malaysia coach, Walsh - a veteran of 175 international caps - is talked about as a great strategist who coached Australia to Commonwealth Games gold in 1998, Champions Trophy win in 1999 and Olympic bronze in 1999. Mentoring the Netherlands for a year in 2000, he won the Dutch a silver medal at the Athens Olympics.
The Aussie - a potent striker of his time and known for scoring one of Australia's two goals in the World Cup final against Germany in 1986 before retiring the same year - also has an Olympic silver in his cabinet that he won in 1976 at Montreal.
Walsh's connection with India is not new - he has two. In 2000, while India sought a foreign coach, Walsh was the first expat to catch the eye of the then governing body Indian Hockey Federation. But nothing materialised for the Aussie, who has remained in contention ever since as the musical chairs of India's hockey coaches continued. His second connection with India is more emotional - he has an Indian grandfather.
What perhaps tilted the scales in Walsh's favour this time is his knowledge of the Dutch system and the presence of Roelant Oltmans, the legendary former Netherlands coach, as India's High Performance Director. Both share a wealth of knowledge that transformed Netherlands into world-beaters, and Oltmans's view that Walsh "is the right man for the job" convinced HI and SAI.
Walsh is expected to take office in about a week's time, and already has a list of the elitist hockey tournaments lined up over the next 12-18 months. The Asia Champions Trophy, FIH Hockey World League finals, FIH World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Champions Trophy are assignments that not only warrant the best talent but also means to harness it. Walsh will have to be that harness, and his immediate predecessor Nobbs believes it's the best time to take over as India coach.
"He should have a successful programme and should get some really great results as he is set up nicely now to get them," Nobbs told IBNLive.com. "It's a perfect time for him to enter as most of the hard work has been done. India have a great junior programme, the WSH [World Series Hockey] players will now be available and a lot of the juniors will shift into the senior programme after the Junior World Cup [in December]. So he will have time to get things working and some time to get some real development started."
But Walsh's last assignment with professional hockey was not as part of the coaching staff. He was the technical director for USA hockey from 2005 to 2012, somewhat similar capacity to Oltmans' current profile with HI. But the Australian says he is ready to take up the challenge. "The opportunity to head the Indian coaching team is extremely humbling. Coaching India must be regarded as the greatest challenge in the hockey world," he said after accepting the offer.
But as Nobbs suggested, Walsh's immediate goal will be to produce results. And it's a foregone conclusion that with Hockey India opting for the luxury of appointing third foreigner - after Oltmans and Gregg Clark - in their prevalent coaching set-up, Walsh's performance is going to be very closely monitored.
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