Indian Super League

[dude_21]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to know what you guys think of the ISL, do u think ISL will be a success or not.

[PKBasu]

I doubt it'll be a success, unless some seriously good players are signed up. The quality of Indian players is still rather poor.

[dude_21]

sure but i still think its a great initiative.. I-League is going no where and its been declining rapidly.. this will def improve the infrastructure and the knowledge that the indian players will get from the foreign players coming in will be invaluable..

[prajgolf]

With the likes of Robert Pires, Fredrick Ljungberg, Luis Garcia & David Trezeguet in the league and still more big players to come in, definately ISL will be a success.

[Sin Hombre]

If the year was 2004, sure.

[prajgolf]

Indian Super League fixtures

http://www.indiansuperleague.com/isl-20 ... s-fixtures

[karr]

I do feel the ISL is a positive development. All the leagues that have sprouted in the footseps of the IPL seem to have had solid if not spectacular starts. The Badminton and Kabaddi leagues both got good press, coverage and fan following, gave the players extra moolah and Indian audiences got to see quality players in action, a complete win-win. I hope the ISL too benefits similarly. Even 4th rung International players playing alongside Indian talent will help - remember where we languish in terms of ranking. All one can hope for is better infrastructure, more money, quality players, better coaching and hopefully good audience and fan support and media coverage. That can put in place a virtuous cycle of uplevelling the game, and maybe, just maybe, Jay's longstanding anguish surrounding "when will Indian kids play more soccer" will start melting,

[karr]

The league kicks off in a few days. The ISL folks seem to have a decent site : http://www.indiansuperleague.com/
Dhoni is now a co-owner of Chennaiyin FC : http://www.thehindu.com/sport/football/ ... 475407.ece
Chennaiyin FC has an interesting logo - reminds me of lorries back home!

I hope the league catches on - anything that will spur Indian kids to go kick a ball and I am in favour of it. The fact that the rich and famous are on to it means that it atleast has some serious financial backing. That will hopefully translate to buying good players whom the crowds will come out to watch. Back here in Seattle, if someone had claimed a decade back that there would be 40,000 folks screaming for Sounders FC for a random game, and then sell out the stadium for Vancouver/Portland/LA, we would have called them lunatics. But that's precisely what happens here. Just seeing that gives me the confidence that the USA is here to stay as far as World Soccer is concerned. And that happened in a
country that has many many sports of strong local/historical connections. So why can't that happen back in desh!

[archak]

ISL will be commercially a success but the indian football fans are quite fractured over it. Especially how the current ongoing ileague and the national team was given a step motherly treatment.

[Sin Hombre]

Soccer is the most popular sport for kids until 13 or so and has been for a long time; no kid in India plays and there are no qualified coaches or proper facilities anyways.

This ISL is a waste of money.

[archak]

I dont agree with the statement. There are kids who play football especially in West Bengal, Goa, North East India, Kerala. I agree that there are no proper coaches who can help those kids develop.

[Sin Hombre]

No one plays it anymore in the so-called hotbeds in Bengal and Kerala. All hearsay from a different generation.

[archak]

No one plays it anymore in the so-called hotbeds in Bengal and Kerala. All hearsay from a different generation.

I am from Bengal and it ain't hearsay. I can prove it with photos (both amateur and proffesional kids) that the kids play football.

Here are just the names of popular academies:
FIFA regional Academy, Kalyani
IFA academy, Haldia
Mohun Bagan Academy Durgapur

[Prashant]

I have no idea what the truth is about Kerala & Bengal today, but giving us the names of academies isn't proof one way or the other. We need random kids playing soccer in huge numbers on the streets, instead of cricket or nothing at all. Academies come later.

[archak]

I understand the skepticism but the problem is that there are very few coaches who can train kids.