Stephen Constantine

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Dhruv
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Stephen Constantine

Post by Dhruv »

It's official now even though Indianfootball.com had broken this news about a week ago. Rediff is now reporting that Stephen Constantine is AFC coach of the month.

Congratulations to Stephen and here is hoping Indian football continues to go from strength to strength.
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Stephen Constantine is AFC coach of the month

Post by jayakris »

Yes. Congratulations Stephen!

At least this will put a temporary stop to all those guys getting on Constantine case anytime we lose a match to some Thailand or someone good. You know, the newby guys who have no idea about what a huge hole Indian football has been in, and what a monumental task this coach is trying to accomplish in bringing us back to some sort of respectability.

Jay
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.

Post by nnipp »

You give him too much credit. I don't think that an almost full strength national squad should be beaten at home by Uzbekistan's under-20 team. And beating Thailand should not be a monumental task as they have recently had a string of losses to Tajikistan,Hong Kong, and Uzbekistan(national team not under-20).
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Stephen Constantine is AFC coach of the month

Post by BSharma »

You give him too much credit. - nnipp
Stephen Constantine gets a lot of credit in India because he has made improvements in Indian football that previous coaches could not do. He has to work with what he has, and many factors continue to ruin Indian football. Indian football should be rebuilt from top to bottom. Until then India will remain a team ranked over 100 in the world.
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Stephen Constantine is AFC coach of the month

Post by sunnyd »

He coached India to it's first major trophy (outside of South Asian competitions) in over 40 years. He may not be the next Alex Ferguson but he still deserves respect for his accomplishments.
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by prasen9 »

[Just for the record, after the last post, Constantine has been fired, replaced with a few others who didn't bring India back up to the levels we had at Constantine's first time around, was hired back again in late 2015... The below discussion is about a second firing :) ---- Mod, Jay]

Our asshat (pardon my french, I use it extremely rarely and this situation seems to demand that) Indian senior footballers try to get Constantine out! It seems their gripes are that he does not give them enough credit and has a strict regimen.

p.s. Don't know why the link is not working. If the link does not work for you, go to The Telegraph, India and to its sports section. [Fixed. Mod, Jay]
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by jayakris »

We should stop listening to players, period. They should just play and the coaches should be kept or removed based on results. But these crybabies do it like inmates running asylums. If it is Chhetri behind this like statseman seems to hint, I guess it may be time for me to start not liking yet another Indian sportsman once he gets past age 30. They all turn into problems. Almost invariably. But it is hard for me not to like Chhettri.
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by prasen9 »

Thanks, Jay.

Who knows? Maybe Chhetri is part of a gang and he could not say no to his friends. Maybe indeed some credit that should go the players were denied. Maybe someone is making a mountain of a molehill at the AIFF.

The bottom-line is that unless the complaint is genuine and harms Indian football or other unethical behavior has happened, the coach should not be removed. As you said, it should be on the basis of results.
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by jayakris »

Good news for now. "No question" on him, says the AIFF secretary - AIFF Gen Secretary clears air over Constantine's job

I have some doubts about the veracity of that report and the hints of the player names, anyway. I suspect that that there was some silly game being payed by somebody behind that news story. That is because the story seemed to have only ONE source, though it was reported as is by all of the Indian press. But no reputed media/press outlet wrote an independent story, checking on it with anybody, the players or administrators.

Constantine has to stay, and it will be the weirdest firing of any coach ever in sports history, if he were let go after the results he has shown recently, luck or pluck.
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by prasen9 »

Agree fully. Great to see he is going to be there. Would I want a better coach? Yes. But, why would they come to take up the #100 team in the world that too tenuously.
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by jayakris »

Kushal Das (AIFF) says that the earlier report of rift with the players was a bit of a made up story. He sees no reason why Constantine will not be extended, come March. Stephen Constantine Set For Extension, Luis Norton De Matos Till I-League (PTI report/ Indian Express)
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by prasen9 »

Whenever there is a new post on a reasonable coach, I have a premonition that there is bad news. I thought the same this time since I am a pessimist by nature. But, for once fake news made my day :-) Meaning not the fake news per se but the fact that the previous news was fake news. So, okay not the fake news but the detection of the fakeness of the news. But that is a handful to write ...
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by jayakris »

Looks like there was no need for pessimism, prasen, based on the news today.

Stephen Constantine offered contract extension till 2019 Asian Cup
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by prasen9 »

Thanks Jay! This is great news.
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Re: Stephen Constantine

Post by jaydeep »

Interesting interview with Constantine in the Mirror.

Stephen Constantine: Meet the Arsenal-supporting Londoner who shocked the Asian Cup
“I was asked a couple of weeks ago whether football could ever become as popular as cricket,” Constantine told Mirror Sport. “And I said that football is the new cricket.

“When I took over with India for the second time in 2015, we were in the pre-qualifying for the qualifying for the Asian Cup and I just asked the players: ‘I’m going - who’s coming with me?’ he said.
“I inherited a team which was just worried about not losing by four or five goals and trained just once a day when on international duty. No-one in the country gave the team much of a chance but I’ve left it in a much better place than when I took over.”

But Constantine is hoping to get a chance in club management and, in particular, in England. So far, a job offer from Port Vale is as close as he has come.
Constantine, who will now divide his time between England and Cyprus, said: “It’s one of my dreams to manage in the UK and also at the highest level. I’ve got the Champions League music as my phone’s ring tone and that’s a dream as well.
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