NEW DELHI: Australian Michael Nobbs has been unceremoniously sacked as Indian hockey team’s chief coach due to non-performance, thus becoming the fourth foreign coach to be shown the door before completion of the full tenure.
Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra said that Nobbs’s contract has been terminated and he is presently serving a one-month notice period. Roelant Oltmans, who is currently the High Performance Manager, has been given charge of the team until a new coach is appointed.
Batra, however, claimed it was the Australian who decided to quit as he felt that he was not doing justice to his job.
“He himself had offered to resign during a meeting with Roelant Oltmans. There were some issues with his coaching style. Oltmans feel there were some areas in which we were lacking and Nobbs was not being able to rectify them and not producing the desired results,” Batra said.
“Accordingly, we have informed the SAI that we are not willing to avail his services anymore. For the time being Oltmans will take the additional responsibility of coach of the men’s team. He will be in charge of the team till we find a suitable replacement which might take 2 to 3 months time,” he added
Nobbs, who took over the charge in 2011, was offered a five-year contract and a handsome salary, but his association with Indian hockey lasted merely two years and finally ended on a bitter note.
Before Nobbs, Spaniard Jose Barsa, Australian Ric Charlesworth and Germany’s Gerhard Rach coached the Indian side but were pushed out due to several issues.
Nobbs was looked upon as someone who can cure Indian hockey, but the Australian failed to change the fortunes of the past masters of the game.
The only highlight of Nobbs’s tenure was India’s qualification for last year’s London Olympics after having missed the Beijing edition of the Games.
But since then there was no significant change in the performance of the team as eight-time champions India returned with a wooden spoon from London Olympics.
Nobbs came under further scrutiny after India failed to book a direct ticket for the World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands scheduled for May-June, 2014, finishing a lowly sixth out of eight teams in last month’s FIH World League semifinal at Rotterdam.
Hinting that Hockey India was not impressed with Nobbs’s performance, Batra said it was a mutual decision to part ways with the Australian.
Batra said there was no point in continuing with a coach who lacks motivation and commitment.
Meanwhile, Nobbs said he was not “pushed out” from Indian hockey team chief coach’s position, instead he willingly resigned from the job owing to his deteriorating health condition.
“I wasn’t pushed out by Hockey India or Sports Authority of India. This (to resign) is my own decision,” Nobbs said.
“I love Indian hockey too much that I don’t want to hurt it. But I just couldn’t cope any longer with deteriorating health. So, I thought not to coach anymore.
“My health was too difficult for me to continue. I don’t want to hurt the system. I don’t want to be selfish because it would take at least 6 months to get my health back,” he added. (PTI)