The trouble with prolonged mismanagement, corruption and arbitrary practices is that the rot becomes so entrenched that just a few cosmetic changes can never root out the grime.
The miserable condition surrounding Bangladesh football continues with little hope of improvement.
While at the age level, the men's team have brought back laurels with the women's team becoming more or less the main poster for the sport in Bangladesh, the men's senior team has consistently failed to make any mark at the regional level.
Just recently, Bangladesh under 20 men's team clinched the South Asian meet in Nepal, beating India in penalties and while this feat deserves applause, the sad fact remains, players from age teams often fail to replicate their performance while representing the national side.
Local strikers side-lined: This is especially true for those playing as strikers or attacking midfielders for age based sides. Honestly speaking, they cannot be blamed because when an age level player moves to a club, he has to compete with imported African players who have already honed their striking position playing in different leagues of the world.
Consequently, a young striker from the youth side finds himself having to choose a different position. This not only hampers his playing ambition but also deprives him of the opportunity to develop his striking abilities by playing as a striker in serious matches.
Interestingly, when theinability of strikers was raised by the media a few years ago, the then president of Bangladesh Football Federation, also a star striker of the first decade of the country, replied that when he played, everyone had to compete and beat the foreign recruit to secure the striking position.
His indication being, current day young players should also do the same. This statement should have been challenged but was not. The fact is, in the 70s and 80s, very few football clubs could afford to bring foreign players and this luxury was limited to a handful of top tier clubs in Dhaka. If memory serves correctly, in the early 80s, Dhaka League's famed foreign players were Ibrahim (Ghana), Pakir Aly (Sri Lanka), Premlal (Sri Lanka) followed in the latter part of the 80s by Iranians,Naljegar, Taheri, Borhanzaade and Iraqi nationals Samir Shakir and Karim Mohammad.
Since only the leading clubs had foreign strikers, the mid level and lower tier clubs relied totally on locals, thus giving them a chance to develop their skills in the position of preference.
By the time a local got a call from Abahani, Mohammedan or Brothers Union, they were established strikers for other outfits, Wari, Dhanmondi, PWD, Dilkhusha, Farashganj etc.
As a result, it was easier to compete and secure main striking positions for better clubs. In the long run, the national team was also benefitted since it could call up strikers in form.
Unfortunately, with the injection of money into football at the turn of the millennium, smaller clubs also had enough funds to bring players from Ghana, Nigeria, DRC or Haiti. The obsession with foreign players, especially strikers and defenders, was such that even rural football matches saw hired foreign legs. Naturally, the locals eitherhad to sit on the side or take up other positions.
This practice, over the last decade, has had a devastating impact on the national side. Bangladesh national side has a slick passing game but it lacks the ultimate weapon - a pair of killer strikers! If one looks at the national side's performance and the wins, which are often flukes, it becomes clear that some of the goals scored were by defenders or midfielders who just happened to be at the right spot.
A consistent striker who scores, is missing. Therein lies the major flaw in our national side. Regrettably, instead of laying down a rule that would have made it mandatory for all clubs to play one local striker, permission was givento field more foreign players.
Talk about hammering the final nail in the coffin!
As Bangladesh Football Federation, BFF, is poised to enter a new era, the first priority should be to set up a striker-hunting mission followed by the nurturing of age level players who have made a mark in recent tournaments.
Aiming for regional glory: In 2008, when the last management took over, Bangladesh's ranking was 176; almost sixteen years later, it stands at an unenviable 184. In between, countless coaches were changed (more than 20 times), many pledges made and tournaments held although the main team has struggled to find a secure foothold.
Let's be practical here, no one expects Bangladesh to compete with the powerhouses of Asia and neither do we hope to achieve ascendancy in regions outside ours. For us, most Bangladeshis, South Asian Football or SAFF is the ultimate stage, a sort of low ranking sides' World Cup.
Yet, this is where we have been floundering for the last 16 years. For too many current day young football lovers, Bangladesh holding a champion cup in triumph is an illusion. A whole generation of football followers has grown up not knowing that once, for almost any regional tournament, club of national side, the prediction for a final would inevitably mean India and Bangladesh.
While India emerged victorious on most occasions, Bangladesh, also, did not disappoint. A star studded team with a stellar performance in 2003, saw the national side lift the trophy in Dhaka. Back then, the team had marksman Alfaz supported by MotiurMunna and Kanchan while the team, arguably the best national side, featured Rajani Kant Barman, Arif Khan Joy, Aminul Islam (GK), Saiful, Hassan Al Mamun, Arman Mia and others.
Like all other places seeing a reshuffle, the new management at BFF will also be under scrutiny and they will need to come up with a concerted plan with SAFF in mind and nothing else. One SAFF triumph and football will regain its craze, that is a given.
Do not make extravagant plans - in the Asian football canvas, we are currently very low and from here, winning SAFF would be the ultimate achievement. In the World Cup qualifiers which ended several months ago, Bangladesh managed only one point, with a single draw against Lebanon on home soil. At the away game againstthe same side hopes were high for something decent but it ended with a four nil drubbing. Now to give more perspective to this, Lebanon is an Arab team and, if one categorises just the Arab teams in Asia, they will be at the third tier - the first featuring, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran (not Arab but close), second will have, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Palestine while under the third will be Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
I do not think Bangladesh, with the current team, will be able to beat any side from the third tier. Just a few weeks ago, we drew a two match friendly series in Bhutan - kudos to Bhutan but criticism for Bangladesh! While other progress, we remain stagnant.
Let's see what the new leadership will be able to produce but striker development and winning back SAFF need to be the two top priorities.
Pradosh Mitra is a football lover!
