“I think it’s going to have a massive impact” - Robin Singh on Al-Hilal’s AFC Champions League trip to India, the ISL and more

The Indian Super League (ISL) is barely a fortnight away. And the return of India’s top flight brings with it plenty to speak about. The return of the ISL is not the only talking point in Indian football currently, of course.

The 2022-23 ISL League Shield winners Mumbai City FC have drawn Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal in the group stages of the AFC Champions League. This means that we will see quite a few stars of the global game descend on Indian shores for the very first time, and the footballing public in the country will get to watch the likes of Neymar, Sergej Milnkovic-Savic, Kalidou Koulibaly and more live.

Sportskeeda caught up with national team striker and former I-League winner Robin Singh to discuss the AFC Champions League, the ISL and his new role as a commentator in the top flight.

Excerpts from Robin Singh’s exclusive interview with Sportskeeda

Q. With the Al-Hilal players coming down to India to play Mumbai City in the Champions League, how much of an impact do you think it could have on football in India and what kind of impact do you think it will sort of have?

I think it's going to have a massive impact for the following of the country because, you know, truth be told, we all watch a lot of European football and Neymar has been one of the names that everybody knows of, played for the biggest clubs in the world, and now he's decided to come to this part of the world, you know, so be it Asia or the Arab nations, right?

With that being said, that gives the Indian teams the opportunity to, you know, rub shoulders and compete with the likes. And I use the word compete because that's what we're doing right now. Be it Mumbai City or the national team, the results speak for itself. You know, we're not a participating team anymore. We're a team that competes. We're a team that wins. And that's a great sign. So with regards to, will it impact football? Yes. When you have, whenever you have big names coming to the country, you know, there's a growth of football, how much ever it may be, growth of sport, how much ever it may be.

And that being said, I think Mumbai City has done well. They did decently well the last time out. They won two games, but wasn't enough. And now this will be the next step to, you know, prove at a bigger stage. There were teams or names in that pool that the players wanted to look at, you know, Ronaldo fans in the mix as well. But again, Neymar is not a small name. We know the creativity he brings, the vision he has, the responsibility that he'll bring to playing for Al Hilal as well. Not just them, the team is very strong.

Q. That said, you obviously touched upon the fact that Indian teams are starting to compete be it at club level or national level. So how well do you think Mumbai City will do in the Champions League this year? With the competition that has been put in front of them this time around?

I think first and foremost, Indian football is growing. That's the first part of it. The second part, Des is a brilliant coach, a very intelligent coach. I've had the opportunity to speak to him post games last season. He's very intelligent and very precise and breaks down football, making it easier for the boys. So with that being said, I think they'll do pretty well. They will go out and want to perform at the highest level, which we know they're capable of. And it's always great to test your limits, push your boundaries and that's exactly what Mumbai City is going to do. We've seen how well they played in the league last year and now it's time to push that. The road is always about improvement, the road is always about growth and Mumbai City show exactly that.

Q. There's no way I can push you and try to get you to tell me whether they'll qualify out of the group or not, right?

Well tried (laughs). If I'm getting the names right, there's Navbahor. There's Nassaji Mazandaran as well and there's obviously Alhila. They're not going to be easy teams, right? But at the same time, Mumbai City is not going to be an easy team. You've got Noguera in the ranks, you've got Chhangte who's been brilliant last season, Bipin on the other side. Gurkirat has been doing very well for them. Apart from that, Greg Stewart, a name that always stands out. Yes, they're going to be competing with the likes of Neymar, Koulibaly, Mitrovic if he's fitter. But then that's what football is, wanting to improve, wanting to play with the best and these names are the best in the world. So that's where you improve, push your limits, push yourself to see how much more is needed or are you there? Unless you risk it, you won't make it.

Q. I think we'll move a little closer to home in terms of the national league. And we saw the ISL playoffs expand to six teams last season. There's obviously been two schools of thought on it. What are your thoughts on there being six teams in the playoffs?

I think the biggest picture that we need to look at over here is that we are trying to replicate the Premier League system, correct? To play the Premier League system, you need 40 games. At the moment we're at 22, if I'm not wrong. 22 games. Plus, obviously the playoff games as well. So that pushes it up a little bit, but it still needs more. It still needs to be playing 40 games in and out. It also tests your depth. It also makes you play more football. Because again, when you say training, yes, you can train. But at the same time, when you're in a game, that's where your limits are tested. That's where the improvement happens.

One thing over my career that I've always believed in is you never lose, you always learn. So the more you play, the more you learn. And that's what we've seen with the national team as well. The more we've been playing, now the results are showing. We've gone unbeaten for close to 400 minutes in 11 games because we're playing so much football. And you definitely know there were times when questions were asked, why are we not playing enough? Now we're asking questions, how much time do we have for camps? So that just shows improvement, not just from the club level, but national level as well.

And now that I've already brought up the playoffs, which team do you think will qualify for the playoffs at the end of the season? And who do you think will win the league shield?

I think if I can go from yesterday's game, Mumbai versus Mumbai would be the two biggest competitors for the league. Mumbai did get the upper hand yesterday evening. But then again, this is just the start of the season. So if I have to pick two teams, I think with the transfers that Mohun Bagan have made, it's imperative for the fans, if not the public, that they will win the league.

But then apart from that, you've got East Bengal who's made some great signings as well. They’re a name that, for the past couple of seasons, they're not really doing much in the league. But the signings that have come in now, like Siverio, Prabhsukhan and Khabra with his experience, Mahesh, who's been probably the standout player for the season alongside Chhangte, for the national team as well. They've got a great team. Now it's just about performing. Ayayay, you put me in a spot. I think, to be honest, it'll actually come down to preparation. Preparation is definitely going to be key. It's about the intake. It's about recovery times. That's the only question when I think of Mohun Bagan and Mumbai City.

Recovery times, because they're going to be playing tentatively in two to three competitions. So yeah, I think, close my eyes, Mumbai City and Mohun Bagan Supergiant. I want to throw in Odisha FC and East Bengal into the mix as well, just because.

Q. You've played for quite a few teams over the course of your career. I want to bring up one of the more recent teams you've played for. Punjab FC will be playing their first season in the ISL this year. How well do you think they're going to do and how much of an impact do you think they'll have on the league this season?

I think they need to do better, to be honest. They're going to make the jump from the I-League to the ISL now, whereas the team's back end stuff of professionalism is concerned, it's a brilliant team. From the back office, to the players, to the coaches, to the owners, to be honest. Everyone has one aim, they want to do well. They want to do well and that's why they've said, okay, we want to compete with the best, we've got to play in the best league in the country, which is at this moment, the Indian Super League. So they've made the jump. Will they be able to consistently perform? That's a question that Punjab needs to answer because consistency is key. Alongside playing football, you need to make sure that you recover well. Everything is proper. Your injuries are lessened because we've seen when a few teams have injuries, they kind of break down. That's where I think Punjab's depth will be tested.

Q. I'm going to go from one former team of yours to another. Bengaluru FC basically had a fairly interesting season where they made the finals of three competitions. During the ISL, they looked out of their depth halfway into the season, but then they sort of fought back and made the final again there. Do you think that is sustainable? How do you think they're going to do this year?

I think the credit has to go to Simon Grayson for getting the bunch together. Like you rightly mentioned, they didn't have the best of the starts and BFC is known for a team to be competing at the top. So the credit has to be given to Simon Grayson for getting the boys together, making sure they're united and making sure saying that, "hey, listen, let's focus on winning whatever remainder is left and let's just see what happens from there."

And I think that being said, the sustainability comes with the players that they will sign. You've obviously got Ryan Williams and Curtis Main who’ve come in now alongside Suresh (Wangjam) who's always been there. I think Rohit (Kumar) is another player that plays well. Sunil (Chhetri) will always be a name that you will associate with BFC. Sivasakthi as well, who had a great season, obviously injuries and everything of those sorts, pulled him down a little. But that being said, new season, new beginnings, new rules, new ideas that Simon Grayson will have to bring to the table now because he sees he's got some time. And if you look at the signings, he's not gone out and just refreshed the team as we call it. He's just gone and brought in strength wherever it's needed. And I think that’s the right way to go about it. He’s not gone out and changed the house if the bulb is not working. You find out how to sort the problems out. And I think Simon Grayson has done well midway through the season… three finals as well. And now lucky for him, it's a reset. You go again. He knows what Indian football needs now and he's going to go again.

Q. Now I want to speak a little about how your role is going to change this season. So you've obviously played in the ISL quite a bit. And now you're going to be working as a commentator. How much of a challenge do you think that is and how much are you looking forward to making that switch?

I think it wouldn't be challenging because I'm just going to be honest. The past couple of years that I've been working on TV, I've been honest about my likes and dislikes. And that's just going to be the case whenever I am working saying “listen, if someone needs improvement, why not?” It's not about hiding your mistakes. It's making sure that they're known because unless you know them, you're not going to work on them. And if I can just help somehow with making sure that the team perform better and just be myself to be honest. I've never been someone who's not been honest about what he wants from football, how much he likes football. And that's just going to be the case.

So that's going to be the case where I'll just be as honest as I can working on TV. And hopefully, none of my friends from the outside message me that you shouldn’t have said that about me. And I think my real friends will know. The people that care for me and I care for them will know that it's never negativity that's been brought across. It's always going to be, “hey, I know you can do better. I know you can do better because I've been around you. And I think that is something that I always tell everybody. I know you can do better. And if I can help you just 0.1% by letting you know what could have been done better, maybe you fix it.” Probably that's the experience speaking. Sometimes when you're on the outside, it sounds better, it seems better and you see better. And apart from that, just help the younger boys as much as I can and just help them by saying that it's not about the 90 minutes. It's about nutrition as well. It's about your intakes as well. It's about your supplements as well.

And that's another reason why we're here today with MyProtein as well, because they've been beside me. I've been with them for a couple of years and I learned how important and imperative nutrition is. And they've helped me throughout the process, be it recovery drinks, be it proteins, be it snacks, healthy snacks, be it multivitamins, be it clothes. I'm always in their clothing. If you could see me right now, you'd be like, but yeah, I think that's going to be part B and part C will obviously be build an intellectual property where I can speak to athletes from all across the nation, be it football, be it cricket, be it athletics and whoever it may be, men's football, women's football and just portray the human side of it. Because if I can create a podcast or a video cast in that sense, why not? Because we are told that we are machines, but some things, some sort of things that are said on the internet sometimes hurt. And that's something that I put across saying, “hey, listen, we're humans. We're here. We tend to make mistakes. It's not on purpose, but just be one of us. Just sit down, get to know the person that maybe an Amrinder (Singh) is, maybe a Rahul Bheke is, maybe a Jayesh (Rane) is. Just get to know the person. We're a fun bunch of boys, man. There are so many things that people don't know about us.”

Q. I was going to ask you about your journey with MyProtein as well. I think you did cover quite a bit, but if you want to add anything else, please do.

I think it's the simple things. Again, life is like that. Football is like that. And MyProtein understands that it's doing the simple things right from their packaging to their products. It's simple, it's clean, it's precise. And that's exactly what you need. And that's why I've stuck around for so long.

We know that there are plenty of brands in the country, but there is a reason why you stay loyal to a brand because you see results, you see improvements and they are one of the best in the world. That is the reason why, because they do the simple things right.

Q. Just to finish, can you tell me what your favorite ISL moments over the years have been? And it could be with regard to you or even outside of your career, whatever you want to speak about.

I think one team that will be very close to me is BFC, which gave me the opportunity to play in the ISL. Some memories of winning titles at BFC will be one of them, but the second one has to be Delhi Dynamos. Playing alongside Roberto Carlos is a dream come true. People don't know I started as a left-back. He was one of my idols and then being helped to be coached by him. And then a quick little story, we were stuck at the airport after a national team game and I got a call saying, your plane's ready, just get on this plane. I landed into Pune for the first game. First time he called my room, I cut the phone thinking someone's joking. Then I got called saying “can you come down?” I went down and the only thing he said is, “you're going to start today, you're going to score today and I'm going to substitute you.” And that's exactly how I played through. Played for Dele Nemos, got off the plane, rested, ate, started the game, scored a goal and then got told, do you want to come off? I said, no, I just want to go. It's a brilliant feeling. It's someone that shows that much trust in you and that much belief in you. And that to a name like Roberto Carlos that I still keep in touch with. It's always going to be a memory that sticks with me.