Trevor Morgan: possible successor to Bob Houghton as Indian Football coach

Trevor James Morgan

Trevor James Morgan, first came under limelight of Indian Football when East Bengal managed to recruit him after their last minute failure to seal the deal with Portugal’s ex-assistant coach ?Manuel Gomes. His resume had all the big names in it which included, Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City as a player and Hull city as a development Coach. He had a lot of repair job to do after Belgian coach Fillepe De Rider’s disastrous spell with the club as East Bengal somehow crawled itself out of relegation zone in the I-league.

It was his unusual training style which caught the eyes of everyone, technical training was followed by physical training. When asked about the reason, he supported his style by saying that physical training when done first will exhaust the players and will not allow them to be fully dedicated to skills training which Morgan felt was more required for the Indian players. The players also enjoyed working under him. Trevor Morgan started his coaching at East Bengal with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Mohammedan AC in a practice match. He gave the team an entire new outlook as he stressed more on ground passes as compared to the traditional Indian style- “Long balls”. He managed to sign Young Australian striker from NSW, who has ever since played a pivotal role to East Bengal’s success.

Trevor Morgan unlike other managers, has also given youngsters a fair chance and also made full use of the roster with better player rotation, which was hardly seen in Kolkata clubs earlier. He also took the risk of playing Robin Singh upfront despite having other foreigners in the squad with the likes of former Salgaocar Ekene Ikenwa, and the risk paid off with the team playing solid football ever since. He gave Penn Orji a more important role than he was used to earlier at JCT, as a play-maker and Penn proved to be the engine for the Red and Golds. The team is on an unforgettable winning streak which never seems to stop and more importantly they are playing, what we call “GOOD FOOTBALL”.

Bob Houghton

Indian football coach Bob Houghton has often been criticized for not utilizing his bench strength and the national pool, and hardly giving chance to youngsters. Bob’s critics have also blamed him for his long ball strategies which did not work out well in some cases.

Can we snatch something out of it!!

India are placed at a very tough group along with Bahrain, South Korea and Australia in the prestigious AFC Asia Cup 2011, Qatar. The teams fitness looks below par and needs a drastic improvement, especially when you have teams like South Korea in your group. The team seems to perform well only in patches. But, one good aspect of the team is that, the team has full confidence on Bob and that is the most important part. The credit goes to Bob for improving the team from what it was in 2006. The team has got confidence and that’s what is needed when you are in a tough group. Indian team has gelled well under him and if it can even snatch a point or two in the Asia Cup, then a major share of credit will go to Bob.

But the question is, if AIFF terminates Bob’s contract after Asia Cup who shall be brought on as replacement? At this moment Trevor Morgan seems to be a safe bet as he has the quality what lacks in Bob Houghton. Plus, he might be a cheaper option too. We all know how much amount AIFF pay to Bob for his wage specially, when AIFF lacks money. That much money spent on a manager cum coach is unacceptable to a team like India where the governing body of football has a serious deficit of money.

If there is anyone who can replace Bob after Asia Cup, it seems Mr. Trevor James Morgan is the wiser option.