With players in favour of Roelant Oltmans, Paul van Ass return as good as over

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After all this, it will take something really dramatic for the committee to recommend that Van Ass should eventually return and take charge of the ongoing camp in Shilaroo, Himachal Pradesh.

His case was further weakened after it has emerged that some of the senior players are believed to have told Hockey India that it will not be a big loss if Van Ass is allowed to go. They termed Van Ass’s tactics as ‘confusing’ and insisted they needed to build on the base formed in the last 12 months rather than start from scratch with just a year to go for the Olympics.

The players have also said that high performance director Roelant Oltmans is the best possible option to take over the reins from his compatriot.

Oltmans was the interim coach of the team during the Champions Trophy last December after Australian Terry Walsh’s unceremonious departure. India finished fourth but their overall performance was seen to be encouraging. Oltmans is currently in Shilaroo, in charge of the camp, and is expected to meet Batra on Saturday. Later that day, they are scheduled to meet Sports Authority of India director general Injetti Srinivas.

After staying clear from the controversy, the SAI DG has asked for an update on the coach issue. “We have formed an independent committee to ensure there is no bias. I, too, will not be a part of the review. Once the committee decides what has to be done, we will communicate that to SAI on Saturday,” Batra said.

“I don’t think it will be a problem if Van Ass returns. I hardly communicate directly with the chief coach unless there is a meeting or a team gathering. So our working relationship won’t be affected much and we will be professional about it.”

The review committee meeting was originally called to analyse the performances of the men’s and women’s teams at the World League semifinals in Belgium. But the impending exit of the chief coach has pushed the overall picture into the background.

“Our main idea was to see if strategies adopted by Van Ass were good enough. But now our line of debate will be different. First we have to figure out if he should stay, which he probably won’t, and then talk about future strategies under a new coach,” a committee member said.

There might also be some shake-up recommended in the remaining of the coaching staff. Some of the members believe Jude Felix and Sandeep Sangwan have not added much value to the set-up and they might be replaced.