The “ SCORPION ” versus the “ DIAMOND ” :: P . K . Banerjee versus Amal Dutta

Pics : Diamond Formation

Pics : The Diamond Formation of Football Initiated by Bimal Ghosh and "EXPEDITED" to "PERECTION" by Amal Dutta The “ SCORPION ” versus the “ DIAMOND ”  :: P . K . Banerjee versus Amal DuttaIt is said that  “ TWO FORCES OPPOSITE IN DIRECTION BUT EQUAL IN MAGNITUDE CONSTITUTES A COUPLE “  This is the LAW OF MAGNETISM that we had studies when we were the student of Class Tenth in Physics.I

If we have to apply this simple theory to the two FORCES of Indian Football which defined the COACHING of Indian Football, then it applies plainly and brilliantly on Mr Amal Dutta, and Mr Pradip Kumar Banerjee, as both the personalities were quite OPPOSITE in DIRECTION but had possessed the MAGNITUDE which were equal to each other.

This article again is my DEEP-HEARTED-REVERENCE to the TWO departed SOUL of the SOIL of Bengal who SHAPED the FOOTBALL and the DESTINY of FOOTBALL of Bengal . They were common when it came to thinking about FOOTBALL but were ANTI-PODES when it came to their success and it’s stories which was related to football.

Never would India have such a COLOURFUL character as Mr P.K.Banerjee when it came to SCROUND about Football and never would India ever have another Amal Dutta when it came to  BOAST about the same . Both were equal in magnitude in that matter . This article would differentiate first about their approach to the game and integrate them when it comes to terming them the “ MAHAGURUS ” of Indian football.

 I start my study on them from the deep rooted ORIGIN and then moves myself one-by-one studying about their contribution to the game .

 Origin ::

 Let me start with Mr Banerjee popularly known as Pradipda or PKda in Indian football. Born at Jalpaiguri to a very humble family where there were seven brothers and sisters in the family Mr Pradip Banerjee in a very young age had to face the brunt of handling the affairs of the family matter as he lost his Father at a very raw age.

When very young the family had to shift to Jamshedpur where Pradipda started playing Football and he represented Bihar in the 1954 National, ie the Santosh Trophy and what a performance he had in that national where he guided Bihar to it’s FIRST ever Quarter-Finals where they played Bengal for a 0-0 draw in the first meeting, then a 1-1 draw in the second and thereafter losing to them by 0-1 in the third meeting. It is the ONLY instance of a team playing another team for three different times in the 

annals of the Santosh Trophy, the symbol of the supremacy of Football in India then.  It was P K Banerjee who was instrumental in scoring that goal for Bihar to put them ahead in that quarters .

 For his stupendous performance he was paid only RUPEES TWO for his gallant effort.

 

 The next move came in when the family shifted to Kolkatta and here it was that his fortune started changing. He had to come to Kolkatta because of a JOB that paid him Rs 137=00 per month . The TWO income that he and his father earned was just that it was a case of hand-to-mouth for the family. Just as it appeared that everything was in it’s place that the disaster was to strike thereafter . The family lost the “ HEAD ”  and everything  fell on the YOUNG but the RAW shoulder of Pradipda .

 After moving to Kolkata the company where Pradipda was employed gave him the leave everyday to play football in the mid afternoon everyday and he and his game saw him signing for the BATA SPORTS XI in 1955-56 and after a year he signed for Aryans XI for the season in 1956-57 .  In 1958 he got his FIRST job for the Eastern Railways for whom he worked till 1998 and retired as the Chief of Communication Officer  of Eastern Railways . He first salary at Eastern Railway was Rs 139=00 and that salary was instruemental for him NOT to change his colours

Actually after his Father’s death, Mr P K Banerjee not only had to  manage the entire family but he also had to marry at a very RAW and a YOUNG age to Mrs Arti who was in a large manner instrumental in helping him to shape his career both as a Footballer and as a employee of Eastern railways

 Pradipda received many an OFFER from Mohun Bagan then during that era which were the figures from Rs 5000=00 per annum to about Rs 15,000=00 per annum to assist them and East Bengal also offered him the JOB in the NEW ZEALAND – AUSTRALIA GRINDLAY’S BANK along with a nominal fee but Mr Pradip Banerjee was NEVER to leave the Eastern railway because it was a ASSURED GOVERNMENT JOB . One when asked- WHY DO NOY YOU PLAY FOR THE EAST BENGAL OR MOHUN BAGAN HE REPLIED – EITHER WAY I’M A BENGALI AND I DO NOT HAVE TO PROVE MY WORTH AS A BENGALI BY PLAYING FOR THESE TWO CLUBS. MORESO IF I PLAY FOR THEM, WHAT WILL I EAT AND HELP MY FAMILY TO EAT. HOW CAN I LIVE WITHOUT EATING.

From 1958 to 1968 thereafter Pradipda was the “ DON QUIXOTE ”  of Indian football . It was a FOURTH place standing at Melbourne for the Indian team and he was ONE of the scorer for India in that Olympics

beside Neville De Souza who scored a HATTRICK for India in that Olympics against Australia and then at Rome where he scored that SPECTACULAR goal of the left footfoot . A “GOLD ” at the 1962 Asian games was the CHERRY ON THE CAKE after it was ICED and the last was the SILVER at the Olympic Qualifiers against Iran when India lost to them by 1-0 and failed to qualify . That was P.K.Banerjee and his tale of footballer for India.

 AMAL DUTTA –this name spells CONJURE and this name spells REBELLION .It was both and it was because of this reason that Mr Amal Dutta  could not get that kind of a MONEY, GLITZ, FAME, HONOUR which Pradipda got it from football . In no way Mr Amal Dutta should not have won the GURU DRONACHARYA AWARD for coaching but he and his name was never considered and he did NOT approach any body in the MINISTRY for the same. That is where the difference in the mental attitude came in when it came to both the coaches but more about it later in the article.

 

 Mr Amal Dutta known as Amalda too was a footballer who played for B N Railways and East Bengal and then he represented India in the defense in the 1956 Merdeka . After returning back to India from that sojourn, the then famous Coach Bagha Shome handed him a book on coaching and said him- COACH .Your main arena in football lies in coaching  and that is the place for you . COACH and BUILD footballers for India rather than serving the Railways and playing football for the BIG THREE .

 This spurred and spurned Amalda and he GAVE AWAY his JOB at the B N Railways . During that era GIVING AWAY A WELL ASSURED GOVERNMENT JOB WAS TO GIVE AWAY THE “ BEATING HEART” TO SOMEBODY FOR LIVING IN THE WORLD. However Amalda did that and plunged into coaching That is how it started

 Amalda unlike Pradipda did not have a huge family to maintain and his monetary condition was just normal.He did not possess POTS-AND-POTS of it was just good for him to take care of his responsibilities .  He had a family which consisted of his son, a daughter and he also has a personal house to live for. In that manner he was safe but the risk of quitting a well settled and an assured job of the Railways was too hard a bargain for him in his life but he did that for the SAKE OF FOOTBALL FOR INDIA.

 COACHING TENURE OF BOTH THE COACH

 Pradipda for his exploit for India was given a SCHOLARSHIP to train himself as a Coach and his employers Eastern Railway too helped him for the same. Actually the Eastern Railway in 1958 were the I F A Kolkatta League champion and it was Pradipda who made them so. The Chief of the General 

Manager at eastern railways was a KEEN follower of sports and he had his eye fixed on Pradipda. In 1968 when he retired from football, Pradipda was asked by the Eastern Railway authorities about his intention of turning himself into a coach. He was at first reluctant but he was  CHARGED by the railways to take up the assignment.

 The reason for Pradipda was his earning and the monthly salary that he received from the Railways and the  lack of the same might hit his family hard . However the Railways assured him that his staying away from the job to obtain his license would be considered as IN SERVICE FOR RAILWAYS and that set the tone. Pradipda then was to appear for a exam for enrolling his name for a coaching course at Japan. His expenses TO-AND-FROM was borne by the Eastern Railways . By doing so the Eastern Railways authorities were assured of them getting a good coach for their team in the future.

 It was just the opposite in the case of Mr Amal Dutta. After leaving the job of the Railways, whatever he got in terms of the benefits he took a loan by mortguaging his house to a Bank and with that money he set for England for his coaching license. How would his family be fed, and what happens to him in the case of some disaster visiting the family was NOT in his head. He went to England , struggled hard over there earning some money by doing some kind of a job away from the time when he was not attending the coaching classes and after receiving the coaching certificate he came back to India and thus started his journey as a PROFESSIONAL COACH OF FOOTBALL FOR INDIA.

For the one’s who are interested in football- Mr AMAL DUTTA IS THE “ FIRST ” EVER PROFESSIONAL COACH OF INDIA  IN FOOTBALL AND IN THE HISTORY OF INDIAN FOOTBALL .

 COACHING LADDER IN TERMS OF CAREER AND SUCCESS

 Pradipda-::

After returning from Japan, Pradipda was given the charge of the Eastern railways team to mould that team into a fighting unit as a coach . That was his first assignment as a coach. His effort saw Eastern railways beating Mohun Bagan in one of the football match in 1969 in the I F A Kolkatta  league then. Jowever his moment of glory came in 1970 when in the semi- finals of the I F A Shield tournament the Esatern Railway created a havoc when they held the esat Bengal side led by Santo Mitra to about holding them to a  draw but that WORLD CLASS PILE DRIVER by Pintuda from about 40 yards ( Samaresh Choudhury ) in the 68^th minute that nailed them out . East Bengal then beat the PAS Club, Iran by 1-0 in the finals to win that trophy. That was the trend set

Amalda- : : 

After returning back to India , Amalda took on the job of a full paid professional coach .He did not receive any success but then the wheel of fortune changed in the 1968 Santosh Trophy for the national football championship.

 Amalda was in charge of the Orissa Football team for the 1968 National Football championship. That Orissa team created havoc after havoc and they toppled some of the well famous teams of that era to reach the SEMI-FINALS where they lost to Bengal who ultimately lost to MYSORE ( now Karnataka ) by 1-0 in the twice played finals .Thus it was 1968 where both hit the headlines and started carving their niches in the annals of coaching when it boiled to Indian football.

 SEEDS OF DISCORD AND COMPETITON SOWN

 It was 1968 when the two started hitting the headlines and Amalda’s PARLEY  brought him to the top ECHELON of coaching in Indian football.He was the coach of Mohun Bagan soon for two consecutive season for 1968-69 and 1969-70.

 Amalda and his coaching saw Mohun Bagan hitting the nail’s in the coffin of East Bengal in the period between 1968 t0 the start of 1970 till the month of February .In between he was the coach of East Bengal for a brief period in 1969 before he again went to Mohun Bagan as he was NOT satisfied by the salary he got at East Bengal. His logic was SIMPLE. Unlike the other coaches of India where they are employed I EARN MY LIVING ALL THROUGH COACHING AND I WANT A SALARY THAST SUITS MY POCKET.East Bengal NEVER was a CLUB which believed in PAYING a POCKET-FULL of that to anybody as East Bengal was NEVER a club which ran football to EARN money out of that .At the BEST what East Bengal would do is to get the JOBS for the players playing for them and in that manner they did a commendable job in getting their players employed in all the Government institutions. Mohun Bagan was different in that manner.

 1968 saw East Bengal losing quite a few times to Mohun Bagan and the worst came in the I F A Shield in 1969 and then immediately in the ANANDA BAZAR GOLDEN JUBILEE FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT where again Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal by 3-1 . Two matches and the  the was  East Bengal conceded 6 goals to Mohun Bagan replying it with TWO at the rate of ONE GOAL EACH . That was the start

 A lot of the HISTORIANS write so GLOATLY about Mohun Bagan’s rout of East Bengal in those TWO matches where they fired SIX against East Bengal . However NOBODY dares to WRITE the TRUTH and the TRUTH is -  EAST BENGAL LOST TO MOHUN BAGAN BECAUSE SOME OF THE EAST BENGAL PLAYERS LIKE NOOR, DORAISWAMY NATRAJAN, SATADULLAH, PAPPENA ALL FROM KERALA AND MYSORE

THEN WERE NOT USED TO PLAY IN THE MUDDY-SLUSHY FIELD THAT THE KOLKATTA LAID OUT FOR IT’S FOOTBALL IN THE RAINY SEASON

In both the matches most of the SOUTH INDIAN based players would stand at their places without moving . The Bengalese who were suited to these kind of surface to pay the game played excellently and that gave Mohun Bagan the advantage How the result differed could have been seen was the reflection of it when East Bengal defeated the same Mohun Bagan taem by 1-0 at the Durand in 1968 in the semis and by 2-0 at the Rovers Finals in 1969 after losing to them in the IFA Shield by 3-1.

In both thos matches Mohun Bagan were up by 3-0 in the half time but it was East Bengal who scored those goals each in the  second half to reduce the margin. From here started the INNOVATION that came in Indian Football and here I describe the ATTITUDE and the DIFFERENTIAL CREATIVITY of both the coaches . However I may add that Pradipda from 1970 to the start of 1972 was the ASSISTANT COACH of Esat Bengal lest he took up the charge FULLY in 1972 for Esat Bengal. In between in 1970 he was the Assistant Coach to Mr G.M. Basha who DISCOVERED Manoranjan Bhattacharjee in 1974 , and under Basha the combination of Basha-Pradipda got India their LAST INTERNATIONAL MEDAL in Football, the Bronze that they won in the Asian games 1970 . Now comes the point-to-point difference of these two coaches and they are here under-:
A ) >  Imagination-:
Pradipda- : He believed in a set theory with a little adjustment here and there . He would not go in for a calculated risk during the game to change the fortune of the game .This was seen when the semi-fianls of the Fed Cup that was played where Esat Bengal defeated Mohun Bagan by 4-1 with Baichung scoring a hattrick
Pradipda for anything would just bring about a marginal change in his set up and in his flow of the game but would never change it for an total alteration while and during the game .

Amalda - :  Amalda had too many an ammunition under his sleeve and too many a weapon which he would very easily vary and  use it during the game to topple his opponent . The classic of that was noticed in the Orivdda team’s march into the semis in the Santosh Trophy when he used THREE STRIKERS interchanging their position from the STRIKING ZONE to the FLANKS and vice-versa  when it came to attack or playing even with their midfields .This kind of a scene was NEVER to be seen in Indian Football till then.

His second example was in the season of 1977 when he guided East Bengal to the I F A  League win and the 1982 I F A League win once again. He discovered Prasanto Banerjee in the midfield and again he  discovered

Bhaskar Ganguly at the goal beside using Samaresh Choudhury as a SCREEN between the mid field and the defense of East Bengal. Samaresh( Pintuda ) was often seen as the STRIKER when he would come to that position when the game would be in full flow .He adopted the same theory on Satyajit Mitra, Sudip Chatterjee , and Bikas Panji and converted them into a scorers for the match .

Pics - : Bhaskar Ganguly Leads East Bengal under Amal Dutta to win the 1984 I.F.Shield Finals

Many consider Amal Dutta's pulling off the cards under the sleeves as an SECRET ammunition in the I F A Shield in 1984  where he knew that East Bengal would not win the League title. He instead of wastin the energy of the players " preserved " that and used it very EFFECTIVELY to beat Mohammedan Sporting by 1-0 in the Group encounter, the Port Authority of Thailand by 1-0 in the semis of that tourney and in the FINALS beating Mohun Bagan by 1-0 in the finals in the process turning players like Kartik Sett and Sunirmal Chakravorty as an household name in the field of Kolkatta football.

Infact the CLASS and the GLARING example of his coaching was- TURNING SUDEEP CHATERJE INTO A MID-FIELD GENERAL and DEEPAK KUMAR as a FLUENT player in the wing-half beside turning Mohammed Fareed into an TWO-IN-ONE kind of a player who would be DEFENSIVE midfielder and then convert himself into an scorer when in the flow of the move and attack.That was seen when Fareed scored the WINNING goal for India to help India her FIRST SAF Football title in 1987 at Kolkatta.

 B ) > Perceive ::

 Pradipda- :

 Both the coaches had tremendous quality in the matter of PERCEIVE. Both could see very early in the match as to where would the match go and then what to do the next . The Merdeka Tournament of 1981 was the example when under P.K.B anerjee India made it to the semis .In that tourney a win against Indonesia was the LIFE-AND-BLOOD kind of a game for India . Pradipda asked Krsihnendu Roy to play as a withdrawn wing half in that match and assigned him the task to join Compton Dutta at the right wing at the time of defending and moves up from the left wing half position to the centre while attacking and playing as a screen between Shabbir Ali at times and to take some shot at the goals at times. This gave India that 1-0 win with Krishnendu Roy scoring in that match

Infact Pradipda could understand that this was the ONLY ploy to surprise the Indonesian that day which they did it with style.

Amalda- :

The example of India holding Poland to a 1-1 draw in the Nehru Cup at Siliguri in 1987 and taking an early lead against Hungary to lose to them by 1-2 simply narrates the tail . Keeping the lines between the Central Attacker to the Central Midfielder  Amit Bhadra in an angle that could be termed as a STRAIGHT LINE and constantly making the two wing half and the two mid field half to add them to the two strikers upfront he always kept as many as SIX ATTACKERS upfront at the time of attacking made a BAMBOOZLE of the opponent and India really  dished  out a tremendous exhibition of football in that tourney. The innovative approach of the Indian had won many a heart of the footballers who had come to play football for their countries in that tourney .

C ) > Experiment ::

 Pradipda ::

 Pradipda did not believe in too many an experiment. He for most of the time in his career as a clways believed in the SET-PATTERN theory of football. He brought in a marginal change in the game for the players but NEVER an experimentation.

 In the 1982 Asian Games which were held at New Delhi the way he used Kartik Sett and his speed upfront with a slight marginal change with Kartik moving himself up during the attack to be a bit diagonal to Shabbir Ali to score could be the termed as the BEST of Pradipda. However Pradipda was NEVER for that kind of an 100% change and his approach to the game too was more or less fixed. What mattered to Pradipda at the END was the RESULT . That he got it in plenty.

 Amalda - ::

If there is any HISTORY and a RECORD in the BOOKS of FOOTBALL COACHING as to WHICH COACH HAS THE RECRD OF CHANGING A PLAYER BY 100% IN THE ANNALS OF FOOTBALL THEN IT WOULD BE AMAL DUTTA.

 Amalda always believed in bringing about a WHOLESOME change in the MANNER, ATTITUDE, BEHAVIOUR and CHARECTERISTIC of and in a FOOTBALLER. The class example are the example of Probir Ganguly and  Sukalyan Ghosh Dastidar in the Mohun Bagan era of 1968 to 1970 , the conversion of Sudeep Chatterjee from a Central Stopper into a WHOLETIME MID-FIELDER and WHAT A MIDFIELDER he turned out to be, the CONVERSION of Subroto Bhattacharjee from a Central Stopper to a Central Mid Fielder in the 1986 Nationals at Jabalpur where Punjab won the title beating Bengal by 4-2 in the tie breaker were and are the CLASS examples of a coach converting a player from a FREEZED one to the completely METAPHORMOPHOSIS one .That and there lies the GREATNESS of Amalda.

For Amalda what was important was- DID THE PEOPLE ENJOY THE GAME AND DID THE PLAYERS FEEL THAT THEY ARE AN IMPROVED ONE That mattered to him the most and only then mattered the trophies. This is the difference why Amalda did not win as many as that number of trophies in his career .In the picture below the TIGERISM of the players that Amalda could create in Manoranjan Bhattacharjee where he moves up to take a shot at the Mohun Bagan's goal in the 1977 I F A Sheild and in the bottom where he SIDE-SLIDES-TACKLE to foil a Dempo forward in the Rovers Cup 1977 game well illustrates how slowly but surely Amalda moulds a player who later become as FEROCIOUS as a TIGER or a LION on the field .+

D ) > Theory - ::

Pradipda wss full of theory. Everyday after the practice session he would take the players to the class room and would spend many hours in exporting his theory to the players about what they do and what is expected them to do and how to do.His practice session too had most of his theories translated into the practicals.

 Amalda-::

 Never did he believed in THEORY. For him  THE GAME IS PRACTICALLY PLAYED AND IT IS ONLY THE PRACTICALS THAT HORNES A PLAYER

 Amalda and his practice seesions were such that it would be for say five to six hours a day. Pradeepda would be say at the most three hours in all with another one to two for the theories . That was the difefernce between them and the two coaches.

E ) >  . Innovations ::

Pradipda - ::

Pradipda was not that innovative. His simple logic was t TOO MANY INNOVATION DISTURBS THE MENTAL STATE OF THE PLAYERS AND THEY GET CONFUSED WHILE PLAYING THE GAME. At last it hampers the team

Pics ::
The East Bengal Fed Cup Football Team Winner After Beating Mohun Bagan by 1-0

Pradipda if he saw some good talent in a guy, he would pick him and mould him hard and tough to be a winner.The example is Kartik Sett whose tremendous runs in the flanks was extremely utilized to the hilt by Pradipda and he made him an international player .

Most of the players that Pradipda used and expedited his plans to win the trophies were the players who came from the lesseor known clubs who were moulded andf trained into a footballers were from the the coaches who would coach the smaller clubs and the lesoor known clubs of Kolkatta and India. Looking into their mouldings as a player Pradipda would train them to get whatwas needed by him from them.He never exerted himself much for remoulding he players as he always believed in getting and wining the trophies for the club .

Amalda - ::

 Be it the stratey, be it the composition be it the moulding of a players even if he is aged and is on the wane, Amalda always believed in innovation and changes my miles of measures

Be it the 4 – 1 – 1 – 3-1 system that he brought in the period between 1968 to 170, be it the 4-3-3 system that he employed on the Orissa team for the Santosh Trophy where he played THREE strikers and not even a single flanks upfront, be it the 4-2-4 or be it the 4-4-1-1 the system that he deployed at the Nehru Cup at Siliguri in 1987 or the BEST the DIAMOND SYSTEM in 1997 INNOVATION and Amalda were the SLEEPING PARTNERS in Football that relates to India .

F ) > :: Players Moulding

 Pradipda ::  Pradipda and for Pradipda he did not believe in wasting the time in moulding players. The logic was simple. In the BIG clubs the important factor that would matter is the TROPHIES and nothing else. Clubs stay afloat only by winning the trophies. He did not thus believe in wasting the time in moulding and creating players.

 What he got, he would watch the player very carefully and would use him to the strength of the team.That is all . Pradipda believed in TROPHIES, nothing less nothing more.

 Amalda ::  For Amalda MOULDING of the player in which is actually could be the BEST so as to get the BEST output from him ws the consideration. He believed in CORRECTING a player and putting him in that groove to which he belonged to. For that he would take his time and chance. Trophies winning for him was not that important rather than winning the game .

 It is only for this that Amalda was more of a talked about personality when the players spoke about him. They feel that their LIFE was made by Amalda courtesy football and the class examples of the same are Amit Bhadra, Sabir pasha, Deepak Kumar, Mohammed Farid,  Satyajit Chatterjee, Tarun Dey, Babu Mani and to some extent Abdul Majeed of Jammu and Kashmir.

G ) > . Players Conditioning ::

Pradipda ::  His attitude was even if a player is weak to start, good diet and a good practice can mould a player provided the player is disciplined and takes his game seriously. He only applied this rule and did not waste his time to condition a player physically. All his conditioning came through the hard practice that he made them to do.

Amalda ::   Amalda in this matter was a BIT different and alotogether a different man when it boiled to it

He would watch a player, watch his body, look and notice into his physique and then study it to recommend a  list of food and then make him train and work hard in that manner. He would specifically work hard in that arena of weakness of the player to make him fit and hard on that area. The class example was of Aloke Mukherjee and Ranjit Mukherjee who Amalda recommended a list of food to take to overcome their difficulties when they were at wood . Amalda moulded the players only after diagnosis of the players whereas Pradeepda made them to get moulded to according to the need of the team and serve him through the team to win the Trophies.

H ) > Medical Treatment and it’s knowledge  

Pradipda - ::  He would notice a player in case the player needed to be referred to the Doctor and would do so by recommending him to that doctor. He would then follow the player and the doctor to find out how was the player recovering to his medical attention

Amalda  - ::   Amalda if at all needed be would himself first check the player and find out what was wrong with him.He would try out with the kind of an information that he had over the medical science and find out actually what was wrong with the player .

If the player could be treated by him and brought back to normalcy he would do that with elan. Only when he felt that the player ought to be send to the doctor, he would then send him to the doctor. The class case is of Aloke Mukherjee and Ranjit Mukherjee whom Amalda supervised them when they were injured internally and made them to stand on their legs before sending them to the doctor but handing them the list of the food and it’s intake in terms of the medicine that they neded to gain back the energy to the full to play outstanding football.

 H ) :  >  TACTICS

 Pradipda - ::  He too knew a lot about them by reading the books but he never used them requently during the game . He did not believe in using too many of them against any team because he believed in WINNING the Trophies much more rather than wiining the praise from the press about his game plan and   player’s performance . He was a SHREWD reader of the game .

 Amalda  - ::  A KEEN ACUMENSHIP THAT HE ALWAYS POSSESSED WAS THE TACTS HE EMPLOYETO COUNTER HIS OPPONENT DURING THE GAME

 A class example were the  team performance of Esat Bengal in the 1984 I F A League.There was a DROP in the performance of the players all of a sudden in the midst of the League. He told the PLAYERS- COMPLETE THE LEAGUE ASSIGNMENT IN THE WAY IT COULD BE BUT START PREPARING FOR THE SHIELD FROM NOW ONWARDS. WE WILL HAVE TO WIN THE SHIELD

 With the League still NOT completed he visualized HOW FAR MOHUN BAGAN COULD GO IN THE SHIELD and started moulding his players keeping in mind if the foreign team too came to play the Shield. He worked on that TACTS and on that INNOVATION  that he employed during the Shield. The result was East Bengal NOT only won the Sheild but it BEAT the Port Authority, Bangkok, Thailand which was then ONE of the MOST DANGEROUS team of Asia and he GOT Debashish Roy in the BEST of his striking form with Sudeep Chatterjee in the best of the playing  terms for the team and for himself in that tourney during the shield.

Using Sudeep Chaterjee in the midfield Amalda completely blocked Krishanu Dey and moving Sunirmal Chakravorthy in the midfield feom one end of the midfield to the another he blocked Bikas Panji and Prasanto Banerjee and that made it for Esat Bengal.This innovation he had created in his mind even when the League  was on and East Bengal were NEVER in the FRAY to win the League.

DIAMOND : THE “ SCORPION ”  OF PRADIPDA CUT THE  “ DIAMOND ” OF AMALDA  

 This summarises the entire story of the tales that the two coaches carry.  Actually the DIAMOND was the MIND CREATIO of Bimal Ghosh the Coach of Air-India . But he could not form the entire system of the DIAMOND which Amalda created and did it .

It was the placing of the players at the point and moving up – all in the same time while interchanging the exchanges of the passes and falling back at the same time. There would be so many a flow of passes that would be played and exchanged in between them.

This system needs a PHYSICAL ENERGY of about 4500 calories per players to execute it with class and elan.The Indian footballers are measured upto the scale of 3000 to 3500 calories per players per matches,  and not more and much of it. That made the difference and that ultimately fell on the players .It was NOT Baichung that day but it was the OVER – BURDEN of the players who were completely exhausted after that 6-0 win against Churchchill Brothers in the quarters of the Fed Cup. While executing that against Churchchill the Baganis had spend all their energy and they could NOT regain it to the extent needed in their match against East Bengal .

 The Comparism : The " SCORPION " and the " DIAMOND "


A ) > The Scorpion -:


It is a known fact that Pradipda was made more known and more popular because of the TWO players from the mountains, Shyam Thapa and Baichung Bhutia.The Kolkata's media would call them the " PAHARI BICHHU " ie the " MOUNTAIN SCORPIONS "  Thus he had earned a SOBRIQUET the SCORPIAN COACH

Pic-: One of the goal of East Bengal - 5 Mohun Bagan - 0

The picutures that I have presented here should summarise it all as to why he was more popularly known as the " SCORPION "

It was more of relying on the NATURAL instinct that the mountaineers were built upon their FLEXIBILTY and Pradipda totally made use of it in a THUMPING manner . 

The " DIAMOND SYSTEM" -:

The EXACT FLOW-FLUENCY- FLUIDITY of the DIAMOND system is explained here in the figure. It needs to play a total passes of about 15000 DUMMY PASSES per practice session before executing this to a near perfection in a match. The Europeans and the Africans can do that because of their physicalities  However not that to the extent of FLUENCY as far as the Indians are concerned.

The Baganis on that day completely had caught the East Bengalians by the NECK to squeeze the LIFE out of them in the first 29 minutes of the play, but  by then while doing so they were FATIGUED tand then that goal by Nazimul Haque against the run of the play and that header by Baichung well against the run of the play caught them unaware and that was that.

However in that season with the Diamond , Mohun Bagan won the I F A Kolkatta League,  they were the Runners- up in the Durand Cup and then again they won their INAUGURAL D C M Trophy ie their very FIRST DCM Trophy in their history by playing the diamond formation in the entire tourney.
What is the Diamond System Well to answer this is a system which starts from the Goalkeeper ie the “ LAST” point of “ TAPERED” to the Central Striker the opening point of the tapered of the formation of the Diamond .In this system either-:
A). The Goalkeeper starts the attack or the Central Striker starts the attack
B ) . In this system the entire players that I have or that is depicted in the figure have to move up TOGETHER or will have to fall back together
C ) . In this system the speed of all the players from the Central Striker to the Central Defender will have to maintain the same level of speed while running for an  attack or will have to fall back with the same speed while defending
D ) . In this system EIGHT players of the opponent are well within the TRAPPING ZONE of the players who form the Diamond. It becomes very HARD for the opponent to break through the defense of the opponent in this system
E ) . In this system the Central Striker, the Central Midfielder and the Central Stopper are in ONE straight line as a result the opponent strikers are always in trouble to break through that easily
That summarises the entire gamut of the system and this is what the Diamond is all about

 For whatever  the STATISTICS would say -::

P K Banerjee gave India the  “ GOLD MEDAL”  of the 1962 Asain games but AMAL DUTTA GAVE THE WORLD THE “ DIAMOND ” of FOOTBALL and that was the MARKED difference of the TWO to the INDIAN FOOTBALL and the WORLD OF FOOTBALL.That is what it is and THAT was it .

Right from the day one of my Sports Journalism career many had asked me WHO amongst them was the " DYANAMIC " and WHO amongst them was " DYANAMITE "
My answer after so many years, about 38 years   of RESEARCH and STUDIES is-:
Well- APART they were DYANAMICMIC, TOGETHER they were " DYANAMITE "  
That summarises the GREATNESS of the TWO " EYE'S " of Indian Football
Regards

Pics : Shyamal Bhattacharjee

Shyamal Bhattacharjee

Mr. Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought on Management , Politics , Peace and War ,  published by Pustak Mahal in 2001, Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It published by Manas Publications New Delhi  in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NCBA, Kolkatta  in 2012. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing