Written by Vishal Patel in


Is Indian Football Ready For The Baan-Storm?


The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) long running search for a technical director seems to have finally ended, with the highly experienced and much travelled Dutchman Robert Baan being touted as the possible man to fill the vacancy.


Rob Baan
Getty Images


1. Born on 1st April 1943 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Baan is certainly not considered a fool in the footballing circles around the world.

    With almost a forty five year experience in management and other technical positions across Dutch football as well as stints in Asia and Australia, the sixty eight year old would bring his reservoir of extensive knowledge accumulated in all these years with him to the job.

    2. He was in charge of one game for the Dutch National team in 1981, a game against Cyprus which his team duly won 3-0. While more than 25 years later he took over the reigns of the Australian National team in 2007, a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in a match held in England.
    Baan Was Ronaldo's Mentor When he First Came To Europe....
    3. While the Dutchman’s International management career might not be much to write home about, he has managed several of the biggest teams in Dutch football, including Twente, Sparta Rotterdam, Roda JC and Excelsior. He was also an assistant manager with the Netherlands National team for 5 years and at PSV Eindhoven for 3 years.
      4. Not high profile enough? Well in his management career Baan has guided the careers of some of the biggest names in world football including Marco Van Basten, Johan Neeskens, Ronald de Boer and Ronaldo.

      5. However it wasn’t until he left the dugout for the position of Technical Director that he started receiving the praise he deserved. Spending six years at Dutch giants Feyenoord as a technical director, Baan changed the face of the youth structure at the club. The club’s present status as one of the best youth academies in Europe owes a lot to this sixty eight year old Rotterdam native.

      6. After his success with Feyenoord, the Dutchman had stints with the Al-Jazeera Club and then the Netherland National team, where he convinced all the Eredivisie clubs to implement the same playing structure across their youth structure, before Guus Hiddink recommended him to the Australian authorities and he was duly appointed as Australia’s technical director.
      Will These Youngsters Learn To Play The Dutch Way?...
      7. In his two year stay in Australia, he completely changed the English methods of coaching adopted in the country and introduced them to more possession based Dutch style football.

      8. His main principle for youth development is that kids shouldn’t be drilled tactically in their formation years upto the age of 12 and natural talent should be encouraged. He also felt that goalkeepers should be played as sweeper-backs in seven a side football so that they learn to use the ball better when in possession. He also felt that keeping goalkeepers for an U-8 or U-10 levels was a wasteful exercise.

      9. What will be in particular music to the AIFF ears is that he is totally against the English direct style of playing, which he calls too “simple” and also is known as someone who avoids confrontations with authorities and likes to negotiate his way past problems.

      10. The Dutchman is also known to encourage homegrown coaches, who he thinks work better at the grassroot level than any foreign coach can. He implemented several programs to motivate natives from Australia to take up coaching badges. When he resigned from his job in 2008 as the technical director of Australia to return to Netherlands, as he was home sick, his work was applauded, ranging from every football related authority in Australia as well as the general public.
        Coming with an impeccable record as a technical director, and with an experience of more than 45 years, the 68 year old Baan seems like the right person to take up the cause of the technical development of footballers at the grassroots level in India

        Do YOU think he is the right man for the job? Have YOUR say by commenting below....

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        Posted by Vishal Patel

        Is Indian Football Ready For The Baan-Storm?


        The All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) long running search for a technical director seems to have finally ended, with the highly experienced and much travelled Dutchman Robert Baan being touted as the possible man to fill the vacancy.


        Rob Baan
        Getty Images


        1        . Born on 1st April 1943 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Baan is certainly not considered a fool in the footballing circles around the world.

          With almost a forty five year experience in management and other technical positions across Dutch football as well as stints in Asia and Australia, the sixty eight year old would bring his reservoir of extensive knowledge accumulated in all these years with him to the job.

          2. He was in charge of one game for the Dutch National team in 1981, a game against Cyprus which his team duly won 3-0. While more than 25 years later he took over the reigns of the Australian National team in 2007, a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in a match held in England.
          Baan Was Ronaldo's Mentor When he First Came To Europe....
          3. While the Dutchman’s International management career might not be much to write home about, he has managed several of the biggest teams in Dutch football, including Twente, Sparta Rotterdam, Roda JC and Excelsior. He was also an assistant manager with the Netherlands National team for 5 years and at PSV Eindhoven for 3 years.
            4. Not high profile enough? Well in his management career Baan has guided the careers of some of the biggest names in world football including Marco Van Basten, Johan Neeskens, Ronald de Boer and Ronaldo.

            5. However it wasn’t until he left the dugout for the position of Technical Director that he started receiving the praise he deserved. Spending six years at Dutch giants Feyenoord as a technical director, Baan changed the face of the youth structure at the club. The club’s present status as one of the best youth academies in Europe owes a lot to this sixty eight year old Rotterdam native.

            6. After his success with Feyenoord, the Dutchman had stints with the Al-Jazeera Club and then the Netherland National team, where he convinced all the Eredivisie clubs to implement the same playing structure across their youth structure, before Guus Hiddink recommended him to the Australian authorities and he was duly appointed as Australia’s technical director.
            Will These Youngsters Learn To Play The Dutch Way?...
            7. In his two year stay in Australia, he completely changed the English methods of coaching adopted in the country and introduced them to more possession based Dutch style football.

            8. His main principle for youth development is that kids shouldn’t be drilled tactically in their formation years upto the age of 12 and natural talent should be encouraged. He also felt that goalkeepers should be played as sweeper-backs in seven a side football so that they learn to use the ball better when in possession. He also felt that keeping goalkeepers for an U-8 or U-10 levels was a wasteful exercise.

            9. What will be in particular music to the AIFF ears is that he is totally against the English direct style of playing, which he calls too “simple” and also is known as someone who avoids confrontations with authorities and likes to negotiate his way past problems.

            10. The Dutchman is also known to encourage homegrown coaches, who he thinks work better at the grassroot level than any foreign coach can. He implemented several programs to motivate natives from Australia to take up coaching badges. When he resigned from his job in 2008 as the technical director of Australia to return to Netherlands, as he was home sick, his work was applauded, ranging from every football related authority in Australia as well as the general public.
              Coming with an impeccable record as a technical director, and with an experience of more than 45 years, the 68 year old Baan seems like the right person to take up the cause of the technical development of footballers at the grassroots level in India

              Do YOU think he is the right man for the job? Have YOUR say by commenting below....
              at 9/14/2011

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