The Air-India football outfit has been for years setting an example to others on how to manage a team with limited resources. And the man who pulls the strings is coach Bimal Ghosh, who after the end of the I-League now has a Herculean task of maintaining his team with key players with the small budget of 80-90 lakhs.

Ghosh, who has brought up Air-India from the lower rungs into the limelight of the first division in the I-League has always suffered from the budgetary blues. “Odafe Okolie costs Churchill Brothers almost a crore, but I have to manage an entire team in less than that amount,” states Ghosh.

At the beginning of every transfer season, Ghosh is left helpless over the exodus, and this time around, four of his best products are leaving the club for greener pastures. He says, “When I got Nirmal Chettri and Sanju Pradhan from the Sikkim Football Academy and Dhanachandra Singh from Manipur, no one knew these players. Within a year and half they have reached the top level and now all the clubs are after them.”

“Arnab Das Sarma (goalkeeper) was again a nobody when he joined us, but I thought he was bright and took time off to give him special training. But he too left for East Bengal,” continues Ghosh, who did not take the departure well as Sarma had contract with the Air-India team till April and says, “I’m planning to send him a notice.”

The coach was confident of finishing fifth on the table in the I-League but blames the players the Air-India camp for losing their concentration towards the end after various clubs with large pockets started chasing them. He says, “I’m not fully satisfied with the team’s performance. There was a lack of depth in the attack upfront as Samson Singh did not have a good season, I cannot blame him as he had niggling ankle injury. And Cameroonian striker Njoh Jean also flopped.” He further adds, “The foreign players also began to lack motivation when the league reached the half way stage.”

With a government team on his hands, the coach knows that his battle has to be fought on and off the field and says, “I know it’s the lack of funds that has cost us a lot of talented players. But then I never go for renowned names. It was after joining us that they earned a name and reputation, but then they leave”. Ghosh definitely wants to know where these players’ loyalty vanishes.

Ghosh’s life has been spent on the ground and says, “I’m still thinking what should be done to keep these players committed and loyal to the club. But now I have made my mind to sign players for at least a four-year bond.”

Year after year, Ghosh has been turning young and inexperienced players into India material before they fly away. However he has not given given up hope and says, “This season, the relegation ghost had caught up with us and I had to inspire the boys to fight. Luckily we managed to come up with two wins and a draw, which saved us this year”.