"We are bad starters and Indian players have always been found wanting in crisis management. The same thing happened in the Atlanta Olympics," IHF secretary K Jothikumaran said when asked for his comments on the poor showing at Utrecht (Netherlands).

IHF president KPS Gill, Jothikumaran, treasurer and few other players and administrators in an advisory capacity will meet on the final day of the Inter-Zonal round robin Sub-Junior Tournament being held at the Sai Centre (South).

Earlier, the team arrived here around mid-night to a quiet reception. All members of the team, including the IHF chief, secretary, and an office manager who had also made the trip, dispersed immediately on arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Amsterdam.

The government had cleared exposure trips to Europe andAustralia for the sub-juniors some time in August, Jothikumaran said.

India missed numerous open chances in the first two games against Germany and The Netherlands and then on one thing or the other kept going wrong. "We could have at least come fifth if we had only scored the goals," Jothikumaran, who returned with the team from Amsterdam late last night, said.

He did not directly reply on any clash between the team management and senior players and on whether IHF was planning to remove chief coach Vasudevan Baskaran.

But he said: "We definitely need hockey experts to update the knowledge of our coaches and we are planning to bring in a foreign physio."

On Dutch penalty corner expert Floris Bovelander -- whose trip was called off twice by the IHF -- he said the decision had to be made by the Sports Ministry, adding that Bovelander was likely to come in the near future.

Though Jothikumaran did not comment, the IHF top brass which was in Utrecht at full strength is for drastic action.

Meanwhile,Baskaran blamed players' inconsistency. "Had we played to our potential we had good chance to make the last four. All should share the blame equally. But no excuses."

While expressing his disappointment with the team for conceding three easy goals to Germany in the opening match which they lost 1-4,he said: "Against the Dutch we dominated for 25 minutes and missed seven open chances, apart from those saved by the goalkeeper."

He did not agree fitness problems had done in the team, saying "once we lose, all players look unfit." He admitted skipper and star Dhanraj Pillay was not cent per cent fit, but said even when he created space for others, the goals never came.

As per FIH statistics, India had missed 11 per cent of the entire number of chances under the head "0.5 yard miss" which all teams put together frittereed away, he added.