But Kochin is not ready to throw in the towel, yet. Their never-say-die approach has helped the club stay afloat, more due to the 19-year-olds from the Tata Football Academy who have stepped in to fill the huge gaps left by IM Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, Carlton Chapman, Raman Vijayan and others.

Prabhjot Singh, Mahesh Gawli, Nitin Pradhan, Naseem Akhtar, Rockey Barreto, Noel Wilson, are the key players on whom Kochin rely on. There could not have better names for Kochin, because they are the future of Indian football. And with age at their side, they can help Kochin to play a big role in the national scene, and in the process keep the concept of professionalism alive.

Says Babu Mather, secretary of the club, ``We have picked up the next best lot available after our top players left and this time we have a bunch of promising youngsters who will turn out to be the next `stars' of the country''.

Well, some one them have already started making waves in Indian football and Kochin had seven of their players in the national under-19 team which played in the Asian Championships in Thailand, besides the two -- Najib and Md Shafiq -- who are in the senior Indian camp for Bangkok Asian Games.

But how much can a club depend on players who desert them the next year when the contract ends? ``That is the one thing that has really affected the game in India,'' remarks Mather. ``Towards the end of the season, the players start negotiating with other clubs and focus more on individual game to get noticed instead of working as a team. Also, they do not play to their full potential to avoid injuries''.

Last season Mather had sent a report to All-India Football Federation on the issue, proposing a longer contract period that not only benefits players but also gives clubs enough time to build themselves.

That is one of the reason why the proposed FC Kochin Football Academy juniors turned out to be a non-starter. ``What is the point in spending so much money on training players who leave you in the end and join your rivals. Academy's efforts will be wasted in that case,'' he points out.

For its current bunch, FC Kochin, besides having lucrative terms and conditions, have various plans for the players for their training. As far as foreign tours are concerned, Mather finds it difficult to arrange as the AIFF calendar is drawn-up so late that it leaves all plans haywire.

With more money and more clubs coming into the Indian football, FC Kochin does not expect an easy time ahead, but with their kind of ``professionalism'' and facilities they provide, they expect this younger lot to stay with them for some time now.