New Delhi: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness….

Nothing better can be said to describe Indian Arrows, the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) developmental age group side in the I-League. The project has done wonders whenever taken seriously. Next season it received downright step-motherly treatment, though.

The venture has produced skillful, competitive footballers whenever given intense, modern training but then was disbanded next year. As if an apology for the good work done the previous season.

On Friday, at Goa’s Tilak Maidan, the latest band of Indian Arrows fought gallantly to go down against Gokulam FC by a solitary goal. No shame. Victory and defeat are part of sport.

However, the manner in which things are being handled is indeed disturbing. Arrows have now got a new coach, who received his appointment less than a week before the team’s first match. Not a comfortable idea. Neither for the new coach S Venkatesh, nor for the boys.

If I-League’s official website is to be believed, Arrows had just 16 boys this season till Wednesday. Though on Friday, they had 22 footballers in the list. Could be a case of last minute registrations. It doesn’t really give a healthy feeling.

I wish Venky all the best for his first-ever coaching assignment. Indian Arrows team is the future of the country and we are always behind them. Best of luck, boys.#IndianFootball #BlueTigers pic.twitter.com/Cv6JlB71pN — Igor Štimac (@stimac_igor) December 6, 2019

Indian Arrows is Indian football’s most serious long-term project in history. By far. More than any club, franchise or league. More than any roadmap unfolded in foreign land in style. More than any prestige battle to grab Asian Champions League spot.

And successful, too. AIFF’s youth development scheme began in 2007 after Bob Houghton took over as national coach in June 2006. It developed into Indian Arrows in 2010. It has produced some of country’s finest players in the last decade.

The AIFF has done a delightful job in this area. No room for dispute, simply. Doubters can easily have a look at India’s January 2019 Asian Cup squad. Majority of the squad consist of footballers emerged through AIFF’s youth development.

And for spokespersons of post-2014 marvel; they are welcome to check on the backgrounds of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith, Pritam Kotal, Narayan Das, Sandesh Jhingan, Sarthak Golui, Pranoy Haldar, Anirudh Thapa, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Halicharan Narzary, Sumeet Passi….

They are all products of either Indian Arrows or AIFF age group squads. That India have improved dramatically in FIFA rankings is because of this. Not because of any legacy-pompous club, dazzling franchise or cash-arrogant league.

But then, AIFF seems believes in the saying: All good things must come to an end. In 2013, the Arrows were shut down abruptly. Federation bosses’ worst decision in many, many years. To say it was anti-development won’t be an exaggeration.

Lack of money and sponsor was cited as the reason. Very true. But several other activities continued smoothly despite the cash crunch. To mention them may sound outright rude.

Arrows were revived in 2017 after under-17 World Cup. But the seriousness is missing somewhere. Their previous coach, Floyd Pinto, was shown the door when the 2019-20 league was on the doorsteps. Those who did it, including the technical committee, didn’t really show themselves as top professionals.

No empathy for Pinto. He hasn’t done himself any favour. Especially after the Asian under-19 qualifiers drubbing in three back to back matches, including one against Afghanistan. But was he alone responsible for the mess?

Pinto reportedly complained a lot in the technical committee meeting last month. About non-availability of right players, about injuries, about reluctance of clubs/franchises to release footballers.

Sources say technical committee members felt most were lame excuses. But did they ever enquire which club/franchise did not release players? Did the AIFF offer a helping hand to solve the issue? Or who else were involved in selecting footballers?

In the end only one head rolled. As always. That too when the I-League was only a week away from kick off.

Venkatesh, a former India captain, will still do a good job. Apart from the coaching license, he has something which few have. Immense experience and practical knowledge.

Hope he won’t be promptly dumped when the chips are down.