By Novy Kapadia

At least in death, India’s first ever professional coach Amal Dutta got the respect and honour, often denied to him during his illustrious career. The 86-year old Datta, died on the day of the Euro 2016 final, suffering from Alzheimer’s and other ailments. The fans and former players braved the showers for his final journey around the city; with the hearse carrying Datta’s body draped in the Tricolour. Politicians cutting across party lines paid tribute to Datta as his body was brought to Rabindra Sadan to enable people pay their last respects.

His last rites were performed with full state honours and a gun salute. Always branded a rebel, due to his outspoken comments, during his lifetime he never got his due from the establishment, either the All India Football Federation (AIFF) or the Indian Football Association (IFA) in Bengal.

It is often said that PK Banerjee was India’s equivalent of Bill Shankly, persuasive, clairvoyant and passionate about the game. He brought a new dimension to football coaching in India, the coach as a star. Similarly Datta could be called India’s Brian Clough, renowned for his tactical acumen, innovations and development of young talent but famous for his acerbic remarks and critical comments against the establishment. Just as the Football Association in England was never comfortable with Clough and the best club coach of his generation never became the national coach of England, similarly Datta’s abilities were not fully utilised by the AIFF. His tenure with the national team was for a year (1987-88). Even the private sector was wary of him. With his tactical expertise and ability to inspire junior players, Datta would have been an ideal choice for the Tata Football Academy (TFA) but they ignored him as either coach or Technical Director.

The Banerjee—Datta rivalry as club coaches of either East Bengal or Mohun Bagan in the 1980s and 1990s was as intense as the recent rivalry of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. It was also a clash of personalities and ideologies. But both men were passionate about football and their reading of the game and substitutions were second to none. Both wrote lucid columns in Bengali newspapers, which were avidly followed. Their verbal jousting through their football columns often heightened the suspense before an important derby match in Kolkata.

History will remember Datta as a trendsetter. Clever utilisation of resources and the ability to find the best combination for any set of players was his forte. A voracious reader, his knowledge and analysis of trends in world football was always informative. He had multi-faceted interests and read widely from Shakespeare to Salman Rushdie and relaxed by playing musical instruments.

He won 39 major trophies with Mohun Bagan (26), East Bengal (10) and Mohammedan Sporting (3). He was also renowned for spotting and nurturing young talent like midfielders Satyajit Chatterjee and Basudeb Mondal, defenders Tarun Dey and Aloke Mukherjee and several others. His brief tenure with the national team was fruitful. He was made Technical Director of the Indian squad with Syed Nayeemuddin as chief coach in 1987. Planning meticulously, Datta introduced the Indian team to a new 4-4-2 formation. He was the first to make the Indian team play with either retracting wingers or with all -purpose midfielders. In the 1988 Nehru Cup at Siliguri, India played inspiring football against formidable east European teams, drawing 1-1 Poland and taking the lead against Hungary.

Rescuing a team in adversity was a regular feature in Datta’s coaching career. As he once jocularly told me, “I am known as a Harley Street specialist. When the patient (losing football club) has been treated by all doctors and not recovered, they come to me.” After his abrupt dismissal from the Indian 1991 again performed another Houdini-like rescue act in mid-season. Subash Bhowmick was unsuccessful with Bagan in his first stint with a big club. Bagan flopped in the Durand Cup, failing to even reach the semifinals. With the same personnel and a little changing of positions and subtle psychology, Datta transformed Bagan’s season. They won the (beat Mohammedan Sporting 1-0 in the final) and reached the final of the DCM tournament, losing 0-1 to Iranian champions, Pas Club.

Recognised as the finest thinker of the game in India, his attitude was bold and ahead of his times. In the early 1960s, he defied the characteristic Bengali middle class dream of a secure government job by giving up a cushy job in the Indian Railways to become a full-time coach. Bold indeed, as in those days, money in football was meagre. To augment his income, he often showed video cassettes of international football to neighbourhood children and commented on them.

He just loved to innovate. In 1969-70 season, Datta made Bagan play in the 4 -2-4 formation for the first time. Till then most Indian teams played in the 3-2-5 formation. Then, in 1997, he created a sensation with his tactical innovation of the ‘Diamond system’ — basically a 3-4-3 formation with a defensive midfielder playing as a screen ahead of the stopper back. Bagan used the three back system with a midfielder playing deep as a defensive screen. Datta again defied tradition by getting the players to train both in the morning and evening. The sultry Calcutta weather was not considered suitable for two training sessions a day. But Datta by his varied and interesting training sessions ensured the players never got stale or fatigued.

Datta’s new system aroused spectator and media interest, especially after Bagan’s 6-0 demolition of Churchill Brothers in the KBL Federation Cup quarter- finals. The crowds flocked back and the 1997 KBL Federation Cup semi-final against East Bengal attracted a record attendance of 1,31,000 at the Salt Lake stadium in Calcutta. Though they lost that match, Bagan played some memorable matches in the season, winning the Calcutta league, finishing runners-up in the Durand Cup and also annexing the DCM trophy for the first time. team, Datta returned to club coaching and in relaxed by playing musical instruments.