Both smiling. Both geared up for a long season ahead. Both cheering ‘#AamarBukeyATK’. Sanjiv Goenka and Teddy Sheringham. t2 caught up with them after the new head coach’s introductory press meet at Taj Bengal on Saturday afternoon (the day before the Indian player draft).
New year, new season. So, starting with a fresh slate?
Sanjiv: Yes, absolutely… I think the way it is in this player draft… it is not an auction... it goes by rotation. We’ve retained two players (Debjit Majumder and Prabir Das). We’ve got a new coach and a new technical director (Ashley Westwood). So, I think to that extent it’s new. But what we have this time and that’s different from the last time is we have people who are winners. That’s a departure in terms of approach. This is a little influenced and inspired by our cricket experience (with Rising Pune Supergiant) where we had Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir, Steve Smith and Stephen Fleming and I think it worked for us. So, this is what we are trying here.
We want to have a culture of winning and building winners, actually nurturing young talent so that over a period of time they become winners. So now it is not a view of just one season. We are trying to build the club for this season and the future.
What do you mean by winners?
Sanjiv: I mean people who are used to winning, people who are used to success, people who are used to dealing with difficult situations, people who are used to coming out on top of difficult situations because sports is all about being in situations and being decisive in those situations. A football coach, as different to a cricket coach, is really the effective captain of the team. He decides. So decisions have to be quick. They have to be based on experience.
When I met with Raghu (Iyer, CEO of ATK) and Teddy in London, and he defined to me his brand of football and the way he intends approaching it, I was impressed. We had a very long discussion yesterday on the potential composition of the team and again the thinking and clarity behind it, impressed me. So, I think we are on to a great start. We will of course play to win, but in sport you don’t always win. So, let’s see.
Speaking of winners, the biggest win of Teddy’s life is the 1998-99 Champions League final… still gives a Manchester United fan goosebumps. Did you watch that?
Sanjiv: Yes, I did! As I said, it’s about people who are used to winning, people who are born to win. If you have more of those people, then chances that you will succeed are higher.
Teddy, take us through those three minutes before “Beckham... into Sheringham... and Solskjaer has won it!”
Teddy: It seems like yesterday! I have been asked an awful lot about that situation. Those were exciting times. We thought we are going to lose the game. Getting the ball in the box, people in the box, in the last couple of minutes. It was our last throw of the dice to get an equaliser and the ball came right rolling past me. I helped it on into the net… not the best goal… but the most memorable goal I have ever scored that people want to talk to me about. It gave us a chance to get back in the game and before we knew it we had another chance.... Becks took another corner from out wide and I got my head to it and helped it on to the far post and Olly (Solskjaer) stuck a leg out and put it in the roof of the net. You know, just magic moments you look back on in your career....
What did Sir Alex Ferguson tell you all after the match got over?
Teddy: He was so pleased that we kept doing what we’d done all year round. His philosophy is carried through to the captain on the pitch and to the rest of the players — never say die, never give in… you’ve always got a chance, especially when the game is 1-0. Bayern Munich could have gone 2 or 3 nil and we wouldn’t be in that game, but they didn’t… we always had a chance. We always had belief that we would get a chance and we had a lot of goalscorers on the pitch at the time and lucky for us, it fell just nicely that we got back in the game and won it.
Were your ever at the receiving end of Ferguson’s hairdryer treatment?
Teddy: No… I wasn’t, no! But I used to sit next to Nicky Butt on one side and Ryan Giggs on the other. He had it one time and he had it another! I felt a bit of it... but never full frontal, no! (Smiles)
What are the things you learnt from him?
Teddy: The drive that came from Sir Alex was immense. You felt it. You knew when you were playing for Manchester United that it would be tough, because everybody wanted to beat you. But the fact that you never gave in, never said that you’re going to lose and kept trying to win, even if it was 0-0, with five minutes to go. His philosophy was to try and win. Not to be happy to draw, you felt that with the players… it was instilled in them. You can’t really tell someone that. You have to keep at it for years and years. It comes from the manager. By the time I joined Man United, he was already there for a long, long time. His players knew that.
You always played with a smile on your face... are you going to be a chilled-out manager?
Teddy: Hmm… I am not sure I was always looked upon as someone with a smile on my face. My family always used to tell me why do I always look so grumpy! It’s my intensity that I played with, the will to win and the focus really. I was certainly enjoying myself. That came across to you or other people, I don’t know....
It’s been a great life being a footballer. You have to cherish it, look after and love what you are doing because if you don’t, it soon passes you by and you think to yourself, ‘If only…’ when you get to the end of your career. It’s an important time for young footballers to be coming into the game… they should enjoy being fit and getting fit during their pre-season training and enjoy what they are doing.
How did the two of you connect?
Sanjiv: I think Raghu and Teddy had met earlier and then Raghu set up this meeting where three of us met. I think there are certain things that are meant to be. So, it worked out.
What about Teddy clinched it for you?
Sanjiv: I think it was his approach. What did he tell me? That is not something I am going to spell out! (Laughs) You’ll see that on the field.
Teddy, what made you say yes to ATK’s offer?
Teddy: Hmmm… I spoke to a few different people about coming to India and everybody I spoke to was positive… that the experience would be fantastic. That’s why I am here.
Sanjiv, how did you introduce ATK to Teddy?
Sanjiv: That Raghu did… our philosophy is very simple... we say it as it is, there is no overstatement or understatement. It’s a very matter-of-fact representation of what we stand for, what we are and what our vision is, what our track record is and what we would expect. So, I think, by the time Teddy and I met, I didn’t have to speak to him about the ‘why’ part.
Teddy, is it extra pressure to coach defending champions and that too with a brand new team?
Teddy: That brings on pressure in itself. I know ATK are the champions. Everybody wants to beat them and the more you talk about success, other people will be listening and thinking… ‘Oh really, they think they are going to have success again?’ That brings its own pressures. I am used to that. When I used to play for Manchester United, people wanted to beat you and take a point of you. They wanted to stop you from being successful. So, you have to find a way around that. Hopefully, we’ll be doing that. I’ll be instilling that in my players and hopefully they will get the drift of what it is like to play for Calcutta. It’s an exciting time.
Do you think winning is more important or playing attractive football?
Teddy: I think both. You have to get a happy medium. You cannot play attractive football and then keep losing. Soon the confidence goes. You have to find that special something to win games. We want to play attractive football and that’s what I certainly would be trying to do… bring in players to the football club that show enthusiasm and drive and want to succeed. That’s what football is all about for me. That’s what football fans all around the world want to see and I am sure the Calcutta fans are no different.
Sanjiv, how did you introduce Teddy to the passion for football in Calcutta?
Sanjiv: You know I think nobody can introduce the passion for football in Calcutta till you experience it. One is a theoretical introduction and the other a practical one, which will happen in November.
How would you describe the city to Teddy?
Sanjiv: Fiercely passionate.
How much are you involved this time?
Sanjiv: A bit more than last year. Next season on I don’t think I would need to get involved because that will be Teddy and Ashley’s domain and their area. But we are all new to each other, so this year I think there is a bit of involvement.... Ashley is the technical director. He’ll play the role that Alberto (Marrero) played.
You have retained two players. What was the strategy?
Sanjiv: They’re both outstanding players. Indian goalkeepers are in short supply. Debjit was outstanding last season and Prabir is an outstanding defender. Young, enthusiastic and both are people we can build a future with.
Teddy, did you follow Indian football before coming here?
Teddy: Nope. I’m very inexperienced when it comes to Indian football which is why Ashley Westwood is involved as well. It’s kind of a new beginning for the football club. We’ll work together and he’ll obviously have a big say on the Indian players. We’ll have to wait and see who we get.
Sanjiv seems worried that a name might slip out!
Teddy: Not from me!
Your son Charlie is also a footballer…
Teddy: Well, he’s a semi-professional footballer. We play golf together. He supports Tottenham (Hotspur) because he was with me for all those years. He’s still a Tottenham fan.
How did poker happen to you?
Teddy: Playing cards in the back of the coach and in the hotel when you’re bored, wasting time as a footballer! Then I started playing poker at the end of my footballing career and enjoyed it and went to poker schools late into night where I shouldn’t have been and that took me not all around the world but to France, Spain, Portugal and the World Series in Vegas.
Sanjiv, your team (RP-SG Mavericks) in the Ultimate Table Tennis league is playing quite well. What’s next?
Sanjiv: In the immediate future, these three.
Not tennis?
Sanjiv: I didn’t say that. I said for the immediate future these three. (Smiles)
What does success mean to the two of you?
Teddy: I think the football club is already used to success and winning. In sport that’s what it’s all about. You play to win. At a younger age you play to get better and learn but for professional footballers earning good money to play football, it’s all about winning and that’s what I’ll be impressing on my team.
Sanjiv: In different aspects it means different things. When I own a sports team, it’s about winning… playing a brand of sport that’s fiercely competitive. When I run my companies it’s about excelling. When I am at home, and we look at our children, it’s about making sure they have the right value systems. So in different circumstances success will be defined or measured differently. At the end of the day it’s not about how people define success, it’s about how you define success for yourself. Following the benchmarks that you’ve set for yourself and achieving them. And I think these benchmarks keep changing. The more you achieve, the more you want to achieve. So success is relative but it’s intoxicating.
Teddy: Of course! Makes you want to come back for more, doesn’t it?
Sanjiv, where do you see ATK in 10 years?
Sanjiv: Well, I see ATK nurturing talent and helping to support and develop potential footballers. We certainly will have an academy. We will have a grass-root programme… we have a little bit now… we’ve got to expand that. We hope we will create great players as we go along and not only Indians.... I want us to be a fit and agile club.
Teddy: Hopefully I’ll be a part of the history that makes this a real brand of football that goes on to be more successful than it was. I wish I could still play 90 minutes (smiles). Fitness is a massive thing for footballers. You have to be fit to compete. We’ll be doing our utmost to be the fittest team because you have to be better than the rest.... It’s fun. I remember in my days when everyone used to complain about the hard training you have to do to get there but if you look back, we’d love to be out there ourselves doing the running, moaning about it, but getting fit and feeling good because when the fitness is needed you’re out playing on the pitch. It’s a massive thing.
Name: Edward Paul “Teddy” Sheringham
Teddy tale: “Teddy is a shorter name for Edward. My mum always called me Edward but my dad’s dad was an Edward and a Teddy too, so he wanted me to be a Teddy as well. When I was in school as a young boy, I was Edward but when my dad took me to my Sunday team, he introduced me as Teddy. So everyone from football who knew me called me Teddy and everyone from home or school called me Edward. I prefer Teddy though. Only my mum calls me Edward,” says the man
Age: 51
Born: England
Clubs: He’s played for a host of top-flight Premier League clubs, but played his best football for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United
Best known for: Scoring the equaliser and then an assist for that Solskjaer goal in one of the greatest Champions League turnarounds in the 1998-99 final for Man United against Barcelona
Did you know: He used to play a bit of cricket in school and England all-rounder Ian Botham is his fave. “He excited the crowd!” smiled Teddy
Saionee Chakraborty and Rwitoban Deb
