NS Manju

New Delhi: The grass is not green for Bob Houghton. Neither is the pitch amenable.

While the national coach’s outburst against the Nehru Cup organisers for the tall grass at the Ambedkar stadium hasn’t really gone down well with a section of the tournament officials, the footballers strongly feel that the pitch played a major role behind India’s 0-1 defeat against Lebanon on Wednesday.

So much so, that some senior footballers said that had the ground condition been better, defender NS Manju would have avoided the hairline fracture on his left leg that ruled him out of the Nehru Cup and could sideline him for another six months.

“Manju’s injury was unfortunate,” said Rennedy Singh, the longest serving member of the Indian team after Bhaichung Bhutia. “The grass was too deep and Manju twisted his left foot.”

Some members of the organising committee, however, were of the opinion that the Indian team management should have alerted the ground staff at least a few days ago.

“We have been working day and night to make the tournament a success,” said an official. “All of us, not just the Indian coach, want our national team to win the cup again.

“We can understand that the coach was busy and couldn’t have a look at the pitch before Tuesday. But what were the other members of the support staff doing all these days? They should have come to the Ambedkar Stadium and given us the necessary instructions,” the official said.

“The managers and support staff of every team except India had a look at the ground after they arrived here. Our people should have told us what they need,” the official added.

In private, however, the organisers admitted that the ground was in poor shape. “At several places, there are bald patches. It would look horrible if we cut the grass beyond a level,” another official said.

Manju’s injury has definitely hit India hard. To add to the woes, stopper back Anwar also limped out of the Lebanon match and is an extremely doubtful starter for the crucial tie against Kyrgyzstan. Though Houghton did not spell out his alternatives, four players – Mahesh Gawli, Deepak Mondal, Rahim Nabi and Mehrajuddin – should be considered for the two vacant places in the starting line up.

But it wasn’t Houghton alone who had problems with the ground conditions. Even the Lebanon coach Emile Rustom was not too happy with the pitch and thought the grass needed to be cut.

“It is hard to play good football on this ground,” he said. “Our boys also suffered because of that.”