"When we are not playing well and still find a way to win" - Hockey coach Craig Fulton on what constitutes a good team ahead of Asian Games campaign
From the glory of an Olympic bronze medal to the ignominy of an early home World Cup exit, the Indian men's hockey team have been through a rollercoaster ride over the last couple of years.
Four months into the job and tasked with ensuring that the boys earn a direct ticket to the Paris Olympics by winning nothing less than a gold medal at the Asian Games, Craig Fulton has zeroed in on the frailties.
The new coach of the Indian men's side reckons that the key to consistency lies in knowing how to find a way to win when the team is not playing well as he explained to Sportskeeda over the course of an exclusive interaction.
"Sometimes, when I watch them train I can't believe how good some of the phases are. This team can produce special moments. Success also depends on how well we play when we are not playing as fluently or as freely as we can. That's a sign of a good team," explained Fulton.
"When we are not playing well and still find a way to win, that is what we are busy with at the moment. I don't think you have to ever say do this or do that to a team when they are playing really well. It's when they are not playing well," he added.
"In the Hockey Pro League, it was a bit disappointing to be honest" - Craig Fulton while summing up performances in the lead up to the Asian Games
Unwilling to wax eloquent about the team's performances under his watch, Craig Fulton was candid enough to admit that the results in the European leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League were less than satisfactory.
"I have only been with the team for four months so its still very early days. From the FIH Hockey Pro League to the Four Nations (in Spain) to the Asian Champions Trophy, we've had three good blocks of competition. Results wise, in the Pro League, it was a bit disappointing to be honest," the former Olympian said.
"We had some games that we let slip away and one or two things that we learnt from. Four Nations was okay. We finished third and we did well to finish that tournament strong," said the man who was part of the staff of the Belgian team who won the 2018 World Cup.
The Indians had mixed results while up against Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Argentina in Pro League games back in June. The Olympic bronze medalists then ended up third in a Four-Nations competition involving hosts Spain, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
Despite guiding the boys to victory at the Chennai Asian Champions Trophy, Fulton firmly believes that the forthcoming Asian Games is the tournament that really counts.
"Asian Champions Trophy was a good home tournament for us. Results were good but I suppose if there was to be a choice between the Asian Champions Trophy and the Asian Games, I think a lot of people would want to win the Asian Games," he declared.
While acknowledging that Harmanpreet Singh and Co. are indeed a speedy side, the 2015 FIH Coach of the year firmly believes that a combination of speed, skill, decision making and the "ability to connect" are all needed in equal measure.
"You need to have speed, skill, decision making, and the ability to connect with other people as well. That is the beauty of the sport of hockey. When you can intricately make four to five passes at speed, then its a beautiful thing to watch," he stated.
"There is speed in the team, it is nice and fast. The guys like to connect with each other and score goals so. On our good days we are very good and its about managing it when we are not scoring field goals, to work on other ways of scoring goals."
"Team is learning a lot about itself from the disappointment of the Hockey World Cup" - Craig Fulton's take on lessons from the past
Well aware of all that transpired before his advent into the Indian camp, Fulton, who was part of the coaching team of the champion Belgian side stressed that the the team "is in a good place" right now.
According to Fulton, the disappointment of the 2023 FIH Hockey World Cup has been a learning for the boys. The 48-year-old emphasised that executing learnings under pressure and the ability to remain calm was vital.
"The team is learning a lot about itself from the disappointment from the World Cup and how to manage that and to put some of those lessons into practise. The main thing is to be able to execute under pressure and to be calm, collected and not get too carried away," he said.
"So, there are some lessons to be learnt from the last ten months and we are focussing a lot on what we have done over the last three months and we are in a good place," added Fulton who had an excellent stint with the Irish team in the past.
After narrowing down the squad to 26, Fulton elucidated that the boys were given chances in the Hockey Pro League and the Asian Champions Trophy before finalising the Asian Games team.
"We chose the Hockey Pro League team and the Asian Champions Trophy team from the 26 in the squad and also the team that went to Spain. They have all had a good opportunity and we then chose the best mix of youth and experience," he disclosed.
Fulton, who has over 25 years of experience as a hockey coach, revealed that he is enjoying his time in India and likes to take in the sights of Bangalore.
"I have spent a lot of time with the staff, outside of SAI as well. We play a little but of golf now and again. We have done a lot of sight seeing around Bangalore," he revealed.