And so the rollercoaster ride has come to an end in the only way it could have. In a matter-of-fact press release, the All India Football Federation announced the sacking of the men's national team head coach Igor Stimac on Monday. No flourish, no drama, just "terminates the services of".
The coldness of the statement probably reflects how Stimac will be remembered in the fraternity. Five years after appointment, 46 matches on (the most any coach has been in charge of India across a single stint), Stimac leaves with a legacy that will forever be associated with his final year in charge.
AIFF terminates the services of Head Coach Igor Stimac!
Read more details here ���� https://t.co/oHZpY9tr7T#IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/fupnL5UrVS
- Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) June 17, 2024
It may seem a little unfair, especially considering the highs of 2023 (three trophies and an exciting style of play), but it's not been good since that heady summer.
Given a premature extension seven months ago, it had appeared Stimac would be at the helm for a while longer, but a poor AFC Asian Cup campaign and an even poorer FIFA World Cup qualifying one were too much to ignore.
In five years, Stimac had taken India from point A to... point A.
On the field, the playing style had turned ponderous, the urgency of his best times missing when the team needed it most. Off it, everything was spiralling into negativity. Fans -- even the new ones won over in 2023 -- had started to turn.
The Federation didn't quite see eye-to-eye amongst themselves (at least in public) about his position. He'd been appointed by the previous regime and extended by this one; but various figures from President Kalyan Chaubey to Technical Committee head (and former great) IM Vijayan spoke about not having anything to do with it.
Stimac hadn't helped himself by not taking responsibility for his team's performances, instead choosing to lean on familiar old excuses of PIO/OCI players and longer national camps.
Three days ago, these pages had detailed just why his sacking was inevitable, the only route the AIFF could take. But it hadn't always been that bad. Stimac had come with a lot of buzz: as a player he'd finished third in a World Cup, as a coach he'd led his native Croatia (who climbed to as high as world #4 under him.)
This was proper pedigree and carried with it an intangible weight. It brought time and patience, a space that Stimac filled eagerly with quotes about grand visions and bright futures. Those were then backed by teasing hints of potential... only for the trailers to end way too abruptly, the actual movie never getting released.
Early in his stint a 0-0 draw away at Qatar promised much, but that was immediately followed by a disappointing come-from-behind draw at home against Bangladesh. That sinewave of performance and result would set the tone for the rest of his time here: when Stimac got it right, India would be really good, defensively and moving forward (sample the Intercontinental and SAFF Cup). But when he didn't, it would get pretty ugly (sample any of his last eight matches).
The AIFF may now look to brush aside his term as something that never happened, as power makers are liable to do. But it did. And they were equally at play here, for all the good that Stimac did, and all the bad.
Sitting where we are now in June 2024, you could see clearly that India were going nowhere fast, and change was the only way forward. Sacking the head coach is a start, but only that. Deep introspection still remains the most crucial part of this course correction.
With that a new chapter starts for the national team, one where neither Stimac nor India's talisman (and saviour) of 19 years, Sunil Chhetri, will be present. One where everything will have to be brand new. How it all goes then will entirely depend on how the AIFF decide to write it.