Hockey: Five coaches who could replace Graham Reid as India's head coach

Former coach resigned after poor performance at Hockey World Cup.

India had a disastrous outing at the recently concluded FIH Hockey World Cup. The men in blues, although being favourites for a place on the podium, failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the event. This failure raised many questions about the future of the team.

On Monday, the chief coach of the team Graham Reid announced his resignation. Reid was appointed back in April 2019 and under him, the men in blues won the bronze in Tokyo Olympics.

However, with the departure of Reid, it's time for Hockey India to look for his successor. Moreover, with the 2024 Paris Olympics not very far Hockey India should look for a capable replacement who might take India to new heights.

We are going to take a look at the top five coaches who could become the chief coach of the Indian Men's Hockey team.

5. Siegfried Aikman

Siegfried Aikman is one of the most exciting coaches out there currently. He was appointed as the head coach of the Japanese men's team in 2017.

Aikman did a remarkable job with the Japanese team as he led them to the 2018 Asian Games gold. He was the head coach of the Japanese men's team till 2021. However, in 2021 he was appointed as the head coach of the Pakistan men's team.

Siegfried Aikman could be the perfect coach for the Indian men's team as he has the potential to take the team to new heights.

4. Roelant Oltman

Roelant Oltman is a former Dutch player and he was the head coach of the Indian men's hockey team from 2015 to 2017.

Oltman is a very successful coach and he started his coaching career back in 1989 when he became the head coach of the Netherlands women's team. He won the 1990 Women's Hockey World Cup. After his successful stint with the women's team, he became the head coach of the Netherlands men's hockey team in 1993. The Netherlands men's team under him won the 1996 Summer Olympics gold medal. Once again in 1998, the Netherlands men's team won the gold in Men's Hockey World Cup.

Roelant Oltman was for a brief period appointed as the head coach of Pakistan as well in 2003- 2004. He was once again appointed as the head coach of the Dutch men's team from 2005 until 2008. Oltman was the head coach of Malaysia from 2018 to 2020 after that he resigned. He is currently leading the Kampong team since 2020.

Roelant Oltmans experience and success in the past give a clear view that he could be a great option to head the men in blues in the future.

3. Jude Menezes

Jude Menezes is a former goalkeeper of the Indian Men's Hockey team. He represented the men in blues from 1992 till 2002.

Jude went to New Zealand in 2002 and worked full-time there in the health and fitness industry. However, along with that, he coached hockey teams as well. In 2014 Jude became a full-time hockey coach.

He started his coaching career as the head coach of Auckland Indian sports club in 2004 and 2005. Jude was the assistant and goalkeeping coach of the Auckland women's team in 2012. He was promoted to be the head coach of the Auckland women's team in 2013. Following his success in the women's league he was given the role of goalkeeping coach for the New Zealand women's team in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. From 2014 to 2018 he was the goalkeeping coach and the manager of the New Zealand Women's team.

Jude Menezes's excellent performance with the New Zealand women's team ultimately landed him the role of head coach for the Japanese women's team in November 2021. Jude is also a great option for the role of the Indian men's hockey team as he has shown in the past they could take any team to new heights.

2. Maximiliano Caldas

Maximiliano Caldas is a former Argentine player who represented his country in the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Caldas started his coaching career in the Netherlands and the first team he coached was Leiden Heren.

Maximiliano Caldas was the assistant manager of the Dutch women's team from 2006 to 2010. In 2010 he was made the chief coach of the Dutch Women's Hockey team. This tenure in the Dutch women's team was a very successful one as he won the 2012 Olympic Gold. As well as the 2013 Hockey World League gold and the gold in the 2014 Hockey World Cup.

Currently, Maximiliano Caldas is the head coach of the Spanish Men's Hockey team. He would certainly be a great option to be the coach of the Indian Men's Hockey team and could bring back the men in blues to the glory days.

1. Harendra Singh

Harendra Singh is a former Indian player as well as a former coach. In 1995 when Harendra played for HC Lyon he coached the junior team. This was his first experience in coaching and after that continued the path of coaching.

In the 2000s after returning to India he was the coach of both the junior and senior teams of the nation. The Summer Olympics of 2000, the 2005 Men's Junior Hockey World. The Men's Hockey World Cup are a few tournaments in which Harendra Singh previously worked as a coach.

In 2018 after his success in the Men's Junior Hockey World Cup in 2016 and the Women's Hockey Asia Cup Harendra was appointed the coach of the Senior Men Hockey team.

Harendra with the Indian team won the silver in the 2018 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy. However, the team's performance in all the other competitions was below par and this led to his being removed from the post in 2019. Currently, he is the head coach of the United States Men's Hockey team.