Noel Wilson, the classy , stylish , medio who has been by far this seasons best signing had an exclusive interview session with MohunBaganClub.com . Noel , a highly pious man , whose sole inspiration are his parents and The Divine Lord , and who likes to lead his life like his game speaks only for you !  Heres what he said ....
       

. How did your football life start ? We all know that Indian parents are against letting their children go into soccer , so what was your motivation to be a professioanl footballer ? 
   When i was a kid , i used to see Maradona dribling with the ball like maigc . You can say that was my inspiration to start football  . My mother wanted me to study but i never had a great knack for studies . I really wanted to play and enjoy myslef. 

. Tell us about the start of your football life
   I started at about the age of 11 years.I spent my first 5 years  in SAI hostel Bangalore . Then i played two years in TFA  under Carlton Chapman , and as an 18 year old , two years in FC Kochin and the next 4 years in Churchill Brothers from 2000.

.Any memories from Bangalore ?
   Ah yeah , i was in FC Kochin then when we participated in the Independence Cup commemorating the 50 year Independence celebration of Srilanka . I won 2 MoM trophies in 3 matches .

.What was the basic difference between FCK [ a professional club team ] and Churchill [ a company oriented team ] ?
    Ah , i enjoyed both . FCK was nice because 11 of the TFA guys stayed together and 8 of us made the first 11 . Goa too was splendid , its a lovely life with no pressure at all

.You spent a long time at Churchill , what do you have to say about the team , and the coach ?
    Well , i played under different coaches ., but the team was like a real family. They are football crazy . Even if they dont get sponsors they pay out of their own pockets for the team  

.What difference do you find in Goan and Calcutta life ?
    You have absolutely no pressure in Goa . You just come play and go , but in Calcutta , there is trememdous pressure . You always have the fans and the media following you . You win , theres media for you, you lose , theres the media for you . Calcutta is actually heaven for the footballers . 

.What difference do you find between the Gaon fans and Calcutta fans ?
    Oh a lot ! In goa , they are not club supporters , they are football lovers . If Mohun Bagan goes to Goa and plays football , they will start supporting Bagan !  

.Noel , you are like a star now. What made you think of this Maldini like hair do ?
   Well , i love European football and i believe that you must also look attractive in the field . Your confidence should be shining on you !

. So , what is your reason for coming to Bagan ?
   Well , East Bengal was after me for the last 3 years . But this time it was Bagan to contact me and i told them yes ..and i am always true to my word . Its a great feeling to come to the National Club of India

.What do you have to say about the performance of Mohun Bagan in this NFL till now
    Well , Mohun Bagan has been playing well but the thing is that we havent been scoring goals . Its the same thing as scoring 5 goals or 1 goal , but  we failed do that or keep the lead in most of the matches. I know we dreamt of winning the league but to fulfill your dreams , you need to work hard throughout the league. 

.Noel , almost in all matches we are seeing that the team is conceeding silly goals in the last few minutes . Why is this happening ?
   Well , its because we have just one goal in our vault ! If we had more goals then we could play freely. But here we are under a lot of pressure to maintain the slender margin and we tend to  lose concentration and conceede silly goals . 

.Fans are complaining that the team is trying to defend too much in the last few minutes and thereby giving the opponents a lot of space to operate in the midfield . Is this an eratic strategy?
   Well , the may be true in this aspect . But that one goal lead is very vital for us . Its a marathon league , and a one goal lead is enough for us to get the 3 points . So we try to defend that slender lead 

.Coming to Indian football , do you feel that the current coach is the bug in our football ?
    Well , ya ... The effect of this coach is bound to have an impact .

 .Well many of the Indian players are not professionals . They have their jobes elsewhere and then they play football . Be it Asim , be it Mehtab , be it Basudeb .... Why are you an exception ?
    Well , they do it for  their security . But i take life as it is ... I dont care about tomorrow . I just face hwat comes today and look after my family .. My parents and 2 married sisters

. Speaking of Indian football scenario  , what do you have to say about the level of foreigners in India
     Well , i think the clubs should not be allowed to bring foreigners ! You allow them to bring 2 foreigners , and  they will bring 2 foreign strikers . BUt most of them play with their physique . You have nothing to learn from these foreigners . Its only Yakubu and Barreto who are really skillful and you can really learn something from them .

.Noel , what would you like to say about the developement of football in India , right from the grass root level .
    Well , the inlcusion of foreigners in harming the young talents in the country . You see promising guys like Jerry and chota Mama are coming out of the TFA and then they dont get a chance in the team beacuse some heavily paid foreigners are already there ! 

.Ok Noel , what message do you have for the fans ?
     Firstly we are sorry for not being able to give you one trophy this season . But we will try from the start of the next season . I want to stay in Bagan and i will be staying for the fans !
        
                                [ Noel Wilson with Sumanta and Trinanjan ]  [ March 2005 ]