A theatre of the absurd - that's what the coaching business has reduced Indian hockey to. Countdown to Rio 2016 is on, teams are ready with their guide map to the podium and what India is left to do? Find a new coach.
Year on year since the wooden-spoon finish at London 2012, Hockey India has appointed a coach only to lose him in a battle of ego and then either start its journey afresh or ask Roelant Oltmans to fill in until a new man occupies the hot seat.
From Jose Brasa to Michael Nobbs to Terry Walsh and now Paul van Ass, Indian hockey continues to dig an unnecessary hole for itself by firing coaches on grounds that shouldn't be basis for such drastic measures.
Just when it seems a coach is settling in with a focused group moving ahead with his thought process, Hockey India drops a bomb.
Brasa won India an Asian Games bronze and Commonwealth Games silver, Nobbs got India back into Olympics after missing Beijing 2008, Terry Walsh got India back on the Asian Games podium that came with an Olympics berth. And now Van Ass, who remained in the job for the shortest period - six months, is on his way out as he confirmed on Monda
"I haven't quit, I have been fired by Mr. [Narinder] Batra, and it was done one week after the [FIH] World League semis in Belgium," Van Ass told IBNLive.
The Dutchman also confirmed about his spat with the Hockey India President in Belgium, which was widely reported in media last week, and believed it could have led to his sacking.
Van Ass said Batra invaded the pitch after the quarter-final against Malaysia, which turned into an argument between him and the president.
"He came onto the pitch and said something in Hindi to the players. I thought he was saying things like 'Well done' and 'Well played' but the tone was not such. Then I asked him to leave the pitch, it's not right," the 54-year-old said.
Hockey India, however, maintains it's Van Ass who has left the job, but if the coach's version turns into a fact, inflated egos will once again be responsible to hurt the interest of the game and the blame for not performing will be shifted entirely to the players.
It sounds nothing less than scary that India are left to search for a coach entering the final 365 days before Rio Olympics, but Nobbs, who was in the job from June 2011 to July 2013, says it's "Easy. Oltmans and Harendra."
Talking to IBNLive from his home in Canberra, the Australian said India should put its faith in Harendra Singh, who is currently in charge of the junior team, and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans,
"Oltmans has coached the team a few times. Reasonable results. Harendra brings excellent language skills in translation, knows all the players very, very well," Nobbs said in an assured manner.
"He [Harendra] was working with me initially, has had very good results with the junior programme. It's a really easy decision. A dumb decision would be bringing in another foreigner.
"Harendra needs to do the job now and make some tough decisions with the team. He is the most qualified by FIH [coaching standards]. I also agree that he needs a very good assistant, that's where a foreigner would be useful," Nobbs said without elaborating whether he thinks a much senior Oltmans should assist Harendra or the other way round.
It's hard to see Oltmans being asked to assist Harendra, especially since the Dutchman is already holding a much senior position as High Performance Director and is far more experienced. But the other way round can turn out to be an interesting proposition.
The Australian went on to add that foreign expertise should be used by India only to train coaches.
"I think Mr. Batra needs to look outside the box. I think India needs to bring in specialists for short periods and build up Indian coaches and specialists. Bring back the specialists again and review. Continue this until you have a fully working programme.
"I have just sent a person to Russia to do exactly that, train home-grown people. The problem with outside coaches is they come and go, take lots of money, sometimes work and most just fail. Then they go home and nothing much gets improved," the former India coach explained.
Still, a new coach will mean beginning again, which is not an ideal situation a year away from the Olympics. But Nobbs disagreed, saying that India just needs a good build-up with most things in place.
"Don't let emotions get in the way. Everything is already in place. Just build up now to the Olympics," he concluded before saying "Good Night".
Having heard Nobbs, we must not forget that the Van Ass saga hasn't ended yet. The quicker it happens the better for the players who are in the dark at the fitness camp in Shilaroo.
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