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Does one glass of Bailey’s on New Year’s Day constitute excessive drinking for a professional athlete?
Phyllis Andrews, the “aunt” of 26-year-old Trinidad and Tobago National Senior Team defender Daneil Cyrus, insisted that national head coach Tom Saintfiet has defamed the Soca Warriors player. And she is urging Saintfiet or the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) to clear Cyrus’ name.
(Courtesy Nicholas Williams/Wired868)
Saintfiet dropped Cyrus and 22-year-old national midfielder Jomal Williams and told the media that the players missed their noon check-in at the Cara Suites hotel on New Year’s Day and smelt of alcohol.
“Two of the players came one and a half hours too late in camp and had still decent smell of alcohol around him (sic),” said Saintfiet. “That was Daneil Cyrus and Jomal Williams. Both were immediately sent home, back to party—but are replaced in the squad.”
Aunt Phyllis admitted Cyrus was late for their residential camp in Claxton Bay. However, she is offended by the insinuation that the versatile W Connection player turned up for national duty reeking of alcohol.
“If [Saintfiet] says the other fella was drinking, he has to prove that too but that is their business,” said aunt Phyllis. “You can drop [Cyrus] for any other reason but don’t say he was stink of alcohol. That boy never came in my house stink of alcohol. And I open the door most of the time for him because he always loses his keys…
“So I want them to clear that up.”
Cyrus did, she admitted, have a glass of Bailey’s. The national defender told Wired868 yesterday he did not touch alcohol that morning. However, he confirmed that he had one drink.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-images/Wired868)
She insisted there was a social context that should not be overlooked, though. It was New Year’s Day and just one glass of “weak” alcohol. Don’t players in England, Belgium and other European countries, she asked, have a drink to celebrate too—once they do not end up drunk?
“He slept by me that night and he left from my house to go to camp,” she told Wired868. “We had a family lime and my children don’t get to have much time with him anymore, so they are always happy when he is around.
“He had just one drink and they were laughing at him and saying ‘Bailey’s boy?!’ I have all the alcohol in the world in house and he would hardly drink. All he would say is ‘Ms Andrews, I am taking a shandy’.
“So I really, really take offence to this. This is tarnishing the boy’s name.”
Aunt Phyllis first opened her Santa Rosa Heights home to Cyrus a decade ago when the Plymouth-based teenager needed a place to stay in Trinidad to train with the National Under-17 Team.
She was friends with the mother of National Under-17 forward Stephen Knox. One day, Knox’s mother introduced her to then National Team manager Chris De Silva who asked whether she would give a place to stay to a teenaged boy she had never met.
(Copyright AFP 2014/ John Amis)
“[Knox’s mother] asked me if I could take him and then Mr De Silva and Daneil’s mother came and met me,” said aunt Phyllis. “Daneil was 15 and he has been with me ever since. I have two younger children and everyone welcomed him with open arms, so we are all like family.
“If anything, my children felt I spoiled him. But they are like brothers and sisters.”
Cyrus went on to play in two World Youth Cups for Trinidad and Tobago—the Korea Republic 2007 Under-17 and Egypt 2009 Under-20 World Cups—and cement his place in the National Senior Team.
Aunt Phyllis gave her account of what happened on New Year’s Day, as Cyrus set off for his noon check-in time with his national teammates in Claxton Bay.
“He left [Santa Rosa Heights] about 11am and, when he was in the back of St Helena, he got a flat,” she said. “So he had to call another partner [to come and help him since he did not have a jack]. He called and spoke to the manager [Azaad Khan] and the manager said: ‘Okay come… The coach is really upset but still come’.
“[Cyrus] wasn’t sure of the time [he spoke to Khan] but he thinks it was before 12… I know he left by me a little late and he could have been earlier. But he would have been on time, if not for the flat he had.”
Looking on is new general secretary Justin Latapy-George (far left) and technical director Muhammad Isa.
(Courtesy Wired868)
Aunt Phyllis said she called W Connection co-founder and TTFA president David John-Williams to complain today.
“I called John-Williams and he said he is not charge of the team and that is the [coach’s responsibility],” she told Wired868. “But he said that could be fixed. He said: ‘you know he has a reputation of being late for Connection practice’. But what does that have to do with this? I am dealing with the defamation of character with the [coach claiming the] boy was smelling of alcohol.
“I don’t have a problem with him being dropped for being late. But not for alcohol.”’
Wired868 asked John-Williams to confirm if he said said Cyrus’ issue could “be fixed” and what he would have meant by that. But, although he read the message, he did not respond up to the time of publication.
The website was unable to get further comment from Saintfiet, Jomal Williams or national team manager Azaad Khan.
The Soca Warriors face Suriname from 7pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium on Wednesday in the first game of a round-robin series, which also includes Haiti. One of the three nations will advance to the next Gold Cup playoff round against Central American opposition.
Edwards is the captain of the current Soca Warriors team.
(Copyright AFP 2016/Odd Andersen)
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
I read and understand you loud and clear Mr Look Loy.
Lance Noel hart was a failure before he came tnt, and left as a failure
.You READING what I writing pal? You UNDERSTANDING it?..
Seems you have already condemned him to the rubbish heap Mr Look Loy.
HAHA.The man has been a failure everywhere he’s been. DJW threaten the man WHILE UMVEILING HIM! Who waiting to laugh?..
Anselm,some of us just waiting to laugh at the coach if we lose,not acknowledging that he is working with a less than professional team.
Like I said: Why not pay me to do a job and give me a referral before I actually do it?
Winning the next two games would be nice but the priority should be to learn about our weaknesses and fix them.
In sport, you would destroy player’s career if you tell him winning doesn’t matter. Everything you do as a professional coach is to help you win matches.
And it is the same in every professional industry. The proof of the pudding is always in the eating.
Anselm I would say inability to analyse and comprehend is a bigger problem.
Lance Noel indispline is a major problem for some of the lawlessness we have in TNT today and you can read it right here from some very intelligent people of TNT.
Mike Rodak
ESPN Staff Writer
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Running back LeSean McCoy and wide receiver Sammy Watkins, the Buffalo Bills’ two biggest stars on offense, say discipline among players was lacking under coach Rex Ryan, who was fired Tuesday.
“I think the discipline has been an issue,” McCoy said Friday. “Players just [need to take] accountability for their own actions. … I just think as players, as professionals, we need to step up and play accountable. That’s the biggest issue.”
“It’s discipline,” Watkins said Thursday. “Whatever around the locker room that needs to be addressed — on the field, off the field, flags, whether it’s a running drill. … I just think being professional as players [needs to be] fixed first.
“Then the coaches have to be hard on us, not scared of us. Get at us, yell at us, curse at us. Whatever to get the player to do that job the best he can, that’s what they need to do.
Irrelevant to discussion which is about coaching ability.
Lasana Liburd with Savitri Maharaj and 13 others.
Yesterday at 2:25pm
Aunt Phyllis: T&T coach Tom Saintfiet is defaming Daneil Cyrus; Soca Warriors defender had just one glass of Bailey’s! TTFA president and W Connection co-founder David John-Williams allegedly promises to help “fix” issue
Isn’t this your original post Lasana?
Lasana Liburd If discipline is the key to success how is it irrelevant?
We were discussing whether he can coach. As in pick a team, create a strategy, make changes, think on his feet… You can judge any of those things by him chucking players out of his team.
I don’t think sacking players is a key component in getting your coaching badge.
We don’t know if he can coach yet.
lol
.. CARLON!! YOU RIGHT BOY!! I GONE!!..
So hear nah. When you have a school where the students are undisciplined and the teacher has to spend most of his or her time disciplining the students instead of teaching, can that teacher be successful? The same goes for coaching. So to hear people dismissing the importance of discipline while waiting to judge the coach on results is indicative of the shallow culture in T&T football especially among local coaches who are just as culpable for the culture of indiscipline in local football. Discipline be damned. Winning is everything
Gerard Johnson you preach, and just imagine that Keith Look Loy was your teacher?
Anybody who thinks judging on results is shallow is a Trini to the bone 😉
Lasana Liburd You never stop do you Slick. Your tireless attempt to distort people’s words are getting boring. How do you want to judge the coach on results if he cannot even have discipline from his players? Just ask Hart. So stop trying to distort what I write. You have tried many times before without success. Give up nah.
In the real world, people are judged on results. Everything that comes before the game is supposed to set the stage for you to get the result.
If it didn’t help you get the result or noticeable increase your chances of getting a result, your plan failed. Slick.
Lasana Liburd And instilling discipline is part of that. How can he coach a team if so many of the players are not listening, doing what they want, feteing and drinking the night before a game and so on.
That’s fine. He is entitled to make those calls. But all we are saying is his test as a coach comes in those 90 minute stretches.
Lasana Liburd You finally decided to agree with me
Finally! Lol.
The thing is this.. if any big name coach had come here and done the exact same thing everyone would have been singing his praises. However, this coach doesnt have ‘a name’ so he’s judged by a different standard.
But look at it this way.. the easiest thing for this coach to do was to keep those guys and look for ‘results’ to appease a clearly skeptical footballing public, yours truly included. However, he’s sticking by HIS principles, just as Mourinho, Conte, Klopp et al would do and I respect that. I’m not crowning him a saviour or even giving him a pass but he has to be given credit for that.
..I haven’t read ONE person criticizing him for dropping men who deserved to be dropped. What’s up with that?..
But arent we talking about ‘results’ in the context of star players being dropped?
Yes Gerard Johnson. Judging people on results is shallow.
Wave your Trinidad and Tobago passport with pride.
We are a nation that never judges people based on output. That’s why we are so wonderful. First world thinking there.
..Kicks yes..
And Keith Look Loy when you said he was not here to be a ‘school master’ were you talking about strategy or discipline?
I GONE. THIS GOING IN CIRCLES BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE CAN”T UNDERSTAND THAT WE AGREE SOME MEN LOOK FOR DEY DROP BUT WE ALSO SAYING SAINTFIET AIN’T HERE TO BE A TURNKEY. HE HERE TO WINNNNN AND WILL ULTIMATELY BE JUDGED BY THAT MEASURE. PHEWWWWWW. LAST EFFORT RIGHT THERE..
No.. you you cant have it both ways, but you’re not getting that. Can he ‘win’ without establishing discipline? How does he establish discipline without being a ‘turnkey’? Get it?
. I DIZZY..
That’s from talking in circles 🙂
Richard Zen O’Brien, we need six points in the Gold Cup qualifiers and four points in our two upcoming World Cup games.
How many points did he get for dropping players?
When you answer that, you should have answered your question.
If he thinks his actions will help him get points then that is great. We will see. But it is the points we brought him here for.
No one is going to disagree with that assessment, not even Saintfiet. No one gets ‘points’ for dropping players, but you try to get a combination and culture to give you the best chance to win. Ask Cantona and Ginola how that worked out with France in ’98. Coaches drop players all the time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt.
CHEERS!!
Allyuh bring out some drinks now,nah man(lol)
Nah ah Kar take any, I have to report to running camp tomorrow.
And yuh doh want to get send home ,eh Anselm(lol)
Always comment early in a thread….after a while the comments and comprehension deteriorate at equal pace
lol
..EUREKA!!!!!!..
So to make a long story short,the coach was right to do what he did.We now await the two games to judge his ability to coach,by the onfield performance of the team.
Exactly what we’ve been saying…in 100+ comments..*sigh*
So you not waiting to see if he wins or loses lance? You happy already?
You don’t have a sink or something that you can pay me to fix and then write a Reference for me before I do the job?! ???
..And I ain’t vilifying anybody by saying that. But I not getting tie up and doing cartwheels because a coach with a shit CV drop some men. If he does well I will praise him..
So we are waiting to see if he loses,then we would say,yuh see,he shoulda pick de boy dem.Lord have mercy upon us.(lol)
Vilifying is saying he needs to win games to be a success Lance Noel? Seriously? You watch sport? Have a favourite team?
..I could reasonably argue that the “give him a chance” attitude is why we can’t achieve anything in sport these days..
Keith, he has 3 months to prove himself. What you talking about “give him a chance” and we cyar win anything in sport? He not here for life, as some like to feel they are
..That is precisely my point. If he can’t beat Suriname and Haiti he could take us Russia? But people here talking about he could lose all the matches aa long as he dropping men Smfh yes..
..Allyuh can”t understand a simple idea. He right to send home men who liook for it. But he will NOT be judged by that. He WILL be judged by what happens on the field tomorrow and Sunday because he is here to WIN MATCHES. Can’t make it any clearer..
Lasana, it’s not about blind loyalty, this is not the PNM or UNC. This is about being sceptical, true, and waiting for results 2mrw and Sunday. Hart had a long time to groove in, in the last year or so, he got soft
Here we are villifying a coach for trying to instill discipline into a losing football team.
And it is the “that man sounds good so let us give him blind loyalty regardless of what he actually produces” that makes our country the mess it is.
I didn’t want to say it Anselm.It’s the win at all cost mentality that has our country constantly reversing.
..Steups. Never in public..
???
Keith Look Loy just exposed himself by this statement “THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS WINNING!! EVERYTHING ELSE IS SECONDARY!!..” I would not want to play for a Coach like that because he truly does not have my well being at heart.
So,Lasana,the coach was out of place to send the players home citing late coming and an alcohol aroma?
What I am saying Lance is that doesn’t say he can actually coach.
It is easy to tell Cyrus to go home. The challenge is in keeping the opposition out and finding a way to pierce their back four.
Can someone tell me if the game tomorrow is on TV please
Giovanne Barzagli Vincenzo Figaro is the game on tv?
I will inquire….
So it seems WI Sports has coverage of the games from 7pm … seems they don’t know I am available. ..
Hahaha
Politicians can stick around for five years achieving nothing but doling out sound bites and get reelected. Some people accustomed to that. Sport doesn’t work that way.
That’s why sport has score boards.
..Have you been reading my comments? Who needs to be disciplined must be disciplined. But Saintfiet ain’t our school master. He here to WIN MATCHES. WIN MATCHES. I waiting on these two CFU matches..
Its the means to the end sir…
AND THAT WE SHALL SEE FROM TONORROW NIGHT..
We were left with these problems with hart, and he neither won games
If I recall correctly,we were talking about tanty saying ”dey slander de boy name”.
No. Anselm started a different talk.
Who said this current strategy will continue into the future? He had to start somewhere and make the deviants see he means business, once they understand that,all will be well and he will give them leeway
Still doesn’t mean he can coach though. Only means he is strict.
We will find out if he can coach soon.
Well said Savitri.
Well, just maybe, they will at least follow instructions on the field…some of them are experienced enough to know what they need to do on the pitch
And that will be for nought if he doesn’t know how to instruct them. Because I look good in an apron doesn’t make me a master chef.
But no matter. The score board doesn’t lie in sport.
Lolol…you see what I said yesterday, I doh put my neck on the line for no one eh, but I do give people the benefit of the doubt, until…
For me, you earn the benefit of the doubt. Any journalist who isn’t a skeptic is crap at their job.
If the team delivers, he will have earned it. Just like the coaches before him earned it.
But we aren’t debating the coach’s ability Lasana.
You missed that lance. But the debate was precisely that.
And I don’t get how anyone can make a pronouncement on that after one win and one loss against Nicaragua and a host of sackings.
So Mr Look Loy,not being a coach myself,once you are winning,indiscipline is not an issue?Surely that isn’t so.
Anselm, I hear your point but the good coaches know that multitasking gets the ship moving in the right direction faster. He has to fix broken windows and paint and landscape and anything else his staff can assist with all at the same time given the stated mandate to win these games..
It seems like Lasana Liburd was drinking with Cyrus and Williams. If he had to report to reporters Camp the Coach would have sent lasana home to for alcohol on his breath.
So we should give him six months Zen? He got three. That’s what he signed up for.
If he loses the dressing room, he might well end up like Bob Bradley too.
This is football.
I agree. If he loses the dressing room it’s on him.but hearing Jomel’s interview it’s telling me he’s actually gaining respect…people are falling in line..Jomel is prepared.
In the end, results are going good to matter, but attitude and culture are going to play a major part in getting there. This shake up may be exact thing to get these same players to get with the program. I could guarantee you that Jomel is never going to be late again.
Nice. But doesn’t matter if entire team loves or hates him. What matters is how he uses that to win matches.
THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS WINNING!! EVERYTHING ELSE IS SECONDARY!!..
You do the sport no good by tolerating indiscipline Lasana.Can’t you see the results of our National team,bro?
I’m tolerating indiscipline because I say he has to win games to be a good coach?
Why not just hire your favorite principal as coach and save money then?
What he does off the field is fine but he must show that he can do his job on the field first and foremost.
Urmm..he played 2 games so far, won one, why can’t we wait to judge him after 2mrw and Sunday?
He won one and lost the other. Yes. Against Nicaragua. A team that was eliminated before even the group stage of the World Cup phase.
In other words they didn’t get as far as st Vincent.
But those are friendlies so let us see now. You should be just as anxious as me to see what he can achieve.
Actually, I am anxious and wishing that we can really put the boot in. You really think we don’t want the team going to the WC? We really eh
Ok, I left out the lost one, yes…I tired typing and saying the same thing over and over. When it’s time to bash his tactics, we will, just like we did with Hart.
That’s fine Sav. All I’m saying is we haven’t seen whether he can coach yet because he is heading into his first competitive games.
Trying to discuss his coaching acumen now is talking about how a car handles before it is driven.
And if you look at his body of work, it is woeful eh. So you should be happy to have us look forward rather than backwards.
But Las, we not even analysing his skills as a coach here. Let’s talk about the two games, one he lost, the other he won.
Savitri, it was a friendly against one of the weakest teams in Central America. Smh. Competitive games count in sport.
What if he won every friendly game and lost every competitive game?
So they went all the way to Nicaragua for a sweat…coooll
Savitri I don’t know what to tell you eh. I cover sport for a living.
It is a warm up game. Some coaches prefer to not even play them and just keep the team together training.
If you think a friendly game counts so much then why don’t they award points for them?
All I can do is tell you what I know about sport from my time in the industry. I can’t argue with you about the value of a practice game.
The under-20 team lost almost every practice game Savitri. They then got to the semifinals and qualified for Concacaf.
Maybe you would have sacked the coach due to the value of those games.
No no, it’s not trying to change it. Most coaches, when they take over struggling teams, have taken adjustments with strategy a day personal before they start seeing results. Why should he be judged differently? You’re seeing it all over the world…Mourinho struggled in the beginning at ManU, Klopp took 6 months to get something going at Liverpool and Content struggled in the beginning get at Chelsea, and the ALL made tough personal decisions. Not saying this coach is of the same calibre, but his approach is the same.
People who see football as a pastime can afford to say winning games don’t matter. Nobody who sees sport as a living can do so.
Lasana yuh losing me with yuh argument bro.
..Then is a good thing you ain’t TTFA president. Lose all their upcoming games and stay eh? Hahahahaha..
Correct Anselm.It’s not as though he is tinkering with a winning squad.
Ever heard that the theory of broken windows is nonsense that wasn’t proven Anselm? That bit missed you?
Regardless. We hired a coach to win games not fix windows.
Anselm LeBourne, Lasana Liburd has a point. The “broken windows theory” has been debunked. Will send you the info when I find it. It may not be a good idea to mention it in presenting an argument.
Lol.
Malcolm Jack it worked marvelously under Rudy Giuliani in New York right?
Malcolm, Anselm can be like a dog with a chew toy when he has an idea in mind.
Yes, the great Rudy Giuliani. Great co-endorser for a flawed idea.
Lasana Liburd it worked in NY and I was there to see it in practice so you can say what you want. We should implement it in TNT and while we at it “Stop and Frisk” as well.
?
Glad you enjoyed stop and frisk Anselm. Hope you voted Trump.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-problem-with-broken-windows-policing/
It would work marvelously in TNT and help reduce crime. I am sure you will be happy with that.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/01/the_nypd_slowdown_is_proving_that_broken_windows_is_a_failure/
http://gawker.com/why-broken-windows-policing-is-so-broken-1621008911
Anselm LeBourne you know we’re cool. I just wanted to make sure you were enlightened and aware so you put weight to that theory around less friendly people. Gulianni and Bratton don’t even utter those words anymore.
Only a biased person would find facts to support their argument Malcolm Jack. Lol. Ok. Lemme stop teasing…
I am a believer of that for TNT, and we also need “Stop and frisk” According to Donald Trump, what do you have to lose.
Lasana Liburd doh worry pardner, it’s all good. Me and Malcolm Jack cool as well even though we disagree.
We don’t need stop and frisk in T&T Anselm. Here if you are poor and black, police can just shoot you dead. “Black lives matter” is just for the US.
Really Lasana Liburd. It’s better to try and fail than fail to try my friend.
Lasana I doubt Anslem believes stop and frisk would work in an environment where a President is getting away with fraudulently receiving a housing allowance he’s not entitled to, or a Finance Minister engaging in insider trading and getting away with it.
Malcolm Jack I absolutely believe it will work. We ain’t trying nothing else. What do we have to lose?
Anselm, stop and frisk was proven to be an attempt to legitimate racist profiling by policemen. People don’t care about that sort of thing here. What inhibits a Trini policeman from stopping and searching anyone or worse?
You have a “bandit face” in Trinidad, you have to take what you get. Here, six year old boys are gunned down and John Public say it is good for them because they have a photo wearing all their parents jewelry.
Rudy would love Trinidad.
Lasana at the end of the day we need to do drastic things with respect to crime in TNT and stop and frisk is drastic and we will have to deal with the minor accessories that may happen during the process.
Rudy and Bratton already milked a couple millions off T&T with that broken windows theory nonsense some years ago. People are too enlightened now to fall for that; especially Gary Griffith.
I think we are targetting the wrong criminals Anselm. We continue to threaten the wabeens while the big fish laugh all the way to the bank.
Stop and frisk wouldn’t stop LifeSport, for instance. Know how much criminality that funded?
But, year, stop and frisk itself is illegal. Good doesn’t come from bad.
Exactly, Lasana! Anselm, bear in mind that they people who are more likely to be stopped and frisked are the same people who were denied basic good and services as a result of taxpayers’ money that were misused and mis-allocated by those responsible for LifeSport as well as others in the upper socio-economic echelons of society; who get away with it. They need to be dealt with first.
You all trying to fix the big things first and it works the other way around. Stop and frisk was deemed illegal but it worked.
lolol @ Anselm…. Yuh just convinced me that yuh kicksing
If it worked, they would still be using it. And you cannot fix a problem from the bottom up. That’s dealing with the symptom and not the disease.
Nah I am very serious. These things will have a significant Impact in TNT. They have tried all other kind of things with no result. What do we have to lose?
Ent!!!!
Agreed Lasana,but surely indisciplined players cannot be good for the game.I am one who subscribes to the view that a star player could never be an indisciplined player.
Lasana Liburd is missing the big picture. Even heard of “the theory of broken windows?” You have to fix the little things first and they will help fix the bigger things. That’s exactly what the Coach is doing, I don’t care if they lose all their upcoming games, the Coach is trying to fix a broken machine.