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Our Russia 2018 World Cup campaign is now complete and the summary of the Hex results makes for some grim reading: played 10, won 2, drawn 0, lost 8. We scored seven goals and conceded 19. Yes, NINETEEN!
Let’s compare that with our statistics in 2005: played 10, won 4, drawn 1, lost 5. We scored 10 goals and conceded 15. We will come back to these stats in a bit. First, let’s have a brief look at our last two games.
(Copyright AFP 2017/Yuri Cortez)
We went to Mexico already knowing we had no chance of qualifying and the manager made wholesale changes. Out went goalkeepers Jan-Michael Williams and Marvin Phillip and in came Greg Ranjitsingh, Glenroy Samuel and Adrian Foncette.
There was still no place for Andre Boucaud while Shahdon Winchester and Levi Garcia were recalled.
Kenwyne Jones appears to have played his last game for Trinidad and Tobago—at least under this coaching staff—and I will touch on him later on.
I have seen endless comments on social media about how well the boys did against Mexico. I sometimes wonder if I’m watching a different game; but I have realised that our fans have been so disappointed by this campaign that they want to hang on to even the very slightest bit of improvement.
Mexico, having already qualified, were in cruise control. They enjoyed 68 percent possession. I always read about ball possession being over-emphasised and all that rubbish but the team with the most possession usually wins.
The only time when this isn’t the case is when you have a fantastic counter-attacking team that uses quick players effectively. We opened the scoring in the 65th minute with a magnificent composed finish from Winchester. This threatened to spoil the Mexican party.
(Copyright AFP 2017/Yuri Cortez)
However, Mexico increased their speed of thought and passing and equalised in the 78th min through Lozano. Their build-up to the equaliser showed their technical superiority—they sliced through our midfield like a hot knife through butter.
The razor-sharp Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez reacted first to score their second following a sharp save from Foncette. Hector Herrera then added a third from a free kick which Foncette should have done better with.
The recovery from Mexico demonstrated their ability to switch gears when they really needed to; and they did so with devastating effect.
I have seen enough to believe there is some promise in Foncette and it will be an interesting battle between him and Samuel. I have told them both that goalkeeping is about concentration and consistency. I have never seen Ranjitsingh play but I’m sure that, having tasted the international atmosphere, he will be driven to compete for the number one jersey.
The build-up to the United States game was dominated by the American team’s displeasure with the playing surface. There were farcical scenes of American players being piggy-backed through some ankle-deep water.
The USA’s very public pre-occupation with the playing surface and the size of the stadium was very unprofessional and caused them to lose focus. They were coming straight from hammering Panama 4-0 and I’m absolutely certain they took us for granted.
It proved to be a fatal misjudgement for them.
We took the lead rather fortuitously as American defender Omar Gonzalez sliced his clearance over Tim Howard. The second goal from Alvin Jones, taken from considerable distance, should also leave Howard disappointed about being beaten from that range and angle—but take nothing away from the strike; it was tremendously hit.
The imperious Christian Pulisic pulled a goal back for the Americans and tried to inspire his lacklustre teammates but to no avail. This boy is only 18 and he is a real talent. The Americans have a gem on their hands but this is an ordinary American team. They’re very arrogant and my former teammate Shaka Hislop summed them up brilliantly.
I have read on social media that we played so well. I’d say that we did okay. This game was a dead rubber for us with absolutely no pressure to win or even get a result. It’s the perfect game to give a young player a chance as it’s competitive but without undue pressure.
(Copyright AFP 2017/Luis Acosta)
I need to make this perfectly clear: the result against USA does absolutely nothing to change my view about how poor we are as a team, as the stats and table do not lie. I am still trying to figure out what our style is. What is our game plan?
Former coach Stephen Hart had a clear philosophy. He wanted his team to try to play and attack. The problem Stephen had was that we just don’t have the players to do that well. We lack genuine quality in the right areas.
I’m not sure what Dennis Lawrence’s philosophy is. All I can say is that we conceded nearly two goals per game during this campaign so the first port of call should surely be to make sure we are very hard to beat. Teams score on us so easily that it’s a joke.
We also scored only seven goals in 10 matches, so that tells me we are either not creating enough chances or cannot take our chances. We are terribly deficient in both areas.
I have watched these games over and over and I’m not sure if these players were really drilled enough on having a good defensive shape. At this moment, we cannot compete on a technical level with the best in CONCACAF.
(Copyright AFP 2017/Bienvenido Velasco)
We cannot possess the ball better than them—except for when we played Costa Rica at home (under Hart) when we had marginally more possession. We are not compact enough when we don’t have the ball and, as far as I’m concerned, we have played many games by guess; not by design.
So where do we go from here?
One thing is certain: the Americans would ensure they qualify for the next World Cup. They would devise a comprehensive plan to ensure they are back among the top three teams in concacaf.
Mexico, Costa Rica and now Panama are going to the World Cup so their football will be in a confident place. Honduras are in the FIFA Play Off and may very well qualify as well. They also had a fantastic Olympic campaign in 2016, so they have a talented group coming through.
Jamaica are steadily improving and Haiti are such an athletic team. We better pray Haiti don’t get proper funding because Haitian football will really kick off then.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-images/Wired868)
And what are we going to do? Should Dennis remain in the job? Can the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) get its finger out and really begin to lead and plan effectively?
On the one hand, I want to give Dennis the benefit of the doubt. But on the other hand, I haven’t seen enough evidence of some basics being done in the games he has overseen. I always say to give a manager a chance to implement his methods and philosophy. But, if I’m honest, Dennis is very lucky he hasn’t been sacked. He has lost a lot of football matches and football is a result-oriented business.
He is a young manager so hopefully he would’ve learned valuable lessons.
In 2005, Leo Beenhakker made us difficult to beat so that always gave us a chance to nick games. We always stayed in the game. He had a clear plan which ultimately worked. He assessed the situation when he came in and executed to near perfection.
There is also too much indiscipline within Lawrence’s squad—too many suspensions and all that rubbish. Some of them should be ashamed of their amateur attitudes.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-images/Wired868)
These players shouldn’t be let off lightly as they are not learning quickly enough through the experience of playing international football.
We are also crying out for a goal scorer, so the various academies need to get to work. We need another Stern John.
Kenwyne Jones has never been a prolific goalscorer so, with that in mind, I never expected him to score many goals during this campaign. I expected Hart and Lawrence to utilise his strengths much better.
Kenwyne is six foot two and weighs maybe 85-90kg. That’s a nightmare for any defender, more so some of these CONCACAF defenders. Beenhakker managed to get the best out of Kenwyne. I could remember seeing Leo having numerous chats with him, motivating and reminding him of how much potential he had. Wim Rijsbergen used to do the same.
I just think our coaches failed in not getting enough from him. It’s unfortunate as I think he should still play a part in the future. I always said that Kenwyne was not the issue when they were calls for him to be dropped.
Both teams played to a 2-2 draw.
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
We can all see the glaring issues which we have had—it’s not Kenwyne’s fault we lacked discipline, were technically average and tactically poor. It’s not his fault we defended like dodos.
And that takes me to our goalkeeping, which has to improve as well. It’s not consistent enough. Lawrence made a change which makes me wonder if he suddenly didn’t rate Jan-Michael and Marvin Phillip or if he thinks Foncette, Samuel and Ranjitsingh are a better bet. The latter three are in prime position to fight for that coveted number one spot.
As for the TTFA, they are historically inept and continue to fit that description right now. David John-Williams makes baffling decisions and the next TTFA elections will be huge. A leader needs to step forward.
Private businesses and various potential sponsors continue to shun the TTFA and we have to ask why. Trinidad and Tobago’s football is in desperate need of financial assistance. We need a lot of money to get programmes going but, most importantly, we need the right individual to lead us into the next campaign.
(Copyright Allan V Crane/TTFA)
We need strong youth teams and qualifying for the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics must be a priority.
I’m sure that most would agree that we can slip further into the abyss if huge improvements are not made.
Our current ranking of 99th in the world can easily turn into number 120th if we are not careful. If this is not the signal to get serious, I don’t know what is.
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Both coach and players are inefficient. The team lacks brain power, lacks strategy. Too many wild plays. I am sorry for my team. The team needs some stiffer discipline. Work, work work and more work.
My choice for coach after they fired Hart was Terry Fenwick, he knows the local circuit plus he is a no nonsense kinda guy..having said that I think this year we have a nice group of school football players and should really kinda get them to the next level from now….
You are on point here or he should have been at least technical director
An ideal summary of our World Cup qualifying campaign and our team presently.
Lawrence should take pattern from Bruce. I love football will support our national team but our team has failed itself & our support.
How many changes to the head coach position did Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Honduras make over the course of the campaign?
Heres another way to look at the info Kelvin Jack provided.
2017 team scored 7 goals, against 19, win 2 lost 8.
As opposed to 2006 team 10 goals, against 15, win 4 lost 5.
Kelvin, do u realise that those 13 points had in 2005 would not have gotten us into this WC? The 06 team’s results were better but I dare say marginally. Here’s why, the 06 team had in its ranks 11 or 12 UK based professionals, 3 of whom were goalkeepers on in the premier and another in the championship.
The current team has/had one UK based player, yes just one and guess what, he plays in the 5th division in England.
The top players are 2 MLS employees and burgeoning Eredivisie player.
Yes, the current team underperformed, the results are indicative of this reality but Im not sure I would wanna compare the two because it could be easily gleaned that based on the quality of resources available to both teams, one underperformed or the performed pretty ok.
One correction to your point Kester, the 13 points we got in 2005 would have put us into the FIFA Play Off in this contest too. We would have finished ahead of Honduras.
We would have finished ahead of honduras on goal diffence las??
Malik, Honduras got to the 2018 Play Off with 13 points and a minus six goal difference. The Soca Warriors in 2006 had 13 points and a minus five goal difference.
So Kester is wrong when he said the 2006 team would have missed out on a FIFA Play Off spot this year.
Fair enough 1 goal would have made the difference but isn’t the point he’s getting at is the fact that that team had much more high level playing experience and talent than this team ….yet based on results would have made it through via 1 solitary goal?
More to do with attitude & mentality than talent. Take the same group of players. Form a team in the English 4th division (in the freezing cold with more regimental training) & let them play as the national team as well. Outcome will probably be different. Also this comparing teams makes no sense. The game has moved on so much since 2006.
Malik he made several points. But the claim that the 2006 team would not have qualified is significant and can even be seen as a slap down. So whether it is by one goal or a million, fact is they would have still advanced.
If I see something that I know is incorrect, I feel I should point it out for the benefit of the group.
Based on talent alone, Joevin Jones would walk into the 2006 World Cup team and start on the left flank. And since Beenhakker was keen on him during his brief stint here at the start of Hart’s tenure, there is every likelihood that Joevin would have been a different player under another coach.
Or, of course, he would have been dropped. I think the 2006 team had more talent overall as well as they had a top poacher. But the main difference between the two teams in my opinion are mentality, character and, above all, coaching.
And I don’t blame Dennis for all of that.
This was the easiest hex in ages. Plain and simple. All the teams were beatable. We just played the worst of the lot
That’s another point. We have beaten Panama and Honduras in this cycle and drawn with USA and Mexico. That would suggest that if we played to our potential we had an outside chance of finishing fourth.
Exactly my sentiments Jamal Wiggins , ALL the teams were beatable.
From Mexico to Honduras
Some people claim to look more in-depth into the game but all I hearing is win, loss, draw. Also myopia and inferiority complex, what make Beenhaaker a better coach than Stuart Charles or Jamaal Shabazz ??? Opportunity ,being born in a footballing nation an organized structured environment and sorry Jamaal he harder than you ,you take shit from players . Discuss tactics, strategy they are parallel. The BIGGEST problem of all is and who vex loss the colour of his skin. These house nigga players respond better to the white man, plain and simple. That’s y I support stern when he gave them a dose of reality the other day.
Yep. Beenhakker was white. He also coached twice at Real Madrid and won trophies there and at Ajax and was given Holland to coach at a World Cup. All because he was white too I guess.
And when the likes of Dwight Yorke and Shaka Hislop rated him among one of the best coaches they ever had? They were just being “house niggas”…
Either that or certain people see things only through prism of race. I wonder what people like that are called.
Sigh. Save me Brian Harry.
Saintfiet was white …… Joevin Jones coach in Seattle is white and he went awol …. When Gally nearly took us to Italy in 89 he wasn’t white. When Bertil took us to third in the gold cup and our first even world youth cup …yes you guessed it brotha …Bertil is black!!! It’s a shite comment …..the difference with Beenhakker is simple …he has a plan and if you not listening to what he says … He won’t pick you …he has no emotional attachments ….he dropped “Latas our legend” …. No coach in Trinidad (black or white) would have had the balls to do that ….. Shabazz?? Lol really ….??
The same Yorke you talking bout , is one of the main men responsible for Molino breaking camp twice , that’s their legacy . When they came back home first class mind you it was for vacation , he in Hilton ,we in Normandie. Rental cars , Club coconuts , girls in the hotel room you name it. You know when that shit stop??? Under Beenhaaker , that’s y we were able to qualify . Not tactics or strategy . Yorke and Dem pass on that behavior to those under him , who passed it on to those under them and the legacy continues . You cyar tell me bout Trinidad football intricacies Lasana Liburd. I live it you read it. Not saying Beehaaker is not a great coach , but we have good coaches here too , say what all yuh want.
Travis Mulraine this goes way beyond race!!!!!! We must look at the systems that we have around football. I also believe that we must always hire the best available coach that we can afford. If he/she happens to be white so be it . There’s a global market for talent which understands how to look way beyond that. Plan to win! Hire to win! Perform to win! And we continue to distill every issue down to color of skin and reinforce the intolerance in our small society . People like Beenhaaker proved themselves on several stages. I suggested about a year ago that TTFA needs to form alliances with big clubs so that our coaches can go work there for a few years and improve their skill sets. Rather than make it only about race let’s make it about avenues to improvement. And let’s bring some thought, ethics and morality into our game and our society
Malik to be truthful I sure you not in Jamaal class as a coach. Sure. What age group you coaching in the states ? And you’re free to your opinion that my comment was Shiite but I will stick with it , till I see different .
Lasana Liburd I just tried – let’s see if we are marooned together
Travis if you were playing right now …would you have broken camp before a world cup game? I wouldn’t have ….. men have to accept responsibility for their own action. The things other men do has no bearings on the choices people make. People make their own choices. …
his choice. ….. his s***!!
Brian Harry don’t doubt me bro, I been around the national team 9 yrs the resources Beenhaaker get , Bertie never get, the response from the players I was there all who talking wasn’t there
Travis no worries. …. but you don’t know me so you’ve no idea about what I know and what I don’t know. Truthfully my discussion wasn’t about whether I think Shabazz good enough or not ….it is irrelevant. It was about your other comments which I went into in my statements. Try not to misdirect the discussion to make it a personal thing …it too easy to do that (and you tend to do that…. alot) Shabazz and Stuart is not really the issue here ….. you’ve brought up other elements …… but I getting tired and you opening up a can of worms that I not gonna get into.
Travis Mulraine why was that so? Was it because Leo was white and St Clair black? I think it goes far deeper than that. I suggest that you channel your vast energy into fixing the systems around our football. If the Best qualified coach available is white I want him. If the best qualified coach is black I want him. Because all I want is success!!!
I agree Brian Harry , and I can’t understand why everybody missing my point. My point is the playing field not level for black coaches here and abroad . How man black coaches in the prem ? How many black coaches in the MLS ? I can go on and on. As I said the world could disagree but I lived it so , I know the inferiority complex and imbalances that exists in society not just football who love white and don’t want to thread there , be my guest. I going there
Malik Johnson I am sure you know your stuff , so does Jamaal Shabazz trust me, so does scores of other coaches in Trinidad. don’t let the players’ performances fool you into thinking we are like the American guy said” running around barefooted and haven’t eaten since x mas”. I know the mentality of the US based coaches , I have spent time in the US , I have ex teammates who try to lecture me on the abc’s of coaching , I’ve heard men say we trini based coaches don’t have tactics , I know the mentality. Y’all also have to rid yourself of the same arrogance that Shaka spoke about
Dude yuh missing something here ….I’m a Trini and a black man living in America. I know … the deal. I know about black coaches not getting priority I’d have to be living under a rock to not know that. But our team has had enough black coaches and opportunities wasted to know that our program and coaching education is behind the countries that are ahead of us. Our coaches need some new ideas and exposure. Ive seen coaches with d licenses that actually cannot play the game lol is comical …. but coaching is an artform it’s not something you just have you gotta work at it like anything else. I will never doubt my local coaches abilities but coaching a local team in the national league won’t prepare us for coaches and teams exposed to more current coaching techniques that’s just a fact.
For the record …folks in the US dying about that loss to TT lol
I went to the 4-4 game ….this team had the personnel to qualify ….. but without the behind the scenes f****** up anytime implosions happened we were gonna struggle ….and we did ….
Was there progress under Dennis? NO! If there was some general progress – positive slope on the graph – I would say let’s stick with him for another year. The end of the WC campaign is a perfect time to start afresh.
Soca Warriors failure is not because of lack of talent. Rather because of a lack of a comprehensive plan & execution. Same old story throughout T&T institutions. OUTLINE 7-YEAR PLAN: 1. Partner with the Ministry of Education, Tourism & Health (Sports Medicine & Conditioning). 2.Write a national policy on coaching & playing style guideline from cradle to professional level. 3. Build infrastructure with world class training pitches & livein facilities (inclusive of general education). Also include FULL SIZE INDOOR FOOTBALL PITCH. OUTCOME: Qualify for World Cups. Earn money from Sports Tourism & Education.
Nah – we also lacked talent. We had too many technically subpar players. Probably the poorest crop of players we have had in sometime.
Talent is overrated. Probably accounts for less than 20% of the overrall cake. Especially to qualify for a World Cup in the Concacaf region. Getting to the World Cup Quarter Finals you need talented players.
Can share what makes up the remaining 80% and give your perspective on how the team matches up against them?
Playing Talent & Attitude/Mindset 20%; Physical Infrastructure 30%; Coaching Talent 20%; Planning & Playing Policy/Style depending on player resources & talents 20%; Execution of overall policy at all levels from cradle to full international level 10%.
You can’t change the spots on a leopards’ back. You have to get these kids young. Let them know what is expected of them from the age of 5. That may mean taking them out of their unproductive environment at a very young age. Hence the creation of a National Elite Football Centre. By the time they get to full international level it will be almost telepathic. This ain’t rocket science. Other nations are doing it very successfully. Why reinvent the wheel?
Stability is necessary for success. Every situation or tournament cannot be do or die for a coach.
But something else that has to be considered is the opinion of the players.
If they like, respect, and are willing to work for and with Dennis, then what would be the point of firing him? And risk hiring somebody players don’t like and respect?
Agreed. One of the issues with Dennis is he didn’t have a body of work for us to gauge what he might be be capable of. That makes it harder to tell if he is worth taking a chance of, especially after pretty dismal results.
I’d agree that the players’ views should be taken into consideration. That questionnaire for them to answer would have to be carefully written though, so as not to prejudice for or against.
Lucky?
This is Trinidad, all quenks does keep dey job!
How many coaches that can come in the middle of a World Cup Qualifier and qualify? Bruce Arena is a seasoned national coach and he failed. Dennis Lawrence is new to national team coaching. However, I has been doing a good job. The team didn’t win the games but they looked like they understood what they were doing. Dennis is for the future. He has my support
When the ttfa appointed DL it was for both short and long term. No locally based team has ever played as well as they did under Mr Lawrence ‘s guidance . C.Gonzalez ,Villaroel , Foncette and L Paul to name a few have been a revaluation since he took over. The next WC will be the right time for this team to excel with the experience gained from this campaign this young but talented squad will be in their prime with a few other players who will be knocking on the door . And we all know that we always come close or qualify every 16 years so let’s keep our fingers cross .
We won ONE GAME…ONE!! Under Dennis Lawrence’s entire WCQ campaign…and ALL OF A SUDDEN, EVERYONE is an expert on why we such give Dennis Lawrence a chance….
Why wasn’t HART…given the chance to finish…why was Saintfet terminated after 35days…
COME ON PEOPLE!! Wake to hell up!! It was Clayton Morris that recommended DL…it’s POLITICS..
It’s always about politics…spare me..
He actually won TWO games. T&T won its first World Cup qualifier under Lawrence, which was against Panama.
Lasana Liburd -Thank you, two…good looking out. ?
Lasana Liburd – Still justifies my view on his campaign…just saying.
Hart sjould have been given a chance to complete yes… Same as lawrence should be givrn a chance to continue.. And i dont know why ppl keep bringing up sainfeit… He was not fired.. He left.. Stating he quit via facebook and basicallu letting us know our ttfa is shit.. Which we all kmow already.
I think Dennis Lawrence should do the honorable thing; and resign. Real talk.
Kelvin Jack great article and insight. I saw you mentioned that we didn’t play well at Mexico because of our little possession but then touched on the point that we aren’t technically good enough to maintain possession against the quality Hex teams(fact) so I’m a bit confused what you would like to see? I for one thought THIS team should have always been set up for the Hex, and this is since Hart was in charge, that we should be in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 solid aggressive compact shape with 3 central mids and a direct approach to attacking using the strengths of Kenwyne Jones and asking 2 of Joevin Jones, Molino, Cato, Levi Garcia, N.Lewis, etc to play wide and use their pace and obviously do a defensive shift too.
I think Hart was a bit naive to play 4-2-3-1 in the opening 2 games which we both lost not because we played badly but we afforded better teams space to hurt us. I thought Dennis finally using 3 Central Midfielders over the last two games resulted in not our Prettiest football which is what we like. “To knock it and our brand” as if we are Brazil and have the ability of their players lol but the ugly side of football to get through the WAR that is the Hex where it doesn’t matter how you gain the points but THAT you gain the points by any means necessary. And it got us 3 points at home to USA as he never broke formation. He had a 1-0 lead at Mexico and broke formation to bring on Molino for Paul and Kevin played almost as a second striker and the gaps appeared and we were rightfully punished. Naive and inexperienced coaching at its finest.
Hyland Boucaud George/Paul was always the trio to start the Hex games with 3 ahead of them and a solid back 4 behind them. We needed to be UGLY AGGRESSIVE and DIRECT to get enough points with this crop of players.
You clearly need to be part of the next set up SM that’s some sound technical assessment there…I would just add put Hyland as the furthest forward of the 3 CM’s
Yeah it wouldn’t ever be a flat 3. Either:
———–George——-
——Hyland—-Boucaud
—–Boucaud–George–
———–Hyland——
But the difference is Hyland would recognize danger and keep it as 3 whereas Molino as a 10 doesn’t drop back in to make it 3. He spends his time as a second striker essentially making it 4-4-2 and with that lack of defending from Joevin all campaign it causes the 2 CMs to be stretched and gaps open up and space vs better teams is a killer
Cheyenne, Hart used essentially one formation for three years and that kept us protected many times. The only difference along the way was when Molino and Cummings were injured and we used Kevan and Boucaud behind Hyland. And obviously Hyland would interpret that role differently to Molino or Cummings.
Also when Joevin’s defensive inclination suddenly faltered.
So the problem wasn’t the formation in my view, just who used where and what they were willing to do or capable of doing for the team.
Yeah I know I just think those two games when he suspended Molino and Cummings was out he should have used 3 in midfield vs CR and he brought in Jomal Williams who had a poor game as a 10 and left us exposed.
I think if Leo had been in charge for example and he looked at this team I can guarantee he would have plugged up the midfield with 3 bodies to protect the lack of ability to maintain possession and also our lack of quality defensive players. For this entire Hex bar the last two games we exposed our weakest links
Cheyenne if he had used Hyland in the same spot as Jomal with the same formation, we might have done better. I forgot about that experiment. That clearly didn’t work. Not that we were horrible against Costa Rica though eh. And we actually kept the ball okay.
Lasana Liburd kept the ball ok and lost 2-0. All I care about is points. Any means necessary
Cheyenne Costa Rica won the match in the second half. If you’re suggesting that we were hopeless in that game then I disagree.
Man say Jones’ defensive inclinatation has suddenly faltered yes… as far as diplomatic goes bruh… You is d diplomaticest man I ever see yes Lasana Liburd???
#far_too_kind
Diplomaticest!! Bombo …. ah taking ah borrow lol
If I was asked about our chances before the campain on the back of that 4-4 draw with Mexico campain, I would have said great. Hart lost his opener here to Costa Rica and the away to USA which is almost all but a given. Fire him. Thus ended the campain. From where we are, I’m greatful for whatever straws we grabbed and this young outfit and young coach may mature in time to something. The TTFA President is the villian here but knowing that lot he will still be in charge next time around.
Well said but I hope that you’re wrong about what the future holds!
Travis, if we posted a story about the weather you would come in and say it was a Fenwick conspiracy. Lol. Can you find any stories with Wired868 suggesting that Stephen Hart should be fired? How does that fit into your theory that this is all a conspiracy to get the man you seem to think is your nemesis the job?
Can you find a Wired868 story saying that Tom Saintfiet deserves more time? How does that find in your theory that we favour a certain “demographic?”
I can’t answer you again nah star. Too tiring. I will just accept that you have your boogie man that you see everywhere and in every argument.
Lasana my friend, rise above that conversation. We need all hearts and brains on deck to turn TT around. We are best at conspiracies – poor at analysis, planning and execution. Kelvin was trying to get us to start that so I suggest we focus there
Brian Harry. Very true.
Lasana Liburd I have come to the same realization about you bro. As we say in Islam
” I will never believe what you believe and you will never believe what I believe, to you your way and to me mine”
I see You defending Molino and wanting to crucify a man who ASKED to bring his wife to camp , tho it is non sense , but look at your reasoning ,ALWAYS subjective in my opinion anyway
With all due respect Kelvin, DL deserves some more time to establish his team & his philosophy. I must say kudos to the players who won vs the US. They stringed passes together and really played impressive. As a fan you desire to see your team play with some attacking intent & cohesion. Makes you wonder had the team shake up occurred earlier in the Hex campaign, who knows what the outcome could have been.
Therefore, in selecting the team, the argument that Kenwyne must be in the set-up argument in spite of other players regardless, I don’t particularly agree with. He has to earn that spot. The ‘big boy’ mentality and the discipline issues destabilize the authority & team morale, and it should be a thing of the past.
In terms of leading the team, the TTFA needs to agree on a strategic direction, develop a plan and more importantly execution of said plan is crucial. A complete overhaul from the grounds, come all the way up is what’s needed. A comprehensive planning similar to what Germany did in 2000 will ensure we can compete at all levels. All encompassing coaching seminars for community coaches to improve their development.
–> https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/football/2013/may/23/germany-bust-boom-talent
Exactly.. That big boy mentality us exactly why i dont want jovin jones or molino to play. Against mexico we werr great until they came on. They feel they big and their spot sure. Even vs usa jovin came on and literally made 1 pass.
Haiti has true fans Ancil Santana not like our fair weather , bandwagonist, bad mind fans bro. Most of us so bad mind we feel more satisfaction seeing our team lose so we can say “I told you so” and ” it have no good coach from Trinidad” . Then y’all miss the fact of the poor resources at the disposal of not just football but sport in general . 300 million in the last budget the USA spends that on their senior team alone ,so with ALL that is bad about our football has the rest of the CONCACAF really left us behind ?Robbed in Trinidad vs Mexico and Led Mexico till the 67 min in Mexico Beat USA out the WC, robbed in Costa Rica man nearly undress Boatswain little moments that could have changed our course thats using the word ‘if’ most of the time if is used when it’s too late and that’s the reality of our situation.
Star..I’m a lover of T& To football…as bad as it is, I prefer watch T&T play dan Brazil or Spain. My concern is d administrators have their own thinking and approaches that isn’t necessarily in d best interest of d sport…I agree that we were hard done by decisions and dat we have bandwagonists for fans and it will be difficult for d players to be inspired when everything and everyone seems to be against dem but at d end of d day…we jus wanna see a plan and development of d football programme in dis country…we certainly have d talent cuz we don’t have a development programme yet we made it into d Hex…d lack of player development and experience killed us in dis campaign
I not questioning you personally I stating the reality. You mentioned Haiti , I’ve been there on two occasions and there were more people watching our training sessions than a pro league game. As poor as they are. Pass by the oval on Friday and check out their internal competition ,people from all ages good atmosphere , my point trinis in it for a lime bro
Nah I Kno that star…d administrators needs to get their act together here and as u said Haiti…changing d culture with regards to Trinis cud be a process
kelvin jack you got away with your short stint in that time stay quiet
Though the stats suggest that Dennis should not have a job , and I am a stats man but I know my good friend kello has a personal issue with Dennis from the soca warriors days and Lasana Liburd wants the coach gone and if my conspiracy theory is right for Fenwick to get the job, and I am certain Kello won’t mind Fenwick getting the job either . It is sad that a young coach isn’t given a fair crack . I say give him till the Caribbean Cup and if he doesn’t win or reach the final because I think that is the minimum achievement as the coach of Trinidad and Tobago the only island that has full time footballers notice I didn’t say professional. So the Caribbean should be Dennis’s final test , he would’ve had enough time to sort his system and philosophy out, decide upon his best players etc etc .
And the only way a coach could get experience is by getting opportunity, which seems to people like Lasana is for certain demographic
Travis I would like to agree with you that Dennis should be given a chance , but find that difficult. Kelvin’s article spoke to many of the obvious and basic items which a society with a strong football IQ would grasp so no real insight. If we however use kelvin’s capture of the facts as a baseline, what we really need is systemic change. I’ve said before and on many occasions that we need proper long term planning and performance management systems. These plans need to be drilled down to the various levels across TT. We need a play concept (what do we want to be known for) for example we all know what kind of football to expect from Spain. We need structure and process. We need player development philosophy that is consistent with our cultural preferences. We need a change in the culture around the game.
When you put all this together “what got us here….. won’t get us there”. ‘There’ could easily refer to World Cup 2022. That said if we have to change culture, we have to break with the past – current TTFA must go and be replaced by a properly reconstituted body. A corporate structure must be built around football. The current staff (including the coach) must also go . This is the time for urgent surgery not bandaids
Travis.. I am professional when analysing any performance. If you look at the history of my blogs I deal with facts. Me having an issue with Dennis or not has absolutely nothing to do with my assessment. Am I lying when I say we conceded 19 goals? That we lost 8 times? That we look all at sea when it’s time to defend? That’s there is indiscipline in the camp? I deal with facts .. will I mind if Terry Fenwick gets the job? Of course not because he is one of the best motivators I have encountered, he is a very good coach, he is a winner, he demands discipline and he played at the highest level. I said Dennis is lucky he wasn’t sacked. The main reason I said this are results and I haven’t seen enough evidence of an advancement in our play, in our structure, in our organisation.
Bro I totally agree with what you saying. But my point is give him the resources and then demand . Well the defensive coach was a ex prem player ,ex English international lol. Anyways our problem goes much deeper than the coach and thats who we have been trained to focus on. But that’s the life of a coach . He has to accept his fate
I agree with Travis give him till the Caribbean cup. Everybody talking about stats and all that as if that is a clear indicator of what is going on. We’ve only just recently started trying different players and it s going to take time to find out who is up to scratch or not. When Harty crew started letting him down he didn’t have other options. This is what Dennis is looking for now and in the meantime he testing that against tough opposition. Kelvin Jack is not being totally truthful in his assessment. Things we’ve discovered is that all things foreign doesn’t equate to a win (Nathan Lewis and Curtis Gonzales) proves that theory. Dropping the undroppables (Molino and Joevin) doesn’t equate to a drop in quality just an opportunity for men (with better attitudes) to step in and step up. If Fenwick was chosen and failed what would our opinion of him be? There is no guarantee of success for any coaches with this team because resources are being stringently mishandled by the incompetent “powers that be”. Although Kelvin’s assessment is statistically factual I find it disingenuous because of his lack of consideration of the X factors …. so I support some of his theories not all of it
Malik and kelvin I do look forward to your comments. Just asking regarding the ,’give any.coach the resources factor ‘ and then let him prove himself .
Didn’t the US spend billions on resources and I’m sure the coaches were well paid. Still suffered disastrous consequences.
So it must be more than lack of salaries, resources etc
Can it also be we are a nation where we don’t accept responsibility for anything ? We suffer no consequences for our failures nor are we rewarded based on our merit
LoLoL. All these intellectuals and experts . Who only believe standards and accountability is for others and not the people they are associated with .
Malik Johnson Molino wasnt dropped, I think he was suspended. It provided a well taken opportunity by Nathan Lewis. I am open to correction. Daiz beside ur point tho… and point is taken… Also… Travis always gets me with these conspiracy theories yes ??
Reyna we’re a nation like that accepting responsibility is a challenge for us…facts!! But there are no consequences ….how is John Williams still the president? How is he so untouchable? Who does he answer to? Who makes him accountable? Players getting paid is a huge motivation ….. getting games to test your local players and what you’ve trained for all week against opposition other than Barbados to see where your boys is at. We have more natural talent than the US because of how we learn the game we’re more creative (well we used to be) the US however at youth level are much better coached at youth level ….they’re literally miles ahead of us. When we choose players in TnT now it’s a pick and hope in the US more than likely the guy is already sound technically and fit which is why our ball possession ability is sporadic whilst the US is consistent (even though they don’t know what the f*** to do with the ball lol) ….
Shawn he and Joevin were benched the last two games weren’t they?
Exactly my point Malik. The thing start from the top. Coaches and players are mere cover-ups for the TTFA cabal
The ploy by DL was to use JJ as an off the bench injection(and we know how that went… or did not go) Molino’s exclusion was questionable in the US game cuz I think his suspension was served in the Mex game… I eh wanna take awah from ur solid point with this side discussion tho…
No scene
Anyone who is taking the Trinidad and Tobago job at this time has to deal with the resources available. If you’re not willing to work with the resources available do not take the job. If I am given the managers job I will want to know exactly how much money we have for camps, friendliest etc.. don’t take the job and then bloody complain.. coaching is only a small part of the problem. Our main problems are in this order.. money, a plan, short, medium and long term goals. Thais falls under the TTFA. I have said many times that DJW is clueless.. but he does g know he is clueless.. that’s the scary part..
Kelvin …..Dennis hasn’t complained ….in fact it’s quite the opposite ….he’s taken responsibilities for his failures and choices of players. He makes these changes and wins he’s brilliant …makes the same changes and loses he’s inexperienced and shit. When we were leading in Mexico up to the 79th minute …he was brilliant with his changes …..when we lost in the last 10 mins he was inexperienced and naieve lol. When he beat the US 2-1 …it wasn’t a victory for his team ….it was Alvin Jones the best defender in the pro league who could hit them (who mind you was shite in the last two games) and the US was just being cocky no credit to him right lol. The funny part is this I like Dennis but I’m not a super fan …I prefer Harty but what irks me is the inconsistency and unfairness with which he is being assessed …but above all ….. the misdirection from the real source of the problem …..too much of that going around lately …..
I never said Dennis complained at all.. my informed personal opinion is that I don’t think he is a leader of men.. but I will still be fair to him and judge him on results, rand improvements.. well results are poor and there has been little to no improvements.. I don’t view the game as a fan..there are little things that can let you know if a team are well drilled.. they’re not well drilled I can tell you that. It’s a bit unfortunate Stephen Hart lost his job in my opinion as for all his flaws you could see his philosophy..
Some accoutability must be had and not the conversation of it… fans and supporters deserve that.
I’d like to digress a little and say something that is apparent, yet we haven’t focused on. There has been alot of critical reaction from supporters of the USMNT and rightly so with the amount invested in it. This, however points out the difference in mindset between us and them, do you see how critical they are because of their missed opportunity of playing on the world stage? It may be down to 75% arrogance, but they hold the team to account, they hold their coach to account, they hold management to account! So much so that pundits are talking about an overhaul keeping core young players and discarding the likes of Altidore, Dempsey and Bradley. I believe this is one lesson we should learn from the US failure if any.
Gone are the days of our European players where we expected alot. This current team of MLS and local players did all that they could do and Dennis was brilliant despite results. Really as Trinbagonians we do the lottery thing too much, where we only put out $5 and expect $1000000.
MR JACK, YOU ARE LIKE A WET BLANKET
Administration in anything in T&T is poor and that killing us.We cant seem too manage our affairs!!
I am yet to read a article from Kelvin Jack on wired that I’ve disagreed with even by a sentence
I agree with kelvin article ex ept for kenwyne ability
KJ ability will always split opinion in ?? because his style as a striker is generally not appealing in nation that gravitates towards skillful players
But reality is when Hart was coach – the warriors got best out of KJ doing exactly what Kelvin Jack said
Lasana Liburd Kirwin Weston Brian Springer Carlos Lee
Kj has only about 23 goals in international caps out of about 90 games….he never delivered….has he scored against minnows or strong opponents
Kello d win against USA , even everything out, if not, hmmm
Lawrence did not do well. He was brought in with eight games to go, and he won two. That is POOR! The mandate was World Cup Qualification. The TTFA in their infinite wisdom decided Saintfiet was the savior, and when that didn’t work out hired Lawrence who is a rookie coach. Realistically, what could be the expectations? That is one of the areas where TTFA failed big time. Yuh cyar fire Stephen Hart on de premise of poor results and then go for Saintfiet and Lawrence tuh take we tuh de promised land. That is utter madness. The timing of Lawrence’s appointment was off.
So the timing of his appointment was off and he still is to blame? I think we had unrealistic expectations. I never saw us qualifying though we could’ve done better I agree. If your best attacking option was primarily kenwyn jones then what does that say? If you don’t have a semi decent local pro league ( in terms of admin and structure), what does that say? I could go on and on. If we were Brasil, Germany or one of the elite nations then I could buy the argument of the coach being totally culpable but not in this case. Partially responsible yes but to blame him for this failure, no I say.
And the thing is Richard ,how could we expect Dennis to have us qualify in that short space of time with little resources ,d man can’t turn water into wine like Jesus ,we were expecting to much,that’s why he said that he was looking pass the qualifying stage .
Is the team better than they were when Hart was fired?
Wait wait wait wasn’t Stephen Hart FIRED because it was felt that after two straight losses in the hex he couldn’t get the job of qualifying done??? Wasn’t Sainfeit then DL hired because the powers that be felt that they could/would do BETTER than SH??? WHY ARE WE THEN HOLDING DL TO A DIFFERENT STANDARD THAN SH??? Now all a sudden is talk about a weak team…so the team was STRONG when Hart got fired??? STEUPS!!!! Mango right…allyuh really good yes!!!
Richard, I’m not saying that Lawrence is totally culpable. I am very well aware of all the off-the-field issues, which also plagued Hart. All I’m saying is that by any stretch of the imagination, Lawrence has failed to deliver so far. He picks the players, he devises the tactics. In the same way that he is not totally culpable, he also cannot be totally absolved. If we have unrealistic expectations, then those are also shared by Lawrence and the TTFA. They hired him and he accepted the job fully aware of the challenges. Why would you be looking past qualification when you have eight games to play? Sometimes it appears as though the TTFA sabotaged the campaign by their incompetence.
Brian Springer if you take away the emotions from the issue and you criticality analyze the team there was no way we could have qualified. That team was simply just not good enough. And it doesn’t help when you so call best players lack discipline and commitment .The coaches both Hart and Lawrence were tactically nieve at times just look at the first Honduras game and the second Mexico game. We also have issues with the administration. So let’s do a serious post mortem and chart a way forward.
The ability present in our team was enough to qualify or at least get a playoff spot. For whatever reason, we imploded and went on a downward spiral when it mattered most. Look at the other countries in the Hex. None of them were head and shoulders above us in terms of ability. The traditional CONCACAF powerhouses were not at their best and were weaker than in past years. This was a bonafide opportunity for us. Even if we didn’t qualify, we should not be ending the campaign with a paltry six points.
Nigel Myers when I look at the hexagonal from early I knew we would have struggled to get even a playoff spot along with the USA. We weren’t good enough but what made the difference is the lack of discipline on and off the field.
I have to disagree on the not good enough Lyndon because if anything the Victory over a US team that NEEDED TO AT LEAST NOT LOSE proved is that we could have done better than we did…I DO however think a more experienced Coach would have done a better job in using the limited talent pool we had.
Brian Springer we beat the team that also did not qualify plus that game had some unique factors which I believe acted as a motivation for the players. Altidore missing an easy chance early also helped. ..
Ah but Lyndon Pk Williams we ALSO beat a team that DID Qualify directly ie Panama…and since you mentioned Altidore and unique circumstances…but for the referee error vs Mexico might well have got at least a point vs the 1st placed team too…
Brian Springer we could have gained a point from the Mexico game or they could have up the tempo like they did in the last game and win it ,we just don’t know so let’s deal with what is. As for Panama their points total is evidence that they were much better than us. Any team can win on the day but it’s about constancy which is usually a reflection of talent, discipline, coaching and the administration
Lyndon,tell that to the US,cuz like they don’t get that logic,there analyst and their fans ,only watching size and population ,it’s who played well on the given day
Richard, the coach always has to take blame, because when the team wins he gets praises. Anybody who follows Trinidad and Tobago football religiously KNOWS that our main problem lies in the administration of the game.
So I guess the coach is to blame right? Am amazed at how we sit in our armchairs and piously adjudicate on these matters.. this wasn’t one of our best teams in a long while. Secondly we all know the fiasco , re the firing and hiring of coaches that transpired before Lawrence’s tenure . Given those two factors and then some , I’d say Lawrence did well considering. My verdict give him a chance to build a team and let’s see then. If he fails then we move on, if he’s successful then out football is better off for it.
Kello, yuh read meh mind boy. Ah basically agree with everything yuh had tuh say, and dat doh happen often.
The US will take 24 hours off, sit down and start putting strategies in place with two aims. (1) get back into the World Cup finals, and (2) Win the World Cup within twelve/sixteen years.
We….? …lol!
In my opinion I doubt it
Best assessment of our Campaign I’ve read yet!!! Echos done of my own thoughts too…well said Kelvin Jack
I know it’s well past but we shud have never gotten rid of Hart and when we did our first objective was as any sensible administration would have done…get an experienced coach to get us to d world cup so his contract wud have been until d end of d campaign with the option to renew and continue upon getting us there..if he had failed…also review and base on that…ask him to stay on or get someone else with the view of preparing us for 2022…We offered DL a two year contract at practically d beginning of d hex…if he were to be fired and not see out his contract…that’s another set of debt owed to a coach
Let’s give him a technical demotion and have him coach one of the youth teams.
I’m for that but den we will have to get rid off MI…and wat about d elite development programme??
Ahh – not a bad idea to have him oversee the elite program. Anything but the men’s team. He’s not ready for that right now.
Who wud be capable enuff to take over our men’s team ans bring them up to scratch but foolish enuff to team up with DJW and his merry men??
WC qualification just ended so lots of coaches will be available to choose from.
Given our financial situation and history…capable but foolish
Alyuh really feel that our Soca Worries will ever be going back to any more World Cups any time soon eh, not until some of our players are plying their trade once again in the EPL or other real top of the line professional leagues abroad the same as our 2006 Soca Warriors.eh Them really good yes.
Coaches always available ….doesn’t mean anything. Trinidad and Tobago is not an attractive offer particularly given our payment history. Think allyuh assessing this situation on paper ….we have to be more realistic about things. The US is losing their minds over their powers that be who are ACTUALLY making a tremendous effort to push their team forward BUT failing and they’re calling for their heads. We on the other hand are TOTALLY IGNORING the dictator who has f***** our world cup journey and calling for the coach who was genuinely making a genuine effort knowing the given circumstances. A chess game …. and we’re adamant that if we get the pawns everything will be ok while the KING sits there …. unaffected. We don’t know who to fight, how to fight and what we’re fighting for …….
The USA result and outcome saved the coaching position of Dennis Lawrence. It has distracted attention from the poor performance of the team since he took over.
Dennis seemed to think he was safe regardless, even before that game. Maybe he was right.
Real foolishness from Jack…the entrance of Lawrence had to be for the future….the Hex was lost a long time ago….if u were following Jack he has the team playing better
It is this type of foolishness that has our football where it is….as a coach he needs time, especially if he is seen as a long term option. Do u know what sir Alex record was as a young coach?
Jack thank God you were a better GK than football analyst….
Thank you sir. I’ve tried to tell so many people this.
So why didn’t they give Hart time to try to finish the WCQ campaign; and why was Saintfet given the boot after 35days???
“Long Term”……rrrrrrrrrriggggghhhhhttt. ? I’m not sure you read this article.
Hart had the team playung way better and instilled discipline…so excuse me if i fail to see your point
Give d man some time…
Totally agree. And to those saying so why Hart did jotnget time. Thats also correct. John-Williams is an ass and hart Should have gotten time. But he is fired and now Laurence should be given time as well.
Kelvin Jack is absolutely right. We simply were no good. However, I wouldn’t put all the blame on Dennis Lawrence.
Hythlo Dæus – Lawrence has the worst record as TT coach..seriously? Given time? I really don’t understand people logic yes…
Bazil Joseph Toy Loy do u watch the games or just stats.. He inherited a team with no confidence and playing poorly with a discipline problem. Managed to get them to playing with some kinda form. Who do you want to be incharge? Sir alex, mourinho? We are not manchester united. We are more like a team in a relegation battle. Anyone watching thr games can easily see the improvements lawrence made.
Quite frankly there are only two games Lawrence lost that we can clain we should/could have won(panama, honduras) And one he won that we havent won since 1989(well this one is obvious).
Bazil Joseph Toy Loy i see you are a liverpool fan. So i assume u also want klopp to be fired? And know coutinho is not that important? Since u go based on stats alone.
Hythlo Dæus -WHO CARES?!!!! Nobody gives a shit about if we got “revenge”….typical Trinis…always celebrating nothing; never raises their standards. So spare me.
And being a Liverpool fan has nothing to do with this post.. can’t see the comparative. Sorry. ??
Hythlo Dæus could have beaten mexico if not robbed at home
Tyron Flores robbed? I prolly missed that.. Watched in pieces lol.. But thats my point we almost beat mexico and did beat usa.. The two big guns wr have here. An with a team that has nothing to play for. That is a major improvement to me. And they played calm.and together. Something i only saw at the middle of Hart’s campaign
The problem is, the team is a reflection of where we’re at as a viable society. Hopefully good sense will prevail and somebody will start to take the necessary steps to trigger a revolution ,but we also have to recognize that our beloved country has no concept of the term, rock bottom.
??
Rock bottom, as any cricket fan knows, is a fluid concept.
Lol!
All this talk about firing Dennis, fair chance, rebuild or get us to qualifying is the wrong conversation. The queries should be to our Technical Director, Director of Football and Technical Committee regarding the road forward for all National team coaches. The hiring or firing of the National Coach is always a smoke screen for the absence of proper process through TD and TC.
Agree – Let’s get rid of Dennis – and conduct those queries.
Thats paramount to surgery before the MRI
Again people missing the problem ….fire Dennis and the problem is John Williams. Trinis!!
We’ll see how bad things are after we make the first incision. ?
Wait – we want to keep Dennis and fire John Williams instead? But what the arse.
If that is your process, ah have a nutritionist, natural healer, therapist fuh yuh…enjoy.hahaha
https://wired868.com/?s=trevor+sayers
Nice one. I think Dennis need to try one of his remedies.
Wait, Trevor have potion for coaches too? Qatar 2022 we coming
Carlos it doesn’t matter if you fire Dennis he’s not the problem. Who undermined Harty then fired him?
Who hired Saintfiet? You think he is going to all of a sudden make intelligent decisions that aren’t self serving. Dennis walked into an untenable situation and he is nowhere near as bad as you make him out to be. Can you realistically name a coach who could have qualfied this team. America with all their resources couldn’t and we have less than 1/10 of their resources and even that little percent is being mismanaged by this tub of lard…this is hilarious lol
I am not pro/con Dennis so I want(hope) an intelligent process to evolve. I think we are at the beginning of a cycle which may match Dennis skills and experience at Wigan and Everton. However, he needs a serious supporting full time staff. Some of those staff can/should double as Olympic and U20 head coaches with their own staff considering our probable budget limitations.
I hear you. I honestly don’t think he’s a horrible coach. He has potential and I want him to be successful. This opportunity came a bit too soon for him. Like Latas he wasn’t ready for such a huge challenge, but will be after a few years with one of our youth programs.
I agree with you but to be honest I see alot more potential with him than Latas ….as brilliant a player as he was he doesnt get it …. dennis have something about him ….but he aint a beenhakker
I am beginning to see something in him too, I think its 1. confidence and 2. early, very early stages of a believe in a style
Would love to see Dennis and Latas put their heads together to implement a successful youth program.
Actually ……. Would love to see Sherwood in the youth setup and Harty with Dennis but ah realise is ah unrealistic ask … I do feel Latas have alot to give as an assistant but not as the head coach …
Carlos you assume that an average senior team would automatically a top youth coach? ?
As I said earlier, he has potential, but lacks the experience needed to lead our senior team. I think the youth level would allow him to strengthen and improve and better prepare him for a second chance later down the road.
Thank you Sean Powder, we had Otto Pfister and Jamaal Shabaaz knock us out with Guyana a Trini who can’t coach cause according to most Trinidad have no good coaches. He was even gracious enough to play a weakened team so we can beat them in the return leg and have a chance to qualify ???
You’re right ….he IS a Trini coach who can’t coach lol
LoL, Malik Johnson, how about you leave your job and come try coaching just for a month or two , you seem to be an expert so I’m sure you would make an excellent coach
Just pulling yuh leg eh Malik Johnson , next ting Lasana Liburd say I provoking his bloggers lol
Lol coaching in Trinidad? No sir it would be an absolutely thankless job. Learning my craft up here thank you very much. I know good coaches …. the attention to detail seperates them from the crowd. I know you were being sarcastic in your statement but I wasn’t so maybe you have a lil bias in your preferences in coaches as well so yuh cyah completely kill Kelvin when he doesn’t hide his preference for Fenwick. Everybody has their “favorites” …lol
Nah Travis …. Man hadda be able to give and take ….. My back broad lol
You correct about that, everybody has their favorites , as I say ” one coach’s treasure is another coach’s trash. Bro personally I don’t like Fenwick as a person because of our past interactions , but I think he is a very good defensive coach and very inventive at set pieces ,so I can be objective in my thinking unlike some people , would Fenwick be willing to be part of a team , I can say no he wants to be the boss and I don’t blame him , I don’t want any assistant coach job anymore except I would say for the senior team. I can say tho that DJW will NEVER hire Fenwick that’s just not happening under his tenure so Fenwick’s agents can give up. ???
Where do you coach btw Malik Johnson
In the US Travis …. youth level … not throwing out all my cards lol
I think Fenwick would struggle with a guy like John Willams hovering over him …in fact …I wouldn’t last a month because I woulda slapped him by now for sure lol lol
LoL , u from South by chance
I am lol
Excellent article Kelvin. I fully support your sentiments, although I think you’re being too kind on Dennis. There’s no way he should keep his job. He was hired to get us into the WC and has failed miserably. We need to conduct a thorough search for our next head coach. As I believe everyone deserves a second chance I’ll love to see Dennis enhance and develop his coaching credentials by working with one of our youth national teams.
To be fair, they said Dennis was hired to try and rescue our campaign AND rebuild. It was strange granting that Saintfiet was given two World Cup qualifying games and Dennis was then given six plus a chance to stay on no matter how he did… But those were the terms offered.
Lasana – hopefully TTFA will conduct a review of the WC campaign and Dennis’ performance. There’s no way he should stay on. He should follow Bruce Arena and submit his resignation.
The coach is not a magician
Well I want to know if is just so it will happen
He was not there for d entire campaign
He have to thank the American game for that
“Private businesses and various potential sponsors continue to shun the TTFA and we have to ask why.” ….. umm no it’s quite clear why ….would you invest your money in a crooked organisation? I wouldn’t …. I’ve nothing to gain from it.
Plus those ridiculous financial statements published that any 1st year accountant would laugh. Worse yet followed up with documentation to the court claiming 900,000 annual rental for HCS.
They shun because they aren’t true Patriots u heard it months ago , whether y’all want to accept it or not this thing is about isms
finally,,
another sane person in T&T
Curacao has been excluded from the list of rising Caribbean territories.
And indiscipline in the squad didn’t start with Lawrence. He inherited that nonsense and did take measures to try to combat it.
Interesting to note that our inability to win a match ended with Molino out of the squad.
I’m sure Dennis and the TTFA have development ideas that will eventually be turned into some sort of plan. Whether it will be a written document up for public consumption is another story…
I’m still very dissatisfied with the way Lawrence allowed Cato to waltz back into the squad without a proper apology to his teammates for abandoning them–much less to the public.
Also Lawrence found out about the two players who played in minor league football a month before he suspended them. So that might have only been done because Andre Baptiste exposed it on his radio show.
I don’t think we have been consistent about matters of discipline, although I don’t think the problem starts with the players and coach anyway.
Eh… maybe Cato told Dennis something that Dennis doesn’t feel needs to be made public or warrants further apology. People have all sorts of things going on in their personal lives. Who knows what’s going on in Cato’s.
I don’t understand the problem with minor league football. A month or more before a match.
Chabeth, what do you mean “further apology?” He didn’t apologise to his teammates at all. Even if you say he doesn’t need to tell them why he walked out, which I don’t necessarily agree with… You mean he didn’t need to call a team meeting and apologise to everyone?
The minor league match was a week before the game but about a day or two before they went into camp. That was the week before the match against Honduras.
What about d dismissive answer when asked about d exclusion and non-consideration of our best midfielder currently…Andre Boucad
He didn’t apologise to Dennis? Dennis find that was enough. Maybe Dennis didn’t think he disrespected the team by bringing the wife. Idk.
What’s the problem with minor league a week before? Players aren’t allowed to play matches a week before national duty?
The dismissive answer to the media? Some coaches are that way. Ever see Popovich do a sideline interview? Not that Dennis and Pop are on the same level… but I’m just saying.
So he’s adopting and approach towards d media as Popovic who as u said has a proven record while DL is still earning his stripes??If I was DL I wud be nicer to d media especially in his current situation and track record
Clearly Dennis felt that was enough. But what do you think about such a situation? Would you have felt an apology to the team would have been appropriate?
Although Dennis did say that Cato issued a team apology that other players denied… So what does that mean then? That Dennis belatedly felt it might have been a good idea although it was never done? That was weird.
Maybe it had no impact on team chemistry at all. But Kevin Molino made an apology to the whole country and still got a two match ban. And to me Molino’s infraction was not as bad as Cato’s.
Me personally? No I wouldn’t need an apology. But I have athletes who I’ve kicked out of practice and told them come back when they have a better attitude. And then come back and they apologise and I’ve literally said “yeah yeah, whatever, that’s over and done with, let’s just go.” I don’t make them apologise to me and everybody else. Idk. Idk what the point of that is.
But I think Molino breaking out of camp twice to lime is worse. Cato didn’t just show up with his wife on her bday or their anniversary or something? Which is not something he normally does so I’d guess there were extenuating circumstances.
As a player, Molino never said he didn’t want to play. Cato walked out on the team before a game. For that reason, I’d see Cato as having abandoned me as a teammate while I would see Molino as just indisciplined.
1st to begin, if a player is not in the right frame of mind to perform to the best of his ability for team and country, I respect the decision to make it known to the head coach so that a replacement can be made and it shouldn’t warrant an apology. 2ndly, as a professional athlete under a contract, you are the property of your employer and an asset to your team. Playing in a minor league a week before a world cup qualifier is risking getting injured and an utter rubbish decision by such athletes and disciplinary actions must be put in place. I think our athletes need to be a bit more responsible and professional in their decision making.
But I spoke of one player being seen in Frankies ONE WEEK BEFORE A CRUCIAL QUALIFIER and Lasana Liburd told me that the player is “on his own time” and I say that to say that our “inconsistencies” from persons who have the power to INFLUENCE people’s thinking particularly media personnel becoz of bias towards or against a player or coach are a major part of our problem TO DATE!!! THE MEDIA DOES NOT HELP FOOTBALL EITHER. These ppl don’t report they try to influence one’s thinking with an ulterior motive and can essily be mistaken for “electioneering”… just my humble opinion.
Yeah, I really don’t understand the problem with the minor league football. You risk injury anytime you play a match regardless of the league you playing in.
And if people just think it’s silly and irresponsible to play minor league, I still don’t see that as punishable.
If I am silly and irresponsible and get drunk on Saturday night, my boss isn’t hauling me into her office on Monday to discipline me for that.
I’m on my own time.
Ancil Santana, why does Dennis have to be nicer to the media? His relationship with the media should not influence their ability to report on his performance objectively and fairly.
What is he supposed to do? Try to establish a drinking buddy relationship so that they only write “nice” things about him?
Nobody has to like anybody else. People just need to do their respective jobs properly…
In d context of d dismissive manner of d question that was asked bout d absence of one of better midfielders…at least d media deserve some sort or answer to d question that was asked becuz they r d ones that were promoting the team since d marketing of d team was now lacking…personally I also wanted to Kno his philosophy and thinking by leaving out Boucad.
Bass took you long enough. I thought your laptop wasn’t working.
I’d expect you to be here repeating the same argument whenever the discussion is about national coach.
For you, once you hear the word “coach”, “football” or “national team” only one name comes to mind.
I swear playing word-association with you would be no fun at all. ??
Lasana Liburd at least then, based on your observation of “the same argument” it shows that at least I can be “consistent” in my argument as opposed to some people who seem to lack the testicular fortitude and therefore twist their tongues so as not to offend their “friends”? What yuh think? ????
Like Groundhog Day oui. Lol. Go brave. ????
Third World Country mentality???
Haiti issue is only partly money, the greater issues are the same as us, poor and selfish sport administrators
Surprisingly he didn’t touch on SC coming in only for games…Did he really have an impact…Haiti without money still doing better dan us…they played Japan Tuesday and drew 3-3…when will be our next game