| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Karl |
Posted - Jan 06 2003 : 8:14:50 PM
On the JFF and filling the vacancy
By Maurice 'Ranger' Walker
(email: brinxranger@hotmail.com)
This is the second in a two part series.
Captain Horace Burrell
What role did the Jamaica Football Association play in our failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup? It is my view that the sudden and ill-timed dismissal of the TD was done to heap all responsibility on his shoulders while absolving themselves (the JFF) from any of the blame. But they are far from innocent.
The JFF failed to build on the solid foundation laid by Professor Rene Simoes who spent four years here. While I'm not a big fan of Mr. Simoes himself, his work in Jamaica is monumental and cannot go unnoticed. His appointment of Professor Walter Gamma and Clovis de Oliviera were very important development strategies. Gamma, who was in charge of the youth program, namely the under 17's, played a key role in the development of the then U17 team (now U20) that qualified for that age group World Cup in New Zealand in 1998.
The JFF's failure to maintain this kind of investment led to de Oliviera being stretched thin in a period that saw him directly in charge of three teams that were simultaneously involved in World Cup qualifying events. There is just no way he could be as effective as he would have wanted to be. Secondly, when we hired Rene Simoes, then miraculously landed Sebastio Lazaroni, we took a major backward step by bringing in a Clovis de Oliviera as TD. The résumés or even experience (especially with Lazaroni) doesn't even compare. Yes, I remember, we were in a crisis at the time, but we could have appointed him temporarily while we sought adequate replacement.
Jack Warner hit the nail on the head. It is embarrassing that with the amount of money that the program garnered between 1994 to the present, that the JFF could not find the resources to develop a single World Class playing surface for the National teams to use. While I fully understand that the building of stadiums is big money business, we have absolutely no excuse for not having appropriated funds (from federation coffers) and prepared at least two top class playing surfaces. They themselves readily admit that all three past TD's constantly bemoan the lack of fascilities, namely fields, and after seven years, NOTHING.
According to Jack, FIFA had allocated in excess of $30 million Jamaican Dollars (over the last three years) to Jamaica for development programs. Now it will be argued that no other federation in CONCACAF has done that before (building fields), not even Trinidad. But, we can be the first, right?
We seem to need the facilities more than anyone else, and since we have made it to the World Cup, this makes us ineligible for certain major funding from FIFA/CONCACAF. Marketing personnel from the federation (if they exist) therefore need to actively pursue private sector interest with a view to achieving the above, as there never seem to be enough money in the JFF's account to do anything outside of normal operating functions.
Clovis de Oliviera
Following closely on the heels of the above, the secrecy which clouds the operations of the JFF (real or perceived) has, according to sources, turned away potential sponsors and supporters. The lack of transparency within the federation remains a sore point because it is an issue which is swept under the carpet whenever it is brought to fore. Mr. Burrell, in a live broadcast sometime ago said that the federation's audited reports, when completed, will be made available for all to view as they have nothing to hide.
While that is good news and could very well be true (nothing to hide), trying to get hands on one of these reports is like trying to enter the immediate vicinity of the remains of the World Trade Towers. It is impossible, except for emergency workers, which in this case, equates to sponsors of the program. They are among a small group of people, according to sources, who are shown the books of the federation, if requested. Lucky them.
But as long as this continues to be so, speculations, assumptions and guesswork will continue to plague the institution and this is not healthy. It is quite disheartening (and intriguing I might add) to hear some of the comments expressed by fans about the perceived misappropriation of funds and what they think it is used for. This is definitely not the kind of image that the JFF should encourage. But it continually refuses to make information available to allay the fears and accusations.
Even the take from gate receipts at games are (sometimes) not made available to the press and the reason given for such is not good enough. But as someone said recently, the Captain is not losing any weight regarding these accusations, so don't expect transparency any time soon. To add to that, the audited books of this private institution (they are not obligated to be transparent or open), balance every year, so take that. The former army officer has said that he has been running the federation that way for nearly seven years and he does not intend to change his modus operandi any time soon.
d
Rene Simoes
The new technical director
While I could go on critiquing the JFF, I think that it is important for us to look ahead and assess the situation at hand, which is filling the vacant TD position. I sought the learned views of Courtney Livingston and this is what he had to say.
We have neither infrastructure nor money, abundance of administrators or coaches. We have instead talent that needs to be harnessed, coupled with 'heart' as a people, that pushes us to succeed at all times and at all levels. But to do this we need to be guided properly.
We need to put our sentiments aside when looking for a TD. With suggestions of bringing Brazilian Tele Santana here, I say we cannot ask people who are aged and of ill health and who have no idea what or how to deal with our lack of facilities & personnel, to come in & reap the same sort of success that they normally obtain in other places.
We need a TD (with his personally chosen staff), who is willing to go into the trenches & fight with those so-called experts who think they know everything. We need someone who will not second-guess himself because things start going wrong. He needs to be sufficiently hungry and self motivated to see through his tenure. To do so he must possess the will to fight the establishment, press & people who have been spoiled by early success.
This person must also be able to, on his name, attract the attention of the outside world, make them curious enough to want to journey here or offer us games & assistance. We might never attract a Santana, Cryuff, Tigana, Guillitt (Some of the names being proposed). These gentlemen are at the other end of the scale. The first two have seen the best & the worst of world football and would not feasibly want to start at the bottom end again, their age & health would not allow it. The other two are starting out their careers, have tasted success and would know that the task here would require TIME if the job is to be done properly. Both, I'm certain, are looking towards coaching their country of birth.
I share the sentiments of those who do not think we should severe our Brazilian links. However I'm not averse to us having a French or Dutch coaching staff. I pick those two countries for the simple reason that they have a clearly defined infrastructure that we could mirror & benefit from.
Most think we cannot do it the Brazilian way but I do. The fact is we would need a Brazilian who would understand that there is a defensive end of the game and that is where the problem lies. Both Simoes & Lazaroni were probably ahead of their time in this aspect. Maybe just maybe there is another such soul out there. Rene was especially ahead of his time for us as he was willing to do every aspect of the job. But egos would have to take a backseat for whichever TD we get from whichever nation because whether we want to believe it or not WE STILL HAVE A LOT TO LEARN.
Government support is critical, which should include tax breaks, as this could make the packages we are able to offer more attractive.Also the support must be there for our infrastructure to be erected.
Sebastio Lazaroni
World rated technical analyst Rick Figuiredo thinks that Clovis's replacement could be an English coach (which makes sense) or a Brazilian (to maintain the philosophy Rene started). " Who exactly I do not know yet. Rene's assistant in T&T might work - any top Brazilian is too expensive at this stage for Jamaica". For those who don't know, the Technical Director's salary is paid by the government.
There is so much more to add to the above sentiments but space does not allow. As to the recommendations for local replacements, I have nothing against these individuals. I just think that these individuals have not equipped (in some cases) and applied themselves in a manner that says to me that they are ready to assume international coaching duties of any of the national teams. Especially with the position that we are in and where we want to go, coupled with our culture of not supporting locals.
That's all for this week. Do you have a view on any current footballing topic that you want to share on the web?
Email your views to brinxranger@hotmail.com.
See you next week.
|
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Karl |
Posted - Jan 06 2003 : 8:18:21 PM
Clovis gets the axe, whose next?
- An analysis of de Oliviera's tenure with the Reggae Boyz
By Maurice 'Ranger' Walker
(email: brinxranger@hotmail.com)
This is Part 1 of a two-part look at who failed Jamaica's National Senior Team in their quest for World Cup Glory. Be sure to see next week's views.
Clovis de Oliviera
I'm sure that there is no one reading that has not heard the news by now. But just in case you haven't, Technical Director of Jamaica's Football Clovis de Oliviera, a Brazilian, has been sacked by the President of the Football Federation following the teams inability to qualify for its second consecutive World Cup. Another Brazilian, Rene Simoes had accomplished the feat in 1998 and Oliviera was under pressure to repeat the same. But after accomplishing only a 2-2-4 record in the final round of qualifiers, which left the team with eight points and out of realistic contention for a spot, he was fired immediately after going down 1-0 in an away game to Honduras. His staff was also informed that their performance would be evaluated after which their fate would be decided.
This comes as no surprise to me as the writing has been on the wall for some time now. I never really went down that road publicly because my friends and I are what you call supporters. We believe in supporting you team/country in the good and bad times. The way we see it is, if you know what the problems are and you can't remedy them immediately, it makes no sense to yap about it day in, day out. Suffice to say that we were under no illusions about the weaknesses of the coaching staff, players, administrators and fans. Yes, the fans failed the team too.
We all failed the team at some point or another in our quest to make it to the 2002 World Cup. But some of the required changes take time - proper timing - among other factors. So as long as we had a chance to make it, we decided to throw our support and hope for the best. Constant critiquing was getting us nowhere and it came mostly from people that weren't supporting the team in any other way, except with what they call 'constructive criticism'. The only victory for the critics and naysayers is to be able to say, "I told you so".
But just where did Oliviera go wrong? Let's start by looking at what he did right. He 'talked the talk'. Can't fault him there. While he did not repeatedly make Bible quotes and play on the Christian principles of the nation as Simoes did, he did his best to put your mind at ease and gave the impression that every thing was going to be fine. He gave the feeling that everything was progressing problem free and the average person would be tempted to think that absolutely no problem existed in the camp. And maybe rightly so, as I have seen where as a nation we do not handle certain information well. Furthermore, it's not everything that has to be made public.
Unlike Simoes, who would take everything to the press, Oliviera kept things on the 'down low' and sorted them out in his own discreet way. It worked for the players in some ways, as they were more relaxed and more expressive on the field. There was mutual respect between coach and players, which was always evident and morale in the camp was initially high. But this seemingly did not last too long as the players began taking this approach as a weakness to be exploited. Hence the frequent unscheduled break from camp, which is something we all knew was happening all along. But just like our culture dictates, we wait until something happens first, e.g. Steven Malcolm's accident and Theodore Whitmore missing the away Trinidad fixture.
All this excitement about Ian Goodison's bike accident only exist because it was made public and caused him to miss the Honduras game which many people thought we could have won if he had played. But the double standard that has been plaguing the JFF for a very long time is what led to this incident. During the Simoes era we all remember the well-publicised incident when Walter Boyd was involved in a similar motorbike accident prior to a very important game in Mexico.
Simoes made it very clear how upset he was about the incident and questioned how a professional player could be riding a bike etc., etc. The public came down heavily on Boyd for his indiscipline and Simoes received many accolades for being a disciplinarian when he said that if Boyd did not go to the physiotherapist and get clearance as being fit, he would not be going to Mexico. I'll end by saying that Boyd was taken to Mexico (against Simoes' instructions) and was told by Simoes that he was being punished and will not play. When the team was down 3-0, Boyd was sent on the pitch. So much for discipline.
Some argue that Oliviera should not be blamed for players breaking camp against his instructions; they are professional players who should know better etc. But when Oliviera executed his sole moment of dispensing discipline (by my memory), suspending five players for the same reason (five overseas based PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS), he should have realised what he was up against and protected them from themselves while protecting his job.
On the field he had a dream start, going undefeated against Cuba (1-1), Barbados (5-0), Trinidad (4-2), St. Vincent (1-0), El Salvador (1-0), St. Vincent (2-0), Honduras (3-1), to name a few. But while the victories were welcomed there were still glaring concerns from then till now.
" Among his areas of failings are:
The inability of our wingbacks to provide crosses/square. I've always asked why we play with overlapping wingbacks if they can't cross the ball. We missed out greatly on the heading prowess of Onandi Lowe because of our ineptness in that area.
Free kicks. Our only set play for a free kick is to have Lowe or Simpson try to power the ball home, which is very poor when being coached by a Brazilian.
Corners. I don't remember us scoring from a corner during Oliviera's tenure.
Set plays/specific plan going forward. We never seemed to have a well-coordinated move/plan going forward. Everything seemed to depend on the player's initiative.
Substitutions. Anyone who has seen the team play will no doubt agree wholeheartedly that his timing of substitutions was poor. He also had a penchant for taking out players who are playing very well.
Strategy. His failure to plan and change strategy in a timely manner caused him to lose games he could easily have won.
Favouritism. His refusal to pull certain players from the game because he likes their 'attitude' has cost him on many occasions.
Strengthening the bench. He was guilty of seemingly building a team around twelve or thirteen players. When red cards and injury came into the picture he was left open and paid the price.
Not a gambler. When you have all to gain and nothing to lose and if you come up short because of failure #8, you have to gamble. He never did.
Failure to properly prepare the team. He was all too contented with preparing his team with games against Parish XL aggregations. He failed to demand more of the JFF in this area and again paid the price.
I will stop there for now but there are more weaknesses, including his inability, like Simoes, to get the players to move off the ball, failure to win the Copa Caribe and qualify for the next Gold Cup. The off-the-ball movement has been one of our main problems over the years and continues to be our biggest let down. But he cannot shoulder the blame for that, as it is a tall order to teach adult players a new way of playing within fifteen months.
His triumphs
While his official stint as TD began in June 2000, he was a part of Simoes's staff for approximately six months prior to that date, working with the youth squads. It is in this area, that Oliviera's only success came, as he and his staff qualified the National Under 20 team for the Youth World Cup, staged in Argentina earlier this year. The team however failed to win a game. Some may argue that the foundation for that was laid by Simoes and rightfully so, but he must be given due credit fob seuing it through. I might haste to add that had he been there in Argentina with the team, they might have given a better performance. He was unavoidably absent.
Oliviera has also opened the door very wide for these U20 players to make the transition into the senior team, by making them a part of the senior squad training camps whenever possible. The experience garnered by playing with and against local based senior players will be crucial. The recently concluded tour of the Caribbean that climaxed with a game against Wales team Swansea will serve these fringe players very very well.
He also made it a consistent policy to reward top performers in the country's top league (the Premiere League) with national call-ups. This was no doubt done to boost their confidence as well as measure how ready they are for the next step, which is international football. Winning Premiere League coach Jerome Waite (from Arnette Gardens) was also invited to join the coaching staff, another welcome move by de Oliviera.
Next week I will give my insight on the failings of the JFF, the part it played in the failures of the team and by extension de Oliviera and why he was quickly sacrificed.
|
|
|
