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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 25 2001 : 5:32:55 PM
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by Gleaner writer Nodley Wright
JFF move a boost for region T&T coach
Tue Dec 25 07:55:40 2001
JFF move a boost for region T&T coach
Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter
Shabazz
THE COACH of the Trinidad and Tobago women's football team, Jamaal Shabazz, has lauded the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for appointing long-time national coach Carl Brown as technical director of the island's football programme.
Shabazz, who was in the island last week with his team for the CONCACAF Women's Under-19 World Cup qualifiers, hailed Brown as a "committed soldier".
"Based on the timing of his appointment, I cannot see any better person for the JFF to appoint than Carl Brown," said Shabazz of the man who two weeks ago was named by JFF president Captain Horace Burrell to take over from the dismissed Clovis de Oliveira.
"I felt that he being under (Rene) Simoes and the other coaches and even his work before that period, his experience and commitment is something that money cannot buy," Shabazz said.
In supporting the appointed of Brown, Shabazz warned against what he termed a re-colonisation of the region.
"At this time, not only Jamaica but the whole Caribbean, particularly in football, seems to be going through a period of re-colonisation where the administrators are adopting the label that foreign is better and they are bringing in foreign coaches because they feel that that is the way to go," said Shabazz whose country fired one of their own, Bertille St. Clair, in 2000 after he guided them to their highest position in the Gold Cup competition.
In St. Clair's place a Scotsman, Ian Porterfield, was hired but he failed to qualify the country for the 2002 World Cup and was replaced by Simoes, who led Jamaica to their historic 1998 World Cup qualification.
"I am saying that a coach is a coach, be he foreign or local. We have got to be careful because if the football fraternity was to adopt the same principle with administrators, we could easily go to England (for administrators). Why have we not gone to England, wider Europe and South America to bring in administrators from those countries to be our head administrators and pay them accordingly?"
According to Shabazz, who kept goal for Trinidad and Tobago at the youth level and who had two caps at the national level, "the mission" that Brown will be embarking on will not be one for himself but for the entire Caribbean coaching fraternity.
"It is a mission on behalf of all Caribbean coaches - be it Mervyn Richards in Antigua, Stuart Charles in St. Lucia, 'Star' Brown in St. Kitts, Lennie Taylor in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Bertille St. Claire in Trinidad and TobagoT. "It is an important statement for and on behalf of coaches in the region. When you look at the man himself, he has displayed tremendous commitment. Jamaica cannot ask for a more committed soldier."
The JFF, Shabazz said, showed vision in getting Brown attached to a professional club and said such a move was long in coming "because the argument against Caribbean coaches has always been that we lacking experience".
"Why have federations in the Caribbean not sent their top coaches abroad on six-month and one-year attachment courses? Because this has not been in place, one can see that their thinking in the long run has always been that when one foreign coach goes another comes."
Shabazz expressed the hope that what the JFF has done with Brown is the sign of a new trend.
"I hope that the JFF understands that it could become pioneers again with this recent move and that they give Carl 110 per cent encouragement and support
Karl |
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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2001 : 5:34:25 PM
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By Gleaner writer Paul Reid
Is Cpt. Burrell setting up Carl Brown?
Tue Dec 25 07:51:06 2001
Is Cpt. Burrell setting up Carl Brown?
Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter
Brown... named technical director of football this month. - FILE
WESTERN BUREAU: TRUTH IS some times stranger than fiction and nowhere was that more evident than the recent bombshell announcement from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
Unless you have been living under a rock somewhere in Outer Mongolia or sharing a cave with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan you should know by now that long-time coach Carl Brown was named the new national technical director of football.
Such a surprise was the news that members of the media who had gathered for the press conference greeted the announcement with laughter. Not that they did not welcome the news but such was the magnitude of the surprise.
The whole process is a bit baffling. We were told that JFF supremo Captain Horace Burrell and Brown were in negotiations for two weeks or so before the announcement.
In that period, Burrell had made promises he would announce who the new technical director would be and added the name would have "a European flavour". I don't know about you but Brown does not sound very European to me. Then again I guess it Burrell had maintained his militaristic stance that none of the local coaches were up to the task and that we needed an overseas coach to lead the way forward. He had repeated that sentiment as late as the final World Cup qualifying game against Costa Rica on November 11, telling a television announcer that "make no mistake, we need help from overseas".
The million pound net question now is what had changed between the Costa Rica game and the announcement?
A part of Brown's training will be a one-year attachment to Bolton Wanderers of the English Premiership where he is supposed to improve his skills as an international coach. Why Bolton? Why not another more established programme with a proven record over a period of time? Isn't that short changing the entire process? Those are other questions for another time however.
Burrell would have us believe that sending Brown to England for the year was what he had in mind with the "European flavour" comment. Really now captain?
I hope I am wrong. I really hope I am made to eat my words but I do believe strongly that Carl is being set up. He is being used to fill space until the real football starts again.
With no major tournaments on the horizon for at least until 2003-04, there is no need to employ a coach that would attract a high salary package.
Therefore, Brown is the perfect person to keep the director's chair warm until it is time to bring in the European-flavoured name. It is my guess that come 2004 when the World Cup qualifying gets underway, Brown will be sidelined once again. Maybe he will last until the start of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying semi-final round and then his performance will be 're-assessed'.
I am willing to believe that Burrell and his advisors reassessed their positions after hearing that the going price for a decent coach was somewhere in the region of one million pounds net. Friends, that is almost J$70 million a year after taxes and deductions.
With no major competitions in the next three years, the JFF boss thought maybe he could save some money and hopefully following the World Cup next year and subsequent European competitions, some good coaches might become available. You cannot flaw that argument. And with Carl quoted as saying that he had decided to walk out of the programme if a decision was not made soon, Burrell the strategist must have realised he had to hold on to his man a little longer and came up with what he must have perceived was a brilliant idea.
We have no other option but to wait and see and, as I said above, for Carl's sake, I hope I am wrong but only time will tell.
What the JFF needs to do now after naming Brown is to outline what the job of the technical director entails.
Will he be the person who will draw up the blueprint for Jamaica's football over the next 10 years, starting with the lowest age group and encompassing all teams and the top clubs? Or will he be the person who handles the day-to-day running of the national senior team?
Different countries call their coaches by different names and we need to know what Brown's responsibilities will be.
We have a technical committee at the JFF, which by the way has been very quiet all this time, and it is high time the JFF explained once and for all what its responsibilities are.
We were of the belief when Rene Simoes came here seven years ago he would have designed a manual for the coaches to follow. Two other technical directors later we are still waiting for this road map.
Maybe after Brown returns from Bolton he will have an idea.
Karl |
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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
Posted - Dec 25 2001 : 5:35:59 PM
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HL
Paul Reid vs, Nodley Wright
Tue Dec 25 12:24:52 2001
Reid's article echos the feelings of lots of RB supporters: the JFF must be more transparent; the JFF needs to answer key questions; the JFF is seting up Carl Brown; the JFF is better off using a foreign TD; and on and on...
Wright's commentory on the other hand, poses a practical perspective (and possible answer) to the JFF surprise move.
I need not go over both author's views. You've alresdy read them. But after reading both...which makes better sense?
HL
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