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Welcome back, Mr Simoes, but.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
It came as no surprise when Captain Horace Burrell officially announced Mr Rene Simoes as the new technical director of Jamaica's football programme at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Indeed, weeks before the JFF's confirmation, the little mustachioed Brazilian had been telling those close to his second division club side Coritiba that he would be taking up the post as technical director of Jamaica next January.
Jamaicans will forever be indebted to Mr Simoes, who guided the nation on its historic journey to the FIFA World Cup Finals in France in 1998.
We welcome the return of Mr Simoes and his three-man technical staff, and implore the nation to fall behind the captain and his team as they face this monumental challenge of trying to qualify the senior team for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.
This newspaper is of the view that with the start of the qualifiers merely six months away, this is certainly not the time to debate the merits or demerits of Mr Simoes' return. What is of undoubted priority is the pulling together as a nation and the lending of constructive support.
In a letter to Jamaicans on Tuesday, Mr Simoes, in his typically colourful style, said:
"The problems, defeats, victories and achievements of the past; the glory of that November 16th and the Road to France which took us on an incredible journey cannot guarantee the success of this new challenge. The past can only serve now as a source of inspiration and knowledge for the present."
We agree wholeheartedly with Mr Simoes on this one, and more importantly, we also hope that it was not merely his flowing pen at work, but that these were carefully selected words from his heart.
But we would like to offer a word of caution. It is our belief that in his first stint Mr Simoes lost the respect of many in the football fraternity, including players and coaches, because of what was seen to be his quarrelsome behaviour. There were even allegations of vindictiveness on his part.
We were not at all pleased with the frequent public quarrels which characterised Mr Simoes' previous stint, which allegedly led to a physical confrontation at one stage. The nation cannot afford and will not tolerate any such behaviour this time around.
Captain Burrell has admitted that the past four years in the wilderness have made him a better person - more inclusive, tolerant and less arrogant - and we hope Mr Simoes would have also learnt from his seven years away from Jamaica.
For Mr Simoes had better realise very quickly that he will be guiding a group of players who are now a lot more professional than when he was last here. They will not readily subject themselves to indignity.
Another area of concern for us is the role of Mr Simoes with regard to the development of local coaches. This was clearly an area of abject failure in his previous stint.
We welcome news that local icon Mr Theodore Whitmore will play some role on the technical staff, but for this multimillion-dollar investment to be really beneficial to Jamaica, it has to be more than just the employment of Mr Whitmore on the backroom staff.
But given that he will have direct responsibility for all teams - males and females - and only a short time before the start of a very challenging World Cup qualifying campaign, we are left to wonder if Mr Simoes will find the time that is required to play a lead role in the organising of coaching courses and meaningful clinics.
We urge Captain Burrell to give this most needed area special attention. Let's not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
It came as no surprise when Captain Horace Burrell officially announced Mr Rene Simoes as the new technical director of Jamaica's football programme at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Indeed, weeks before the JFF's confirmation, the little mustachioed Brazilian had been telling those close to his second division club side Coritiba that he would be taking up the post as technical director of Jamaica next January.
Jamaicans will forever be indebted to Mr Simoes, who guided the nation on its historic journey to the FIFA World Cup Finals in France in 1998.
We welcome the return of Mr Simoes and his three-man technical staff, and implore the nation to fall behind the captain and his team as they face this monumental challenge of trying to qualify the senior team for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.
This newspaper is of the view that with the start of the qualifiers merely six months away, this is certainly not the time to debate the merits or demerits of Mr Simoes' return. What is of undoubted priority is the pulling together as a nation and the lending of constructive support.
In a letter to Jamaicans on Tuesday, Mr Simoes, in his typically colourful style, said:
"The problems, defeats, victories and achievements of the past; the glory of that November 16th and the Road to France which took us on an incredible journey cannot guarantee the success of this new challenge. The past can only serve now as a source of inspiration and knowledge for the present."
We agree wholeheartedly with Mr Simoes on this one, and more importantly, we also hope that it was not merely his flowing pen at work, but that these were carefully selected words from his heart.
But we would like to offer a word of caution. It is our belief that in his first stint Mr Simoes lost the respect of many in the football fraternity, including players and coaches, because of what was seen to be his quarrelsome behaviour. There were even allegations of vindictiveness on his part.
We were not at all pleased with the frequent public quarrels which characterised Mr Simoes' previous stint, which allegedly led to a physical confrontation at one stage. The nation cannot afford and will not tolerate any such behaviour this time around.
Captain Burrell has admitted that the past four years in the wilderness have made him a better person - more inclusive, tolerant and less arrogant - and we hope Mr Simoes would have also learnt from his seven years away from Jamaica.
For Mr Simoes had better realise very quickly that he will be guiding a group of players who are now a lot more professional than when he was last here. They will not readily subject themselves to indignity.
Another area of concern for us is the role of Mr Simoes with regard to the development of local coaches. This was clearly an area of abject failure in his previous stint.
We welcome news that local icon Mr Theodore Whitmore will play some role on the technical staff, but for this multimillion-dollar investment to be really beneficial to Jamaica, it has to be more than just the employment of Mr Whitmore on the backroom staff.
But given that he will have direct responsibility for all teams - males and females - and only a short time before the start of a very challenging World Cup qualifying campaign, we are left to wonder if Mr Simoes will find the time that is required to play a lead role in the organising of coaching courses and meaningful clinics.
We urge Captain Burrell to give this most needed area special attention. Let's not repeat the mistakes of the past.
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