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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>'We are on track'</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Boxhill buoyed by move to land Bora Milutinovic</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>By Ian Burnett Sports editor
Sunday, October 15, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>With the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) close to signing Serbian Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic as technical director, Crenston Boxhill, the under fire boss of the local federation, is heartened that things are beginning to fall into place in turning around the recent dismal fortunes of the football programme.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=170 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>JFF boss Crenston Boxhill (right) and veteran coach Bora Milutinovic at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Friday afternoon. (Photo: Naphtali Junior) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"We are on the right track," Boxhill told the Sunday Observer, shortly after meeting with members of the business community on Friday afternoon.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In a calm, but visibly upbeat manner, Boxhill added: "I don't think you can question his (Milutinovic's) ability, his track record, and therefore if we have confidence in him as the pilot of the programme, let us just rally around the programme, give it our wholehearted support and take it to where we want it to go, which is South Africa in 2010."<P class=StoryText align=justify>The 62-year-old Milutinovic, the only man to have coached five different teams at the World Cup Finals - Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998), and China (2002) - arrived in the island on Thursday on a five-day "familiarisation" visit, and though he has yet to ink the coaching deal, his signing appears only a matter of time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The Boxhill-led JFF, which came into office in 2003, has come in for scathing criticisms from both inside and outside the football fraternity, since the Reggae Boyz failed to advance to the final round of the 2006 CONCACAF World Cup qualifying campaign.
The criticisms became more biting following a string of high-profile losses in international games in England, where the team lost 5-0 to Australia last year, and 6-0 against England and 4-1 against Ghana this summer.<P class=StoryText align=justify>During this turbulent period, the team plummeted to 77th in the Coca-Cola FIFA World Rankings, sparking repeated calls for the administration to quit.<P class=StoryText align=justify>To add insult to injury, the Reggae Boyz, without any quality overseas-based professionals, crashed at home in the first round of the Digicel Caribbean Cup two weeks ago, thus failing to successfully defend the title they won in Barbados last year. They also failed to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the US next year.
Feeling the hurt and disappointment like every football-loving Jamaican, Boxhill is in no mood to pack it in. In fact, he remains steadfast in his main objective.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Like I have always said, especially after returning from the England tour, we were looking at revamping our technical department and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we wanted a coach of this calibre," Boxhill explained.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I couldn't say it was going to be Bora, but I knew we wanted an internationally-recognised coach with a good track record to bring the level of professionalism and respect to our players, and of course, help us get the kind of high-quality games that would afford the players the kind of exposure that we would want for them, so the fact that we are getting closer to signing one such person, it is quite heartening and encouraging and I have no doubt that once we are able to land a
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Boxhill buoyed by move to land Bora Milutinovic</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>By Ian Burnett Sports editor
Sunday, October 15, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>With the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) close to signing Serbian Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic as technical director, Crenston Boxhill, the under fire boss of the local federation, is heartened that things are beginning to fall into place in turning around the recent dismal fortunes of the football programme.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=170 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>JFF boss Crenston Boxhill (right) and veteran coach Bora Milutinovic at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Friday afternoon. (Photo: Naphtali Junior) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"We are on the right track," Boxhill told the Sunday Observer, shortly after meeting with members of the business community on Friday afternoon.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In a calm, but visibly upbeat manner, Boxhill added: "I don't think you can question his (Milutinovic's) ability, his track record, and therefore if we have confidence in him as the pilot of the programme, let us just rally around the programme, give it our wholehearted support and take it to where we want it to go, which is South Africa in 2010."<P class=StoryText align=justify>The 62-year-old Milutinovic, the only man to have coached five different teams at the World Cup Finals - Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the United States (1994), Nigeria (1998), and China (2002) - arrived in the island on Thursday on a five-day "familiarisation" visit, and though he has yet to ink the coaching deal, his signing appears only a matter of time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The Boxhill-led JFF, which came into office in 2003, has come in for scathing criticisms from both inside and outside the football fraternity, since the Reggae Boyz failed to advance to the final round of the 2006 CONCACAF World Cup qualifying campaign.The criticisms became more biting following a string of high-profile losses in international games in England, where the team lost 5-0 to Australia last year, and 6-0 against England and 4-1 against Ghana this summer.<P class=StoryText align=justify>During this turbulent period, the team plummeted to 77th in the Coca-Cola FIFA World Rankings, sparking repeated calls for the administration to quit.<P class=StoryText align=justify>To add insult to injury, the Reggae Boyz, without any quality overseas-based professionals, crashed at home in the first round of the Digicel Caribbean Cup two weeks ago, thus failing to successfully defend the title they won in Barbados last year. They also failed to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the US next year.
Feeling the hurt and disappointment like every football-loving Jamaican, Boxhill is in no mood to pack it in. In fact, he remains steadfast in his main objective.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Like I have always said, especially after returning from the England tour, we were looking at revamping our technical department and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we wanted a coach of this calibre," Boxhill explained.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"I couldn't say it was going to be Bora, but I knew we wanted an internationally-recognised coach with a good track record to bring the level of professionalism and respect to our players, and of course, help us get the kind of high-quality games that would afford the players the kind of exposure that we would want for them, so the fact that we are getting closer to signing one such person, it is quite heartening and encouraging and I have no doubt that once we are able to land a
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