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published: Thursday | September 18, 2008
The REACTION ranged from nods of approval to flowing tears to scathing criticism of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) following the dismissal of Brazilian technical director René Simoes last week but, let's face it folks, the decision was the right one.
Despite Jamaica's passionate attraction to the professor, there were several reasons he should have been sacked this time around.
The fact of the matter is that Simoes never seemed to understand the gravity of the situation or react with any urgency to what was at stake. Rest assured, despite whatever else you may have thought, Simoes was brought back to Jamaica in an attempt to secure the country a spot at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. That was the goal of the previous administration and it continues to be the target of the current one.
However, before we consider that to be short-sightedness and trumpet the cause of that idea flying in the face of local development, let us consider one thing.
Nobody backs a loser
The fact of the matter is that organisations need money, nobody backs a loser and so results are paramount. The plain truth is that nobody goes outside and throws their money in the darkest hole they can find and every year that the Reggae Boyz don't compete at the highest level it is harder to convince sponsors and supporters to stay on board.
So the argument that we are not a big football country and we should not expect to do too well is absolute nonsense, it is simply an excuse to accept mediocrity. Any athlete who thinks in this manner has already lost and any business with this outlook should not have been started in the first place. The business of professional sports is the business of winning and that is the bottom line.
The JFF and, for the most part many fans, would simply have looked on the issue of money spent for the best possible product. Simoes had a slightly different point of view - he was no longer looking for the best players but players that fit his system. Best coaching system vs best players. That is all well and good if your system is working, or looks like it can work, but outside of that, other options have to be considered. Be a maverick if you want, and even if those ideas go against those of your boss, when they work you are a genius, but I know I don't need to tell you what happens when they don't.
Analysis of the team put together by Simoes requires more than just a look at results. Apart from achieving just one point in their three games to date, they provided a toothless attack and in 270-plus minutes of football never looked likely to score a goal in open play.
Poorly chosen team
The fact of the matter is that the team was poorly chosen and with so many players available there is no excuse for it. I remind you that these are not players who, as we could have complained about in the past, have never set foot in Jamaica, but have grown up locally playing for clubs like Harbour View and Portmore United before improving their talent to ply their trade abroad.
Why would they be left out of the loop in favour of players currently from Reno etc., who while they may be even more talented (and I'm not saying they are) have a way to go in terms of honing their skills and developing that talent. Using overseas talent is not uncommon to teams like Argentina, Mexico and Brazil while having leagues vastly superior to ours.
At this time, may be a move away from the Brazilian experiment which began with Jorge Penna in 1965, will be the best thing for us.
While many of us embrace the South American team, maybe it's time that we accept that a little yellow in both jerseys is the only real similarity between us. Many coaches who have visited Jamaica have been impressed by our pace. Should we be looking to slow our game to a walk on the pitch?
kwesi.mugisa@gleanerjm.com
The REACTION ranged from nods of approval to flowing tears to scathing criticism of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) following the dismissal of Brazilian technical director René Simoes last week but, let's face it folks, the decision was the right one.
Despite Jamaica's passionate attraction to the professor, there were several reasons he should have been sacked this time around.
The fact of the matter is that Simoes never seemed to understand the gravity of the situation or react with any urgency to what was at stake. Rest assured, despite whatever else you may have thought, Simoes was brought back to Jamaica in an attempt to secure the country a spot at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. That was the goal of the previous administration and it continues to be the target of the current one.
However, before we consider that to be short-sightedness and trumpet the cause of that idea flying in the face of local development, let us consider one thing.
Nobody backs a loser
The fact of the matter is that organisations need money, nobody backs a loser and so results are paramount. The plain truth is that nobody goes outside and throws their money in the darkest hole they can find and every year that the Reggae Boyz don't compete at the highest level it is harder to convince sponsors and supporters to stay on board.
So the argument that we are not a big football country and we should not expect to do too well is absolute nonsense, it is simply an excuse to accept mediocrity. Any athlete who thinks in this manner has already lost and any business with this outlook should not have been started in the first place. The business of professional sports is the business of winning and that is the bottom line.
The JFF and, for the most part many fans, would simply have looked on the issue of money spent for the best possible product. Simoes had a slightly different point of view - he was no longer looking for the best players but players that fit his system. Best coaching system vs best players. That is all well and good if your system is working, or looks like it can work, but outside of that, other options have to be considered. Be a maverick if you want, and even if those ideas go against those of your boss, when they work you are a genius, but I know I don't need to tell you what happens when they don't.
Analysis of the team put together by Simoes requires more than just a look at results. Apart from achieving just one point in their three games to date, they provided a toothless attack and in 270-plus minutes of football never looked likely to score a goal in open play.
Poorly chosen team
The fact of the matter is that the team was poorly chosen and with so many players available there is no excuse for it. I remind you that these are not players who, as we could have complained about in the past, have never set foot in Jamaica, but have grown up locally playing for clubs like Harbour View and Portmore United before improving their talent to ply their trade abroad.
Why would they be left out of the loop in favour of players currently from Reno etc., who while they may be even more talented (and I'm not saying they are) have a way to go in terms of honing their skills and developing that talent. Using overseas talent is not uncommon to teams like Argentina, Mexico and Brazil while having leagues vastly superior to ours.
At this time, may be a move away from the Brazilian experiment which began with Jorge Penna in 1965, will be the best thing for us.
While many of us embrace the South American team, maybe it's time that we accept that a little yellow in both jerseys is the only real similarity between us. Many coaches who have visited Jamaica have been impressed by our pace. Should we be looking to slow our game to a walk on the pitch?
kwesi.mugisa@gleanerjm.com
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