Greetings Massive...sorry I..

[Exile]

..couldn't follow up on the discussion re: Caribbean Football yesterday. Yes, two former World Cup sides (3 really if Haiti included) and where ar ethe professionals? TT had not even a good 2nd string side, Ja couldn't, didn't qualify. Cuba still at Olympic level and yet looked good and everyone here squabling about whose team better? Trust me, I blanked the whole affair, although the finals seem to have a good turnout. The TTFA are a bunch of idiots, no idea about marketing, coming of a good W/cup showing and not even ONE good game in Trinidad with their 'STARS'.

Do we still play football in Jamaica??? The reports in the news are hardly inspiring. Our club teams hardly advance in regional tournaments, yet we here how this BIG side, yaada, yaada..a go mash up who. Again we look for the white saviour who is oh so silent these days. Our late brethren always asked "WHO FAILED THE YOUTHS"? Let's hope the youths can take us to South Africa because the rest a dem done.

Hail the massive - all the best for 2007 still, trying to stay alive and 'eat a food'. Balla, yu dun know, Mosiah, muss link next time...

[T.K.]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

Exile (1/26/2007)..couldn't follow up on the discussion re: Caribbean Football yesterday. Yes, two former World Cup sides (3 really if Haiti included) and where ar ethe professionals? TT had not even a good 2nd string side, Ja couldn't, didn't qualify. Cuba still at Olympic level and yet looked good and everyone here squabling about whose team better? Trust me, I blanked the whole affair, although the finals seem to have a good turnout. The TTFA are a bunch of idiots, no idea about marketing, coming of a good W/cup showing and not even ONE good game in Trinidad with their 'STARS'.

Do we still play football in Jamaica??? The reports in the news are hardly inspiring. Our club teams hardly advance in regional tournaments, yet we here how this BIG side, yaada, yaada..a go mash up who. Again we look for the white saviour who is oh so silent these days. Our late brethren always asked "WHO FAILED THE YOUTHS"? Let's hope the youths can take us to South Africa because the rest a dem done.

Hail the massive - all the best for 2007 still, trying to stay alive and 'eat a food'. Balla, yu dun know, Mosiah, muss link next time...

Shoot Exile...I didn't even bother worry about the CFU tournament because it is an absolute fraud of a competition. Teams like Jamaica and Trinidad should boycott that nonsense. To use it as the qualifiers for Gold Cup is flat out criminal. Until they schedule the tournament at a time when teams like Jamaican and T&T canhave their full complement of pros it is nothing more than poppy show.

While our national teams and club teams are not advancing as one would like I think the news is somewhat positive coming out these days. Think about it. When have we ever been able to say that we could field a first team11 with all Jamaican born overseas professionals? That is progress and says to me that the clubs and JFF have become more proactive in giving their players a shot at making it in Europe and the States.

As for our national team since we are not playing in the Gold Cup during the summer there is not much to get excited about. It would be nice to see us getting some games but I think Bora right now is trying to identify the local talent. So we shall see.

Balla and Mosiah seem to be on the outs these days so mi nuh know 'bout no link up.

Outside of that make sure backside post more regularly and stop being such a forum snob. (Chal) - T.K.

[Paul Marin]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

TK - does anyone know the schedule for the Jamaica team? If you recall back in the WC qualifying run up, Simoes scheduled a BAG of games for the team, is that Bora's strategy as well??

[Peter R]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

TK, Exile: As long as the people in charge of our football ultimately are in it for themselves we'll continue to have bogus tounaments.

pr

[T.K.]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

Paul Marin (1/26/2007)TK - does anyone know the schedule for the Jamaica team? If you recall back in the WC qualifying run up, Simoes scheduled a BAG of games for the team, is that Bora's strategy as well??

Only Mrs. Boxhill would know those details about schedule.

I do not know what Bora's strategy is but I do not believe he needs as busy a schedule as Simoes had. With the bulk of our player pool playing overseas they are getting top notch training and competition week in and week out. If we keep our games to FIFA international dates and summer dates we will be in good shape.

Back in 98 that was not the case. The majority were playing hop scotch in the NPL and forced Simoes to run continuous camps to keep them sharp. It was a necessary evil then to keep the team competitive.- T.K.

[Gamma]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

the signings of stephenson (top swedish club), shelton (epl), daley(championship), the three to belgium, the drafting of 2 prospects for the MLS?!!

while i agree that it has been a slow process, it took almost 10 years there are signs of life. as for pro football in jamaica nowhere in the near future primarily because of the type of football culture in jamaica....best bet is to get young players exposed early to professional leagues...that has worked for bibi and claude and is working for stephenson and shelton..

[T.K.]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

Peter R (1/26/2007)TK, Exile: As long as the people in charge of our football ultimately are in it for themselves we'll continue to have bogus tounaments.

pr

Yeah I just think it is more a case that with the JFF everybody for all intent and purposes are volunteers. When you don't pay your administratorsyou cannot expect a very talented work force. Until we get that squared away we will always be in a state of where's waldo. - T.K.

[Jangle]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

TK I don't think we should wait on FIFA dates to schedule international matches. We need to go back to basics (Simoes ' basics), where we use our local guys to play the Caribbean teams. It is easy to get these matches. Work with a core group of players and start playing teams like Cuba, Martinique, Haiti, Barbados and likkle side like Trinidad. These matches can be scheduled in between FIFA dates. Then we can move onto the Central American teams and also invite or travel tointernational clubs that are not currently in season. I would love to see our local boyz travelling more to Central America and Mexico to play in their hostile environment....toughen them up. We can then use the FIFA dates to bring in our internationals to get familiar with our locals, and any UB40s to practice our anthem.

What Simoes did in the 1998 run up that I really liked, was to expose our boyz to different aspects of our society. He took them around to Childrens Homes and other charitable social events. This did a lot to the psyche of the nation and helped to galvanize the support. It also helped the boyz with their public speaking. I remember Messam and Fabulous speaking eloquently to reporters. It's all about the complete development of the player.

[Warlord]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

T.K. (1/26/2007)

Exile (1/26/2007)..couldn't follow up on the discussion re: Caribbean Football yesterday. Yes, two former World Cup sides (3 really if Haiti included) and where ar ethe professionals? TT had not even a good 2nd string side, Ja couldn't, didn't qualify. Cuba still at Olympic level and yet looked good and everyone here squabling about whose team better? Trust me, I blanked the whole affair, although the finals seem to have a good turnout. The TTFA are a bunch of idiots, no idea about marketing, coming of a good W/cup showing and not even ONE good game in Trinidad with their 'STARS'.

Do we still play football in Jamaica??? The reports in the news are hardly inspiring. Our club teams hardly advance in regional tournaments, yet we here how this BIG side, yaada, yaada..a go mash up who. Again we look for the white saviour who is oh so silent these days. Our late brethren always asked "WHO FAILED THE YOUTHS"? Let's hope the youths can take us to South Africa because the rest a dem done.

Hail the massive - all the best for 2007 still, trying to stay alive and 'eat a food'. Balla, yu dun know, Mosiah, muss link next time...

Shoot Exile...I didn't even bother worry about the CFU tournament because it is an absolute fraud of a competition. Teams like Jamaica and Trinidad should boycott that nonsense. To use it as the qualifiers for Gold Cup is flat out criminal. Until they schedule the tournament at a time when teams like Jamaican and T&T canhave their full complement of pros it is nothing more than poppy show.

While our national teams and club teams are not advancing as one would like I think the news is somewhat positive coming out these days. Think about it. When have we ever been able to say that we could field a first team11 with all Jamaican born overseas professionals? That is progress and says to me that the clubs and JFF have become more proactive in giving their players a shot at making it in Europe and the States.

As for our national team since we are not playing in the Gold Cup during the summer there is not much to get excited about. It would be nice to see us getting some games but I think Bora right now is trying to identify the local talent. So we shall see.

Balla and Mosiah seem to be on the outs these days so mi nuh know 'bout no link up.

Outside of that make sure backside post more regularly and stop being such a forum snob. (Chal) - T.K.

Exile did make some good points as well as some bad ones, but the last part about our teamat club level is quite true. The fact other club teams with the exception of Harborviewand most recently Portmore U winning a CFU title and competing against Concacaf's best is a travesty for Jamaican football. It is important to play against the best because that is the only way you can become a better player. The NPL fosters some talent for the NT but can the players get play above that level and get better...I don't know.

This leads me to my next point. The Digicel Cup is very important to the development not only to our players, but players in the Caribbean in general. The fact that you question the validity of the tournament makes no sense at all. Where are the young players going to get experience and buss. Haiti did well in this tournament although I detest them they proved that their league and their players are getting stronger and better. Yes they may not be up to our caliber but they aren't that far behind these days. That is becoming the case in Caribbean football teams who are gunning for us and Trinidad and Tobago. We should've been in this year's Digicel Cup tournament but I will leave that one for now.

Losing to SVG at home is absolutely ridiculous.(tdown)

[Warlord]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

Exile (1/26/2007)..couldn't follow up on the discussion re: Caribbean Football yesterday. Yes, two former World Cup sides (3 really if Haiti included) and where ar ethe professionals? TT had not even a good 2nd string side, Ja couldn't, didn't qualify. Cuba still at Olympic level and yet looked good and everyone here squabling about whose team better? Trust me, I blanked the whole affair, although the finals seem to have a good turnout. The TTFA are a bunch of idiots, no idea about marketing, coming of a good W/cup showing and not even ONE good game in Trinidad with their 'STARS'.

Do we still play football in Jamaica??? The reports in the news are hardly inspiring. Our club teams hardly advance in regional tournaments, yet we here how this BIG side, yaada, yaada..a go mash up who. Again we look for the white saviour who is oh so silent these days. Our late brethren always asked "WHO FAILED THE YOUTHS"? Let's hope the youths can take us to South Africa because the rest a dem done.

Hail the massive - all the best for 2007 still, trying to stay alive and 'eat a food'. Balla, yu dun know, Mosiah, muss link next time...

Actually the tournament was somewhat of a success. I was surprised at the "C" team that Trinidad played with and got some success. The mere fact that the warriors played against the other teams who prepared for the tournament and had success really impressed me. It's about getting your best players but also about unearthing young talent which is why weshould learn something.Let's face facts our league and tournaments help in player development. We don't always need professionals everytime.

I think the biggestreason why you don't see the professionals come back and play in a tournament like this is because it's not FIFA sanctioned and their clubs won't allow them toplay.Thisis why we need our young players to get a chance at this level and gain experience.This is an important time and well I hope Boradoes what he is brought in to do, but I'm not convinced he's the man for the job, butthenagain...I'm also not the JFF president now am I?Does Boxhill know what he's doing? I don't think so....he's brainless imo. The work should start now but I don't see Milutinovic doing anything either. Feb7 is a fifa calender match day yet I have seen no mention of a game for the boyz.(tdown)

[Karl]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

I do not know what Bora's strategy is but I do not believe he needs as busy a schedule as Simoes had.

What?

With the bulk of our player pool playing overseas they are getting top notch training and competition week in and week out. If we keep our games to FIFA international dates and summer dates we will be in good shape.

Are you saying we are on par withBrazil, France, Germany, Argentina, Portugal, Englandand Spain?...or, are you saying we should never aim to attain those lofty levels of play?

Massa a joke yuh a joke?

If may play on Paul Marin's 'byline' a bit - I would say getting to the World Cup should not be the aim...the aim should be getting there and doing well!

It must be about going to the TOP OF THE WORLD! We are Jamaicans!

What did Paul's quote say - 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'[/I] - Bill Shankly

Massa TK stap joke wid or boutwi football

[T.K.]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

Karl (1/26/2007)

I do not know what Bora's strategy is but I do not believe he needs as busy a schedule as Simoes had.

What?

With the bulk of our player pool playing overseas they are getting top notch training and competition week in and week out. If we keep our games to FIFA international dates and summer dates we will be in good shape.

Are you saying we are on par withBrazil, France, Germany, Argentina, Portugal, Englandand Spain?...or, are you saying we should never aim to attain those lofty levels of play?

Massa a joke yuh a joke?

If may play on Paul Marin's 'byline' a bit - I would say getting to the World Cup should not be the aim...the aim should be getting there and doing well!

It must be about going to the TOP OF THE WORLD! We are Jamaicans!

What did Paul's quote say - 'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.'[/I] - Bill Shankly

Massa TK stap joke wid or boutwi football

Well I am not sure how much I am joking with our football but I see that we are in a completely different position today then we were back in 1998.

That club team schedule Simoes had back in 96-97 would be a waste of time today. You would be working with a group of players who the bulk would be replaced by our overseas pros. It makes no sense to waste our resources that way. It would do nothing to put us on par with the teams you listed above.

The only thing that can put us on par with the Englands and Spains of this world is if we were to have a bulk of our players in the top leagues. Playing a 100 national team matches a year won't make a difference. - T.K.

[T.K.]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

This leads me to my next point. The Digicel Cup is very important to the development not only to our players, but players in the Caribbean in general. The fact that you question the validity of the tournament makes no sense at all. Where are the young players going to get experience and buss. Haiti did well in this tournament although I detest them they proved that their league and their players are getting stronger and better. Yes they may not be up to our caliber but they aren't that far behind these days. That is becoming the case in Caribbean football teams who are gunning for us and Trinidad and Tobago. We should've been in this year's Digicel Cup tournament but I will leave that one for now.

Losing to SVG at home is absolutely ridiculous.(tdown)

First things first. Great to see you around Warlord!!!! Hope you will be posting more regularly!

The Digicel Cup is garbage. It serves no importance to Jamaica's football. The place where our youth players will get buss is in the U20's and U23's. As well they can make a run to Scandinavia if they wanta shot at the england.

The Digicel Cup is for qualifying for the Gold Cup period. It is not a development tourney. It is one that has great implications when it comes to our ability to get competitive meaningful FIFA sanctioned matches. If we were to ever win GC it would mean confederations cup.The Digi Cupshould be scheduled when T&T and Jamaica can have their full complement of players.

If they choose to schedule when those two teams will be at a disadvantage without their professional players then the tournament is nothing more than a sham. Jamaica and Trinidad should boycott it untilthe CFU is shamed into scheduling the tournament appropriately. - T.K.

[T.K.]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

Jangle (1/26/2007)TK I don't think we should wait on FIFA dates to schedule international matches. We need to go back to basics (Simoes ' basics), where we use our local guys to play the Caribbean teams. It is easy to get these matches. Work with a core group of players and start playing teams like Cuba, Martinique, Haiti, Barbados and likkle side like Trinidad. These matches can be scheduled in between FIFA dates. Then we can move onto the Central American teams and also invite or travel tointernational clubs that are not currently in season. I would love to see our local boyz travelling more to Central America and Mexico to play in their hostile environment....toughen them up. We can then use the FIFA dates to bring in our internationals to get familiar with our locals, and any UB40s to practice our anthem.

What Simoes did in the 1998 run up that I really liked, was to expose our boyz to different aspects of our society. He took them around to Childrens Homes and other charitable social events. This did a lot to the psyche of the nation and helped to galvanize the support. It also helped the boyz with their public speaking. I remember Messam and Fabulous speaking eloquently to reporters. It's all about the complete development of the player.

Jangle the truth is we do not need to go back to basics. I get the impression you and Karl are trying to relive the past. The truth is with our core group of player playing in top leagues we do not need the game every month scenario to stay competitive. All we need is a top level coach and a few good matches.

A national team is not a club team. The only reason Simoes could get away with that before was because all of our players were playing in the NPL and most could agree that the NPL was not adequately preparing our players for international level play. The only reason Bora could get away with when he coached the US in 94 was because most of the players were pretty much rank amateurs. It would do the US nor Jamaica any good to run a schedule like that when the core group or players are already getting that quality week in and week out in their respective leagues. - T.K.

[Warlord]

RE: Greetings Massive...sorry I..

T.K. (1/26/2007)

This leads me to my next point. The Digicel Cup is very important to the development not only to our players, but players in the Caribbean in general. The fact that you question the validity of the tournament makes no sense at all. Where are the young players going to get experience and buss. Haiti did well in this tournament although I detest them they proved that their league and their players are getting stronger and better. Yes they may not be up to our caliber but they aren't that far behind these days. That is becoming the case in Caribbean football teams who are gunning for us and Trinidad and Tobago. We should've been in this year's Digicel Cup tournament but I will leave that one for now.

Losing to SVG at home is absolutely ridiculous.(tdown)

First things first. Great to see you around Warlord!!!! Hope you will be posting more regularly!

The Digicel Cup is garbage. It serves no importance to Jamaica's football. The place where our youth players will get buss is in the U20's and U23's. As well they can make a run to Scandinavia if they wanta shot at the england.

The Digicel Cup is for qualifying for the Gold Cup period. It is not a development tourney. It is one that has great implications when it comes to our ability to get competitive meaningful FIFA sanctioned matches. If we were to ever win GC it would mean confederations cup.The Digi Cupshould be scheduled when T&T and Jamaica can have their full complement of players.

If they choose to schedule when those two teams will be at a disadvantage without their professional players then the tournament is nothing more than a sham. Jamaica and Trinidad should boycott it untilthe CFU is shamed into scheduling the tournament appropriately. - T.K.

T.K,

First things first... a nuh suh it go. Contrary to what you might think mi brethren...The Digicel Cup is very important to player development. When I say player development I mean in terms of the U-23, U-20, and the U-17 teams. Where did you think Latapy and Yorke came from massah? Di same Digicel Caribbean Cup tournament. Yorke was 17 yrs old when he played and Latapy was 20 at the time before they went on to achieve success.The key is to get exposure of younger players to the international game even at Caribbean level.

You make valid points about the importance of the Gold Cup and the confederations cup and Iagree withyouon that, but this is a long term developmental project andit has to start from somewhere. Trinidad did it this year in the tournament with alot of young players aged 18-22. That exposure is priceless as the soca warriors like the boyz are preparing for the future when WC qualifying comes around.

Player development doesn't only come with quality opposition,but also with the right coaching, proper facilities, and huge financial investment.

You see it at the bigger clubs in Europe like Barca, Man Utd, R. Madrid, Chelsea Ajax and the Liverpools of this world. Their academies are strong and produce some scintillating players. One example is the young 17yr old black Mexican player Giovanni Dos Santos. He's benefitted from Barca's youth team academy....so this thing isn't one dimensional at all.

Now going back to the digicel cup, the problem with this tournament is that it's not FIFA sanctioned like the Euro championships and the African Nation's Cup so you will never see a full strength team for either side as clubs are not obligated to release their players.

Just my 0.02 cents