Coach Bora did the right thing

[Karl]

Coach Bora did the right thing <DIV class=KonaBody vsvsd="true">




Bora

western bureau

It would appear that national technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic has made a few enemies by virtue of his recent decision to travel to Hong Kong with the national senior football team for the Lunar Cup instead of going to Mexico with the Under-20 team for their World Cup qualifying tournament.

According to his critics, the Under-20 tournament was of much greater significance to the overall development of national football and as a consequence, it should have taken priority over the Lunar Cup, which was essentially a series of friendly matches without any real significance.

While I agree that, based on his technical and tactical knowledge, coach Bora's presence in Mexico could have made a big difference, especially against the background that the players performed dismally and failed to qualify, I still believe he made the right decision in going to Hong Kong with the senior team.

primary responsibility

Unless I am mistaken, Bora's primary responsibility is to get our senior team qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It therefore means it would be bordering on lunacy if he had decided to accompany the 'juniors' to Mexico and pass up the opportunity to see the 'seniors' in Hong Kong.

While it might be true that the current Under-23 team is blessed with an abundance of talent, unless Bora has reasons to believe that the core of his World Cup squad will come from this unit, I see no good reason why he should be paying them any special attention.

As far as I am concerned, outside of possibly giving tips and other tactical guidance to the Unde-20 coach staff, I believe Bora's only other interest in the Under-20 unit should be to scrutinise them at regular intervals to see if there are any players good enough to be drafted into the senior unit.

Like those fans that see winning the Lunar Cup as a significant achievement, I believe it is a wonderful start to our 'Back to Africa' campaign. I am sure it will cause more people to begin to pay attention to the programme, which is important in getting a national momentum going.

only concern

At this time, my only concern is that our foreign-based players, who from all indications are likely to make up the nucleus of the national senior team for the 'Back to Africa' campaign, have not yet begun to figure in coach Bora's programme because of their professional engagements.

While it is good that our locally based players are benefiting from the programme at this time, I really would not have a quarrel with those fans who are somewhat concerned that a lot of time and effort is now being invested in players who seem to have no realistic chance of getting into a full-strength Reggae Boyz squad.

Instead of criticising Bora for going to Hong Kong, I would probably buy into the argument that he should be spending more time in England and the United States looking at our professionals so as to get an overall picture of the full complement of players he will have to work with once the qualifying campaign starts.

While I have no problem seeing opportunities being created for our locallly based players and our 'juniors', I believe we should not lose sight of the fact that once the campaign gets serious, the focus will have to switch to players such as Tyrone Marshall, Teofore Bennett, Shane Crawford, Ricardo Gardener, Jermaine Johnson, Ricardo Fuller and Kevin Lesbie - the overseas professional.</DIV>

[Karl]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Dibredda yah mek some damn good points why Bora wase in time pan di team dat guh a Hong Kong! Funny ting his, mi nuh tink a dat im did waan duh! :w00t:

Di bredda har-ti-cle seh - <P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">

1. …the Under-20 tournament was of much greater significance to the overall development of national football
2. …the Lunar Cup, which was essentially a series of friendly matches without any real significance.
3. …based on his technical and tactical knowledge, coach Bora's presence in Mexico could have made a big difference
4. Bora's primary responsibility is to get our senior team qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. (...and see #8)
5. I believe Bora's only other interest in the Under-20 unit should be to scrutinise them at regular intervals to see if there are any players good enough to be drafted into the senior unit.
6. …our foreign-based players, who from all indications are likely to make up the nucleus of the national senior team for the 'Back to Africa' campaign, have not yet begun to figure in coach Bora's programme because of their professional engagements.
7. …time and effort is now being invested in players who seem to have no realistic chance of getting into a full-strength Reggae Boyz squad.
8. I believe we should not lose sight of the fact that once the campaign gets serious, the focus will have to switch to players such as Tyrone Marshall, Teofore Bennett, Shane Crawford, Ricardo Gardener, Jermaine Johnson, Ricardo Fuller and Kevin Lesbie - the overseas professional. (kindly reference #4)</SPAN></SPAN><P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana"><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore">

</SPAN></SPAN><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o></SPAN>

[Bricktop]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Why should he be spending more time in the US and England? What good would that do? Does the writer believe that going and watching the overseas based guys play should take preference over building a local core of players? All Jamaicans should just shut the hell up and let Bora do what he came here to do. We don't know a damn thing. All we can do is make big speech and we are not able to back it up with actions.

[Rockman]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Perhaps Adrian's misconception is from seeing the TD as a coach.That is easier to explain that his dubbing anyone with opposing views a designated enemy of Bora.Bora's impressive record may suggest he is never around long enough to implement changes that are conducive of real sustainable growth/development, hence against logics the U20 team is neglected as one would expect a Pepsi U13 to be. This of course happening in a time top clubs have demonstrated their desire to grab players as young as possible. We still build a house from the bottom up..

Apparently these U20 players are too young for real consideration(at least according to Adrian)at some point they will be of age and not qualifying for the U20 will then be realized a disadvantage..but Bora will not be around by then, onlythe myopic, adulatingviews of a fewjournalists that insist on doing a disservice to their profession.

Blessed

[Bricktop]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Rockman (3/4/2007)

Apparently these U20 players are too young for real consideration

They are simply not good enough.

[Rockman]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Which is why Bora is needed and paid for.

Blessed

[Bricktop]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

I thought he was needed to qualify for South Africa? If we are serious about youth development we would have an academy up and running fully stocked with competent coaches. Bora is not God. He cannot change 10+ years of technical deficiency in a couple of months. A TD's job isn't to work directly with the youth teams his job is to work with the coaches that work with the youth teams.

[Karl]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Bricktop (3/4/2007)I thought he was needed to qualify for South Africa? If we are serious about youth development we would have an academy up and running fully stocked with competent coaches. Bora is not God. He cannot change 10+ years of technical deficiency in a couple of months. A TD's job isn't to work directly with the youth teams his job is to work with the coaches that work with the youth teams.

Firstly:A TD's job is what those who hire him tells him it is!

Secondly: If the JFF isserious about development,

a)it would be encouraging its affiliate clubs to invest in youth academies;

b) it would createsystems that would rapidly move coaches towards highest levels of competence;

c) provide all the back office support itsnational youth teams need. That support, among other things, would include providing regular quality international practise matches for the young charges and the senior teams;

d) it would treat our young men and young women in a manner consist with that practised by the top international teams and within its financial constraints.

Aside: Until the JFF's financial position is vastly improved the buildings at Potsdam (Munro) in St. Elizabethshall be nothing more than dorms and a place for trainingfor various football disciplines and teams.Certainly shall not be a youth academy...certainly not in the immediate future.

[Tilla]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Firstly:

A TD's job is what those who hire him tells him it is!

Karl, I think it is more likewhat the both parties agree to before that contract was signed. I am sure Bora taking the job was contingent on certain things. Bora must have realized that he cannot spread himself too thin, or he may fail at qualifying the senior Boyz for S.A. 2010. In that regards, he negotiated with the JFF admin to focus on certain level of the game.

When Simoes came, he had his full team of support staff where he could assign a Walter Gamma or Clovis or another on whose name is slipping me right now to the youth teams. It is different with Bora who was asked to work with local coaches for the first two years.

I am not saying I fully endorse the set up, but just making my point that it is not a situation that you just hire someone then tell them what to do.

[Karl]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Tilla (3/4/2007)

Firstly:

A TD's job is what those who hire him tells him it is!

Karl, I think it is more likewhat the both parties agree to before that contract was signed. I am sure Bora taking the job was contingent on certain things. Bora must have realized that he cannot spread himself too thin, or he may fail at qualifying the senior Boyz for S.A. 2010. In that regards, he negotiated with the JFF admin to focus on certain level of the game.

When Simoes came, he had his full team of support staff where he could assign a Walter Gamma or Clovis or another on whose name is slipping me right now to the youth teams. It is different with Bora who was asked to work with local coaches for the first two years.

I am not saying I fully endorse the set up, but just making my point that it is not a situation that you just hire someone then tell them what to do.

You are correct...and, yet you miss the very important element that in working for someone the idea of working with is always contingent on what the aims of the employer are.

Sure you can walk away (and suffer the consequences) but, it is the employer who always has the 'firing card' at hand.

You will always know that on directions, support funding, work environment, etc., etc., it is the employer at the controls.

The employer can make life difficult or more challenging than you expected when you took the job...or, the employer can smooth the way with back office support you only dreamed of.

It boils down to, who has control? Who really makes the final decision? Even the autonomy the employee may havedepends on the boundaries set by the employer. Sure there may have been negotiated boundaries...but, there is never a job/position that does not require the employer to control flexibility surrounding same. It must be the employee who constantly shows self as fitting within policy of the employer.As far as our football is concerned it must be the JFF that points 'the program' in the appropriate direction i.e. where our football goes.

In the new column on our site I reproduced from the Jamaica ObserverBoxhill's reported words on Bora's job . Thatlist of responsibilitiesincluded pointed words on duties where the 'junior teams' are concerned. If we use commonsense in looking towards benefits from the world exposure in the marketplace that qualifying for the FIFA World Championships at the U-17 and U-20 teams could bring...

...and, tie that with a need to revitalize our Senior teams to playing TEAM...

...improve quality and success rate...there cannot be any doubt of whata sensible runJFF would desire -

i.e. i) successes at those youth levels, ii) extra international exposure of our youth, iii)the financial rewards FIFA provides when the teamsadvance toFIFA's World Championships and, iv)financial rewards that would come from *carefully negotiated deals with private sector entities.

When compared to possible benefits qualifying at these youth levels would have for our football; Bora's fooling with a **nondescript team at a fourth rate tournament was just that fooling around and a waste.

It was asinine to not have Bora give his all to assist at the U-17 and U-20 levels.

*Aside:

We have repeatedly mentioned"the getting in the door"working at providing exposure for the sponsors as we play. Who would not see, a Grace Kennedy for example with its new thrust to enterEuropean markets and cement position in its current markets and expand/increase saturation reaping tremendous benefits from having its logos/productsshown ontelevision screens and photos inmedia outlets ...'plastered' in marketsGK is currently in and or attempting to penetrate.

Nonsense statement! - JFF president C

[Mosiah]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Did we hire a national senior coach or a TD? If it is the latter, then he better get to working for the entire program. Certainly, for the money they are paying him, it better be that he is indeed supposed to help out across the board as technical director for the entire national football program!

[Mosiah]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Commentary - Too much $ for a football coach
published: Sunday | October 15, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody vsvsd="true">


<B tCJG6="0" vLciZ="0">Tony Becca, Contributing Editor[/B] <P tCJG6="0" vLciZ="2">ACCORDING TO the news going the rounds, according to the page one headline of Friday's <B tCJG6="0" vLciZ="0">Gleaner[/B], the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Jamaica</SPAN> Football Federation (JFF) has settled on a technical director, or a coach, for its programme leading up to the 2010 <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">World </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Cup</SPAN> in South Africa and, in many respects, that is good news. <P tCJG6="0" vLciZ="0">It is good news for the simple reason that Jamaicans love <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">football</SPAN>, that the World Cup is one of the two biggest <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">sporting </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">events</SPAN> in the world, that although it is highly unlikely that Jamaica can win it in my lifetime, participation in the World Cup finals is a wonderful achievement - one which can make the name Jamaica echo around the world and that Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic is an outstanding coach. <P tCJG6="0" vLciZ="0">A Serbian by bir

[Karl]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

Mosiah (3/5/2007)Did we hire a national senior coach or a TD? If it is the latter, then he better get to working for the entire program. Certainly, for the money they are paying him, it better be that he is indeed supposed to help out across the board as technical director for the entire national football program!

Well according to the Boxhill quotes supplied by the JamaicaObserver, we hired a TD who shall also coach the national men's senior TEAM, the REGGAE BOYZ!

- work with coaches, oversee youth programs, coach the REGGAE BOYZ through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

[Mosiah]

RE: Coach Bora did the right thing

<DIV>So, we hired a TD for the entire program, yes?</DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV>If so, what's the debate about?! Let's not make any excuses for what happened.</DIV>