Hart transplant: TTFA hires ex-Canada coach… locals still unpaid.
By Lasana Liburd (wired868.com).The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) appears set to announce another new face on its technical staff on the eve of the July 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Wired868 understands that former Canada national football team coach Stephen Hart has accepted a two-year offer from TTFA president Raymond Tim Kee and should be in charge of the “Soca Warriors” in time for next month’s tournament.
Former 2006 World Cup coach Leo Beenhakker is still on the way but his position would be as a director of football. Wired868 tried unsuccessfully to contact Tim Kee and TTFA general secretary Sheldon Phillips for information on the new structure and responsibilities of the technical staff.
But David Muhammad, another new recruit, confirmed that Hart will join the staff.
“My understanding is that a press release should be sent out to give the details,” Muhammad told Wired868. “But, basically, Stephen Hart is head coach and Leo Beenhakker is director of football… Stephen Hart will run the bench and will have the final say on all team matters.
“Beenhakker will be there to lend his knowledge of the game and to offer guidance and advice.”
So, based on present information, Anton Corneal continues as technical director while Beenhakker comes in as director of football with Hart as head coach. New St Ann’s Rangers head coach Gilbert Bateau also joins the squad as a trainer. And, within the support staff, Muhammad is now head of the delegation for the Gold Cup with William Wallace and Peter Rampersad continuing as manager and assistant manager respectively.
And what is the fate of the coaches who booked Trinidad and Tobago’s place at the 2013 Gold Cup?
Co-head coach Hutson “Barber” Charles was formally invited to be interviewed by Beenhakker for an assistant coaching position while his fellow head coach Jamaal Shabazz and assistant Derek King were privately asked to do the same.
Shabazz initially agreed to work under Beenhakker, a former Real Madrid and Netherlands international coach, but refused the offer of an apprenticeship under the less celebrated, Trinidad-born Hart.
“What is the basis of our demotion?” asked Shabazz. “The fact that we have not scored a goal in six matches against opposition that coaches of higher pedigree have struggled to beat? I am getting a whiff of a North American solution to all of Trinidad and Tobago’s football programmes.
“Down the road, I’m predicting that North Americans will be coming in to deal with our women and youth teams too.”
Phillips, who was appointed as general secretary last month, resides in the United States and travels here intermittently to oversee important TTFA matters in person. It is uncertain whether he intends to relocate to Trinidad or if he hopes to conduct the business of local football through phone calls and Skype.
Hart, a former Texaco midfielder, left Trinidad for Canada in the 1980s where he attended St Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He lived there ever since and worked for the Canada football association in various capacities between 2004 and 2012, during which time he lost both competitive meetings with Trinidad and Tobago.
Hart led Canada’s under-17 team twice and its under-20 squad once but failed to qualify for a World Youth Championship. In 2007, the Trinidad and Tobago under-17 team, coached by Anton Corneal and assisted by Charles, defeated Hart’s youth team 2-1 en route to the 2007 World Youth Cup. And, two years later, Zoran Vranes was head coach with Charles as assistant as the young Warriors defeat Hart’s Canada team 1-0 to book a place at the 2009 Under-20 World Cup.
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