Being new to the board and being a lurker for several years I've noticed that many posters tend to forget that anton corneal is at the head of the selection of the team, with the blessings of jw. It is because of him, players like pacheco, noray, tinto, sancho, dwarika,theobald, jemmott, josh johnson and many others who are not in his biased list, can't see a national call up. Under Wim many players got a chance for the digicel, he may not have been a great coach in terms of giving the locals a fair assesment, or boosting their self esteem but he picked better teams locally and gave many locals a chance, under corneal, he picks players who he favours, which more than often is not based on skill or talent, but on who he likes personally.
We as supporters then blame maturana who is not even responsible for the selection of the team, nobody has asked the question as to whether maturana has ever attended a local pfl match or super league match, maybe I'm wrong but I have never read about it. He really doesn't need to because Corneal picks the team and knows what he wants, not what is best for T&T football.
conTroversIal, welcome to the board. that last line seem to sum it up. if corneal has become indispensable (like jack), then sadly the players have to follow suit. what setup you have in mind where players could be selected without "bias"?
change the assistant coach, its as simple as that, when wim was in charge, corneal had to take a back seat, only with regards to the blacklist of the foreign based, was the only time wim's selection power was diminished. Otherwise, it is clear that a neutral party who takes interest in the local game will see the best players, wim did this, thats why the players mentioned above got a chance, even the likes of errol mcfarlane was also given a shot at the forward position.
Im not saying wim was the ideal coach or instilled confidence in the local players but at least he picked the best available, we reached the digicel final with a weak backline and forward line, the midfield was the only plus, but now we can't even see those players on the national team, namely because corneal's power has been strengthened.
I remember lisana liburd, keith smith and many others highlighting the play of the midfield during the last digicel cup and theat if the blacklist were to end, with the best local based, we would have a very strong squad, up to now, i haven't seen the strongest side stand up, corneal has made them sit down or get out.