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61

Football / Wired868 Football Festival Thread.

« on: January 15, 2014, 08:54:39 PM »

Stern, Kelvin and Sherwood star in Sunday’s Wired868 gala
By Editor (Wired868)


Trinidad and Tobago’s record goal scorer Stern John, 2006 World Cup goalkeeper Kelvin Jack, 1991 World Youth Cup playmaker Anthony Sherwood and national senior women’s team players Ahkeela “Lady Latapy” Mollon and Maylee Attin-Johnson are among the new inclusions for the second Wired868 Football Festival, which kicks off at 5 pm on Sunday evening at the UWI Admin ground in St Augustine.

John, Jack and Sherwood will represent the Wired868 invitational squad against an Earl “Mango” Pierre XI in a friendly contest that is meant to not only be an exciting exhibition game but also to provide an opportunity for past players, coaches and administrators to get together and share their love for the game.

In the inaugural Football Festival on 9 January 2013, the Wired868 and Mango Pierre teams played to a 2-2 draw. Former “Strike Squad” standout and Portugal top flight star Leonson Lewis grabbed a double for Wired868 while the guests got goals from former national youth striker Marvin Joseph and midfielder Ricky Aleong.

Lewis was the first football festival MVP and received a weekend for two from Cascadia Hotel while 2006 World Cup player Brent Sancho got an Easi-Pharm hamper for the “Spirit of Wired868” gong.

Other returning players from the inaugural Wired868 squad includes Strike Squad captain Clayton Morris and his former teammates Hutson Charles, Anton Corneal and Dexter Skeene, England 1986 World Cup defender Terry Fenwick, 1991 World Youth Cup defender Roger Henry and past and present national youth and senior team players like Carlyle Mitchell, Chris Durity, Ron La Forest and Kevin Jeffrey.

Former Trinidad and Tobago midfield stand-out Kerwin Jemmott, New York/New Jersey MetrosStars attacker Darin Lewis and ex-national youth midfielder and agent Dion Sosa were among the Mango Pierre squad, which should be boosted by the inclusion of another former national youth striker, Joel Gibbons.

Football fans are invited to come and be a part of the event. Admission is free.

Football fans are invited to come and be a part of the event. Admission is free and burgers will be on sale from Matchstix Restaurant.

Wired868 XI: Kelvin Jack, Jamaal Shabazz, James Saunders; Tyrone Marcus, Terry Fenwick, Roger Henry, Cyd Gray, Clayton Morris, Chris Durity; Kevin Jeffrey, Jason Louis Julien, Marvin Gordon, Hutson Charles, Anthony Sherwood, Chris De Silva, Ahkeela Mollon, Walter Alibey; Stern John, Leonson Lewis, Maylee Attin-Johnson, Marlon Morris, Dexter Skeene.

62

Football / PM's response to murder rate leaves Police, D/Force sweating on Pro League fates

« on: January 09, 2014, 01:10:20 PM »

PM’s call to arms leaves Police, D/Force sweating over Pro League futures
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s response to Trinidad and Tobago’s crime problem might again spell chaos for the local Pro League competition as the Defence Force and Police football clubs admitted that they were waiting anxiously for news on their immediate futures.

Defence Force is the defending Pro League champion club and will represent Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean stage of the CONCACAF Club Championship tournament in just over a month’s time. While, on the field, Police FC is enjoying a surprise resurgence as the “Lawmen” are second in the nine-team table at present.

However, Persad-Bissessar’s knee-jerk reaction to 22 murders in the first eight days of 2014 could mean the servicemen are forced to postpone football duties.

“We trained as normal this morning and no one has told us anything yet,” said Defence Force assistant coach Marvin Gordon. “But I heard they stopped basketball already...

“We have registered and everything for CONCACAF already and we are going about things as normal for now until the management calls us and says otherwise.”

Police coach Richard Hood, a sergeant in the Guard and Emergency Branch, has heard the rumours too that policemen might be banned from all “extra-curricular activities” and is waiting anxiously on confirmation.

“I heard the talk this morning but nobody has told me anything (from inside the Police Service),” said Hood. “So, we just have to wait.”

The Pro League might balk at being considered a recreational tournament for anyone; but it has suffered from the People’s Partnership wrangle with crime before.

Two years ago, a State of Emergency meant the immediate withdrawal of the Defence Force and Police teams for almost three months and wreaked havoc with the Pro League fixtures. Defence Force was the defending champion then too but eventually finished well behind DIRECTV W Connection in the standings.

Ironically, just two Police players were members of the Service last year. But there has been a significant increase in recruitment since then and the “Lawmen” have benefited on the field.

“Only about six or seven players are not in the force right now,” said Hood, who played during Police’s glory era in the late-1980s and early-1990s. “It has helped us tremendously because we are now able to train with consistency and the players can attend sessions all the time, whereas when they were civilians they had to go hustle to make a dollar.

“Now one of their duties is to play football and that has made our job in administration much easier.”

The new Police recruits could soon have a more sober calling as Persad-Bissessar attempts to make a statement to the electorate.

At present, Police is scheduled to face leaders W Connection from 6 pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Friday 10 January. Utility player Clevon McFee has returned to Hood’s ranks after a brief stint with St Ann’s Rangers and he is joined by former Rangers teammate Kurdell Braithwaite.

McFee and  Braithwaite, like teammates Jason Lewis, Christon Thomas, Jabari Williams and Adrian Foncette, are not policemen but  could find themselves looking on at the Pro League from the sidelines if the Police squad is withdrawn.

The Defence Force team, which is on a bye at present, is further hit by the possibility of missing out on CONCACAF competition, which is a privilege enjoyed only by the top two League finishers each season. However, the “Teteron Boys” have been more closely hit than most by the recent bloodletting after footballer and Lance Corporal Rawle Fletcher was murdered outside a Couva bar on Sunday 22 December 2013.

“He was a real instrumental part of the team for the last few years,” said Gordon, in a previous interview. “He was in my batch too and we were really close, so it real hit me hard.”

The Government is committed to doing whatever it deems necessary to halt violent crime. The Pro League will hope the withdrawal of the country’s uniformed footballers would be unnecessary to that plan

63

Football / Central calamity as Jabloteh spoil Guerra’s homecoming

« on: January 05, 2014, 11:40:30 PM »

Central calamity as Jabloteh spoil Guerra’s homecoming
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Central FC managing director Brent Sancho declared last week that the recruitment of “Soca Warrior” Ataullah Guerra was a key step to challenging for a top two Pro League finish and a place in next year’s Caribbean Club Championship.
It can still happen, of course. But yesterday’s 1-1 draw with San Juan Jabloteh at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain provided another reason why the “Couva Sharks” should not get ahead of themselves.
A win would have propelled Central to second. Instead, the Sharks stayed sixth in the nine team table.
As Shaquille Bertrand pulled Jabloteh level from the penalty spot, two minutes into stoppage time, Central coach Terry Fenwick booted a water bottle halfway down the touchline. If only the Englishman could still count on such a reaction from his squad.
In Central’s last seven games against Pro League opposition in league and cup action, the Sharks have managed just one win; and that came against table proppers, St Ann’s Rangers. Even then, Central needed a 88th minute winner from Jason Marcano to see off a Rangers team stuffed with teenagers and which managed just three points from its previous six games.
To be kind, it is not championship form. And, arguably, it could not have come against a worse opponent.
The lion’s share of Jabloteh’s silverware was won while Fenwick was head coach. But the relationship between the two parties soured drastically after title sponsor CL Financial went belly up and, at present, Fenwick only communicates with his former club through lawyers as they battle over unpaid salaries.
Six of the Central squad yesterday once played with Fenwick at Jabloteh. It would be unfair to say they were not bothered but the Sharks certainly found their Jabloteh opponents to be much more difficult to nail than a motionless bottle.
In fact, Jabloteh should have scored first after just 15 minutes. A swift counter attack and measured pass from Jabloteh midfielder Dwayne James released Jevon Morris in the opposing area but Morris failed to hit the target with only Central custodian Jan-Michael Williams for company.
Read more: http://wired868.com/2014/01/06/central-calamity-as-jabloteh-spoils-guerras-homecoming/

64

Football / Slipshod Stars edge Rangers to go third

« on: January 04, 2014, 05:40:51 PM »

Slipshod Stars edge Rangers to go third
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

If ever there was a game to recapture the imagination of Arima’s football fans, this was not it.
At the final whistle, North East Stars had jumped three places from sixth to third spot in the 2013/14 Digicel Pro League standings but the unconvincing manner of its 1-0 win over an undermanned St Ann’s Rangers team did not offer much confidence.
Rangers are bottom of the table at present and one certain way for the club to stay there is to release its best players. Conrod Smith, who was a CONCACAF Champions League player with Caledonia AIA just a year ago, has left the St Ann’s team along with team captain Clevon McFee and defender Dwayne James while former playmaker Keron Cummings lined up with Stars today.
Former World Youth Cup attacker Qian Grosvenor has left for Europe on trial while Jemel Berot, Kadeem Corbin and Ebunoluwa Simeon are injured and Jumol Harewood has only just returned from abroad and while restart training next week.
In their absences, Rangers coach Gilbert Bateau had just 10 outfield players and two goalkeepers available yesterday who, combined, had an average of just 20.
It looked to be a suicide mission. But Stars are not in great shape either at present.
Coach Angus Eve has already let attacker Anthony Wolfe move to India in mid-season while defender Kareem Moses is set to move to Edmonton FC on a one-year deal that gives the A’ League club an option to extend until 2016. Otherwise talented young wingers, Micah Lewis and Marcus Gomez, have both abandoned the club while Kevon Villaroel and Elijah Manners are injured.
In their places, Eve welcomed Chike Sullivan, a former World Youth Cup midfielder who spent the last four years in the US collegiate set-up, Cummings, a talented journeyman midfielder with a string of disciplinary misdemeanours, and towering striker Lemuel Lyons, who is on his third club in six months and was mostly restricted to substitute appearances at San Juan Jabloteh.
Read more: http://wired868.com/2014/01/04/slipshod-stars-edge-rangers-to-go-third/

65

Football / Mixed blessings: TTFA senior coaches paid; youth coaches deflated

« on: December 30, 2013, 07:08:28 AM »

Mixed blessings: TTFA senior coaches paid; youth coaches deflated
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

There were mixed blessings for Trinidad and Tobago’s national coaching community over the Christmas season as the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) raised enough money to cover roughly half of its arrears for the senior coaches but none for staff from the youth and women’s teams.

The Ministry of Sport and the SPORTT Company of Trinidad and Tobago were the only sponsors.

TTFA general secretary Sheldon Phillips confirmed to Wired868 that the football body had received $750,000 from the Government, which was used to cover outstanding salaries. Phillips also said that former national head coach Jamaal Shabazz has now been paid off.

“We have been able to start giving cheques out for the pre-Stephen Hart era,” Phillips told Wired868. “Jamaal has been taken care of and the coaches on the present staff have received some payment as well… We will take care of the others in due time including the women’s teams and youth coaches.

“We still have a ways to go (but) we have been chipping away.”

The payments were met with some relief by members of the senior staff.

“They gave us about half the money they have for us,” said one staff member, who preferred to remain anonymous. “We’re not fully happy but at least they are trying. We are at least seeing some things being put in place especially from the Government standpoint.”

The goodwill has not trickled down to the national youth teams yet and national under-17 manager Christo Gouveia admitted that the non-payment of stipends was affecting staff. National youth team technical staff members were promised between $4,000 and $6,000 per month.

“The morale of the staff is very low,” Gouveia told Wired868. “The president (Raymond Tim Kee) and general secretary tried to explain that they don’t have any sponsorship (deals) and they are not getting all the money from the Government.

“They say they are doing stuff to see if they can access funds to pay the staff but you cannot take that to the bank or the grocery. When you have a staff that hasn’t been paid for a year, it is very challenging.”

Whereas the senior team technical staff generally gets together four days before an international game and can be virtually dormant for as long as three months, the youth team trains much more regularly and for as often as four days a week for three and a half hours each in a bid to ensure that the teenage players continue their development.

Gouveia implored the public not to take their sacrifice for granted.

“Some guys are under tremendous pressure from their spouses and whoever to give up because it is a tremendous sacrifice they are making for no money,” he said. “You have to consider the gas money, the time away from family and family activities to be with the team.

“It is not a salary you can live off of and, yes, people do it for love of country. But after a while it becomes abusive when someone is working for a year and spending so much money on gas and so on and, at the end of the day, he receives nothing for it.”

TTFA technical director Anton Corneal was similarly hurt by the present situation. Corneal started his job in January 2012 under the understanding that his salary would be split equally between the Government and the football body.

The Government is over a year behind in its payments to Corneal while, in almost two years, the TTFA has never made a single payment to its technical director. He preferred to focus on the burden being placed on his fellow coaches, though.

“I think this is taking the wind out of the coaches,” said Corneal. “It is difficult to stay motivated when coaches have not been paid for so long. It affects the dynamism that the coach should have and it taints the image of being a national coach.

“Yes, we don’t do it for the money alone but every coach has to face the grocery and the bank at the end of the month… I can only hope that things will be put in place very soon because our priorities should be the development of the game from grassroots and youth football come up.”

Phillips said he is aware of the issues and insisted that the present TTFA administration is working as hard as it could to address the coaches’ concerns.

“As we get funding, we will put that towards taking care of the arrears of the youth and women’s team coaches,” said Phillips. “If we could take care of it in one action we will certainly do that. We appreciate their continued commitment and we continue to tell them that we are doing everything we can to address those arrears that have built over time.”

Phillips claimed that the TTFA has had some “hiccups” in resuming commercial deals with entities like the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) and other private sector companies.

However, he said that the football body identified several avenues to raise funds, which includes pressing its regional associations and affiliate bodies to pay their financial dues, collecting entry fees for tournaments like the FA Trophy, promoting the sale of TTFA merchandise, charging coaches to attend in-house coaching courses and throwing fetes.

“The Pro League has acknowledged dues of about $400,000,” said Phillips. “And we are going to readjust the dues that are being asked for in the next extraordinary congress since I have never been able to get a straight answer about what those dues are…

“Even things like fetes. There is no reason why the TTFA should not be able to run a fete for various parts of the year, particularly when a team is getting ready to participate in a tournament.

“Obviously it will take us some time to get where we have to be (financially) but, in the meantime, we are working with SPORTT and the Ministry to address the problems that we met as best as we possibly can.”

66

Football / Central edges plucky Rangers; Caledonia holds Connection

« on: December 22, 2013, 06:34:04 PM »

Central edges plucky Rangers; Caledonia holds Connection
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

DIRECTV W Connection dropped its first Pro League points of the season last night after being held goalless by Caledonia AIA at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
Connection midfielders Jomal Williams and Silvio Spann both had shots rebound off the crossbar although Caledonia gave a good account of itself in a barren but entertaining clash at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Earlier at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, St Ann’s Rangers gave Central FC a major fright but could not hold on as Central recovered from a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 in an exciting clash, which was further spiced up by some questionable officiating.
Central’s triumph meant the “Couva Sharks” were the biggest movers of this round as they climbed from seventh to fourth spot while Rangers remained rooted at the bottom of the nine-team table.
At the summit, Connection has held pole position since its opening fixture on September 14 when the “Savonetta Boys” mauled Rangers 7-0 in Port of Spain. But Caledonia, who lost Guyanese defender Jamal Smith following an aerial collision after just 12 minutes, was nowhere near as pliant.
The only threatening moment of the first half came in the 21st minute as Williams stepped inside from the left flank and curled an effort off the bar following a typically brisk Connection counter. But there was much to enjoy about the exchanges as both teams mixed crisp, attacking ball movement with resolute defending.
Connection right back Joao Ananias had the best chance of the match after being sent clear by Joevin Jones, midway through the second half, but his shot was too close to Caledonia’s Grenadian custodian Shemel Louison.
Two minutes later, Louison tipped a viciously curling Spann corner kick off his own bar while he also went full stretch to keep out a late 22-yard Jones free kick as Caledonia held on for a point.

Read more...

67

Football / Cleon shines as Stars hold off Jabloteh; Police cruise past youthful Rangers

« on: December 06, 2013, 09:18:24 PM »

Cleon holds off Jabloteh; Police FC cruises past Rangers
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

A remarkable second half performance from Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Cleon John saved the day for a depleted North East Stars team tonight as a late Kennedy Hinkson winner helped the Sangre Grande-based outfit escape with a 1-0 win over San Juan Jabloteh at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.
The result saw Stars jump from fifth to second place in the Digicel Pro League although Point Fortin Civic or Central FC can overtake them with wins tomorrow.
Point Fortin hosts Defence Force from 3.30 pm tomorrow at Mahaica Oval while Central faces League leader DIRECTV W Connection from 5 pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva. Fourth place Caledonia AIA is on a bye for this round.
Police FC enjoyed today’s work as well as the “Lawmen” cruised into third spot with a comfortable 2-0 win over a fresh faced St Ann’s Rangers team at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The average age of the Rangers starting team this evening was just 21-years-old and it comprised of three teenagers including 16-year-old schoolboys Jair Edwards (Fatima College) and Josh Toussaint (Diego Martin North Secondary). By the final whistle, coach Gilbert Bateau had six teenagers on the field.
“Our intention is to go with youth this year,” Rangers chairman Richard Fakoory told Wired868. “These are some of the players who won the national under-17 league with me last year.
“We might get beat this year but next year will be better.”
The Lawmen certainly did mind as they made light work of Rangers.
Joel Lewis skilfully rounded Rangers custodian to open the scoring in the 28th minute after an assist from Police captain Todd Ryan. And defender Karlon Murray doubled his team’s advantage, seven minutes later, as he fired into the far corner after a low Christon Thomas cross.
Police winger Akiba Peters struck the bar twice in the second half without adding to the score summary as the Lawmen, who have played at least one more game than the League’s other eight clubs, ended with a similar 10-point tally as Stars but behind on goal difference.
Stars coach Angus Eve must have settled for a solitary point tonight. Somehow, he got all three.
Both Pro League games today started with a minute’s silence in tribute to the iconic former South Africa president and Nobel peace prize winner Nelson Mandela who passed away yesterday.
One reporter cheekily pointed out that the Pro League had given Mandela much more than two minutes of courtesy. There were barely two dozen spectators in the Hasely Crawford Stadium and, arguably, there were 180 minutes of silence today.
Read more: http://wired868.com/2013/12/06/cleon-holds-off-jabloteh-police-fc-cruises-past-rangers/

68

Football / Joevin Jones set for Italy trial with Udinese

« on: December 01, 2013, 07:34:54 PM »

Buona fortuna, Joevin: Connection starlet off for Udinese trials
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Twenty-two year old DIRECTV W Connection starlet and “Soca Warrior” utility player Joevin Jones should leave for Italy by next weekend and a 12-day trial with mid-table Serie A team, Udinese Calcio.

Jones, who helped Connection to secure the 2013 Toyota Classic crown with a 2-0 win over Club Sando last night, is his club’s highest scorer this season with five goals in all competitions while he has been a fixture in the Trinidad and Tobago national senior team for the past three years.

Connection owner David John Williams hopes Jones’ fine form helps earn him a move to a team that has employed unique talents like retired Brazil legend Zico, Chile and Barcelona winger Alexis Sanchez and present Udinese captain and Italy international Antonio Di Natale.

“Joevin has to be there by the 10th of December,” Williams told Wired868. “The Italian season breaks on the 22nd (of December) and restarts on the 6th of January. Hopefully he can impress and be asked to return (after the winter break).”

If Jones is successful, he will become the second Trinidad and Tobago player to sign for a Serie A club. His Connection teammate Silvio Spann signed for Perugia as a 20-year-old in 2001 but never played in the top flight and his only outings in Italy came while on loan at Serie C team, Sambenedettese.

In 2001, Spann had failed to force his way into the national under-20 team and it was another two years before he made his first start for the international senior team. In contrast, Jones, the son of former “Strike Squad” defender Kelvin Jones, already has 33 full international caps and has played in a CONCACAF Gold Cup and two CONCACAF Champions League tournaments.

Williams claimed Connection has had talks with several interested European clubs about Jones including present England Championship leader, Leicester City, big spending French champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Spanish outfit Real Betis. However, Udinese made the first move.

“Leicester wanted to bring him over but they were concerned about the work permit situation as Trinidad and Tobago is still ranked outside the top 70 nations,” said Williams. “But Udinese was first to offer him a trial…

“It is a massive, massive opportunity for the boy. Obviously he is talented; the biggest challenge for him is dealing with the cold.”

Jones’ brilliant solo effort and two clever assists against Guaya United in the Classic semi-final underlined his status as the Pro League’s most entertaining player at present and Williams waited until after the final whistle, last night, to tell him the good news.

“I didn’t tell Joevin until after the (Classic final),” said Williams, “and he made a promise to give it his best shot. There was a joke in the dressing room that just now we will not have a team.

“If Joevin goes in the next transfer window, we will definitely have to bring in some new faces.”

At present, Connection is six points clear atop the Pro League team with a game in hand and a maximum 15 points from five outings.

Technically, Jones will be available when the “Savonetta Boys” play away to Guaya United in the TTFA FA Trophy on Wednesday December 4 and then face Central FC in League action on Saturday December 7.

Connection coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier suggested that he would consider using Jones against Guaya but, at the moment, is still undecided. Fevrier revealed that he does not intend to scrap Connection’s present formation, which was tailor-made for Jones and features the Italy-bound Warrior as a roving playmaker ahead of two holding midfielders and behind a mobile front three.

“We will not change the system,” said Fevrier. “We have Bebo (Jomal Williams), Yefer (Lozano) and (Yhon) Lopez. Any one of those three can function in that role.”

Connection may have already lost three other players to Vietnam for the remainder of the season. Trinidad and Tobago international defender Daneil Cyrus moved on loan to Hanoi T&T last month while former national youth team strikers Jerrel Britto and Jamal Clarence hope to complete moves to Song Lam Nghe.

However, another starlet, 21-year-old Shahdon Winchester, has returned from his loan stint with Finland Premier League team, FF Jaro, and will be back in Connection gear when the transfer window opens on December 23.

“We have eight League games in January and four in February, so the League will be won and lost then,” said Williams. “Shahdon will be joining us at a key time and he has already been training every day. We are just waiting for the window to open.”

69

Football / Ode to Chris Birchall and Carlos Edwards: The runaways who became Warriors

« on: November 19, 2013, 01:17:22 AM »

Ode to Chris and Carlos: The runaways who became Warriors
by Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

What would you gamble for love? What would you risk for your dream?

As Chris Birchall and Carlos Edwards put on red, white and black gear and face the Trinidad and Tobago football public tonight, perhaps for the last time, their minds might run on what it took to get them there.

Today, as they join the “Soca Warriors” for international friendly battle against Jamaica at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, they are remembered as 2006 World Cup heroes.

But, a decade or two ago, some only saw two silly, irresponsible boys who were throwing their futures away as they chased a pipe dream.

At 15-years-old, Edwards’ father, Carlton, reunited with his wife and made a dramatic return into the life of the young St Anthony’s College student. But Carlton was immediately on a collision course with his son.

As a Seven Day’s Adventist, Carlton was adamant that Saturday be respected as the Sabbath. And it meant Edwards would miss about half the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) season. The school coach, Nigel Grosvenor, pleaded with his dad to be lenient but it made no difference.

“I wanted to play football so bad,” Edwards told Wired868. “I was just so passionate about it. I couldn’t give it up.”

Edwards made up his mind to sneak out on one Saturday; punishment be damned.

He waited until his father left home. He had a half hour to get from Patna Village to Westmoorings in time for kick off. But the thrill of his escape soon turned into frustration and then despair.

Edwards’ dad had taken his boots. He was never going to be a footballer, he thought, if his father had any say in the matter.

Birchall was older when he reached his crossroad.

He was 22-years-old and was enjoying his break-out season as a professional footballer with Port Vale when lanky Wrexham defender Dennis Lawrence strode and asked him if he had any Trinidad blood in him.

In the blink of an eye, Birchall was on a plane to Trinidad, travelling to exotic destinations like Mexico City and training alongside former Manchester United superstar Dwight Yorke.

“My first week with the national team was also (coach Leo) Beenhakker’s first week,” said Birchall. “So everyone was just focused on pleasing him and didn’t pay that much attention (to me). It made it a level playing field for me.”

Back at Port Vale, not everyone was as supportive. The League One division does not take international breaks and Birchall’s commitments with Trinidad and Tobago meant he was missing some club fixtures.

Some of the older Vale players did not hide their displeasure at Birchall supposedly jetting off on Caribbean holidays while they were stuck at work.

“Why are you going over there f$^*ing about and missing games when Port Vale are paying your wages?” asked one teammate, as he confronted the young man. “You’re never gonna play in any World Cup!”

So, what would you do if your head and heart were not on speaking terms?

Edwards found an aunt who would take him and he left home to play football. He was 17-years-old and there was no professional league in Trinidad and Tobago at the time.

St Anthony’s allowed him to repeat Form Five and, within months, he was a Trinidad and Tobago National Intercol schoolboy champion.

A year later, Edwards enlisted in the army so as to earn a steady income while continuing to play the game. And, after two seasons, he was on a plane to Britain where he joined lower league Welsh team, Wrexham.

He made over 150 appearances for Wrexham and was a League One all-star before he moved on to Luton Town and then, after the 2006 World Cup, Sunderland and the England Premier League.

Edwards’ remarkable poise and balance earned him the nickname “Rolls Royce” at Sunderland while he was a club favourite everywhere he went. Steve Bruce did not fancy him when he took over the “Black Cats” and, in 2009, Edwards headed for Ipswich where he remains today in the Championship.

“My dream is to be a success with Ipswich before I leave,” said Edwards. “And success for me is getting back in the Premiership.”

Through the highs and lows of his professional career, Edwards’ emotional anchor has always been the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, which he represented for all of his 14 years as a pro.

Even though he accepted the offer of a tribute match by national coach Stephen Hart, Edwards is adamant that he is not quitting the “Soca Warriors” team. And, as Carlton Edwards can testify, Edwards does not give up easily.

“I want to play for as long as I could,” said the 35-year-old Edwards. “I still think I have something to offer.”

Birchall will not wear national colours again, though. He is six years younger than Edwards but, as he discussed his multiple clubs, the TTFF blacklist and the stream of coaches he played for, the England-born player sounded even older.

He now wants to preserve the professional career that he was once in danger of losing. And he wants to spend as much of his free time as possible with his young family.

His Warrior adventure is over; but what a ride it was.

Birchall was the second of two boys born to Phillip and Jennifer Birchall.

The whole family would play football together at the park on weekends. Jenny would act as goalkeeper and Birchall and his older brother, Simon, would try to score off wall passes from their dad.

Birchall was always aware of his Trinbagonian heritage.

“Mom was always on about Trinidad and telling us stories about when she was growing up,” said Birchall, with a laugh.

At about 14, as Manchester United splashed out a club record fee to sign Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa, Birchall told his teammates in the Vale youth set-up that he would play for Trinidad and Tobago one day.

“They all had a laugh and took the mick,” said Birchall.

Perhaps he was half-joking too.

But after Lawrence introduced himself and the TTFF liaison officer and football agent Mike Berry followed up with a phone call, it took only a brief chat with his parents before Birchall agreed to represent the Warriors.

“My main fear was that the players and the fans wouldn’t accept me,” said Birchall. “But they did. Everyone has always been so supportive of me.”

His life changed quickly after his international debut. Within six months, Birchall scored a stunning volley against Bahrain to salvage a 1-1 draw in the FIFA Play Off and, days later, a Lawrence header meant the Warriors had earned a historic place at the 2006 Germany World Cup.

“It was nice to show that back at all the people (at Vale) who were critical of me playing for Trinidad and Tobago,” he admitted. “People always assume that my best moment was stepping out in the World Cup to play England; but it wasn’t.

“For me it was those games in the qualifiers when we looked like we were down and out but then Latas did a couple of step-overs and bent it in the goal (against Guatemala) or Stern (John) scored those two brilliant goals against Mexico…”

After the World Cup, Birchall moved up a division to join Championship club Coventry City on vastly improved wages. And he and his friend Andy Wilkinson, who plays for Premiership club Stoke City, opened a night club named Zenn after his favourite spot in Port of Spain.

But Zenn never made a cent and cost Birchall most of his savings while, within months, Coventry coach Micky Adams was sacked and he found himself playing in the club’s reserves. The infamous bonus dispute with the TTFF also put him on opposite sides with Lawrence and Edwards and he was banned from representing his country for over a year.

In the six years following the World Cup, Birchall represented Coventry, St Mirren, Carlisle United and Brighton and Hove Albion as well as LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew in the United States before he finally returned to Vale in 2012.

Birchall might have regrets; but he would not give up a second of his bizarre journey.

“I know that playing for Trinidad and Tobago helped me to get some moves that I might not have gotten otherwise,” he said. “Even when I moved to the States, the Galaxy coach was Bruce Arena who had seen me play while he was in charge of the US and I was playing for Trinidad.

“I am really grateful for everything Trinidad and Tobago has done for me and it is really nice to get the chance to say goodbye.”

For Edwards, it will be ‘hello again’ to the Hasely Crawford Stadium. Both men think it will be an emotional outing.

“It always meant everything for me to wear the national shirt,” said Edwards.

Birchall’s adventure with the two-island republic is not easily translated on the other side of the North Atlantic Ocean.

“My friends asked me why they call me ‘me mum’ in Trinidad,” he said, with a laugh. “I tried to explain but they didn’t get it. Conversations about things like that last about ten seconds…

“My mom used to tell me that they called her ‘little white girl’ and I only understood when I came here. People don’t mean anything by it. It is just the easiest, quickest way of identifying you; but not everyone understands (in England).”

On 19 November 2013, Soca Warrior fans showed how much they love, understand and appreciate two of Trinidad and Tobago’s most humble football servants and wonderful team men of their generation; Carlos Edwards and Chris Birchall.

70

Football / Joevin double sinks Civic; Police batters Central Sharks

« on: October 26, 2013, 03:05:26 PM »

Connection strangles Point Fortin; Police executes Central raid
by Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

DIRECTV W Connection FC chairman David John Williams has three targets this season.

“Win the league, win the league, win the league,” Williams told Wired868.

Last night, the “Savonetta Boys” showed how seriously they are taking their  title hunt with a clinical and classy 2-0 Digicel Pro League win over Point Fortin Civic in a top of the table clash at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.

Connection and Civic, after a generation of swapping players and coaches, have a simmering sibling rivalry; but Joevin Jones’ brilliant double made it clear who the big brother is between this pair.

Earlier at the same venue, Police FC turned up with the recipe for “Couva Sharks” as the Lawmen led Central FC by four goals at one point before a late Dwight Quintero strike offered the faintest consolation in a 4-1 battering.

English coach Terry Fenwick does not usually play the victim’s role. But that was the kind of whipping that usually comes with an advisory from the British High Commission warning potential tourists to be on their guard.

By halftime, Police was already out of sight thanks to an Elijah Belgrave double and a solitary Joel Lewis item while the Central backline just looked invisible. And the Lawmen got their fourth in the 68th minute as Christon Thomas motored down the right flank and crossed for Akiba Peters to knock home.

To put that score into perspective, Police had scored one item or less in four of its five outings before last night; and the Sharks had kept three clean sheets from its previous six games and had conceded just one League goal.

One would expect that the Central dressing room would be no place for the fainthearted for the next week or so.

There were not as many goals in the second game of yesterday’s double header but, in some ways, it was just as emphatic.

Just over 1,000 spectators came out to see the “Clash of the Titans”; but, instead, they found themselves watching “JJ and friends.”

Jones, Connection’s scrawny little bully, put his recent internal problems well and truly behind him as the minor league scamp made a major contribution when it mattered.

The only blot yesterday was that Trinidad and Tobago national senior team coach Stephen Hart, presumably spending some time with his family, was not there to see it.

Jones is unquestionably the best left back in the country. But he does not play that role for his club and the debate about where he should feature for the “Soca Wariors” is a topic that has divided the local fans who follow the Pro League from those that do not.

Try telling anyone who was at the Ato Boldon Stadium last night that Hart should not station Jones higher up the field.

And yet, in truth, Connection’s best work against Civic did not involve Jones.

Coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier would probably have been happiest with his team’s defensive effort yesterday and there was no sign of the Connection team that was picked apart at will in its opening CONCACAF Champions League games, two months ago.

“It normally takes us until about six games into the season to get our rhythm,” said Williams. “If we were in the Champions League now, I think the results would be very different.”

Intriguingly, Brazilian right back Joao Ananais was the only South American player in the Connection first team yesterday. And the best player in many respects was combative midfielder Gerard Williams, a St Kitts and Nevis international, who wore the captain’s armband and stomped around barking orders and stopping opponents in their tracks like the Caribbean’s answer to Roy Keane.

Point Fortin attacker Andre Toussaint, one of seven former Connection players in the Civic starting team, came in disguise after a trip to the barber left him without his trademark dreadlocks. But Williams and company still would not let him pass while the likes of Andrei Pacheco, Marcus Joseph and Sylvester Teesdale could not even force a meaningful save from Connection custodian Jelani Archibald over the 90 minutes.

Jones was really just the cherry on top. And yet, with a swing of each boot, the gifted 22-year-old utility player eclipsed all the work of the other 27 players used yesterday.

At kick off, local reporters discussed the fact that Williams and not Jones had the Connection armband. The club chairman explained after that the captaincy would be rotated this season until one of five potential leaders emerges from the group.

By the fifth minute, Jones had made the leadership debate a non-issue with a silky move.

Jerrel Britto played a low pass inside from the left flank towards Jones and he shaped as if to shoot first time with his left boot. Civic defender Weslie John tensed up in expectation of an attempt; only for Jones to allow the ball to run across his body instead.

Then, with pinpoint precision, Jones swung his right boot to usher the ball into the far corner to the right of Civic custodian Marvin Phillip. It was his only touch of the move.

Phillip had controversially missed Civic’s 3-0 defeat to Central in midweek due, allegedly, to his own appearance in a minor league game; although neither club nor player has spoken publicly on the matter.

The Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper did justify his recall in the 65th minute with a superb save to keep out a Britto cannon, which seemed destined for the top right hand corner.

Jones was nowhere to be found at that point. The Connection maestro has a tendency to go missing for long periods; where he seems to be hovering around the field aimlessly, as though looking for a key that is in his pocket the whole time.

And, just when you find yourself thinking that maybe he is a luxury item in the midfield after all, Jones reappears with devastating effect.

Connection attacker Hashim Arcia cut the ball back towards him, just inside the Civic penalty area, and Jones again needed only a quick shuffle of his feet and one decisive touch. He checked his run and, bang, the ball flew into the roof of the net; and it was game over.

“Without question, Jones is the best midfielder in the country,” cooed Williams.

The love seems to be flowing again within the Connection camp. And it is bad news for their rivals as the Savonetta Boys moved six points clear of second placed Civic.

(Teams)

W Connection (4-2-1-3): 18.Jelani Archibald (GK); 24.Joao Ananias, 4.Daneil Cyrus, 15.Mekeil Williams, 2.Kurt Frederick; 3.Gerrard Williams (captain), 40.Jomal Williams (11.Tremain Paul 61), 10.Joevin Jones; 14.Hashim Arcia, 31.Jerrel Britto (13.Devaughn Elliot 67), 65.Neil Benjamin Jr (27.Yefer Lozano 71).

Unused substitutes: 22.Aquelius Sylvester (GK), 17.Jamal Clarence, 19.Joel Russell, 39.Alvin Jones.

Coach: Stuart Charles-Fevrier

Point Fortin Civic (4-2-3-1): 1.Marvin Phillip (GK); 2.Garyl Doldron, 5.Andre Ettienne, 4.Weslie John, 13.Ancil Wells; 6.Kelvin Modeste (captain), 7.Nickcolson Thomas (21.Andre Alexis 76); 20.Sylvester Teesdale (9.Matthew Bartholomew 68), 19.Andrei Pacheco (14.Bevon Bass 63), 10.Marcus Joseph; 11.Andre Toussaint.

Unused substitutes: 26.Miguel Payne (GK), 29.Kevin Rouse, 18.Akeem Redhead, 23.Kelvin Hernandez.

Coach: Reynold Carrington

Referee: Neal Brizan

Pro League Results
(Fri Oct 25)

Police FC 4 (Elijah Belgrave 16, 36, Joel Lewis 22, Akiba Peters 68), Central FC 1 (Dwight Quintero 87) at Ato Boldon Stadium;

W Connection 1 (Joevin Jones 5, 72), Point Fortin Civic 0 at Ato Boldon Stadium;

Today’s Fixtures
(Sat Oct 26)

Defence Force vs St Ann’s Rangers, 5 pm, Marvin Lee Stadium;

Caledonia AIA vs San Juan Jabloteh, 7 pm, Marvin Lee Stadium.

71

Football / P/Fortin drops Marvin Phillip and hammered by Central in P/League round-up

« on: October 23, 2013, 12:24:32 PM »

Central’s Civic lesson; Connection stays perfect
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Trinidad and Tobago national team custodian Marvin Phillip was mysteriously demoted last night by his employer, Point Fortin Civic, and Central FC took full advantage as a Rundell Winchester hattrick helped the “Couva Sharks” to a 3-0 win at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

The result ended Point Fortin’s 100 percent record in the Digicel Pro League competition and was the first regulation time defeat suffered by the deep-south team in all competitions this season.

Earlier in Couva, DIRECTV W Connection coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier enjoyed another perfect outing as the “Savonetta Boys” defeated bogey team, North East Stars, 2-0 to remain the only top flight team with maximum points this term.

There was relief for defending champion club, Defence Force, in Port of Spain as the army/coast guard combination got its first win of the season with a 3-2 triumph over the struggling Caledonia AIA.

2013 Gold Cup player Jamal Gay and ex-Caledonia striker Devorn Jorsling traded doubles for Caledonia and the “Teteron Boys” respectively before Defence Force coach Ross Russell’s son, Ross Russell Jr, got the winner in the 87th minute.

It capped off a happy day for servicemen as Police FC downed San Juan Jabloteh 4-2 in the first game of yesterday’s Port of Spain double header.

Kerry “El Corbeux” Baptiste continued his blistering scoring record for Jabloteh from the penalty spot and the 31-year-old attacker has scored in every outing this season with a League-high eight goals in all competitions with five items from three Pro League appearances.

It was not enough to prevent a second successive League defeat for Jabloteh as Police, inspired by an Akiba Peters double, moved into fifth place with its first win of the season.

In Couva, Connection made light of some early season internal issues as Fevrier’s men moved to four League wins from as many games with 13 goals scored and just two conceded. And this is despite a two-match ban for its two stellar players, Joevin Jones and Daneil Cyrus, and the month-long absence of talented Brazilian midfielder Celio Da Silva who recently returned home to get married.

Last season, Connection failed to defeat Stars in regulation time after six meetings. Stars won three and drew one while Connection edged the Sangre Grande-based team in two Cup finals via penalty shoot outs.

But, despite the threat posed by nippy Stars striker Trevin Caesar, Connection protected the ball well yesterday and the result was never in doubt.

72

Football / Goalpost-gate and Facebook jabs: Connection and Central brace for Couva derby

« on: October 04, 2013, 09:23:52 AM »

Central moves the goalpost on Connection; Couva derby heats up
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Shifted goalposts, Facebook jabs and coveted captains were all part of an increasingly acrimonious build-up to tonight’s Couva derby as DIRECTV W Connection and Central FC prepare for a hotly contested First Citizens Cup semi-final clash from 8 pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

Defence Force faces San Juan Jabloteh from 6 pm in the first semi-final at the same venue. But the contest between the defending Pro League champion team and the newly returned Pro League founding member is very much the undercard.

The busiest man in Couva this evening should be the fourth official of the second fixture as combustible English coach Terry Fenwick and his reserved but steely St Lucian counterpart Stuart Charles-Fevrier incite Central and Connection respectively to battle.

Not that the two clubs waited for the opening whistle.

Arguably, Connection made the first move. Last week, as the “Savonetta Boys” headed to Houston for a CONCACAF Champions League fixture, they locked the mobile goalpost at the Ato Boldon Stadium, which is owned by Connection but used by both outfits as well as several national teams.

A Central FC employee broke the lock for the team to use the goalpost anyway. And the person behind the bolt cutter was none other than former Connection captain Jan-Michael Williams, who was MVP for the club’s last league title in the 2011/12 season but then released earlier this year after a verbal altercation with Fevrier.

“I take full responsibility for that and I acted on my own,” Williams told Wired868. “I thought it was extremely petty that they would lock the goalposts just because they had a game against Central coming up. In all my years at Connection, I have never known them to behave like that…

“It is not as if we are the only teams that even use the goalposts; the national women’s and boys teams use it too.”

Connection chairman David John Williams angrily denied his former club captain’s suggestion.

“It is since the beginning of the year that we started locking our goalposts because people are always using it and we end up having to repair it,” the Connection chairman told Wired868. “Jan broke the lock long before the First Citizens Cup (semi-final draw) and he said he will break it again. So for him to suggest that we locked it because we are being petty is wrong…

“For instance, I built a wall to practise free kicks and everyone using it. They are a professional team just like us so why can’t they get their own goalposts?”

Williams lodged a complaint about damage to his property with the stadium management although he said that he will not take further action unless it happened again.

Central managing director Brent Sancho apologised for the mishap.

“I didn’t know the goalpost was (Connection’s),” said Sancho. “I thought it belonged to the stadium. He said we broke the lock and, if that is the case, whoever broke it was wrong.”

Sancho’s efforts at diplomacy were akin to dousing a fire with a teacup of water.

On Facebook, Fenwick and Connection’s marketing manager Renee John Williams traded playful but pointed jabs on a Wired868 post which confirmed that Connection captain Joevin Jones and vice-captain Daneil Cyrus were fined rather than axed for playing minor league football.

The length of the suspension meant that both players would be available to face Central this evening.

“Typical! Stuarty lost his respect on this backtrack!” charged Fenwick, on Facebook. “Jan-Michael shown the door but (Cyrus) could bring Williams (money).”

“But Terry haven’t you back tracked?” Renee responded. “And at no point were the players released from their contracts at the organisation.”

The public disagreement ended amicably with smiley icons and Fenwick closed with: “muchas gracias, tenga una noche encantadora” which translates to “thank you very much have a lovely evening.”

The fact that the Englishman opted for a Spanish send-off may or may not be a cheeky reference to the large Latin American contingent in the Connection camp. At present, Connection has five Colombian and two Brazilian players registered for the 2013/14 season.

There was supposedly a feeling within the Connection camp that Fenwick was waiting to pounce if Cyrus or Jones became available; although surely he would not be the only interested coach.

Fenwick does have a longstanding fondness for Connection captains, though. Eight years ago, he lured Earl Jean to Jabloteh during the twilight of his years and made him a player/coach. Jean is now Fevrier’s assistant coach.

And, of course, Williams, Trinidad and Tobago’s number one goalkeeper at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, also ended up with Fenwick this pre-season after a bitter divorce from Connection.

Fenwick’s Central has never defeated Connection. The Englishman joined the “Couva Sharks” on 4 January 2013 and faced Connection the following day. A Shahdon Winchester hattrick steered Connection to a 3-0 win while Central attacker Anthony Wolfe was sent off.

There was another Connection win in February and another Central red card as Jones scored the only goal while Sharks defender Keion Goodridge was ejected. Until, in March, Central finally got a result as the Sharks twice rallied from a goal down to earn a 2-2 draw. Jones was again among the scorers although there were no dismissals on that occasion.

Central might feel better about its chances in the Couva derby this evening and both teams are undefeated in local competition this season.

“It is one of the bigger games Central has played in its existence,” said Sancho. “Connection is one of the best teams on form this year and one of the top teams in the history of the Pro League.”

Williams, who noted that Connection also played a derby-of-sorts against Point Fortin Civic last weekend, suggested today’s semi-final was important only in that it takes the Savonetta Boys nearer to the First Citizens Cup crown.

“Connection has not been in the First Citizens Cup final since 2008 and this is a cup that is near and dear to us,” said Williams. “We want to win the game (tonight) because that is the only way we can get to the final.”

One suspects that Connection and Central would go at each other, hammers and tongs, even if first prize was a pack of chewing gum.

73

Football / Hart slams Joevin and Cyrus; sees Pro League positives

« on: October 03, 2013, 09:00:43 PM »

Hart slams Joevin and Cyrus; but sees Pro League positives
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Trinidad and Tobago national senior football team coach Stephen Hart summarised the behaviour of DIRECTV W Connection players Joevin Jones and Daneil Cyrus in one word: irresponsible. However, Hart is counting on the “Soca Warriors” to learn from their mistakes and move on.

Connection fined Jones and Cyrus one month’s salary and gave the players two match bans yesterday after the starlets were caught playing minor league football in Carenage last month.

Jones, who was arguably the Pro League’s most outstanding player last year, received time off from national and club duties in September to recover from fatigue while Cyrus missed the 2013 OSN Cup in Saudi Arabia after failing to catch his flight. Both players were secretly participating in a minor league competition at the time.

Hart was unimpressed.

“They entered into a professional agreement with a club,” said Hart, “and there is a certain expectancy (that comes with that)… It was probably a betrayal to the club and the coach.

“But they are young men and they are going to make mistakes.”

Jones and Cyrus are likely to be stripped of their club portfolios as captain and vice-captain respectively.

But they are expected to return to domestic competition tomorrow when Connection faces Couva rivals, Central FC, from 8 pm in the second game of a First Citizens Cup doubleheader at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

Hart, the former Canada head coach, has made regular scouting trips at Pro League matches this season and credited the tactical improvement of the local clubs.

“The quality at times has been good,” said Hart. “The teams have been organised and (the matches) have been tight affairs except for one game, which was probably exciting for the fans…

“It would have been nice to have more games played (by now)… It is a work in progress.”

The Warriors coach remains concerned by the paltry attendances at Pro League fixtures and suggested that the small crowds may mean less responsibility for the players on the field, which could negatively impact on their development.

“A lot of times, you are not playing in front of a (sizeable) crowd (in the Pro League),” said Hart, “so the demands on the players as professionals is not what it should be.”

Hart called on Pro League players to make the competition more marketable by lifting the standard of the games while he also urged them to behave in a more professional manner.

The local top flight game will be in the spotlight again tomorrow when Defence Force tackles San Juan Jabloteh and Connection squares off against Central at 6 pm and 8 pm respectively in Couva.

74

Football / Stephen Hart on local football and what Point can teach national fans

« on: September 23, 2013, 08:44:47 PM »

Hart-felt plea: Back the Warriors!
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Trinidad and Tobago senior team coach Stephen Hart has urged local football fans and patriots to show their support for the “Soca Warriors” as the national football team prepares for its first home match under his guidance and just the second for the year.

The Warriors are expected to announce at least two international opponents for FIFA dates in October and November with New Zealand, Oceania’s top team, one of the likely adversaries.

Hart, who steered the Warriors to the July 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals and third place at the invitational September 2013 OSN Cup, wants local supporters to play their part in the development of the national football team.

“When we play at home, I want to see the football fans come out and support the team,” Hart told Wired868. “I think fans need to understand the role they play in lifting their team. Sometimes, our fans tend to get critical when their team is down. But we need them to encourage the boys and to put pressure on the opposition and the referee.

“We need them to be a twelfth man for us.”

Hart, who grew up in San Fernando, believes south Trinidad club Point Fortin Civic FC has offered a shining example of the type of support needed on Saturday when over 1,200 fans willed the rookie Pro League outfit to a last gasp 1-0 win over North East Stars.

“The Point Fortin fans stuck behind their team and pushed (Civic) forward and got their reward,” said Hart. “The Point support that I saw was absolutely fantastic. They were miles away from home and they came in fair numbers and supported the time right through and that is what football fans are supposed to do.”

Hart suggested local fans sometimes take for granted the sacrifices that Trinidad and Tobago players make to represent their country, particularly in exhibition games.

Last year, Vietnam team Song Lam Nghe supposedly refused to offer a contract to 23-year-old defender Daneil Cyrus unless he promised not to play at the Gold Cup while the same club urged midfielder Hughtun Hector and striker Willis Plaza to skip the tournament.

Middlesbrough right back Justin Hoyte was allegedly also asked to excuse himself from Gold Cup duty but refused.

Hoyte was an ever-present for the English Championship team whenever available last season and made 31 appearances. This season, he has played just once in nine club matches although Middlesbrough is in the bottom half of the table.

“A lot of players make sacrifices to play for Trinidad and Tobago,” said Hart. “Some of them are put under a lot of pressure by their clubs when they ask to represent Trinidad and Tobago. And then they go out there and feel like they are not really being supported and that their work is going totally unnoticed.

“I think at the end of the day, all these boys are hoping for is some love from the people.”

Hart has been a regular feature at domestic football matches this season. He told Wired868 that it was too early to properly judge the standard of the Pro League but he has spotted some positives.

“Some of the teams display good organisation at times,” he said. “There have been some tactical variations too, which are always good. But it is too early to judge because we are just two games into the season.”

He pointed again to Point Fortin’s narrow win over Stars, which was a tight affair with little goalmouth action until the closing seconds of the game.

“Some people were (saying) that the game was a poor game,” said Hart. “But it was a game in which the two teams were nullifying each other. There was a very good compactness between the two teams and breaking down each other was difficult.

“In truth and in fact, that is a good thing.”

Hart declined the opportunity to name any players who have caught his attention just yet. But he has spotted some prospects.

“I have seen a couple faces (that I can add to the national team) but I would like to see them a little more,” he said. “Sometimes you see a player who operates well when he is getting time and space. But when he has to find space for himself or play a bit quicker, he doesn’t do as well.

“And, as you know, the international game is more like that.”

While Hart is urging football fans to wear their hearts on their sleeves, local football president Raymond Tim Kee is desperate for some love from corporate Trinidad and Tobago as well.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has been unable to attract a major financial sponsor under Tim Kee, despite the team’s relative successes on the field.

“We have been meeting and making presentations with potential partners and we remain optimistic about the outcome,” Tim Kee told the TTFA Media. “But what I would not like to see happen is that those who are waiting on the right time, do not wait until a month before our first World Cup qualifier for 2018 to tell us that they want to be part of the campaign.”

Tim Kee noted that the major football nations lying in wait for the Warriors benefit from early funding, which is vital to their team’s development.

“This affords the coaches, the players and the governing body to plan and execute (…) without having to worry about a lack of resources or monies,” said the local football president.

The Warriors are expected to announce their next friendly opponents soon.

75

Football / Another Point Fortin stunner against Stars; Jabloteh/Rangers in goal-spree

« on: September 21, 2013, 11:48:06 AM »

Civic disorder: Point Fortin stuns North East Stars
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

The Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain was the latest venue for a Digicel Pro League Civic forum last night; and one gets the feeling there is a lot more to come from the rookie team out of Point Fortin and its boisterous fans this season.

Last week, on Friday 13, Point Fortin Civic FC made its Pro League debut with a 4-1 stroll against Police FC in front of over 2,000 supporters at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva. But, last night, Civic showed it could scrap for a result too with a last gasp 1-0 win over a solid North East Stars team.

And, just as crucially, the Point supporters showed that it would take more than a long weeknight drive to separate them from their heroes.

It is a two-hour drive from Port of Spain to Point Fortin and Civic’s Pro League engagement on Friday ended at about 9.47 pm. But none of the southern supporters, which numbered over 1,200, were rushing to the exits as they soaked in a stunning finale against a dangerous Stars outfit.

Ninety minutes had already elapsed and the game was in stoppage time when Stars left back Kevon Villaroel swung a free kick into the opposing penalty area. Anthony Wolfe, a former Trinidad and Tobago World Cup 2006 squad player, stuck his boot to claim the ball and then, at full stretch, flicked his left foot to send the sphere low to the left of Civic custodian Marvin Phillip.

And then, something extraordinary happened.

It had been a bizarre evening at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in truth. Roughly two hours earlier, San Juan Jabloteh played its part in an entertaining double header with a farcical yet remarkable recovery against St Ann’s Rangers to win its season opener 6-5.

The “San Juan Kings” missed last year’s Pro League action due to financial issues and only satisfied the criteria to return to the top flight at the start of September. New Jabloteh coach Keith Jeffrey held his first training session just 10 days ago.

Fate seemed to smile on Jabloteh when Rangers was listed as its first opponent. The St Ann’s based outfit was mauled 7-0 by DIRECTV W Connection last weekend.

There were relieved smiles all around too when skipper and former standout Kerry Baptiste opened the scoring for Jabloteh in the 11th minute after being teed up by another experienced journeyman, Rennie Britto. The good feeling did not last long.

By halftime, Rangers was 4-1 up and cruising.

Rangers captain Clevon McFee scored a natural hattrick in just 16 minutes while the lively Kennedy Isles grabbed another as the Jabloteh defence looked as easy to manoeuvre as an automatic door.

Jeffrey sent on lumbering striker Lemuel Lyons, an acquisition from Club Sando, and he headed over the Rangers defence for Baptiste to run clear and cut the deficit to 4-2 in the 51st minute. And three powerful blasts, two from Britto and one from Baptiste, saw the lead change hands by the 81st minute in front of a stunned audience.

Shane Hospedales curled in a free kick for Jabloteh in the 85th minute before Rangers set up a nervous close to the match with a sharp Jelani Peters finish in the 89th minute.

The Point Fortin supporters, who were just taking their seats, must have wondered if they had walked into a 20/20 cricket match by accident.

The closing game of the double header did not have nearly as much goalmouth action. But then North East Stars, under pragmatic coach Angus Eve, does not do open football.

The only action of the first half comprised of full blooded tackles from either side. Stars played with a five-man defence guarded by snarling midfielder Jeromie Williams, who is built like a nightclub bouncer.

By the 65th minute, Civic coach Reynold Carrington had swapped his two forwards, Andre Toussaint and Andrei Pacheco, and attacking winger, Matthew Bartholomew, as he tried in vain to get a peep at Stars goalkeeper Cleon John.

But it was Stars that grew stronger as time went on. Civic defender Andre Ettienne, roared on by the Point supporters, was playing at his full capacity to subdue Wolfe. But it looked to be a matter of when rather than if the Sangre Grande-based team would get the winner.

“North East… we want a goal!” sang the Stars supporters, who used to be the most vociferous in the Pro League before Point Fortin showed up.

Then came the key moment; Wolfe flicked goalward from inside the penalty area and both sets of supporters stood on their feet in anticipation.

Marvin Phillip, the Trinidad and Tobago custodian, pulled off a low reflex save to his left and someone hooked the ball clear of the crowded penalty area. And it fell to Point playmaker Marcus Joseph.

At the moment when Civic should have been defending for their lives, the rookie team had left three players high up to the field and now they were in possession with only two Stars defenders for company.

Joseph, who had been anonymous for much of the 90 minutes, played the ball to attacker Sylvester Teesdale, who might have attempted a charge through the heart of the Stars defence but opted to pass for fellow substitute Bevon Bass to his right instead.

Teesdale’s pass roll obligingly for his former T&TEC FC teammate and, as calmly as if he were on the training ground, Bass hit a firm but controlled drive into the far corner.

And the stands went berserk.

At the final whistle, Point Fortin supporters cheekily serenaded their vanquished opponents.

“North East… we want a goal!” they sang, with wide, mischievous grins.

The Pro League is not going to be the same this season.

(Teams)

North East Stars (5-3-2): 22.Cleon John (captain) (GK); 23.Kennedy Hinkson, 2.Kareem Moses, 5.Aquil Selby, 25.Keryn Navarro, 3.Kevon Villaroel; 18.Kaashif Thomas (17.Andres Cabrero 64), 6.Jeromie Williams (12.Jayson Joseph 82), 8.Micah Lewis; 11.Anthony Wolfe, 20.Trevin Caesar (36.Marcus Gomez 59).

Unused substitutes: 1.Stefan Berkeley, 7.Elijah Manners, 9.Akiel Guevara, 19.Glenton Wolfe.

Coach: Angus Eve

Point Fortin Civic (4-4-2): 1.Marvin Phillip (GK); 2.Garyl Doldron, 4.Wesley John, 5.Andre Ettienne, 3.Lyndon Diaz; 10.Marcus Joseph, 6.Kelvin Modeste, 17.Glen Sutton, 9.Matthew Bartholomew (14.Bevon Bass 65); 19.Andrei Pacheco (20.Sylvester Teesdale 59), 11.Andre Toussaint (15.Keron Neptune 57).

Unused substitutes: 22.Akini Adams (GK), 8.Steven Joseph, 18.Akeem Redhead, 21.Andre Alexis, 29.Kevin Rouse.

Coach: Reynold Carrington

Pro League results

(Fri Sep 20)

San Juan Jabloteh 6 (Kerry Baptiste 11, 51, 71, Rennie Britto 67, 81, Shane Hospedales 85 FK), St Ann’s Rangers 5 (Clevon McFee 14 FK, 23, 30, Kennedy Isles 43, Jelani Peters 89) at Port of Spain

Point Fortin Civic 1 (Bevon Bass 90), North East Stars 0 at Port of Spain

(Sat Sep 21)

DIRECTV W Connection vs Police FC, 5 pm, Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva

Caledonia AIA vs Central FC, 7 pm, Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva

76

Football / Grenada star scores on debut; but Caledonia humiliated by Toluca

« on: September 18, 2013, 11:48:52 PM »

Take five: Mexico’s Toluca humiliates Caledonia
By Lasana liburd (Wired868)

Caledonia AIA has one game left in its 2013 CONCACAF Champions League campaign and one feels the “Eastern Stallions” might prefer doing something more fun if given the choice; like maybe going to the dentist.

It could not be more painful than facing the sort of spanking that Caledonia received in Port of Spain last night as  the Morvant/Laventille-based team was routed 5-1 by visiting Mexico club, Toluca.

Long before the final whistle, Caledonia players were walking around with drooping shoulders waiting for the final whistle. The Toluca squad had stopped celebrating after its second goal and the tourists could not look more relaxed if they had their feet up at Maracas Bay.

It was, to be blunt, a poor advertisement for the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League and the Caribbean’s game.

Even before Toluca’s opener, Caledonia’s professionalism had already been called into question.

Grenada international striker Kithson “Bully” Bain made his Caledonia debut last night in a number 10 shirt. However, the team list suggested that Bain should have been wearing the number 18.

Such errors are not infrequent at Pro League level; but this was not the Pro League. CONCACAF officials spotted the error and Bain was ordered to leave the pitch and sat for about four minutes on the running track until a club representative had found him the right kit.

Arguably, it was a fitting analogy for Caledonia’s readiness for its CONCACAF test last night.

Defensively, Caledonia was not compact enough and failed to press in numbers while, at the opposite end, the Stallions seemed to owe much of their attacking thrust to individualistic surges and were unable to maintain sustained pressure on the visitors.

Toluca, patient and methodical, picked off its naïve opponent without ever leaving first gear. Side to side, the visitors passed the ball breezily while their attackers searched for gaps. Then, they struck with menace.

Toluca’s opening item was a case in point. There were three offensive players within 10 yards of each other to attack a deep, right side cross. Caledonia goalkeeper Shemel Louison, another Grenada international, pushed Daniel Gonzales’ header against the upright but Edy Brambilla was first to the rebound and his pass was prodded over the goal line by forward Raul Nava.

Toluca doubled its advantage in the 27th minute as Caledonia defender Nuru Muhammad inadvertently deflected a Carlos Esquivel cross past his own goalkeeper and Brambila was almost too embarrassed to celebrate the third goal in the 40th minute after Louison spilled the ball.

Bain came closest to scoring for the host team when he stabbed just wide in the 32nd minute after a flick from Jamal Gay. And, seconds into the second half, the “Spice Islander” did add some flavour to the contest as he knocked in from close range after a build-up that involved Nathan Lewis and Gay.

There was a roar of hope from the 200-odd supporters and Bain later had a fair penalty shout in the second half too. But, in truth, the game was long buried.

Nava got a second in the 66th minute after another Louison fumble before veteran midfielder Sinha—or Zinha, as he was known in his native Brazil—completed the score summary with Toluca’s fifth in the 71st minute.

The result means that Caledonia has won two, drawn one and lost seven of its last 10 competitive matches, which dates back to the club’s Lucozade Sport Goal Shield semi-final loss to DIRECTV W Connection in April. During that period, the Stallions have scored 10 goals while conceding 26.

On Saturday night, Caledonia takes on Central FC at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva. Who knows what effect another loss can have on coach Jamaal Shabazz’s men.

Caledonia will then complete its Champions League assignments next Wednesday away to Guatemalan team CSD Comunicaciones, which whipped the Stallions 3-0 in Port of Spain last month.

At this rate, the Caledonia players might feel more comfortable trying to avoid borderline conflicts in Morvant/Laventille than doing battle on the football field.

(Teams)

Caledonia AIA (4-4-2): 1.Shemel Louison (GK); 2.Aubrey David, 5.Akeem Thomas, 3.Nuru Muhammad, 20.Noel Williams (17.Akim Armstrong 61); 27.Nathan Lewis (25.Keron Bethelmy 71), 21.Densill Theobald, 7.Stephan David (captain), 6.Marcus Ambrose; 18.Kithson Bain, 23.Jamal Gay (9.Keyon Edwards 66).

Unused substitutes: 33.Glenroy Samuel (GK), 11.Abdallah Phillips, 12.Kareem Joseph, 22.Miguel Romeo.

Coach: Jamaal Shabazz

Toluca (3-4-1-2): 1.Alfredo Talavera (GK); 13.Hector Acosta, 20.Miguel Almazan, 3.Fausto Pinto; 11.Carlos Esquivel (16.Oscar Rojas 70), 15.Antonio Rojas (5.Wilson Tiago 74), 18.Xavier Baez, 26.Erbin Trejo; 19.Edy Brambila (10.Sinha); 29.Raul Nava, 25.Daniel Gonzales.

Unused substitutes: 22.Cesar Lozano (GK), 4.Paulo Da Silva, 9.Juan Carlos Cacho, 23.Edgar Benitez.

Coach: Jose Cardozo

CONCACAF Champions League

(Wed Sep 18)

Caledonia 1 (Kithson Bain 46), Toluca 5 (Raul Nava 17, 66, Nuru Muhammad 27 OG, Edy Brambila 40, Sinha 71) at Hasely Crawford Stadium

(Thu Sep 19)

DIRECTV W Connection vs Arabe Unido, 8 pm, Hasely Crawford Stadium

77

Football / Large crowd as Central and Point Fortin make flying Pro League starts

« on: September 13, 2013, 08:35:01 PM »

Central FC and Point Fortin Civic make flying Pro League starts
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Central FC  kicked off its 2013/14 Digicel Pro League campaign in style tonight as the “Couva Sharks” recovered from a one-goal deficit to stun defending champions Defence Force 3-1 at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

There was as much action off the field as on it with over 2,000 spectators in attendance for the Pro League opener. By the second fixture of the double header, it was clear who the majority of the spectators had come to see.

Point Fortin Civic Football Club brought colour, noise and more than a few supporters to the Pro League as the team from deep south marked its return to the top flight with an emphatic 4-1 mauling of Police FC.

New National Security Minister Gary Griffith knows a thing or two about sport as a former domestic hockey player. He should look into his servicemen’s football team.

Defence Force was outgunned on the night but coach Ross Russell would get it right on another day as the army/coast guard unit added to the spectacle with a decent performance. But Police was shambolic.

Barely five players had numbers on their back at the kick off while, as the host team, Police also did not show up with a full complement of ball boys. In short, it was not the sort of order one should expect from the country’s protective services.

Point Fortin gave the lawmen the scant respect that they deserved on the night.

Andre Toussaint, who represented Caledonia AIA in the ongoing 2013 CONCACAF Champions League competition, put Point Fortin ahead after 15 minutes with a close range finish after Matthew Bartholomew kept a deep Marcus Joseph cross alive at the far post.

And Joseph, who represented Trinidad and Tobago in the recent OSN Cup in Saudi Arabia, doubled the lead in the 36th minute as his powerful angled effort took a deflection to embarrass Police custodian Adrian Foncette at his near post.

Bartholomew got the third in the 38th minute as he opened his body to produce a smart left footed finish in the far corner after being sent clear by Toussaint.

Police captain Todd Ryan offered the “Lawmen” a lifeline with a tidy header in the 64th minute off a Akiba Peters free kick. But Bartholomew had the last word in the 85th minute from the penalty spot after referee Larry Lalchan ruled that Police defender Karlon Murray had fouled Point Fortin substitute Sylvester Teesdale.

In the opener at Couva, Defence Force winger Kerry Joseph cut in from the right flank to head an inswinging Kevon Carter cross past Central and “Soca Warriors” custodian Jan-Michael Williams.

Referee Gyasi McDonald could take credit for the first goal of the season as he allowed play to continue after Central wing back Elton John tripped opposing midfielder Samuel Delice, just before Carter’s cross.

The match officials did the fixture justice again in the 27th minute as Defence Force captain and full back Cory Rivers was correctly penalised for handling a John cross. Central captain Jason Marcano coolly converted the resulting penalty kick to bring the Sharks level at 1-1.

But the eventual outcome of the match owed almost as much to McDonald’s generosity in the second half as it did to two brilliant strikes by Central’s teenaged strike force.

In the 53rd minute, Jamal Jack, Central’s pre-season signing from St Ann’s Rangers, went in two-footed on Sean Narcis. Jack got the ball but it was a dangerous tackle and McDonald correctly signalled a foul. The referee could have easily taken firmer action though and Jack had already been booked.

Central made the most of the reprieve in the 67th minute when 19-year-old recruit Dwight Quintero marked his debut with a precise left footed drive into the far corner from 20 yards. It capped a promising outing for the former national under-20 striker who spent the last two seasons in the North East Stars’ reserve team.

Central was again lucky to keep all eleven players on the field in the 75th minute as ex-W Connection defender Akeem Benjamin, who was already cautioned, hauled back Defence Force striker Richard Roy in front of McDonald. Benjamin received a verbal warning rather than a second yellow card.

Five minutes later, Defence Force coach Ross Russell was hopping around in frustration at the touchline as Central defender Keion Goodridge clumsily bundled over Rodell Elcock in the penalty box. McDonald was conspicuous by his silence.

And, in the 81st minute, Rundell Winchester rubbed salt in the army’s wounds with a brilliant insurance item that brought the venue to its feet.

Graham missed a right side Central cross but managed to divert the flight of the ball behind Winchester. Not to be denied, the former Stokely Vale poacher spun around and met the bouncing ball with an overhead kick that flew in off the underside of the bar.

Tomorrow’s Pro League double header at Port of Spain’s Hasely Crawford has a lot to live up to.

(Teams)

Defence Force (4-2-3-1): 1.Kevin Graham (GK); 4.Marvin Jones, 5.Devin Jordan, 20.Rodell Elcock, 14.Cory Rivers (captain); 18.Sean Narcis, 32.Samuel Delice (8.Curtis Gonzales 54); 16.Kerry Joseph (29.Jemel Sebro 71), 17.Ross Russell Jr, 11.Kevon Carter; 9.Richard Roy.

Unused substitutes: 25.Sheldon Clarke (GK), 12.Josimar Belgrave, 81.Adrian Welch, 34.Levi Serries.

Coach: Ross Russell

Central FC (3-5-2): 21.Jan-Michael Williams (GK); 12.Jamal Jack, 24.Akeem Benjamin, 3.Keion Goodridge; 2.Elton John, 7.Jason Marcano (captain), 10.Marvin Oliver (6.Toric Robinson 74), 13.Johan Peltier, 11.Darren Mitchell; 9.Dwight Quintero (22.Keon Trim 87), 17.Rundell Winchester (23.Hector Sam 90).

Unused substitutes: 25.Javon Sample (GK); 4.Omar Charles, 8.Shem Alexander, 15.Kaydion Gabriel.

Coach: Terry Fenwick

Referee: Gyasi McDonald.

78

Football / Lasana Liburd explains why Anil Roberts must be fired quickly

« on: September 03, 2013, 10:47:12 PM »

Give sport a chance PM; bench Anil
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

In less than two weeks, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will have her third political reshuffle in three years, inclusive of the seismic sacking of former National Security Minister Jack Warner.

The ruling People’s Partnership coalition has been embarrassed by lopsided recent defeats in Tobago and Chaguanas West, pressured by agitations from trade unions and other civic groups and communities and troubled by the haemorrhaging of foot soldiers to Warner’s ILP party.

Presumably, Persad-Bissessar will try to show Trinidad and Tobago that she remains a strong, capable leader while simultaneously getting her own Cabinet back in line and on election footing. But the time for ‘ole talk’ has long gone.

The population sees a government that promised to curb crime but cannot even manage irresponsible dog owners. Her Cabinet colleagues see a leader openly mocked by her former allies and seemingly incapable of capturing the ear or imagination of the public.

The people want action. And there is one ministry that is especially symbolic of the widening gap between the public and the State. If Persad-Bissessar wants to prove she is serious about improving Trinidad and Tobago, she should fire Sport Minister Anil Roberts.

In the last fortnight, Roberts has been called “disingenuous” by the hockey board, economical with the truth by the football and athletics fraternities and a stranger to accountability by the cricket board.

It is the equivalent of the army, police and prisons organisations declaring the national security minister to be as useful as a raincoat on the beach.

Would the Prime Minister dare not to act in such a scenario? Could all the sporting bodies be wrong about the value of her sport minister? And, even if Roberts were right, what would be the point of keeping such an unpopular and divisive figure in a job when his role is to serve and facilitate those same organisations?

Is it that sport does not matter to the present government?

A head count of the coaches, administrators, athletes of voting age and their loved ones, siblings and parents adds up to a hell of a lot of voters. And, sooner or later, even the sheepish sporting bodies will realise as much themselves.

But sport should mean much more than voting fingers to this and any other local government.

Our sporting ambassadors, more than local experts in any other field save for music, are the ones best capable of promoting Trinidad and Tobago’s positive values to the outside world.

Which local politician can capture the imagination of a worldwide audience or make Trinidad and Tobago seem as alluring and mystic as Brian Lara did during his knock of 277 against Australia or Hasely Crawford during his sprint at the 1976 Olympic Games?

Dwight Yorke’s hattrick for Manchester United against Arsenal accomplished more than any trade mission to London ever could.

Yet, while the Brazil government understands the goodwill value of cultural diplomacy offered by its football team, Russia prizes its Bolshoi Ballet dancers and the United States knew the importance of Michael Jordan and his dream team to its foreign policy, Trinidad and Tobago athletes sleep at airports or beg for lodging on international trips.

Even beyond the value of sport as a gateway the outside world, we can consider what it means to us as a people. Encouraging such a healthy industry will lessen the burden on our overburdened hospitals while a stimulating yet physically draining pastime could not help but impact on the crime rate.

Mark Guerra, a former John John “community leader”, was shot dead over a decade ago. Years later, his common-law wife faced a similar fate as well as one of his younger brothers; but not his baby brother and former Caledonia AIA footballer Ataullah Guerra. He now plays professionally in Finland and, at present, is in Saudi Arabia preparing to represent his country against the United Arab Emirates.

What would Guerra’s profession be if not for the Pro League?

There is something in the camaraderie and pursuit of excellence encouraged by sport that has the potential to make us all better people. It encourages discipline, competitive drive and greater understanding of opponents, teammates and, most of all, yourself.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was a keen amateur boxer, the late England Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher played field hockey at school, current United States President Barack Obama was a talented college basketball player and Trinidad and Tobago’s first Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams played football for Oxford University.

There is a dark side too. Popular and sometimes lucrative, the sporting industry has routinely been manipulated by crooks, paedophiles and abusive leaders when left unregulated.

Late Ugandan dictator and war criminal Idi Amin was his country’s light heavyweight boxing champion for nine years before his charge to power while slain Libyan leader Muammah Gaddafi and his sons enjoyed the influence and publicity of a 7.5 percent stake in top Italian football club Juventus.

And, closer to home, Warner used his position as a football administrator to enrich himself at the expense of sportsmen, administrators, supporters, sponsors and taxpayers.

His list of transgressions include: the overselling of the Port of Spain stadium on 19 November 1989, the Simpaul ticket scandal of 2006, the “Soca Warriors” Germany World Cup bonus dispute, the 2011 FIFA presidential bribery episode and, worse of all, his apparent failure to relay earthquake relief funds to Haiti from FIFA and the South Korea Football Association (SKFA).

The Haiti outrage happened under Persad-Bissessar’s watch. Wired868 asked if she would probe her then Minister of Works. She refused.

It is uncertain whether the Prime Minister has learned her lesson.

Today, Roberts might appear to be a benevolent lump; ostracised by his COP party but still a friendly voice in Parliament and, most of all, a MP. His supposed vulnerability, she might think, makes him useful. But she would be wrong.

Roberts is no fool. Crafty and charming when the need arises, Roberts is not easily controlled and it will take more than rumours of a lurid videotape to silence him.

The Auditor General stated that the Sport Ministry could not account for close to $45 million in the last fiscal year alone while there are grumblings within football about his supposedly inequitable treatment of his local team, Malabar FC. Warner showed the value of a financial war chest and generosity to his base in the Chaguanas West by-election. Roberts would not have failed to notice.

Persad-Bissessar knows the price her government could pay if she cuts another MP loose. But can she say she knows the cost of keeping Roberts?

Just as pertinent, what about the impact on sport?

Roberts has been ostentatious in his rewards to top athletes like 400-metre hurdle champion Jehue Gordon but much less supportive to the future crop of stars like the national under-15 footballers and junior Pan American and FINA World Championship teams.

The irony of celebrating sportsmen and women developed under the stewardship of the former sport minister while hampering the development of those under his case appears to be lost on Roberts.

The damage is bad already. But to keep Roberts at the helm could eventually create a crisis. Either that or he will break the resistance of the National Sporting Organisations (NSOs), remove the dissidents and create a fiefdom to surpass even what Warner once constructed in football.

Persad-Bissessar would not survive if Roberts, a longstanding ally of Warner, conjured up such a support base. And neither could sport.

For the good of Trinidad and Tobago and herself, the Prime Minister must act in her next reshuffle. For God’s sake, lose the joker.

 

Editor’s Note: Anil Roberts survived Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s Cabinet reshuffle on September 5 and remains Minister of Sport.

79

Football / Hart uncomfortable as financial woes haunt Warriors

« on: September 03, 2013, 12:21:36 AM »

Hart uncomfortable as financial woes haunt Warriors
By Lasana liburd (Wired868)

Trinidad and Tobago national football team coach Stephen Hart admitted that there is an elephant in the squad’s dressing room.

Nine months into 2013, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s (TTFA) technical staff still has not received a salary. And, two months after the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the “Soca Warriors” still have not received match fees for their quarterfinal clash with Mexico or promised bonuses for getting to the competition’s knockout stage—Trinidad and Tobago only advanced past the group stage once before in 2000.

The Warriors headed for Saudi Arabia on Sunday where they will play the United Arab Emirates in Riyadh on Thursday September 5 and either New Zealand or Saudia Arabia on Monday September 9.

But Hart is the only TTFA employee who is not owed by the local football body since his salary is being paid through FIFA and CONCACAF funds. The rest of the staff is reliant on promised money from the Ministry of Sport.

The former Canada boss conceded that he is “very uncomfortable” about the team’s financial situation.

“I have made my feelings known to (TTFA president Raymond) Tim Kee and (TTFA general secretary Sheldon) Phillips about the whole situation,” Hart told Wired868. “Like everybody else, I want to see what direction it moves in… There was an agreement in place and once you make an agreement it is a matter of principle; you have to fulfill that agreement.

“I understand there is a lot of circumstance that surrounds the situation but you’ve made a contract and you have to fulfill it.”

Sport Minister Anil Roberts has had a turbulent relationship with football ever since former special advisor and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner and president Oliver Camps resigned their posts in 2011. Both men were implicated by FIFA in an alleged attempt to fix the global football body’s presidential election through bribery.

In May 2012, Warner asked Roberts to starve local football of funding after then interim football president Lennox Watson was slow to support Harold Taylor’s bid to replace Warner as Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president.

Tim Kee promised to smooth over relations with Roberts when he campaigned for the local football presidency last year. But the funding problems continued and the TTFA was forced to withdraw its team from a CONCACAF Under-15 competition last month after late support by the Government.

Phillips claimed that he was forced to hold some of the prize money from the Gold Cup to keep the football body operational as he anticipated some issues as the fiscal year drew to a close.

“We are doing what we can to stretch that money out and we are still working with the Ministry on paying those outstanding salaries,” said Phillips. “We were told it would be dealt with in the middle of July but the money ran out. Now they are telling us it would possibly be in September or October, which is obviously disappointing.

“We are doing everything we can (in the meantime). We believe (the Ministry of Sport) when they say they are going to satisfy that debt.”

Trinidad and Tobago assistant coach Hutson “Barber” Charles is said to be owed almost $90,000 already although he was seconded to his present post by the local Defence Force. Others like fellow assistant coach Derek King expect their football jobs to provide their main source of income. But all they pocketed this year were some match fees and per diems.

Technical director Anton Corneal, whose remuneration is supposed to be paid by a combination of TTFA and State funds, is still being owed money from as far back as 2011. Although at least one local coach refused to work under the present conditions, Corneal said the majority consider it an honour to serve their country regardless.

“I think what we are seeing are true soldiers coming out of the coaching staff,” he told Wired868. “They have given their best through the adversity; but for how long I cannot tell. There must be a time when they say enough is enough.

“A lot of people will not do what they are doing. A lot will talk it but won’t do it. I haven’t seen anyone give less because they were not paid. In fact they have gone beyond the call.”

Corneal admitted that there were grumblings when the TTFA hired Hart and Beenhakker on substantial salaries while many remain unpaid after months or even years of working for free.

“Of course (the hiring of Hart and Beenhakker) has been raised,” said Corneal. “In fact, it has been raised by me. We would not be human if we didn’t ask questions about it. And I’m not just looking at my situation but for all the coaches too.

“You want coaches to have a sense of wellbeing and comfort and some of that is being paid and rewarded for what you do.”

One technical staff member claimed that Beenhakker, who led Trinidad and Tobago the 2006 World Cup, has refused to return to work until all outstanding monies were paid to the coaches. However, the TTFA said the Dutchman has been dealing with a death in his family.

Beenhakker will not join the Warriors in Saudi Arabia.

Phillips hopes to announce some new corporate sponsors by mid-October. He claimed that it would take between $38 and $45 million to run Trinidad and Tobago’s nine national football teams at anything near optimal level while, at present, the TTFA operates at closer to $9 million a year.

The Mexico Federation of Football Federation (FMF) operates on well over $900 million a year through a combination of State and corporate sponsorship deals and television rights.

“Until we get some sponsors on board, which we believe will happen in October, we have to rely on the Ministry and FIFA for most of our operational budget,” said Phillips. “Right now, everything is focused on securing solid commercial sponsors in time for the next fiscal year and we have heard good positive overture from three of four companies…

“The government will always play an important role (in local football) but we will like to diversify our revenue stream because that is the mark of a healthy corporate entity.”

In the meantime, Phillips and the TTFA is doing its utmost to avoid conflict with the combative Roberts whose integrity has been called into question recently by Trinidad and Tobago’s hockey and cricket boards.

“Our outlook is that we are not interested in having a public tête-à-tête with a Ministry we see as a vital partner in the development of football in this country,” said Phillips. “It doesn’t do us or football any good.”

For Corneal and other national coaches and players, the mood is apprehensive but hopeful.

“I know there have been discuss of various streams of revenue and, once that is worked out, we will be taken care of,” said Corneal. “I feel comfortable that it will be taken care of in the very near future.”

The TTFA, according to Corneal, is working on alternative exposure for its national under-15 footballers and has found an ally in ex-Trinidad and Tobago coach Francisco Maturana.

“We are trying to get them into a tournament in Colombia this November,” said Corneal, “and we have the full support of the government to do it.”

In the meantime, the senior Warriors will continue their progress under Hart this week in Saudia Arabia. And, for yet another international get-together, the TTFA’s technical staff will try to avoid stepping on the elephant in the dressing room.

80

Football / Wired868 responds to Anil Roberts' boast of his support for football

« on: August 22, 2013, 10:42:50 AM »

Roberts scores another own goal as T&T withdraws from Pan Am Juniors
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com)

Sport Minister Anil Roberts went on the counter-attack yesterday regarding the Government’s support of local football after criticism about the late funding offered to the Trinidad and Tobago national under-15 team, which was forced to withdraw from an ongoing CONCACAF tournament in the Cayman Islands.

But Roberts’ indignation was arguably unsupported by either accounting information or data while, inadvertently, he offered further testimony to his Ministry’s shoddy accounting and lack of transparency.

Worse, his release was quickly followed by news that Trinidad and Tobago has also withdrawn from the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in Medellin, Colombia.

The competition starts on Friday August 23 and the National Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA) claimed that a request for funding was sent to the Sport Ministry two months ago but was rejected due to a supposed shortage of funds.

The local body alleged that Permanent Secretary Ashwin Creed told the NAAA, two days ago, that he was trying to put money together. But it was too little, too late.

Last week, the Trinidad and Tobago national men’s hockey team needed special dispensation from the International Hockey Federation (IHF) to compete at the 2013 Pan American Cup, after late State funding meant only half the squad got to Toronto on the day of their opening game.

Still, the “Calypso Stickmen” returned with bronze medals on Monday. No official from the Ministry of Sport turned up to greet the team at the Piarco International Airport.

It is in this climate that the Ministry of Sport claimed to have “overextended” itself to football by supposedly spending $15 million on the sport, which is less than four percent of Sport’s overall budget and roughly 13 percent of the funding given to the Sport Company.

The headline for the Ministry of Sport’s press release, which was written in bold font and underlined claimed that: “The Ministry of Sport has overextended itself to support football.”

The release further stated that: “To date the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) has provided funding of approximately 9 million dollars to the development of football whilst the Ministry of Sport has also provided funding estimated at 2 million dollars. The Ministry of Sport has also given 4 million in support of the TT Pro League.”

The Ministry’s disbursement to football “for the fiscal year 2012 to 2013” was given as follows:

•Assistance to TTFF for Men’s Senior Team Gold Cup Qualifier
•Assistance to Under 17 men tour to Columbia (sic)
•TTFF Men’s National Beach Football Team engagement in Bahamas
•Assistance to TTFF for preparations for Gold Cup Qualifiers, and much more…
There were no figures, dates or anything resembling an accounting statement from the Sport Ministry while the wording left room for various interpretations.

An estimated $11 million supposedly went “to the development of football.” But does that include money used on the LifeSport programme, which is run entirely by the Sport Ministry? Or payments to organisations like the Queen’s Park Cricket Club, whose eight-a-side small goal football competition last year was sponsored—at least in part—by Roberts’ Ministry?

The Sport Ministry claimed that it gave “four million in support of the TT Pro League” but Wired868 was informed that the Pro League asked for much less and did not receive all of its requested figure either.

Is the Sport Ministry including expenses like stadia maintenance in the $4 million figure?

And, if the Sport Ministry did indeed spend $15 million to support football, why do Roberts and his Permanent Secretary Ashwin Creed consider that to be outside of their scope of duties? What exactly do Roberts and Creed believe they are paid to do for sport?

The Sport Ministry also pointed out in yesterday’s release, that “the U-15 Championship was never a budgetary item to SPORTT; it was a last minute request.”

At yesterday’s press conference in honour of local swiming star George Bovell III, Roberts told the media that he will take recommendations for rewards to Bovell, 400-metre champion hurdler Jehue Gordon and his coach Dr Ian Hypolite to Cabinet today.

The irony inherent in the Sport Ministry’s haste to laud Gordon but disinterest in helping dozens of future stars within the Junior Pan American team is, presumably, lost on Roberts. But that is another story.

Gordon won gold at the Moscow World Athletic Championships five days before Roberts’ announcement. And, obviously, his impressive run was not already written into the NAAA’s budget.

In contrast, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) formally requested for its under-15 team on or around 22 July 2013. The squad only needed Roberts or Creed to pick up the phone and call their preferred travel agency, Naipaul’s, to authorise plane tickets since accommodation, ground travel and meals were already provided for by CONCACAF.

The Sport Ministry waited three weeks before finally agreeing to fund the team on 12 August 2013.

So Roberts described three weeks’ notice as “a last minute request” but turned around and prepared a Cabinet note ready for another national athlete within three working days.

Roberts’ tone in dialogue to sporting bodies seems at odds with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s proposed motto of: “Serve the people, serve the people, serve the people.”

But the problem in sport goes far beyond the Sport Minister’s condescension and shortcoming in decorum.

The national under-15 football team does not have a monopoly on broken-hearts. There have also been accusations of victimisation, disrespect and broken promises from a range of sport bodies including football, cricket, athletics, hockey, table tennis, sambo and dragonboat racing.

Yet, arguably, the most scandalous aspect of Roberts’ tenure is an unconstitutional refusal to account for its spending of taxpayers’ money at a time when the Ministry of Sport is receiving record sums but sport bodies seem worse off than ever.

In 2010, the last year under former Minister Gary Hunt, the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs spent an estimated $328 million.

That year, the senior “Soca Warriors” played in a Gold Cup qualifying series and also had away friendlies in Chile, Panama, Belize, St Lucia, Guyana, Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda. The national under-20 football team had two-legged qualifiers against St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname while Trinidad and Tobago hosted the Caribbean Under-17 Championships.

Under the People’s Partnership, a split in the Ministries meant different budgets for Sport and Gender, Youth and Child Development. And, for the last fiscal year, Gender, Youth and Child Development received $205 million.

Yet, Roberts’ Ministry still collected an unprecedented sum of $391 million for sport alone.

And how did football fare within that period?

The senior team was stranded in St Kitts and Nevis without money for food and shelter during its first qualifying round, which was eventually paid for by All Sport Promotion. And the Warriors almost boycotted a trip to Belize and Peru because of concerns about the Ministry’s late funding and slept at an airport in Finland during a two-game pre-Gold Cup European tour.

None of the national senior team coaches have received salaries this year despite promises by the Sport Ministry.

The national under-20 team finished bottom of its Caribbean Cup qualifying group after being flown to the competition at the last minute and with no warm-up games. And the under-15 squad did not get to compete at all.

Only the national under-17 team, which was captained by Creed’s nephew, Brendon Creed, did not have major funding issues.

And the Pro League was forced to pay for use of Jack Warner’s controversial Centre of Excellence to finish its fixtures after three national stadia, the Hasely Crawford, Mannie Ramjohn and Larry Gomes venues, were all down for repairs at the same time.

God knows what fate would have befallen football if Roberts was not “overextending.”

For the last fiscal year, the Auditor General found $31.7 million in un-presented cheques from the Ministry of Sport that were not disclosed in the appropriation account. There also  $12,499,033.01 unaccounted for from Sport’s Infrastructure Development Fund while information was not submitted on a $1.69 million payment from Creed.

The Permanent Secretary also sanctioned payments of almost double his authorised limit of $1 million for the Taking Sport to Rural Areas Project and work on 40 community grounds.

But further investigations from the Auditor General revealed that: “… Only 17 grounds were identified. Also, there was no evidence on the vouchers seen that work was carried out satisfactorily.”

The Ministry of Sport even paid $180,737.50 for the funeral of one individual, who is believed to be the former manager of Super League football team Malabar FC and one of Roberts’ constituents, which, according to the Auditor General, was “contrary to Financial Regulation 65(2).”

The only funeral that Sport should be concerning itself with is the figurative passing away of Roberts and Creed from Government service.

Roberts thinks he is “overextending” himself. Wired868 has a simple solution.

Resign, Minister. It might be the most “Honourable” thing you ever do for sport.

Editor’s Note:  Space and time, rather than disinterest, are the only reasons why Wired868 has not offered a more in-depth probe in the LifeSport programme, which was designated $28 million in the last budget.

We note too that $8.7 million was allocated for the Indoor Sporting Arenas/National Hockey Centre although the domestic hockey competition ended inconclusively in 2013 as two teams refused to complete its fixtures due to the dangerous condition of the neglected turf.

81

Football / Heart-to-Hart: Exclusive interview with Stephen Hart

« on: August 11, 2013, 09:04:39 AM »

Heart-to-Hart:
Wired868’s exclusive interview with Trinidad and Tobago football coach Stephen Hart

By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Trinidad and Tobago national senior team football coach Stephen Hart responded to persons who doubted his local credentials, after more than three decades living in Canada, with a question of his own.

“If a cat climbed in an oven and made kittens,” Hart asked, “would you call it bread?”

DIRECTV W Connection’s St Lucia-born coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier, who probably spent more years on the two-island republic than the new national coach, once told Wired868 that it is the quirky humour and clever verbal delivery which sets Trinidad and Tobago people apart from their international neighbours.

“All Trinidadians have a touch of calypso in them,” said Fevrier, who is the Pro League’s most successful all-time coach.

Hart would pass Fevrier’s test.

Forthright and opinionated yet still engaging and open, the 53-year-old coach looked relaxed and perhaps a touch relieved as he sat down with Wired868 last month for his first full-length interview since taking over the Trinidad and Tobago football post.

The past two months were frenetic for the former Canada international coach. The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) promised former 2006 World Cup coach Leo Beenhakker to local football fans for the July 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup; but then announced Hart as head coach instead with Beenhakker taking only an advisory role.

It sparked a minor storm that involved queries about Hart’s capabilities, the TTFA’s honesty and the timing and wisdom of the change.

Yet, it seemed the suggestion that Hart was not a true “Trinbagonian” was the barb that cut him deepest.

Hart grew up in San Fernando but is equally at home in Tobago since his parents, Edwin and Monica Hart, moved there when he was 17. His cousins, Gregory and Richard “Dickie” Hart, both cycled for Trinidad and Tobago. His uncle, Edmund Hart, formed the popular Harts local carnival band that was very much a family production during his childhood.

The “Soca Warriors” coach claimed to be an avid Panorama fan and supporter of the Fonclaire Steel Orchestra.

“I have a pan in my home (in Canada) but they say you use a different side of your brain for music,” said Hart. “Mine is still wrapped in cellophane.”

He laughed again.

Hart is confident in his abilities. He believes it is not for nought that he spent his time gaining coaching badges, observing training at professional clubs in Holland, Argentina, Germany, Mexico and at France’s Clairefontaine national technical centre as well as picking the brains of European coaches like Gerard Houllier, Sepp Piontek and Dr Jozef Venglos. But he does not seem the sort to take himself too seriously either.

On 15 July 2013, the Warriors were staring Gold Cup elimination in the face after a draw and defeat in Hart’s first two games in charge. The coach surprisingly turned to 26-year-old Kazakhastan-based central defender Radanfah Abu Bakr for the team’s decisive fixture against Honduras in Houston.

“Can you promise me a clean sheet?” asked a smiling Hart.

He said he was half-joking at the time. Abu Bakr responded in kind.

“Is that all you need coach?” Abu Bakr asked.

Trinidad and Tobago won 2-0 and, less than a month after taking the job, Hart became the second coach after Bertille St Clair to steer the Warriors into the knockout stage of the Gold Cup competition.

St Clair’s career was a steady progression of successes from Signal Hill, where he groomed football legend Dwight Yorke, to taking Trinidad and Tobago to its first FIFA tournament at the 1991 Under-20 World Cup before he took over the senior squad.

Hart’s career was topsy-turvy in comparison, starting with his childhood in south Trinidad. He grew up in the era of late St Benedict’s College principal Dom Basil Matthews and dreamed of following football stars like Leroy De Leon, Warren Archibald, Steve David, Bobby Sookram, Wilfred Cave and Jan Steadman to the Benedict’s team.

Hart was accepted from San Fernando Government to St Benedict’s and, in Form Two, had the distinction of playing for the under-14, junior and senior teams at the same time. But then Matthews retired and new principal, Mr Caines, promptly withdrew St Benedict’s from the schools’ competition, since he disapproved of its reputation as a football school.

Instead, Hart took his talent to the Southern Football Association (SFA) where, at just 15, he represented Juniors before moving to Hurricanes alongside players like Leroy Spann, Michael Maurice, Bert Neptune and Peter Mitchell and led by San Fernando Technical Institute coach Ken Headley.

“For me, (Headley) was a very special coach,” said Hart. “I know now that he knew how to identify and nurture talent and help you use it in a game.”

His parents indulged his football dreams to a point.

“My parents’ biggest question was always ‘is football going to feed you?’” he said.

After school, Hart got a job as a fleet sales representative at Neal & Massy and played for Texaco. His friend, Jeff Agostini, urged Hart to join him at St Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada. At the same time, then Trinidad and Tobago coach Alvin Corneal invited Hart to join the national team.

The national team had already started its 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign. Hart went to a few sessions under Corneal but kept hearing his parents’ voice.

“Is football going to feed you?”

He decided to take the chance to continue playing football while furthering his education in Canada.

“I wanted to travel, experience a different culture and play football,” he said.

Hart, who still considers himself to be a National Geographic buff, completed a marine geographer degree at St Mary’s.

“I always liked the sea,” he said. “It was interesting to me and I only ever excelled at what interested me… I thought I would come back to Trinidad and do environmental resource management.”

In 1986, Hart applied for a job at National Fisheries and returned home to attend lectures and interview for the position. He saw a future in coral reef management or helping his homeland to preserve marine life.

But then the government changed as the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) stormed into power and Hart found that his application seemed to have disappeared.

He returned to Canada where he married sweetheart, Lynna, and got a job in the service department at Canadian Tire.

Canada does not have a professional football league and Hart scratched his itch for the sport in what he called “mercenary football” with a variety of teams who offered players a stipend for their part-time services. Hart’s first coaching gig came in 1989 at semi-professional team Halifax King of Donair who made him player/coach while, ten years later, his career really took off when he was hired as a coach for the Nova Scotia province.

“I started a youth development programme and basically trained children every day from 7 am to 7 pm,” he said. “People said it couldn’t be done because it is a (ice) hockey country… There were 3,000 players in the province when I started and there were 30,000 when I left.”

Hart was named technical director of the province within two years and then Canada head coach Holger Osieck came across some of his youth teams and successfully petitioned for Hart to get the job as national under-17 assistant coach. His international career was finally up and running.

It proved to be anything but a straight line to the top, though.

82

Football / Guaya humbles Superstarz as Stephen Hart scouts Leston Paul

« on: July 28, 2013, 10:33:14 PM »

Guaya goes top; Superstarz humbled in Guayaguayare
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Pole position in the Blink/bMobile National Super League (NSL) changed hands this afternoon in Guayaguayare as host team, Guaya United, whipped Westside Superstarz 4-2 in the meeting between the League’s first and second placed teams at the Guaya Recreation Ground.
The result saw Guaya leapfrog Superstarz to first place while the latter team slipped to third.
In another key match-up, Club Sando held off Stokely Vale 2-1 at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva to move to second place with Vale remaining fourth.
Elsewhere in the NSL, 1976 FC Phoenix managed its first win of the season with a 3-1 home triumph over Malabar FC while FC Santa Rosa’s miserable form continued as the Arima club was thrashed 5-1 by Siparia Spurs at the UTT Campus in O’ Meara.
There were ties aplenty too as defending champions WASA FC was held 1-1 by newly promoted Bethel United in Tobago and Real Maracas and Defence Force played to a 2-2 draw in Maracas, St Joseph.
The main action was on the south-eastern tip of the island, though, as early pace setters Guaya United and Westside Superstarz went head to head.
Trinidad and Tobago national football team head coach Stephen Hart was in attendance along with two television stations and a few hundred enthusiastic supporters.
The hosts did not disappoint while Superstarz fluffed their lines. The match was effectively finished after 45 minutes and, to the frustration of Superstarz coach and former national stand-out striker Nigel Pierre, much of the damage was self-inflicted.
Guaya, which was anchored by a central midfield pairing of captain Ryan Stewart and two-time World Youth Cup skipper Leston Paul, opened the scoring after just 11 minutes as 19-year-old winger Russell Alfred ran inside the opposing full back and thumped a left footer high into the far corner.

Read more...

83

Football / Soca Warriors set to face UAE in four-nations cup

« on: July 26, 2013, 04:07:55 PM »

Soca Warriors kickstart future with Arab spring
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com)

The Trinidad and Tobago national football team will begin its new phase under head coach Stephen Hart in Saudi Arabia this September after agreeing to compete in a four-nation tournament with United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and host Saudi Arabia in Riyad.

The “Soca Warriors” will face the UAE on 5 September 2013 in the first game of a double header in the Saudi Arabia capital. Saudi Arabia meets New Zealand in the following match.

The winners and losers face each other three days later at the same Riyad venue.

Since the FIFA window for that period runs from September 6 to 10, there is a possibility that the game might be switched to September 6 and 9 instead with local players expected to leave Trinidad three days before the opening match.

Trinidad and Tobago has never played UAE or New Zealand in a senior international fixture while the Warriors lost to Saudia Arabia in a few exhibition matches between 1994 and 1998.

After nearly three years of minimal activity outside of competitive fixtures, the Warriors have made regular use of FIFA match days in 2013 under current Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Raymond Tim Kee.

They have already faced Romania, Peru (twice), Estonia and Belize in friendly battle this year and general secretary Sheldon Phillips assured fans that the team will remain active, despite being eliminated by Mexico in the quarterfinal stage of the July 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The next available FIFA date is on 14 August 2013 but the TTFA opted against summoning the Warriors so as not to disrupt its Europe-based players, who would be starting their domestic seasons.

Eight of the recent Gold Cup squad play professionally in Europe including stand-in team captain and Stoke City striker Kenwyne Jones as well as a dozen more potential national recruits such as Sheldon Bateau (Belgium), Lester Peltier (Slovakia), Robert Primus (Kazakhstan), Ataullah Guerra and Shahdon Winchester (both Finland).

Phillips hinted that the TTFA is keen for the Warriors to remain as competitive as possible rather than field weakened teams.

“Even though these are friendly games, people still always expect the team to perform well,” Phillips told Wired868. “So, we want to put our best possible team out because people are paying hard earned money (to see the Warriors).

“We should always go out on the field with the intention of winning the game.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s last trip to the Arab world came in 2005 when the Warriors edged Bahrain 1-0 in Manama to book a historic place at the 2006 World Cup. But, on this occasion, the boys in red, white and black are at the start of their journey rather than near the conclusion.

Phillips, who recently completed his move from the United States after finding a home in Port of Spain, suggested that the Warriors’ showing at the Gold Cup has already heightened interest in the team and he is confident of high quality opposition for the foreseeable future. Special effort would be made to ensure regular trips to South America for sparring partners too.

Trinidad and Tobago has played just one home game in 2013, which was a 2-0 loss to Peru in February at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva. The TTFA hopes to offer local football fans a chance to see their team play against a top opponent in October or November.

“The guys would like to play at home and so do we,” said Phillips. “We are looking for the right match. It has to be an opponent that folks know about and maybe has one or two marquee players that the (local) fans are familiar with.”

For now, the Warriors can look forward to more air miles and exotic destinations.

The UAE is ranked 85th in the world by FIFA, which is two places higher than Trinidad and Tobago. The Arab nation was eliminated from the 2014 World Cup qualifying series but sits atop of its 2015 Asian Cup group at present after two wins from as many matches against China and Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia, which is the Asia Football Confederation’s (AFC) second must successful nation with three Asian Cup titles, is also out of the running for next year’s showpiece FIFA senior competition in Brazil yet on top of its Asian Cup qualifying group.

New Zealand, which is ranked 55th in the world, has topped the Oceania zone and will face the fourth placed CONCACAF team for a 2014 World Cup play-off spot. At present, Honduras is fourth in CONCACAF while Mexico is third and Panama is fifth.

The Warriors, who were eliminated from the 2014 World Cup by Guyana in the first qualifying group stage, are ranked ninth in CONCACAF at present and fourth in the Caribbean behind Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.

They hope to give their future ambitions a lift with an Arab spring.

International Friendly

Trinidad and Tobago v United Arab Emirates, September 5, Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

Trinidad and Tobago v Saudi Arabia/New Zealand, September 9, Riyad, Saudia Arabia.

84

Football / Eight reasons to get excited about T&T's G/Cup chances x Honduras

« on: July 14, 2013, 04:19:58 PM »

Eight reasons for optimism about T&T’s Gold Cup chances
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

The Trinidad and Tobago national football team has not exactly set the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup alight just yet and, after a 2-2 draw with El Salvador and 2-0 loss to Haiti, the “Soca Warriors” face their toughest group opponent, Honduras, and possible elimination on Monday night.
But, hey, it’s not that bad, right?
If you have Trinidad and Tobago ties and hopped up and down when theWarriors stepped out at the Germany 2006 World Cup, you’re probably desperate for a reason for optimism right now. Wired868 can give you eight.
Eight: Honduras might get complacent
Honduras is already guaranteed a quarterfinal berth after successive wins against Haiti and El Salvador. So might “Los Catrachos” get complacent?
Honduras coach Luis Fernando Suarez, not to be confused with the Liverpool nibbler, already excused a clutch of first team players like midfielder Wilson Palacios and striker Carlo Costly, from the Gold Cup tournament as 2014 World Cup qualification remains the priority.
Perhaps Suarez would use the final group match to further blood some young talent that Trinidad and Tobago forward Kenwyne Jones can have for dinner.
Seven: Group C is in worse shape
The best two third-place teams from three Gold Cup groups will advance to the quarterfinal round and Cuba and Belize have zero points each in Group C.
Cuba and Belize, who were both subjected to some frightening hammerings already, face each other on Tuesday and a draw would mean that Trinidad and Tobago can sneak into the knockout stage with just one point and better goal difference. So much for CONCACAF’s high standards, eh?
If El Salvador loses by two goals more than the “Soca Warriors” tomorrow, then the Warriors will finish third in Group B by virtue of not being quite as bad as the Central American team. Then it will be left to Belize to hold Cuba to a tie.
Not that anyone is accusing Belize of possible match-fixing, of course.
Six: Hart’s birth paper
No homegrown Trinidad and Tobago coach has ever failed to return from the Gold Cup without a victory.

Read more...

85

Football / Our heroes: Wired868's shortlist of T&T football stars and how to reward them

« on: June 30, 2013, 10:32:41 AM »

Our Heroes: Wired868 asks TTFA to recognise its shortlist of T&T stars
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com)

Four years ago, as Trinidad and Tobago stood at the cusp of a Germany 2006 World Cup place, former “Strike Squad” star midfielder Kerry Jamerson was forced to negotiate with scalpers outside the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain for the chance to see a vital qualifier against Guatemala.
Jamerson’s own lethal long-ranged strikes against Guatemala, 16 years earlier, remain defining moments of Trinidad and Tobago football. But there was nothing in place to make the ex-Defence Force and Arima United stand-out feel like a part of the football family.
Last month, new Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Raymond Tim Kee challenged Wired868 to create a shortlist of former national heroes who, owing to their exemplary service for country, should never have to pay or receive a ‘a favour’ to see the “Soca Warriors” play.
These players, in my estimate, have exemplified our national watchwords: Together we aspire, together we achieve. They have dug deep to represent Trinidad and Tobago with pride against bigger nations with more resources.
Should the TTFA offer then a tangible reward, it may go further than a pat on the back. It might also inspire the next generation of players by showing the courtesy and respect that is guaranteed if they succeed. And it potentially ensures the continued emotional involvement of our best past talent in football, which can be useful for the transference of knowledge from one generation to the next.
My proposal is a two-tiered system that recognises players who were part of special teams as well as those who stood out for their length of service. The selected players will receive passes for all international football games and the option to purchase up to four tickets per game.
I consider those special teams to be our first World Cup team from the 1966 qualifiers, the players from our  1974 campaign, the unforgettable Strike Squad and, of course, or team of 2006.
This would include but not necessarily be limited to the following players (some are now deceased but I include their names out of respect for their legacy):

Read more...

86

Football / TTFA unveil Hart... But Beenhakker's a no-show and assistants still in limbo

« on: June 24, 2013, 05:15:58 PM »

Hart's here: But Beenhakker's a no-show and assistant still in limbo
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Former Canada national football team coach Stephen Hart was officially unveiled today as the new Trinidad and Tobago head coach at a media conference at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain and later held his first session with the “Soca Warriors” at the same venue.

Hart, a 53-year-old Trinidad and Tobago native, has agreed a two-year deal with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) although, according to local football president Raymond Tim Kee, he has not yet received his official contract.

Former 2006 World Cup coach Leo Beenhakker has also accepted a six-month deal with the TTFA to work as director of football. Beenhakker was not present at today’s media conference and will not come to Trinidad before the Gold Cup.

The remainder of Hart’s technical staff, which includes assistants Hutson “Barber” Charles and Derek King and goalkeeping coach Jefferson George, were not afforded the same security. Tim Kee admitted that Charles and King were not offered any deal and, at least for now, will continue to work on a verbal month-to-month deal.

None of the senior team technical staff members have been paid this year. Tim Kee and general secretary Sheldon Phillips both said they are working on that issue with the Ministry of Sport.

The national football team will have two budgets going forward. One budget will comprise of the salaries of the incumbent coaches and players and will be sent to the Ministry of Sport. The other will include only the salaries of Hart and Beenhakker and will allegedly be picked up by three unnamed sponsors—two local and one international organisation.

Has the TTFA just implemented a two-tier coaching set-up with Beenhakker and Hart in first-class and the rest in economy? Does the TTFA not foresee problems if two coaches are paid at month end and the rest go home empty handed?

Tim Kee insisted that the TTFA would do its best to address the current arrears to the staff while hoping that future corporate deals offer a buffer for instances when the Government is late in paying. He insisted suggestions that he was disrespectful to the local staff were wide of the mark.

“To say I am finding money to pay other coaches and the (local) staff is just not true,” said Tim Kee.

He said there were no bad feelings between himself and former co-head coach Jamaal Shabazz although the latter turned down the chance to stay on as Hart’s assistant. Shabazz, said Tim Kee, was given an option to take over one of the national youth teams.

“Shabazz’s position is one I might have taken myself,” he said. “… I have absolutely no negatives to say about Shabazz.”

At present, Trinidad and Tobago is ranked 81st in the world by FIFA; Canada, who replaced Hart last October, is two places lower at 83rd.

So why did the TTFA feel so certain that Hart could improve on the foundation laid by Charles, Shabazz and King with just two weeks to go before the CONCACAF Gold Cup?

Tim Kee replied that Hart had the experience at CONCACAF level, which Charles, Shabazz and King did not.

Wired868 pointed out that Beenhakker had no experience of CONCACAF international competition when he came to Trinidad in 2005. Conversely, Shabazz led Guyana to a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw away to El Salvador, a year ago, and Charles and King both have CONCACAF experience as players.

Besides, how does one get experience if one is not given the opportunity?

Tim Kee retorted that he did not say the present staff had no experience but that Hart might be the missing puzzle piece. He pointed to the poor recent returns of the Warriors and claimed that Beenhakker described them as “eleven enthusiastic players but (…) not a team” after watching T&T fall 4-0 to Romania.

According to the TTFA president, after researching the ex-Canada boss, the ex-Real Madrid and Netherlands international coach, declared that Hart “knows his football.”

Hart’s last game in charge of Canada was a 8-1 loss away to Honduras. Would Beenhakker have given him rave reviews if he judged him based on that game?

Was it then fair to judge Charles, Shabazz and King on the Romania match, particularly when they were introducing new players to the squad?

Tim Kee stood his ground and suggested that, in Hart’s case, the trend leading up to the 8-1 loss was important to place the lopsided result into context. He said his decision might be proven wrong but insisted that a decision had to be made.

The TTFA president also tried to explain the recruitment of Beenhakker.

He said that Beenhakker found out about Trinidad and Tobago’s friendly against Romania on the FIFA website and asked to come to the match.

“I expect Beenhakker, being the man he is, to be tuned in to the FIFA website,” said Tim Kee. “He said he would be happy to come if we invited him… I thought that was reasonable.”

Tim Kee further claimed that Beenhakker paid his own way and said the TTFA only approached the Dutchman about the coaching post a week after the Romania match, which was staged on 4 June 2013.

But Tim Kee’s version directly contradicted accounts from Wired868, TTFA vice-president and technical committee chairman Rudi Thomas and his own press officer, Shaun Fuentes.

Wired868 exclusively revealed that talks had begun with Beenhakker and the TTFA long before kick-off on June 4.

“Wired868 understands that Tim Kee, through general secretary Sheldon Phillips, has approached Beenhakker for help in a technical capacity rather than as head coach,” stated the article, on this website. “However a return to run the bench, at least in the short term, has not been ruled out by either party.”

In a separate article, Thomas told Wired868 that he was informed on June 4 about talks between the TTFA and Beenhakker.

“I only knew that discussions were initiated with Mr Beenhakker while the general secretary was in Romania,” said Thomas.

And, on June 6, a TTFA release confirmed that discussions were being held with the Dutchman.

“The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association can in fact confirm that discussions have been held with the former Netherlands and Real Madrid manager,” stated the release, “about his interest in having a role with the FA again. Beenhakker met on Tuesday with TTFF president Raymond Tim Kee and general secretary Sheldon Phillips before returning to his homeland the following day.”

What is the difference between Beenhakker’s new role as “director of football” and Anton Corneal’s post as “technical director?”

Tim Kee said Beenhakker will “draw up a syllabus” to help develop Trinidad and Tobago’s football programmes and local coaches. When asked to compare the Dutchman’s duties with those of Corneal, he said that: “One teaches regulations and the other teaches how to apply regulations.”

Hart, who thanked the TTFA for bringing him back home, said that he can “draw upon (Beenhakker) or off him anytime.” Phillips offered a third description of Beenhakker’s role.

“His function (at the Gold Cup) is to observe, assess and provide recommendation,” said the TTFA General Secretary. “… After the Gold Cup, (Beenhakker) will look at the wider national programmes.”

Phillips suggested that Corneal’s role will primarily be to look after the youth teams while Beenhakker will be involved with the adult set-up.

Tim Kee said he was informed that the players are pleased with the new faces. He added the caveat that this did not mean they were previously unhappy with the old faces.

The TTFA President further proclaimed that the recent resolution of the 2006 World Cup bonus dispute is evidence of his warm approach to the national footballers.

“I have always had a passion for supporting players,” said Tim Kee.

So did the players have bonus arrangements in place for the Gold Cup tournament, which is just two weeks away?

Tim Kee and Phillips admitted that the matter of bonuses has not been sorted out yet.

The only persons within the international set-up who seemed to have any assurances about their immediate and long-term futures are Hart and Beenhakker.

One reporter asked if the TTFA had informed Hart about the minimum expected of him at the Gold Cup.

Tim Kee replied that he hoped to see the Warriors get into the second round.

Did that mean anything less than qualification for the second round would be seen as failure?

“If we see that we lost but we were playing good (football)…” said Tim Kee.

So, Wired868 asked, has the bar been lowered and are three valiant losses all it now takes to satisfy the TTFA?

Tim Kee laughed, along with the press gathering. But he did not answer.

87

Football / Enough! Sport Minister should resign now

« on: June 16, 2013, 06:36:18 PM »

Adios, Au Revoir, Ciao... Time to say goodbye, Anil
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

It is not like Sport Minister Anil Roberts to be without an opinion that he does not want to scream into someone’s face.

It’s strange then to see the Spalk Minister so timid in the face of a damning Auditor General’s report that accuses him and his miniature Permanent Secretary Ashwin Creed of shocking mismanagement at best. At the worse, the lack of financial accountability within the Ministry of Sport could be a matter for the Fraud Squad.

Here are some highlights: $12,499,033.01 is unaccounted for from Sport’s Infrastructure Development Fund. Did that fall between the cushion covers, Anil? That must be one hell of a big couch.


Photo: Sport Minister Anil Roberts (right) poses with FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Is this who gives you your financial advice, Anil?
There was $992,900 due to the Trinidad and Tobago national men’s football team programme that was “used for other football programmes than the one intended.”

Mr Live Wire is sure that “Soca Warriors” who slept at the Helsinki international airport this month during a 12-hour lay-over would love to hear about those “other football programmes.”

A payment of $1,996,400, which exceeded the Permanent Secretary’s authorised limit of $1,000,000, was made to the Taking Sports to Rural Areas project for work on 40 grounds. A query from the Auditor General found that the Ministry of Sport could only identify 17 grounds that benefitted.

Worse, according to the Auditor General: “there was no evidence on the vouchers seen that was work was carried out satisfactorily.”

Live Wire can go on as the Auditor General’s criticisms are fairly extensive. But that sums it up nicely.

There is no evidence, Anil, that your work as Sport Minister has been carried out satisfactorily.


Photo: A Trinidad and Tobago national football team technical staff member dreams about his Sport Minister at the international airport in Helsinki this month, during a 12-hour lay-over.
The Ministry of Sport had a whopping 1275 percent increase in its budget for 2012, which rose from $28.7 million to $395.8 million. The Auditor General mandates that the Ministry should have at least six internal auditors to oversee its affairs. Instead, Sport has just one.

At best, your internal audit system is operating at around 16 percent of its capacity. But when you deduct the time that your auditor spent minding the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board’s business or conducting a witch hunt against All Sport Promotion, who knows how much of the people’s business was done.

Last year, the Ministry of Sport promised five community grounds to the Pro League before the end of the season. Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene told Wired868 that he would be happy to just get three.

Not only did the Pro League get zero community grounds; but, for the second half of the season, the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Larry Gomes Stadium and Mannie Ramjohn Stadium were all down for repairs and Trinidad and Tobago’s professional football competition had to rent Robert’s former Cabinet colleague Jack Warner’s controversial CONCACAF Centre of Excellence so as to finish its fixtures.

A year ago, Creed insulted the senior national football team as an “abysmal” bunch and suggested, via email, that the Ministry was not inclined to spend a cent on the Soca Warriors.

Those same losers are on their way to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and were deemed to have enough potential to entice former Real Madrid and Netherlands international coach Leo Beenhakker to join them for the adventure.


Photo: The Trinidad and Tobago national football team celebrates booking its place at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Who’s the loser now, Creed?
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
The other local sporting bodies that Roberts publicly berated for being unprofessional and lacking transparency and accountability must be looking on curiously at the Sport Minister’s loss of voice in the face of the Auditor General. The flat-wicket bully is silent.

Talk nah, Anil.

Roberts and Creed, Live Wire believes that you are both sport’s weakest links. Why not just say “goodbye?”

 

Editor’s Note: Wired868 editor Lasana Liburd was a guest at Andre Baptiste’s “D Fearless One” radio programme on Saturday evening, which dealt extensively with the Auditor General’s report in relation to sport.

88

Football / FIFA: The FBI and IRS will deal with Warner

« on: May 29, 2013, 11:55:05 AM »

FIFA official: The FBI and IRS will deal with Warner
By Editor (Wired868.com)

FIFA today acknowledged for the first time that its former vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago politician Jack Warner might be a target for the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Inland Revenue Services (IRS).

Warner insisted that he was unfairly targeted by a CONCACAF integrity report and got three paid jurists to support his claims as he prepares to contest the Chaguanas West seat in a by-election.

In a recent press conference, the former Minister of Minister of National Security made light of the findings from FIFA and CONCACAF since they do not carry the same weight as a court of law.

But Domenico Scala, the head of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee told Reuters that the ex-CONCACAF President should be careful what he wishes for. Scala alleged that there may be much more serious investigators on the trail of Warner and his former general secretary Chuck Blazer.

“In the case of Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer this has far bigger implications than just (FIFA’s) Ethics Committee, or the rules of the game,” said Scala, in a media briefing the day before the FIFA annual congress. “There is sufficient suspicion that they have gone against the law and this will become an issue for the FBI and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) in the case of taxation.

“So here the Ethics Committee and the world of FIFA stops; and people who have gone against the law will have to deal with the law.”

CONCACAF Integrity Committee chairman and former Barbados attorney general and chief justice Sir David Simmons found Warner and Blazer guilty of a series of fraudulent activities during their 21-year stint at the helm of the Confederation.

Warner, who resigned all his political posts after Simmons’ report in April, was accused of deceiving CONCACAF over the ownership of the Centre of Excellence among other things. The wealthy former administrator had repeatedly denied ownership of the Centre of Excellence until this year after Wired868’s exclusive report on the controversial venue.

Scala described Warner’s protestations as “useless and worthless.”

“If you read the CONCACAF integrity report it does not say anything positive or polite (about them),” said the 48-year-old Swiss industrialist, who was hired to enforce new financial controls at FIFA and guide the body’s reform process on to the statute books. “It’s a horrible document so therefore whatever they are saying today is frankly useless and worthless because, over an extended period of time, they abused the system…

“Here we have two individuals who behaved the way they did. Do we have other cases like this at FIFA? Maybe, I don’t know, but we have to face facts; we have to be very careful of accusing everybody because we have had 10 years of accusations and allegations and suspicions.”

Scala said that he advised Warner’s successor as CONCACAF president, Jeffrey Webb, to leave the Trinidadian to the relevant authorities.

“I said this to the new CONCACAF president: this issue is now one for the government entities and has passed (beyond) the FIFA world,” he said.

Scala said FIFA now ensures greater scrutiny of planned development grants and, as a result, projects in seven countries have been halted because of accounting concerns.

“From now on, no matter what went on in the past,” said Scala, “we are going to make sure that FIFA’s development money is used for the purpose it is intended.”

The Trinidad and Football Federation (TTFF) received two FIFA GOAL project grants over the past 15 years and both were used at the Centre of Excellence.

However, national football teams are still charged standard rates to use the playing facilities and the Trinidad and Tobago under-17 team was unable to train there before its ultimately unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign in April.

89

Football / Simply the best: Wired868's Pro League All-Stars

« on: May 29, 2013, 10:30:58 AM »

Simply the best: Wired868's Pro League All-Stars
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com)

Joevin Jones is in, so is Daneil Cyrus, Cleon John and Devorn Jorsling. Those are the easy picks.
Click here and see who all else made the grade for the Wired868 All Star team: http://www.wired868.com/2013/05/29/simply-the-best-wired868s-pro-league-all-stars/

90

Football / Watson: Tim Kee must apologise or I'll sue

« on: May 21, 2013, 09:30:55 AM »

Watson: Tim Kee must retract 2006 W/Cup funds claim
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com)

Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) president Raymond Tim Kee was toasted by the 2006 World Cup players yesterday afternoon as the two parties publicly signalled the end to a seven-year legal battle over bonus money.
But Tim Kee, who was appointed unopposed last November after the sudden withdrawal of opponent Colin Murray, appears less popular with the local football body. This morning, TTFF vice-president and former interim president Lennox Watson threatened legal action against Tim Kee unless he retracts a claim regarding CONCACAF funds used to pay the “Soca Warriors.”
TTFF general secretary Sheldon Phillips said the Warriors were paid from “unclaimed commercial and broadcast revenues” that was due to the local football body from the 2014 World Cup qualifying cycle. And Tim Kee insisted, at yesterday’s press conference, that Watson knew about the existence of the money but did not try to access it although the TTFF was virtually bankrupt last year.
“It is something that (CONCACAF president Jeffrey) Webb said he shared at a (Caribbean Football Union) conference that Mr Watson was at,” said Tim Kee, at the Hasely Crawford’s VIP room. “It is something that is new to me but not new to them.”
It provoked a furious response from Watson.

Read more...