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Offline ABTrini

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1200 on: September 25, 2020, 01:55:01 PM »
He pockets lined with sooo munch silver and gold yuh they KN he worried about instill g a passion to take on training?

Man come form mother c**try make ah name fun heself here rob the coffers and yuh think he go say yuh the lads - come ah go train allyuh forget the Bss Leah we get ready duh when things change?
 Nah he busy crying about money - why he eh get Peter to have private sponsorshipto support players and coaches during this time-
Hats off to Jamaica - but their national athletics teams are well supported by corporations-

Ent we just had 22mil of corrupted funds seized- what a Robin Hood move that would have been to deploy into the football programs at this point.


Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1201 on: September 27, 2020, 11:38:49 AM »
'Who can we trust?' asks T&T coach Fenwick.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (Newsday).


NATIONAL men’s football coach Terry Fenwick believes United TTFA’s decision to renew its legal fight with FIFA will bring further detriment to the administration of local football.

Fenwick, who was appointed coach by ousted TT Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his executive in December 2019, has dubbed this move by the former regime as “poor” and “unprofessional”.

On Thursday, FIFA indefinitely suspended the TTFA for failing to withdraw its case against the sport’s governing body before their 3 pm (TT time) deadline on September 23.

Wallace and his executive were contesting, in the TT High Court, FIFA’s decision to remove them from the helm of local football, in March, and appoint a normalisation committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad, to run the affairs of local football.

After several warnings from FIFA, that T&T could be sanctioned for their persistence to contest its decision in a local court, and not the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the global governing body stood true to their word and suspended the TTFA, even though Wallace’s team withdrew their case, two minutes past the 3 pm deadline.

On Friday, however, the ousted administration sought to withdraw its withdrawal of the lawsuit and file an injunction of FIFA’s suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) – the same judicial system shunned upon by Wallace in the early stages of its legal battle.

“FIFA gave the Wallace’s team plenty of warning," said Fenwick. "They are very good at carving out rules and regulations but when it comes to abiding by the timeframes that were given by the court, they’ve not done it themselves.

“That, for me, is very poor and unprofessional. They’re playing games with the livelihoods of young, senior and national coaches. I could never agree with that,” stated the former England defender.

Without proper leadership and the inability to participate in FIFA-sanctioned tournaments, Fenwick remains uncertain on the future of T&T football. According to him, players, coaches and fans are now searching blindly for answers to the current fiasco which has brought the sport to a virtual standstill.

“Who can we trust? Who can we believe in? There is a clear lack of leadership across the board and that’s leaving all of the sport’s stakeholders in limbo and unsure of what will happen next,” he added.

Amidst the suspension, Hadad revealed, on Friday, that T&T will be included in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup draw which is set to take place on September 28.

After an “emergency meeting”, on Thursday night, Concacaf issued a statement declaring that T&T would only be able to participate in the competition if the suspension imposed on the TTFA is lifted by 5 pm on December 18.

If the ban is not lifted, T&T will be replaced by Antigua/Barbuda.

“It’s a lot of mixed emotions now. We all want to be involved in the Gold Cup and World Cup qualifiers. A suspension of any sort serves no good to T&T football. The sport is already suffering and under pressure.

“The TT Pro League and Super League are already non-existent (owing to covid19 restrictions). Money is hard to come by and we just don’t know where to look. The rest of the world is playing football while we are not,” he continued.

Since Wednesday’s suspension, several foreign and locally-based national players have been reaching out to their coach querying the repercussions of FIFA’s indefinite ban on their professional careers.

According to the 60-year old former San Juan Jabloteh and Central FC coach, he is sometimes lost for words trying to explain the possible outcomes, of this FIFA sanction, to the national players.

“All of my local and international players are reaching out to me. It’s not very nice. What can I communicate to them? They’re seeing everything for themselves and wondering what the hell’s going on. They want to play, to represent their country.

He concluded, “In the meantime, I will certainly be trying to get my players out to training again, trying to lift our spirits and give them a bit of hope.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1202 on: September 29, 2020, 12:40:22 AM »
Gold Cup frustration: Fenwick frustrated ahead of tonight's draw
By Narissa Fraser (Newsday).


DESPITE being suspended from all international competitions by the FIFA, Trinidad and Tobago will be included in the 2021 Gold Cup group stage draw. But head coach of the senior men's national team Terry Fenwick says he feels frustrated.

T&T are yet to reach a Gold Cup final. In 2015, they reached the quarter-finals under then-coach Stephen Hart, but their best performance was in 2000 when they made it to the semi-finals under Bertille St Clair.

In 2019, under coach Dennis Lawrence, they were eliminated in the first round after a 2-0 loss to Panama, a 6-0 beating by the US and a 1-1 draw against Guyana in Group D.

But this draw comes as a bittersweet moment for the TT Football Association (TTFA).

Last Thursday, FIFA suspended the TTFA indefinitely after it missed the deadline to withdraw its appeal in the local High Court by two minutes. The appeal was against FIFA's decision in March to appoint a normalisation committee to run the affairs of local football.

Concacaf then held an “emergency meeting,” where it was agreed T&T will be included in the draw, but if the suspension is not lifted by 5 pm on December 18, it will be replaced by Antigua and Barbuda who have never competed in a Gold Cup.

In its official announcement of the TTFA's suspension, FIFA said it may only be lifted if: "The TTFA complies with the terms and conditions of its membership of FIFA as set out under the FIFA statutes, including in particular article 59 of the FIFA statutes.

"The TTFA acknowledges and confirms FIFA's powers and authority to appoint a normalisation committee subject only to the right of the TTFA to appeal such a decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"The TTFA statutes are amended to ensure that all types of disputes may only be submitted to the established dispute resolution forum at CAS."

But the ball remains in court.

The ousted executive has since withdrawn its initial withdrawal of the case, locally. And after previously questioning the impartiality of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland, they sought to return there to continue its fight against FIFA.

Several stakeholders, supporters and past players continue to call on the ousted executive to comply to increase the chances of the ban being lifted in time.

Speaking with Newsday on Monday afternoon, Fenwick said while it is "a rather good draw" to be included in, it's solely based on "what ifs.

"For me, the coaches, the players, the fans in general – football is down on the floor at the moment. We need to sort ourselves out so we can look forward to occasions like this with a bit of heart.

"We were already not training because of covid19, also no football is being played right now in T&T – and that's not necessarily because of covid19 but because of the lack of finance and the people that are behind it."

Asked if he is hopeful the respective parties comply to see the suspension lifted in time, he said, "Absolutely."

He added that being able to receive FIFA funding once again is crucial.

"The United TTFA haven't got any money, and in my opinion, I think it's just throwing the young generation of footballers under the bus."

RELATED NEWS

T&T may face Montserrat in Gold Cup prelims
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).


Trinidad and Tobago may face Montserrat in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup first stage preliminary round, scheduled for next July, following the official draw in Miami, Florida, US on Monday evening.

T&T were included in the draw, despite its suspension from FIFA, football's global governing body, on Thursday for violating FIFA statutes. However, T&T can participate in the Gold Cup prelims once their suspension is lifted by FIFA by 5 pm (TT time) on December 18. If the suspension is not lifted, then Antigua/Barbuda will replace T&T in the preliminary round.

Matches in the preliminary round will take place in the US. The other first stage preliminary round games are Haiti versus St Vincent/Grenadines, Bermuda versus Barbados, Guatemala versus Guyana, Guadeloupe versus Bahamas and Cuba versus French Guiana.

The second stage preliminary round games are – winners of the Haiti-St Vincent/Grenadines and Bermuda/Barbados ties; winners of the Guatemala/Guyana and Guadeloupe/Bahamas ties; and winners of the T&T or Antigua/Barbuda/Montserrat and Cuba/French Guiana ties.

The winners of the second stage will advance to the 16-team Gold Cup.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1203 on: September 30, 2020, 12:43:43 AM »
Fenwick: Draw not bad, but hoping FIFA suspension lifted soon.
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express).


Still optimistic

THE faster FIFA’s suspension of Trinidad and Tobago football is lifted, the better it is for Terry Fenwick, T&T’s senior men’s coach.

“I have got to remain optimistic for my players,” stated Fenwick, who says he has been in constant contact with several national team regulars and prospects.

The former England defender feels that the draw for 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup gives the Soca Warriors an excellent chance of being in the 16-team finals, provided issues surrounding the legal challenge to FIFA, by former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) executives, are resolved soon.

“I’m hoping we can resolve all the internal issues that we’ve got,” said Fenwick. “Anybody that draws Trinidad and Tobago at the moment thinks that they are going to win, because of the mess that we are in. It not easy with all this stuff going on.”

Fenwick remains perplexed as to why the local Association’s United TTFA faction, headed by its president William Wallace, continue to prolong action against FIFA, even with CONCACAF and FIFA extending an olive branch which could see T&T’s suspension soon ended.

T&T were included in the draw, despite being suspended by world football’s global governing body last Thursday, for violating FIFA statutes. If the suspension is not lifted by December 18, Antigua/Barbuda will replace T&T in the preliminary round.

“The TTFA have not one red cent. How can they run football without FIFA funding,” Fenwick questioned. The sixty-year-old is mainly concerned about his team being ready for when T&T face a dangerous Montserrat — made up primarily England-born footballers — in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup opening round first-stage preliminary round match next July.

This was determined at Monday’s draw, for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which took place in the Miami, Florida, USA. T&T compete in a 12-team preliminary knockout stage, running from July 2-6, which will determine the final three group-stage participants. Should T&T get by Montserrat, they meet the winner of Cuba vs French Guiana, for a spot into the 16-nations Gold Cup.

“I think its a good draw, if we are on our feet and if we got time to prepare. If I have time to prepare my team before we play these games,” added Fenwick, who also felt the football politics can also not be good for his recruitment drive. “We have identified a lot of quality players to add to what we already got. I have not had a chance to see them. You can’t hide anything. Everything is out in the media, social media and it can’t be very good for them,” he sighed.

Of importance to Fenwick is getting his local squad back in training as soon as possible, before meeting an improved Montserrat next July. English footballers with Caribbean roots have transformed Montserrat from Caribbean whipping boys into a team which shocked many in the 2019 CONCACAF National League, where they won over the Dominican Republic and Belize, while only going down 1-0 in El Salvador.

None of Montserrat’s footballers live on the island. In addition, Willie Donachie, the former Scotland international and assistant to Joe Royle at various clubs, became manager last year and transformed Montserrat into a team known for working hard and always dangerous in dead ball situations.

“The majority of their players are coming out of England, playing in the lower leagues. So they will have structure, organisation. I got work to do. Research to do. I have to find out who they got. Thank God I’ve got some time to do it. But the most important thing is having time on the ground with my own players,” Fenwick concluded.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1204 on: October 05, 2020, 12:35:06 AM »
Coach Fenwick wants final resolution to court matter come Friday.
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express).


END THIS NOW

NATIONAL COACH Terry Fenwick said the time needed to get the men’s national team prepared for World Cup qualifiers next year is fast running out and he hopes the ongoing dispute between former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) executives and FIFA to be once and for all resolved this week.

T&T have been suspended from international football after former TTFA president Williams Wallace and his vice-presidents took FIFA -- world football’s governing body -- to the local High Court, challenging their dismissal (the TTFA) in March while being replaced by a FIFA-instituted normalisation committee, headed by local businessman Robert Hadad.

The case is due to be heard on Friday, before Madame Justice Carol Gobin. Following the judgment, Wallace has promised to allow delegates to decide the future of local football.

“I want this sorted out by Friday this week. One way or the other,” stated Fenwick, adding, “So we can move things on and get my team playing by November.” He said that on both sides of the issue—Wallace’s United TTFA faction and FIFA—administrators seem unconcerned about the damage being done to the senior men’s team’s World Cup ambitions.

“They are not recognising the damage they are doing by dragging this on,” Fenwick reiterated. “With William Wallace and Keith Look Loy on one side and Hadad on the next side, they are not realising the time that I need for players to come together,” he noted, adding, “On paper I have some excellent new players that I have identified. But I still have not seem them.”

The former England national further stressed: “There is a two-week FIFA international window where everyone is playing games. They are getting on with things and here we are, still trying to figure out the issues with ownership of the TTFA.”

Fenwick revealed that having identified players, he still has not been given the opportunity to begin preliminary work with them. “There is a FIFA window coming up. They got a fortnight off... No games, no nothing. We have not organised anything,” he lamented. “Not even here in Trinidad have I been able to call a squad together and maybe even play a game among ourselves, because of the state of football here.”

He went on further: “No one is taking into consideration that these windows are for a reason, so we can prepare and organise. After this we got one more FIFA window in November, and then we’ve got World Cup qualifiers next year.”

Fenwick is adamant that he needs to see his players on the ground so as to have an idea which combination of players works. He said that, ironically, even with these limitations, the administrators will still expect his team to win. “Even if I had a camp, it would help,” Fenwick said. “We have another window coming up in November and we need to get things going,” he concluded.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1205 on: November 03, 2020, 01:37:03 AM »
Restart football in 'bubble'
By Stephon Nicholas (Newsday).


Kickstarting a World Cup campaign while banned by FIFA is a scenario T&T men's football coach Terry Fenwick never envisaged when he got the job on December 19, 2019.

Eleven months later, that is the reality for Fenwick. who has also yet to see his team play a competitive – or even a friendly – match. He has also yet to receive his salary.

The former England international had two friendlies against Canada lined up in March, but the outbreak of covid19 scuppered those plans.

The pandemic turned out to be just the first wave in a tsunami of troubles to hit local football.

On March 17, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to take charge of T&T football, replacing the William Wallace-led executive. A six-month legal battle ensued and culminated in a September 24 ban handed down by FIFA.

FIFA suspended the TTFA after Wallace's executive insisted on challenging its removal in the local High Court and not the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

FIFA said the suspension will only be lifted when the TTFA fully complies with its obligations as a member of FIFA, including recognising the legitimacy of the committee and bringing its own statutes into line with the FIFA statutes.

If the suspension is not lifted by December 18, T&T could miss the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers.

With Wallace's recent decision to withdraw all legal challenges against FIFA and acquiesce to the wishes of the TTFA membership to accept the normalisation committee, it is a race against time to meet the obligations FIFA has outlined.

However, Fenwick believes T&T cannot wait till December, as the national programme is way behind its regional and international competition.

"We're already behind," Fenwick told Newsday on Monday.

Fenwick recently wrote to National Security Minister Stuart Young seeking to organise training and friendly matches to get the national programme jumpstarted ahead of the November 9-19 FIFA international window.

In the letter, Fenwick said, "Domestic football here in T&T has come to a complete standstill over the last year because of the same political dispute surrounding the United TTFA and their clash with FIFA, the governing body of world football. I am in hope that these issues have now been resolved and we as a nation can move on and compete in world football.

"I would like to bring to your attention that 'elite football' involving all the main domestic leagues around the world and international football has resumed everywhere but here in T&T. I ask for your consideration and help to get T&T elite football off the ground and back up and running. We need the nation to be positive and proud of our national football teams. Please help us get back on track."

Fenwick's proposal involved resuming training at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on November 2 with a doctor present and all players being checked for covid19 symptoms before every session.

Fenwick said the measures used to host the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) can be adopted.

"I humbly request the same 'bubble' that was afforded to CPL cricket back in August/September 2020."

He said to get the T&T players back in some competitive action, a Tobago versus Trinidad game would be held around November 12-17.

"Great for both islands and extremely positive. On the heels of that, we would also like to have a game against neighbours Grenada, 28-29 of November, to get back on track."

Fenwick said it has been difficult to execute plans while T&T is banned and covid19 restrictions are in place. He noted a Saudi Arabia friendly that was on the cards had to be cancelled after T&T was suspended. Instead, Saudi Arabia has arranged two friendlies against the Reggae Boyz on November 14 and 17.

Fenwick also said he needs a travel exemption to scout opposition and look at overseas-based players and those eligible to represent T&T.

"It's important to catch up with what's happening in the region and find out a bit more about out opponents. There is nothing better than seeing them live."

He said local players have played no football for the entire year, which will hamstring the team heading into World Cup qualifiers.

He said with the United Kingdom about to enter a month-long lockdown and the US also taking preventative measures, club will be extremely hesitant about releasing players.

"These club sides will not want players leaving outside a FIFA window. I'm gonna have to put a side together that's experienced and been around the block. There is no Pro League, there is no Super League. There is gonna be just four to five days (training) before my first (competitive) game.

"I've set up a WhatsApp group with local players and talents from overseas to try to bond but it's all futile until I get them on a training ground."

Fenwick held a recent meeting with national security officials and outlined his proposal.

But, he said, "Lots of people are speculating and with all due respect, I'm working hard behind the scenes on players' passports and other plans. We are trying to shortcut so when suspension is lifted we are ready to operate."

Fenwick listed a squad of 33 players to start training. He said the squad will be adjusted when overseas players become available.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline ABTrini

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1206 on: November 03, 2020, 02:57:05 AM »
Before you talk friendlies- let's get some local interest and also build some internal competition for place on team
A series of-
North v south
North, South, Tobago
TnT locals versus Foreign eligible players
Then select an X1

For  friendliest- home and away :
Venezuela - that will incite interest in TnT
Curaçao
Guyana
India
Nigeria
Jamaica
Bangladesh
Samoa







Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1207 on: November 03, 2020, 04:20:53 AM »
Restart football in 'bubble'
By Stephon Nicholas (Newsday).


Kickstarting a World Cup campaign while banned by FIFA is a scenario T&T men's football coach Terry Fenwick never envisaged when he got the job on December 19, 2019.

Eleven months later, that is the reality for Fenwick. who has also yet to see his team play a competitive – or even a friendly – match. He has also yet to receive his salary.

The former England international had two friendlies against Canada lined up in March, but the outbreak of covid19 scuppered those plans.

The pandemic turned out to be just the first wave in a tsunami of troubles to hit local football.

On March 17, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee to take charge of T&T football, replacing the William Wallace-led executive. A six-month legal battle ensued and culminated in a September 24 ban handed down by FIFA.

FIFA suspended the TTFA after Wallace's executive insisted on challenging its removal in the local High Court and not the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

FIFA said the suspension will only be lifted when the TTFA fully complies with its obligations as a member of FIFA, including recognising the legitimacy of the committee and bringing its own statutes into line with the FIFA statutes.

If the suspension is not lifted by December 18, T&T could miss the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers.

With Wallace's recent decision to withdraw all legal challenges against FIFA and acquiesce to the wishes of the TTFA membership to accept the normalisation committee, it is a race against time to meet the obligations FIFA has outlined.

However, Fenwick believes T&T cannot wait till December, as the national programme is way behind its regional and international competition.

"We're already behind," Fenwick told Newsday on Monday.

Fenwick recently wrote to National Security Minister Stuart Young seeking to organise training and friendly matches to get the national programme jumpstarted ahead of the November 9-19 FIFA international window.

In the letter, Fenwick said, "Domestic football here in T&T has come to a complete standstill over the last year because of the same political dispute surrounding the United TTFA and their clash with FIFA, the governing body of world football. I am in hope that these issues have now been resolved and we as a nation can move on and compete in world football.

"I would like to bring to your attention that 'elite football' involving all the main domestic leagues around the world and international football has resumed everywhere but here in T&T. I ask for your consideration and help to get T&T elite football off the ground and back up and running. We need the nation to be positive and proud of our national football teams. Please help us get back on track."

Fenwick's proposal involved resuming training at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on November 2 with a doctor present and all players being checked for covid19 symptoms before every session.

Fenwick said the measures used to host the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) can be adopted.

"I humbly request the same 'bubble' that was afforded to CPL cricket back in August/September 2020."

He said to get the T&T players back in some competitive action, a Tobago versus Trinidad game would be held around November 12-17.

"Great for both islands and extremely positive. On the heels of that, we would also like to have a game against neighbours Grenada, 28-29 of November, to get back on track."

Fenwick said it has been difficult to execute plans while T&T is banned and covid19 restrictions are in place. He noted a Saudi Arabia friendly that was on the cards had to be cancelled after T&T was suspended. Instead, Saudi Arabia has arranged two friendlies against the Reggae Boyz on November 14 and 17.

Fenwick also said he needs a travel exemption to scout opposition and look at overseas-based players and those eligible to represent T&T.

"It's important to catch up with what's happening in the region and find out a bit more about out opponents. There is nothing better than seeing them live."

He said local players have played no football for the entire year, which will hamstring the team heading into World Cup qualifiers.

He said with the United Kingdom about to enter a month-long lockdown and the US also taking preventative measures, club will be extremely hesitant about releasing players.

"These club sides will not want players leaving outside a FIFA window. I'm gonna have to put a side together that's experienced and been around the block. There is no Pro League, there is no Super League. There is gonna be just four to five days (training) before my first (competitive) game.

"I've set up a WhatsApp group with local players and talents from overseas to try to bond but it's all futile until I get them on a training ground."

Fenwick held a recent meeting with national security officials and outlined his proposal.

But, he said, "Lots of people are speculating and with all due respect, I'm working hard behind the scenes on players' passports and other plans. We are trying to shortcut so when suspension is lifted we are ready to operate."

Fenwick listed a squad of 33 players to start training. He said the squad will be adjusted when overseas players become available.

Through the authorization of whom?

Offline maxg

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1208 on: November 03, 2020, 06:46:34 AM »
As he get on that saddle, the horse could buck how much it want, he not letting go.. he have nothing else to do right now anyway, so might as well put on a good cowboys show, when the Covid fog clears, there will be only one cowboy left in the saddle, and that’s who will be paid, back paid even. Ride’em 🤠

Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1209 on: November 08, 2020, 01:51:05 AM »
T&T men’s team to resume training on Wednesday as...Fenwick seeks foreign-based talent for WC qualifiers.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday).


THE continued prohibition of domestic club football by the Government has shrunk the chances of a locally-based professional player being called up to represent T&T at next year’s World Cup qualifiers in March.

Since the pandemic forced the shutdown of T&T’s two top-flight competitions – TT Pro League and TT Super League – eight months ago, local players have been unable to get in the required amount of training time.

However, several of T&T’s foreign-based footballers have already resumed training and competing at an elite level.

In this regard, national senior men’s team coach Terry Fenwick has now opted to scout the majority of his future prospects from those who have returned to competition and are active players on the international circuit.

Although T&T is still indefinitely suspended from all football-related activity, Fenwick plans to utilise the December 7-17 international window to re-establish a connection with some of his potential selections.

Owing to the FIFA suspension, T&T’s senior team will be inactive during the window.

“We’re going into competitive games, World Cup qualifiers, totally unprepared. My staff and I will try our best to select the senior team from players playing in leagues elsewhere. We’ve got no choice because the TT Pro League and Super League are still yet to resume.

“With the local club football restrictions remaining in place, we would probably be limited to use locally-based players. So it’s not a bad call to use players that are currently playing in the bigger and better leagues around the world,” he said.

Fenwick intends to track the progress of these foreign-based athletes by live-streaming the games they participate in to observe their performances.

Achieving a training camp with a combination of both local and foreign-based players would be difficult owing to global travel restrictions.

“During the FIFA window, there’s an opportunity to get them training. I will be looking at the foreign players, how they get on, I’ll be checking them on several different sites that cover all games.

“I will not see them face-to-face but I will be checking them out to pick the best players that are playing in best teams at the best levels. So when competitive games come around in March, we’ve got a team,” he added.

According to the national coach, there are still players returning to T&T on expatriated flights from India, Central American and other regions. Their return home would also bolster the national team training squad given the Prime Minister’s permission, on Saturday, to allow the full resumption of national team training in all sports.

Fenwick plans to host his first training session on Wednesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo or at the St James Barracks training ground. Wednesday’s session would include a light resumption to training followed by a full resurgence from November 23.

With FIFA now satisfied with the TT Football Association’s decision to withdraw its appeal against it from the CAS, T&T’s chances of having its suspension lifted by or before December 18 have increased.

FIFA said it would lift the suspension when the TTFA fully complies with its obligations as a member of FIFA, including recognising the legitimacy of the committee and bringing its statutes into line with FIFA’s.

If the suspension is not lifted by December 18, T&T could miss the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup and the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers.

Over the past eight months, local football has suffered tremendously owing to the pandemic. Fenwick said the legal wrangling between TTFA and the sport’s global governing body has only placed added pressure on an already challenging situation.

“We hope for a revival. We’re being dealt a shorthand. There are nations miles ahead of us as far as development and organisation. They don’t have the bickering at the top that we’ve got across the board.

They’re moving their game, sport and national teams on. We’ve got to get back on that level as well.

“With the Gold Cup in June 2021, by then, hopefully, we would have had two or three international windows so I can then get a good bearing on the players that we have available here in T&T and internationally.

“By then you would expect the Pro League and Super league to be up and running. But that’s not a guarantee and we cannot take any chances. We’ve got to make sure we’re competitive when these games come around. That’s me and my staff planning ahead as we probably can,” he concluded.

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No leadership: Fenwick still waiting to move on
« Reply #1210 on: November 09, 2020, 09:49:01 AM »
No leadership: Fenwick still waiting to move on
By Roger Seepersad (T&T Express)


With no professional or amateur football played in Trinidad and Tobago since March, T&T men’s senior team head coach Terry Fenwick is trying to get potential national players back into training as early as this week but insisted that it will be a tough road ahead for the sport in Trinidad.

The Covid-19 pandemic halted all sporting activities in Trinidad in March and football remains in limbo after the TTFA was suspended by FIFA after the TTFA executive challenged the appointment of FIFA’s Normalisation Committee in the local court in Trinidad.

The TTFA have subsequently withdrawn legal proceedings against FIFA and the TTFA membership met and voted to accept the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee however FIFA is yet to lift the suspension.

Fenwick said with no one at the helm of the TTFA, he is still awaiting guidance in terms of what is the next step for T&T football but while he waits, he will be trying to jump-start the sport with training sessions for locally based players as early as Wednesday this week after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley gave the green light for national teams to resume training.

“It (the road ahead for T&T football) is obviously going to be difficult,” Fenwick told the Express yesterday.

“I would like to thank the Prime Minister for recognising elite sports and national teams by lifting the ban so we can physically train but we’re still on a FIFA suspension,” he explained.

“As we are talking now, there is no leadership at the top. We’re waiting for FIFA to both lift the suspension and reinstate the normalisation committee so we will have some leadership...those things are out of my hands obviously,” he added.

Asked if he would have to get approval from the TTFA to put a training programme in place, Fenwick said: “That’s the point.

There is nobody in charge. There is nobody in a position to give me any guidance or direction.”

He said he has been in constant contact with locally-based and internationally-based players and that the locally-based players are frustrated at the moment.

“I am in contact with these kids and it’s driving them nuts not being able to train.

They are watching football on the television every time they turn it on but there is no football in Trinidad, no training in Trinidad,” he said.

“So, I am trying to fast-track the best I can to get these kids to recognise that they are not on contract with clubs and If you’re not playing for La Horquetta Rangers or Army, Police, then you’re not on contract,” he continued.

“None of the other clubs have contracted their players, so these kids are not doing anything and this (playing football) is what they are trying to achieve as their career path.

I am trying the best I can and I recognise no one is being paid for months, so I am trying to get people to put up a bit of their time and their energy, expertise and knowledge to come and help me to get these players out and training again and try and shortcut to where we want to get to,” he added.

Realistically, he said he might have to look at internationally based players to make up the core of the national team.

“I am trying for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then start fresh again from next Monday and just ease them back into it because they haven’t trained for the least three or four months due to the lockdowns in Trinidad,” said Fenwick.

“I think realistically I will have to look at players playing in quality leagues around the world who are in training and playing in tournaments.

I will have to look in that direction for the World Cup qualifiers that come up in March,” he added.
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Plenty pressure: Sancho sees huge fitness hurdle for coach Fenwick
« Reply #1211 on: November 09, 2020, 09:58:53 AM »
Plenty pressure: Sancho sees huge fitness hurdle for coach Fenwick
By Roger Seepersad (T&T Express)


While the move to allow national teams to resume training was well received, former national footballer Brent Sancho said the senior men’s football team head coach Terry Fenwick will have a huge “fitness” hurdle to overcome if they are to be ready for international competition.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley lifted the ban on national teams’ preparations for international competition, and Fenwick said that as early as Wednesday, he would like to have players in training.

The TTFA is still suspended from participating in FIFA competitions, including next year’s World Cup qualifiers however, Fenwick wants to get his players back in training so they will be as ready as they can be, once the FIFA suspension is lifted.

Yesterday, Sancho, acting chairman of the TT Pro League said the FIFA suspension will not affect the national team’s training and preparations but pointed out that locally-based players will be behind the eight ball in terms of their preparation for international competition after playing very little football locally for 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“FIFA suspension is only aligned to international games against countries within FIFA. We can play international games against teams that are not part of FIFA. In terms of training and everything else, you are fine. In fact, we could have training from however long, but we had Covid-19 measures, so FIFA measures could not have stopped that,” Sancho explained.

However, he said the lack of actual matches and fitness work will be a huge obstacle for Fenwick to overcome in the short space of time before the World Cup qualifiers and that player fitness would have been an issue for national teams even before Covid-19.

“The Covid-19 measures are very specific as it relates to contact sports and if you go back to June or July where teams were in training preparing for Ascension league, that didn’t happen because of the Covid-19 measures coming back into the play. Players would have then had to look after themselves in terms of their training regime and keeping themselves fit,” said Sancho.

“There is nothing any club could have done as it relates to training. There was nothing there and nothing put in place for obvious reasons, it was against the law but even when the season is going on, there are a lot of players who are just not fit enough,” he argued.

“A lot of our local players, all due respect to them, have a poor professional approach to the game and it is a situation that has ramifications all the way down to Secondary Schools football etc., because the bad habits that they exhibit from there coming all the way to the TT Pro League settings and then people expect the Pro League clubs to create miracles,” Sancho continued.

“Those behavioural patterns started a long time ago and to break something like that will take years of drilling something into these youngsters’ heads...I would be very surprised if any of the players are anywhere close to the fitness level required and even if they are close, fitness-wise, there is something called match-sharpness and match-fitness and they certainly won’t be match-fit and match-sharp,” he added.

Sancho said that if he was in Fenwick’s position, he would, “go out and get one of the best strength and conditioning coaches the world could provide to help with the local players and I would also create a large scouting network to open up the opportunities to recruit players who may be playing in the UK or America, who may have Trinidad heritage and who would have played a significant number of games (in foreign leagues).”

“Those two things I would look to do because again, all due respect to the local players, their match-fitness and match sharpness will not be anywhere close to where it needs to be to play international football and it’s not going to change now and it’s not going to change come March unless of course the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted in Trinidad and the professional league and other leagues could start and they could get a couple of games and even then, they would be short,” Sancho continued.

“The fitness issues are a massive hurdle for coach Fenwick to overcome and as I said, he needs to aggressively go after players outside and widen his player pool and look for players with Trini heritage (who are playing matches). Again, all due respect to the local players, but because of the fact that they haven’t played enough games here, you will be asking way too much of them,” he concluded.
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Offline maxg

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1212 on: November 10, 2020, 03:05:10 PM »
Sounds like he OK, with that Wallace signing/decision/error/initiative. and like That is Dat. English was always the first language we studied, if not spoken....reminds of the white blue eyed baby boy born in a manger in the middle east that grew to be our saviour.    :laugh:

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1213 on: November 11, 2020, 03:16:36 PM »
WATCH: With restrictions being lifted by Prime Minister Keith Rowley, Head Coach Terry Fenwick conducted his first training session with the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s Senior Team in almost four months.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evAsZlKHmL4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evAsZlKHmL4</a>
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Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1214 on: November 13, 2020, 03:06:15 AM »
Downer: Fenwick has the right to call training.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


FIFA has not banned the T&T Football Association (TTFA), former referee, and constitutional expert Osmond Downer said on Thursday as concerns have been raised regarding national coach Terry Fenwick conducting national training.

Concerns were raised on Thursday in the football fraternity about whether Fenwick, who was appointed by the TTFA as the head coach of the Soca Warriors team in December which is expected to participate in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifiers in March next year, had the power to call national training on Wednesday while the TTFA is on a suspension from the world governing body and there's not functioning executive to make decisions.

However, Downer told Guardian Media Sports that FIFA did not ban the TTFA but rather suspended the executive of the football association which comprises former president William Wallace, and vice presidents Clynt Taylor, Joseph Sam Phillip, and Susan Joseph-Warrick, saying all parts of the TTFA is functional.

"FIFA has not removed the T&TFA as a member of the FIFA. All FIFA has done originally by their letter of March 17th was to replace the executive of the T&TFA with the Normalisation Committee, but the T&TFA and its constitution have not been abolished by FIFA."

He added: "All FIFA has done is to ban the TTFA from the international game and so on, but it has not expelled the TTFA, so everything still exists except the elected executive, which originally was replaced by the normalisation committee. FIFA withdrew the normalisation committee and left only the chairman after Gobin's ruling, and then proceeded to suspend the TTFA."

He pointed out that, "The Referees Committee, which is appointed by the board according to the constitution, has been having its normal, regular Monday meetings, discussing refereeing business and referees training and all that. So nothing prevents Fenwick from carrying out his duties, keeping of course, in line with the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions. FIFA has not banned T&T from football. Fenwick is right, quite right to try his best to institute training, because jump high or jump low, I believe FIFA will remove the suspension and re-install the normalisation committee, " Downer explained.

He said everything that the FIFA requested was granted to them.

Howe, he believes that what is needed now is for FIFA to re-install the normalisation committee, which can go ahead with the business of the association.

Both Fenwick and his manager Basil Thompson have said on separate occasions that they will have to wait on the FIFA if things are to be back on track. Soon after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, on Saturday, announced that national teams could resume training, Thompson said he preferred to wait until the FIFA gave the all-clear.

Meanwhile, FIFA in a letter to normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad two weeks ago, said it acknowledged the efforts made by the sport's general membership, as well as the Court of Appeal, and would respond toward lifting a suspension they handed the TTFA on September 24th, soon.

Downer said according to the constitution, all the committees were appointed by the Board legally before the normalisation committee came into being, and an important committee is the Technical Committee that exists.

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1215 on: November 13, 2020, 09:29:38 AM »
SO let me get this right....some of our intelligent people believe that without FIFA nobody can kick a football in Trinidad and Tobago ???......well yes, we good yes.

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1216 on: November 13, 2020, 01:53:55 PM »
Thirty-three resume senior men's football training.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday).


THIRTY-THREE senior national footballers make a welcome return to team training, on Wednesday, at the St James Barracks ground from 9am.

The group will comprise of a majority of domestic club players who have been competitively inactive over the past seven months owing to the pandemic.

On Saturday, at a covid19 briefing, the Prime Minister said all national athletes can resume training at sporting facilities but must maintain all health protocols.

The returning players will undergo light training sessions in St James daily until Friday. From Monday, full team training gets underway at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo.

Several foreign-based players, who recently returned to T&T, will also join in on Monday’s training session as Fenwick begins his task of assessing and evaluating the best crop of athletes for the dawning 2021 season.

In March, T&T hope to commence its 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign while the Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers kick off in June.

T&T’s participation at both events, however, remains dependent on if FIFA decides to lift the national association’s indefinite suspension by December 18. On September 24, the TT Football Association (TTFA) was suspended due to “grave violations of the FIFA Statutes.”

“We’re going to resume with very light training sessions to pretty much see where the players’ fitness levels are. We’ve got GPS trackers on-hand so we can go through the players over the next week just to see where they are before we commence properly on Monday,” Fenwick said.

Since mid-March, team sports were shut down to minimise the spread of covid19. Local professional clubs competing in the TT Pro League and TT Super League have not been able to return to their respective clubs to train.

This lengthy downtime, according to Fenwick, serves as a major disadvantage for the returning bunch since they were restricted to mainly indoor physical training. With just a few months to prepare for major international tournaments, the English coach wants to hit the ground running in preparation for a hectic 2021 schedule.

As it stands, Fenwick believes his future national team selections depends on which foreign-based players are currently active and putting in the time in their respective league competitions.

“We’ve got to get back on track. People in the UK cannot travel and North America is clamping down so it’s not easy for anybody out there. We just go to get football up and running and recognise that there’s a lot of local players that are not on contract or associated with clubs simply because the TT Pro League is not operational,” he added.

Recently, several senior footballers returned to T&T from India, Central America and other parts of the world. There are, however, top players still currently competing at a high level such as striker Kevin Molino (Minnesota United FC/USA) and Sheldon Bateau (KV Mechelen/Belgium).

“We need to do our best we possibly can to get them up to speed. We’re in contact all the time and I make sure to connect with the players to make sure they’re ok.

“Simple things like congratulating them for the goals they scored like Molino yesterday (Monday) scoring two for Minnesota.

“We’re doing our bit to keep in touch with them but recognising the covid19 virus has got everyone in a mess at this time,” he concluded.

While the national coach was pleased to return to training, he reiterated that most national teams are “miles ahead” in their training regimen while T&T is playing catch up with no time to lose.

The media will only be invited to training sessions from Monday at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

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No Trinidad vs Tobago match until FIFA decides
« Reply #1217 on: November 16, 2020, 08:37:22 AM »
No Trinidad vs Tobago match until FIFA decides
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)


The proposed football friendly between Trinidad’s senior footballers and those from Tobago has been shelved as national men's coach Terry Fenwick awaits, hopefully, FIFA’s reappointment of the normalisation committee to manage T&T football.

Fenwick had proposed the practice match for the current FIFA international window to keep national players in some competitive action amid the current FIFA suspension.

FIFA gave the TTFA until December 18 to withdraw all its legal challenges against the governing body and get its statutes in accordance with FIFA's. The former was done by former president William Wallace after TTFA members last month voted overwhelmingly to reject his presidency and accept the normalisation committee.

Itching to get his players on the field for the first time since his appointment in December 2019, Fenwick proposed a Tobago versus Trinidad friendly. He was also eyeing a friendly against Grenada around November 28-29, if FIFA lifted the ban. FIFA World Cup qualifiers kick off in March 2021 and a spot in the Gold Cup could also be stripped from T&T if the ban is not lifted.

Fenwick said on Sunday, “First things first, we’re hoping that the normalisation committee is reappointed by FIFA to run T&T’s football. This is important for us to have some direction at the top. From there, once we can speak to the powers that be, all we would need is some sort of financing to get it done. We have no choice but to take it one step at a time.”

On November 4, FIFA acknowledged the TTFA membership’s decision to accept the normalisation committee. FIFA said it welcomed the decision and was assessing the matter internally.

Fenwick remains cautiously optimistic FIFA’s decision would be a speedy one to facilitate a return to normalcy between the local association and the international body.

“I think it’s just a matter of FIFA having time to sit down, discuss and make a decision on it. I don’t think it’s a big thing – I hope not, anyway. We’re hoping that before the end of this week we would have some sort of direction. We can only hope,” he said.

On Monday, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Fenwick resumes full team training with locally-based players and some who recently returned from their respective international club duties.

The English-born coach was allowed to hold training at the St James Barracks grounds last week after the Prime Minister gave elite sporting teams permission.

Fenwick expects a group of 30 enthusiastic players ready to train.

“Next week’s sessions would be a bit more intense, but we’re not rushing it. There’s no football on the ground in TT so we’ll take our time, get the players right. We’re right smack in the middle of the last FIFA (international) window before World Cup qualifiers, which is a big disappointment for us,” he said.

Fenwick said there is still a lot of work to be done.

“Last week’s light training sessions went very well. We could see some of these guys haven’t played or done anything for a number of months because of the local restrictions we’ve had. Fitness levels were a long way off.

“But the sessions were good. They looked like they were enjoying the work that we were doing. We kept it light but we’re looking forward to this coming week where we can step it up a notch. We’re training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday this week.”

Fenwick also lamented not being able to train with more foreign-based players.

“There’s a lot of the players I’d like to include in my World Cup (qualifying) squad and because of the travel restrictions and the FIFA suspension I’m limited in this regard. All of my staff have worked diligently in the background with players that are overseas.

“We have been tracking down new faces and trying to bring better quality into the national squad. We’re going to need it because we literally might have just one full training session with these guys before World Cup qualifiers.”

He said amidst the myriad of challenges the management just has to push through.

“It’s very unfortunate and unfair in this respect, but we’ve got to do what we can with the hand that we’ve been dealt. We’re working hard on several passports to have them done before year’s end. Even then, we’ve got lots of hold-ups in Government and government agencies. We’re just doing what we can.”
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Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1218 on: November 17, 2020, 09:26:28 AM »
Terry-ball, or nothing
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).


TERRY Fenwick, coach of the T&T men’s football team, has adopted a strict approach to get the players up to the required fitness standard for international football.

Fenwick held a training session with the men’s squad at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Monday.

“(Monday) morning, it was tough and hard work for them on the training field,” Fenwick said. “It’s me getting into their minds, recognising I’ve got a different mindset, different upbringing to them.

“It’s going to be very disciplined.

They’ve got to play the game how I want. Otherwise they’re out. I want them all to do well. We want to get T&T football back on track. But we need some tough love to make sure they recognise we’re serious.”

The ex-San Juan Jabloteh and Central FC coach was pleased with the individual work the players have done since the first covid19 lockdown in March.

“In the early stages, we had them all on a Zoom fitness class,” Fenwick said. “We were watching them work as we had our trainer (doing) a session daily. Their fitness levels are not bad.”

However, Fenwick said, “Their game fitness is miles away. They’ve not played any football, so there is a big difference right there. That’s what we’ve got to shortcut.”

Training sessions will take place this week at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

Fenwick said a few overseas-based players were involved in Monday’s session, including veteran goalkeeper Marvin Phillip, defenders Robert Primus and Jelani Peters.

“They’ve added their experience and knowledge. We’ve got a lot of young players that are just not playing football because football is stone-dead, as we speak, in T&T. The younger players are getting good information from some of these kids coming in, and recognising that (Kevin) Molino and (Khaleem) Hyland will be back in the next (few) weeks. I want to get them out with the youngsters. That is invaluable to me as a coach, to get those guys blending with the youths.”

He’s eager to have the players involved in a few warm-up matches within the next few weeks.

“We’ve got to get games, against local competition. We are miles away from most of the Caribbean islands that have been playing domestic league games and international friendlies.

“For me, it’s fast-tracking to where we can. These guys need fitness first, structure and organisation before we go into games, because we’ve got to learn. They’ve got to go into every game with a game-plan, they’ve got to understand that we’re in this together.

“It’s not about individual stars. We need to be competing as a team, in a well-structured manner. Once we’ve had three to four games here in Trinidad, we’ll then start looking at the possibility of other Caribbean islands as early as December.”

Videos

Marvin Phillip keen to get on with Training

Men's Senior Team return to the Training Pitch

Norway-based goalkeeper Frenderup ready to put on the gloves for T&T

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Re: No Trinidad vs Tobago match until FIFA decides
« Reply #1219 on: November 17, 2020, 09:46:03 AM »
No Trinidad vs Tobago match until FIFA decides
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)


The proposed football friendly between Trinidad’s senior footballers and those from Tobago has been shelved as national men's coach Terry Fenwick awaits, hopefully, FIFA’s reappointment of the normalisation committee to manage T&T football.

Fenwick had proposed the practice match for the current FIFA international window to keep national players in some competitive action amid the current FIFA suspension.

FIFA gave the TTFA until December 18 to withdraw all its legal challenges against the governing body and get its statutes in accordance with FIFA's. The former was done by former president William Wallace after TTFA members last month voted overwhelmingly to reject his presidency and accept the normalisation committee.

Itching to get his players on the field for the first time since his appointment in December 2019, Fenwick proposed a Tobago versus Trinidad friendly. He was also eyeing a friendly against Grenada around November 28-29, if FIFA lifted the ban. FIFA World Cup qualifiers kick off in March 2021 and a spot in the Gold Cup could also be stripped from T&T if the ban is not lifted.

Fenwick said on Sunday, “First things first, we’re hoping that the normalisation committee is reappointed by FIFA to run T&T’s football. This is important for us to have some direction at the top. From there, once we can speak to the powers that be, all we would need is some sort of financing to get it done. We have no choice but to take it one step at a time.”

On November 4, FIFA acknowledged the TTFA membership’s decision to accept the normalisation committee. FIFA said it welcomed the decision and was assessing the matter internally.

Fenwick remains cautiously optimistic FIFA’s decision would be a speedy one to facilitate a return to normalcy between the local association and the international body.

“I think it’s just a matter of FIFA having time to sit down, discuss and make a decision on it. I don’t think it’s a big thing – I hope not, anyway. We’re hoping that before the end of this week we would have some sort of direction. We can only hope,” he said.

On Monday, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Fenwick resumes full team training with locally-based players and some who recently returned from their respective international club duties.

The English-born coach was allowed to hold training at the St James Barracks grounds last week after the Prime Minister gave elite sporting teams permission.

Fenwick expects a group of 30 enthusiastic players ready to train.

“Next week’s sessions would be a bit more intense, but we’re not rushing it. There’s no football on the ground in TT so we’ll take our time, get the players right. We’re right smack in the middle of the last FIFA (international) window before World Cup qualifiers, which is a big disappointment for us,” he said.

Fenwick said there is still a lot of work to be done.

“Last week’s light training sessions went very well. We could see some of these guys haven’t played or done anything for a number of months because of the local restrictions we’ve had. Fitness levels were a long way off.

“But the sessions were good. They looked like they were enjoying the work that we were doing. We kept it light but we’re looking forward to this coming week where we can step it up a notch. We’re training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday this week.”

Fenwick also lamented not being able to train with more foreign-based players.

“There’s a lot of the players I’d like to include in my World Cup (qualifying) squad and because of the travel restrictions and the FIFA suspension I’m limited in this regard. All of my staff have worked diligently in the background with players that are overseas.

“We have been tracking down new faces and trying to bring better quality into the national squad. We’re going to need it because we literally might have just one full training session with these guys before World Cup qualifiers.”

He said amidst the myriad of challenges the management just has to push through.

“It’s very unfortunate and unfair in this respect, but we’ve got to do what we can with the hand that we’ve been dealt. We’re working hard on several passports to have them done before year’s end. Even then, we’ve got lots of hold-ups in Government and government agencies. We’re just doing what we can.”

So hold on - If a Trinidad squad plays a Tobago squad that is considered an international friendly? wait nah but what the arse is this? Same country  are we not?

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Before you talk friendlies- let's get some local interest and also build some internal competition for place on team
A series of-
North v south
North, South, Tobago
TnT locals versus Foreign eligible players
Then select an X1

For  friendliest- home and away :
Venezuela - that will incite interest in TnT
Curaçao
Guyana
India
Nigeria
Jamaica
Bangladesh
Samoa
Anguilla

Offline Rastaman

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1220 on: November 19, 2020, 08:08:11 AM »
I think that what he is saying is that no arrangements should be made before the Normalization Committee has an input. Remember this would involve at minimum the cost of plane tickets between Trinidad and Tobago. Once money spending somebody has to sanction this.

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Terry Thrilled: FIFA lifts international suspension of TTFA
« Reply #1221 on: November 20, 2020, 06:22:04 PM »
Terry Thrilled: FIFA lifts international suspension of TTFA
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)


FIFA yesterday announced that Trini­dad and Tobago is once again free to play international football by lifting the suspension it imposed on September 24.

The news has thrilled several members of the local football fraternity, among them senior men’s national coach Terry Fenwick; TT Pro League acting chairman Brent Sancho; Clayton Morris, the former national team captain and Futsal coach; and boys Under-17 national coach Angus Eve.

Most affected, national coach Fenwick welcomed news that the suspension had been lifted, allowing his team to compete in early 2021 qualifiers for the Concacaf Gold Cup and Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Concacaf had given T&T a December 18 deadline to have the ban lifted or else face expulsion from June 2021 Gold Cup qualifiers.

“Thank God it had been removed,” Fenwick declared, the news coming two days after his 61st birthday.

“Today is a big landmark decision for us,” stated Fenwick, a defender for England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. “Am pleased we are in a position (to compete internationally) and am looking forward to working with the management moving forward,” Fenwick stated.

“It’s one step at a time. I am hoping that the football fraternity across the board in Trinidad and Tobago can come together for the benefit of the youngsters in the country and move the game on,” he added.

“It’s been removed at the end of what was our last window for practice games before World Cup qualifiers. We are lagging behind the rest of the region, everywhere else they are playing football. There are development programmes all continuing and we are at a standstill.”

FIFA suspended the TTFA on the September 24 Republic Day holiday, for breach of FIFA statutes when the former TTFA executive led by president William Wallace went to a domestic court to challenge FIFA’s March 17 decision to replace them with its own management (normalisation) committee. FIFA rules state that the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is the only venue to hear disputes with its member associations. Yesterday, FIFA issued a release officially lifting its suspension of T&T.

“The TTFA membership rights have been reinstated and TTFA representative and club teams are again entitled to take part in international competitions. The TTFA may also benefit from development programmes, courses and training provided by FIFA and/or Concacaf. Moreover, FIFA member associations may again enter into sporting contact with the TTFA and/or its teams,’ the governing body stated.

“The members of the TTFA normalisation committee, which was installed by decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council on 17 March 2020, will proceed with their duties. FIFA regrets the stances and actions taken by the members of the removed executive committee, which negatively impacted all aspects of Trinidad and Tobago football,” the release added.

Earlier, the normalisation committee issued a release, through chairman Robert Hadad’s assistant Ameer Mohammed, indicating its part in having the suspension lifted.

“The normalisation committee recently held fruitful discussions with FIFA and we are pleased to deliver the good news that the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s suspension will be lifted and its membership rights in FIFA will be reinstated in time for Trinidad and Tobago to compete in the 2021 Gold Cup and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

“This could not happen without the decisive contributions by numerous T&T stakeholders in signalling their desire for a new chapter for football in our country. However, we have a long way to go, and there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that this return to competitive action, in all age categories, is sustainable.”

Pro League representative Sancho, Eve and Morris were all pleased with the ban being lifted but not surprised.

“I think it was inevitable,” Eve said. “They (FIFA) gave us so many chances. I never really thought they wanted to ban us totally, and once the court case and matters were taken out of that domain, I always believed we were going to make the December 18 deadline (for Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers).”

Sancho also felt that once the majority of TTFA delegates instructed Wallace and his executive to withdraw legal action from the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, then the suspension would have been lifted. “The suspension coming to an end is good for Trinidad and Tobago football,” Sancho said. “Now the healing process needs to start ASAP.”

Morris added: “It’s not a surprise, but it’s a good feeling to know that we are free to participate in international competition. It’s the dream of every footballer to play at the highest level of the sport.”
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Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1222 on: November 22, 2020, 07:53:53 AM »
Fenwick eyes 3 friendlies before qualifiers
By Narissa Fraser (T&T Newsday).


FIFA's lifting of the suspension of the TT Football Association (TTFA) on Thursday comes as a relief to national men's coach Terry Fenwick. The decision paves the way for T&T to compete in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup and begin their campaign for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

On Thursday, Fenwick told Newsday he was "relieved the matter was over."

He said, "It’s great news for football in T&T. We want to get on with the game, we want to be competing in tournaments, and (the lifting of the suspension) was the only way forward. I’m looking forward to meeting the normalisation committee and talking about positive things rather than the negatives.”

Had this suspension not been lifted by December 18, T&T would have been replaced by Antigua/Barbuda for the Gold Cup and would not have been able to participate in the qualifiers.

But the timing of FIFA's decision to lift the ban leaves the English-born coach still with a big headache. There are no more FIFA international windows until March 2021, when World Cup qualifiers begin. T&T will face Montserrat on July 2 in the Gold Cup qualifiers.

Appointed in December 2019, Fenwick is yet to see his team play an official match. The covid19 pandemic and FIFA wrangling crippled all his plans.

In an interview with Newsday on Friday, Fenwick said he is hoping his men can play at least three friendly matches before the end of the year. As the matches are outside the FIFA window, Fenwick will have to rely mostly on locally-based players as foreign clubs are not mandated to release their players. The Pro League and Super League are on hold due to covid19.

Fenwick said he had invited normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad to one of the team's training sessions and introduced him to the team.

He is expected to send a proposal to Hadad on Monday, "that will outline the possibility, because nothing is guaranteed because of covid19, that there be some friendlies before the end of the year."

He said he cannot name the proposed opponents at this time, but he hopes the matches can be held in a "bubble," similar to the 2020 staging of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

He said this proposal must first be approved by Hadad, and then it will be sent to the government for its approval.

"We just got back to training. All the other national teams have been training non-stop over this period of time. It's going to be very difficult but we've got some very good talent out there," he said.

Fenwick had previously proposed a friendly between Trinidad and Tobago.

The TTFA was banned on September 24 as its ousted executive refused to drop a legal challenge against FIFA from the local court.

The ousted executive had challenged FIFA's decision to remove it and appoint a normalisation committee to run T&T football.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1223 on: November 25, 2020, 12:42:13 AM »
‘Teflon Terry’ takes centre stage, Fenwick emerges stronger from United TTFA collapse.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868).


Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach Terry Fenwick looks set to benefit from increased powers, as the Soca Warriors start preparation for their Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign in earnest under the supervision of Fifa-appointed normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad.

The Warriors are drawn in Group F of a preliminary Concacaf bracket alongside St Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, Puerto Rico, Bahamas. Only the winners advance to a two-legged play-offs, and then an eight team final qualifying round for the World Cup.

Covid-19 pandemic permitting, the Warriors are scheduled to play their first competitive game at an unspecified date in March. Hadad, the co-CEO of family business HadCo Limited, must provide the logistical support for that thrust.

Hadad was initially appointed to run local football affairs on 27 March, two weeks after Fifa announced the removal of Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president William Wallace and his vice-presidents. However, his tenure was interrupted by a court order in September and then an international suspension, which Fifa lifted on Thursday 19 November.

Hadad since hinted at his immediate plans for the national set-up to I95.5FM; and Fenwick’s needs appear to be the immediate priority.

“We are going to definitely have to sit down and have discussions around the current coaching staff,” said Hadad, “and this has been said to them already about what their roles are. We may have to tweak some and rearrange some, but I do not want to commit to what that would look like now.

“Terry Fenwick has done a great job of getting the men’s national team back out on the field… Hopefully, Terry will be able to put together a team […] and we will take a look at who he wants to form the coaching team around him.”

Team manager Captain Basil Thompson, who came in for fierce criticism from Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith—an avid supporter and patron of the football programme—is expected to be vulnerable in any staff shake-up.

Thompson was appointed by the previous Keith Look Loy-led technical committee and was not Fenwick’s choice. The soldier does not appear to have won the head coach’s confidence over the last 11 months.

Otherwise, Fenwick may be allowed to bolster his backroom staff without letting anyone go.

His predecessor, Dennis Lawrence, had a 12-man technical staff which included: Sol Campbell, Stuart Charles-Fevrier, Stern John (assistant coaches), Ross Russell (goalkeeper coach), Riedoh Berdien (fitness conditioning coach), Israel Dowlat (team doctor), Dave Isaac (paramedic), Saron Joseph (massage therapist), Stephen Bradley (evaluation science GPRS), Matthew Hawkes (match analyst), and Michael Williams (equipment manager).

In stark contrast, Fenwick got a five-member support staff with Derek King and Kelvin Jack as assistants, Michael Williams as equipment manager, Oswin Birchwood as trainer and Thompson as manager. Jack was expected to double up as goalkeeper coach.

However, since then, Police FC youth team coach Keon Trim and ex-St Augustine Secondary coach Adrian Romain have regularly supported the former England World Cup defender at national training sessions. Both worked with Fenwick previously at his private coaching school, Football Factory.

Men’s National Under-15 Team head coach Keith Jeffrey, who is also the San Juan Jabloteh technical director, has also been a regular at Fenwick’s practices where Clayton Ince often fills in as goalkeeper coach—with Jack still in England and awaiting a travel exemption.

Romain is believed to be Fenwick’s first choice as team manager with Trim also likely to be included as an assistant coach. It is left to be seen whether Jeffrey’s current promotion will be made permanent too.

One school of thought is that Fenwick should have been allowed to select his backroom staff in the first place.

Look Loy’s technical structure saw his committee control all appointments, subject to board approval. Coaches were left to petition for changes to their staffs—as was the case when King replaced National Under-20 Team trainer, Trey Hart, with Saron Joseph.

Hadad’s apparent desire to give Fenwick a freer hand in determining his staff is closer to established practice, and therefore more of a reset than a revolution.

Still, there is some irony that Fenwick’s stock appears to be on the rise when it was the Englishman and his shady compatriot and friend, Peter Miller, who helped to erode Wallace’s moral authority in the first place.

Almost every financial scandal suffered by Wallace involved Fenwick or Miller—and sometimes both—with SportsMax’s expose of the coach’s secret contract arguably being the beginning of the end for the former TTFA president.

Last January, the TTFA board instructed Look Loy to offer Fenwick a contract worth US$17,500 (TT$118,800) per month, with a pay rise to US$20,0000 (TT$135,800) a month once the Warriors secured qualification for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.

If Trinidad and Tobago advanced to the Gold Cup quarterfinal round, the TTFA would be obliged to give Fenwick a two year contract extension at the same pay.

However, privately, Fenwick requested (and received from Wallace) a starting salary of US$20,000 (TT$135,800) per month with an increase to US$25,000 (TT$169,000) once the team qualifies for the Gold Cup. There were also additional perks such as private medical insurance for his daughter and a ‘suitable’ phone, laptop and a motor car with all associated costs, such as insurance, maintenance, and fuel, borne by the TTFA.

Crucially, the Englishman’s second contract—signed off by Wallace but unseen by the board—included an automatic two-year extension for merely qualifying for the Gold Cup.

Wallace claimed he signed the contract in error and did not know that Fenwick had changed the terms. Fenwick has not spoken publicly on the issue but refused to alter the deal after the fact.

In short, the TTFA board had challenged Fenwick to not only get to the Gold Cup but to defeat two teams from Mexico, El Salvador and Curaçao to keep his job until December 2023.

But Fenwick’s current terms mean the Warriors must only defeat Montserrat and either Cuba or French Guiana for the Englishman to get an extension.

No Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team head coach has kept his job for four years, with Conrad Brathwaite (1965-67), Zoran Vranes (1994-96), Bertille St Clair (1997-2000), Russell Latapy (2009-11), Stephen Hart (2013-16), and Lawrence (2017-19) all lasting roughly three years.

Fenwick should fancy his chances of bettering them, even without the slate that helped put him in charge of the TTFA’s flagship team.

The United TTFA slate that contested the TTFA elections last November comprised, on paper, of Wallace, his TTFA vice-presidents Clynt Taylor, Susan Joseph-Warrick and Sam Phillip, and Anthony Harford and Look Loy. Neither Harford nor Look Loy ran for elected office.

However, Fenwick, Miller and general secretary Ramesh Ramdhan were always there in the background, after they promised Wallace that they would find the finances necessary to get the TTFA out of debt.

Fifa president and Bureau of the Fifa Council chairman Gianni Infantino claimed the absence of a viable debt reduction plan and a solid financial structure in the TTFA prompted the global body to remove Wallace in March—although high court judge Carol Gobin ruled otherwise.

Since Fifa’s intervention, Wallace, Harford, Joseph-Warrick and Look Loy resigned from the helm of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), Northern FA (NFA), Women’s League of Football (WoLF) and the Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) respectively, while the entire board—inclusive of the president and vice-presidents—were forced to vacate their posts.

Hadad also suspended Ramdhan.

Taylor, the Central FA general secretary, appears to be the only United TTFA member who has retained an administrative role within a local stakeholder body.

However, at TTFA level, the 60-year-old Fenwick remains the last man standing.

A Pro League champion with San Juan Jabloteh and Central FC, the outspoken Englishman may yet emerge from the messy leadership transition even stronger, in the absence of Look Loy and his technical committee.

A win apiece over the unheralded Montserrat and either Cuba and French Guiana would secure Fenwick an extension worth TT$4.9 million over two and a half years.

It looks to be the era of ‘Teflon Terry’.

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Offline ABTrini

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1224 on: November 25, 2020, 09:55:28 AM »
However, privately, Fenwick requested (and received from Wallace) a starting salary of US$20,000 (TT$135,800) per month with an increase to US$25,000 (TT$169,000) once the team qualifies for the Gold Cup. There were also additional perks such as private medical insurance for his daughter and a ‘suitable’ phone, lap

Could someone explain how this ludicrous contract came to be? What was this 20K us a month based on? For a coach who has never coached a national team ?

How does this compare to what D Lawerence was paid a month or S Hart or Benhakker?
Could a contract for a non international coach without experience be established at a lower figure and if the team achiev success from qualifiers you add salary based on outcomes? You qualify for Gold Cupor World Cup and you get justifiable increase. But you start off at 20K us a month for never coaching a national team is madness in my opinion.
For TF is like a coaching lottery- little risk - yuh getting an opportunity to launch an international carrier- expectations with all the bull crap is a perfect scenario to justify that the odds  are stacked against you in preparing for success-  yuh contract in hand - who is the loser here? I mean what kind of dunce head move was that? For that kinda money the TTFA could have established a solid  coaching structure-
Dennis Lawerence Terry Fenwick coaches Stephen Hart Technical director to start with.

Well I see no justification in paying 20k at the onset - not saying he is not worthy of merit for an opportunity to coach but not at that price.
Then again rumor had it that Tallman was on the payroll as a scout😊😊😊😊👍🏿Good move that one



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Fenwick: Maradona ruined my career in 90 minutes
« Reply #1225 on: November 25, 2020, 05:34:28 PM »
Fenwick: Maradona ruined my career in 90 minutes
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday)


FORMER England defender and current coach of the T&T men’s football team Terry Fenwick has hailed legendary Argentine footballer Diego Maradona as the greatest ever.

Maradona, 60, died on Wednesday in Argentina after a heart attack. He was discharged from hospital weeks ago after a successful brain surgery. Arguably the greatest footballer of all time, the Argentine had health complications for a number of years.

Maradona made his full international debut at age 16, against Hungary, in 1977.

He was immortalised in world football after leading Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title in Mexico. He ended his career with 34 international goals in 91 appearances. His most memorable goal came against England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, dribbling from his own half past several English players to score a sensational solo effort.

Fenwick, who was one of the Englishmen unable to stop Maradona that day, said on Wednesday, “I think he is the greatest that I have ever seen, absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt. He (has) done everything. He was invincible.”

Fenwick added, "He was capable of doing unbelievable things. He is still on record as scoring the best-ever goal in world football, which was against England – the second goal in the 2-1 win that they had."That match also included the infamous Hand of God goal scored by Maradona. The former Argentina captain punched the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and into the net. The handball was not spotted by the referee or linesmen, and the goal stood.

Fenwick said it took him several years to let go of the bitter feelings surrounding that goal.

"The Hand of God goal where all Englishmen see him as a cheat...should not have stood, but as a player that played against him, he ruined my international career within 90 minutes that day. Not until many years later I recognised, 'Oh my God, Terry, you just played against the best player the world has ever seen in football.' And that's what he was, he was an unbelievable talent."

Fenwick added, “It is obviously a very sad day…when you’ve got somebody that is the best at their business in the world they are always controversial, and this is a guy that’s had his issues off the field, but the beauty and the talents that he presented on the field of play."

During an illustrious career, Maradona played for several prestigious clubs, including Barcelona, Napoli and Boca Juniors.

Fenwick said he transformed the clubs he represented. “He went to Barcelona that was mid-table…and he won the title. He went to Napoli, Italy that weren’t even on the map as far as football was concerned in Italy and won the title.”
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Offline Tallman

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1226 on: December 01, 2020, 07:11:35 PM »
WATCH: Adam's Gourmet Restaurant and Bakery hosts the Men's National Senior Team

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/xhpPpmuNuSc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/xhpPpmuNuSc</a>
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Offline Flex

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1227 on: December 07, 2020, 06:34:54 AM »
Fenwick, Soca Warriors up against it.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).


National coach Terry Fenwick and his players have been swimming against the tide, with preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers literally around the corner.

Fenwick laments the poor state of the sport, which was caused by a nine-month battle between the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and FIFA, the sport's world governing body, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, which had brought sports to a halt in countries around the world.

Still, however, with football taking place in various countries for the past months, there has been no ease for Fenwick and his men.

The Warriors will contest Group F in the early round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where matches against Saint Kitts/Nevis, Guyana, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas await them in a round-robin format.

The matches will be played within the FIFA match windows of March 2021 and the first FIFA match window of June 2021. Apart from the T&T Group, there will also be action in groups A, B, C, D, and E at the same time.

On Saturday, Fenwick said it is not going to be easy.

"It's going to be difficult for us because of the issues and problems we experienced over the 12 months. It hasn't been easy, it hasn't been good for T&T football. Every other country in the world has had domestic leagues running and national teams playing friendlies and competitive games, where we have just not done anything.

"So it's tough on my players, my staff but we are working assiduously in the background, trying to get things moving again."

For the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Soca Warriors will begin against Montserrat in one of six preliminary-round matches between July 2-6 to secure one of the three remaining spots for the Group Stage which gets underway, four days later.

Should T&T get past Montserrat, they will face the winner of the clash between Cuba and French Guiana in the second round, for a place in Group A of the competition where the likes of reigning champion Mexico, El Salvador, and Curacao will await them.

The English-born coach who has had successful stints with local clubs San Juan Jabloteh and Central FC is hoping that the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee will come to their assistance.

He said, "We're hoping that the normalisation committee knows that they've got their position sorted out, so they can give us that support that we need to move the game forward and make sure that we are competitive when these games come around."

RELATED NEWS

Fenwick happy with Guyana home opener
T&T Express Reports.


Trinidad and Tobago will have an opening match against neighbours Guyana after Concacaf confirmed the schedule for the regional qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup on Friday.

On paper, the opening round draw would seem ideal, with the Soca Warriors playing possibly their two strongest Group F matches against the Guyanese and St Kitts & Nevis at home, while having to go away to Bahamas and Puerto Rico.

Immediately, men’s senior coach Terry Fenwick recognised the importance of beginning the series at home. T&T and Guyana last played to a 1-1 draw at the Concacaf Gold Cup, despite the Warriors dominating and missing several good chances when coached by former national coach Dennis Lawrence.

“Being at home in the opening game is good and we will prepare as best as possible for this first game against Guyana which we know has a bit of history with Trinidad and Tobago and will certainly be no pushovers,” Fenwick said. “Matter of fact, no team will be a walkover in these qualifiers.”

T&T host Guyana on March 25, 2021, before meeting Puerto Rico on March 28. In June, the series continues with T&T traveling to Bahamas on June 5 before hosting St Kitts & Nevis on June 8. Should T&T top the group, they will advance to a two-leg playoff against the winners of Group A which contains El Salvador, for a spot in the eight-team final round of Concacaf qualifying.

Fenwick found the schedule both timely and informative.

“It’s a bit of important information for us at this stage as it relates to the schedule of the World Cup qualifiers. We knew the teams before but now we know exactly what we’re going to face,” stated Fenwick, who now hopes that everything will be put in place to facilitate a successful qualifying series.

“With this schedule before us now, it tells you how important it was for us to have gotten the suspension lifted and having the normalisation committee in charge of our football. I know for a fact that chairman Robert Hadad and the rest of the normalisation committee are at work and are putting things together for us to be able to breathe a bit easier and for all the right conditions to be in place for our teams. I’m grateful that we’d been able to restart training last month and now we can look forward to executing our plans ahead of March,” Fenwick said.

The Jaguars will be led in this campaign by journeyman Brazilian coach Márcio Máximo Barcellos, who once steered the Brazil National under-17 and Under-20 Teams and coached former stand-out defender Marvin Andrews at Scotland Premier League club, Livingston.

Only the winning nation advances from Group F with the other teams being immediately eliminated.

(Trinidad and Tobago’s Group F schedule)

Trinidad and Tobago v Guyana, 25 March,

Puerto Rico v Trinidad and Tobago, 28 March;

Bahamas v Trinidad and Tobago, 5 June;

Trinidad and Tobago v St Kitts and Nevis, 8 June.

« Last Edit: December 07, 2020, 06:42:06 AM by Flex »
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Hand of God spirit-lash
« Reply #1228 on: December 07, 2020, 09:16:11 AM »
Hand of God spirit-lash
By Debra Greaves (T&T Newsday)


AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Terry Fenwick and I was the last English defender Diego Maradona passed in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final to score the most famous goal in football.

In Trinidad, I see a lot in common with the small mining town near Sunderland in England, where I come from. Back doors were left open. One street would play football against the next street. All families knew each other.

Yes, the climate is very different, but the communities are very similar. They look after themselves, watch one another’s backs and want the best for their kids.

That’s very warming to me, as an Englishman living here.

In Trinidad, I’m from Maraval and I love it.

I’ve lived most of my 21 years here in Maraval.

My daughter, Remi Grace Fenwick, keeps me ticking. She’s four and a half, going on 24. She’s very, very bright – no doubt takes after her mum, Reyna Kowlessar. She’s 100-mile-an-hour.

She spends three or four nights a week with me. That’s covid entertainment right there.

Remi is my first daughter. I’ve got two grownup sons from a previous. Two great lads. George is a director of Credit Suisse, working out of Hong Kong. Nicholas runs the whole trading floor for Standard Chartered in London. Nicholas is looking to retire next March, when he’ll be 36. So he’s better off than a footballer!

Thank God both my boys love Trinidad, so I get them here regularly.

I left home at 15-and-a-half. Got on a train by myself at Newcastle station, got picked up at King’s Cross in London.

I was homesick like you wouldn’t believe the first year. I moved past that, made friends (and settled in as a young professional) at Crystal Palace.

I’ve travelled every inch of Trinidad and Tobago, football grounds all over, back alleys, parks.

And been welcomed everywhere I’ve gone.

I first came to Trinidad on January 4, 2000, recommended by Sir Bobby Robson (as prospective new coach of) San Juan Jabloteh.

The climate, then you hit the beaches and met the people, and it’s Carnival season, the fetes going right through the night and you have to work the next day.

It was quite amazing in comparison to the UK, where it was bloody freezing, and not that long ago, pubs closed at 11 pm and then you had to go home!

Jenny’s on the Boulevard…TGI Fridays…the Pelican. It was, like, wow!

I knew the job I was taking on was nothing more than a development programme. We call it the Pro League in Trinidad, but it’s far from professional.

I’d like to say loads of nice things about the Pro League but it’s actually got worse the longer I’ve been here. It’s in a mess as we speak. No leadership.

Corporate Trinidad’s got no confidence to put any money in there. Government are fed up of putting in the subvention.

There I was in my brand new X5 – thank you, Clico – in Morvant, stopped in the middle of nowhere. I had to climb 50 yards up a grass bank to get to my player’s house. Which was a shack. No glass in any of the windows, just a piece of rag hanging down. Brothers, sisters, family all round him.

A starting player in the World Cup side was coming home to this! I was gobsmacked.

It was amazing to me that Lawrence Duprey gave us two grade II houses at the Crossings, a Clico development (for two players from very poor backgrounds. With the condition that) these houses could never be sold, only passed down to their family. ‘Cause they would sell them tomorrow and the money would be gone.

This way, whether they rent, they will have an income, whether they live there, they will have a sound roof over their heads.

I took my whole team to Queen’s Hall to watch a play. Made them bring their girlfriends and wear a jacket and tie. Which some of ‘em had to borrow.

We done a lot of things away from football which was developing their mentality. Take them outside of their experience. So they could recognise the outside world.

In 21 years, I’ve had maybe two thefts of mobile phones in the dressing room.

If BC Pires says to me, “Congratulations on your appointment as national coach,” I say “Thank you very much! Can you help me to get paid now?”

At the end of this month, it’ll be a whole year without being paid.

I’m trying to limit my national squad to ages 16-21. The average age of the English national team today is 22.

In the World Cup qualifiers in 2018, the youngest player on the TT team was 27! The oldest squad in world football!

Unfortunately, in Trinidad, we hang on to college league football, probably the best supported football in the country.

In Europe, there are young professionals at age 14, 15. Marcus Rashford, eg, has played for three-and-a-half seasons for Manchester United – and he’s still only 21! He’s going to become another legend because of the games he’s played.

We just haven’t got that.

I’ve got 69 kids out on scholarships overseas, 88 players outside on professional contracts now. Miles more than anybody else.

But I keep my nose down. At the end of the day, I’m still the Englishman in the pack.

I practised like you wouldn’t believe to make myself a professional footballer but, where I grew up, there were players who played in the backstreets with me that were much better. That’s where I relate.

Maradona. He was a street fighter. If you boshed him, he would come back harder. He had that “bad mind.” as we say in Trinidad. I was in awe of bad-mind as bad as that.

I tried to stop him in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final. People won’t remember now, because it’s a long time ago, but he was off the field for nearly four-and-a-half minutes. Concussion. Through a clash with me. I thought, that’s Diego Maradona finished!

Only to see him warming up to come back on again! I thought, my God, what have I got to do? He was that good and that strong. He was nearly as wide as he was tall. Built like a pit bull, strong as an ox and skill sets I couldn’t begin to imagine.

The English national team in the 80s, coached by Sir Bobby Robson, structured, organised, we were a tough team to beat. We were the first European side to beat Brazil in Brazil through that great John Barnes goal.

But after the Hand of God goal, we fell apart. It was such a shock to us.

(Goalkeeper Peter) Shilton and myself saw the handball. Any other player in the world but Maradona would have kept their head down and saw the game out. Because they would have been worried about the Hand of God coming down on them after the game!

But he’s not worried about that. “Give me the ball, I’m going to score again!” And he did.

My favourite colour is probably red. Because Trinis wear red.

I’ve still got a Union Jack, still hang on to my British roots, but my house is white with red everywhere. I just think, “Trinidad is red.”

Anywhere in the world you bounce up a Trini, they’re carrying the Trinidad flag. Might be on a keyring, a T-shirt, the national football shirt. They carry it everywhere with pride. That’s the love of the country.

I’ve got all of that – keyring, T-shirt, national team shirt – and I take it all with me everywhere I travel.

When I go to England now, they call me “Terry the Trini.”.

To me, a Trini is “family” and Trinidad and Tobago is a family.

In the UK, when you’re 18, you’re looking for your own apartment.

I love that families in Trinidad stay together longer. There’s a love and a passion and a commitment to family members here that’s much better, much closer than the UK.
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Trini _2026

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Re: Terry Fenwick Thread.
« Reply #1229 on: December 07, 2020, 12:33:55 PM »
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