Terry Fenwick Thread.

[King Deese]

If TTFF and the TT Pro Cemetery were kids, both Oliver Scamps, the father who gave his kid up for adoption, and Dexter Skeene would be arrested for child abuse, child neglect, and child support. What a farce.

[maxg]

coache just really didn't give this some serious thought.
especially when he asking/making these post

http://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=59099.0

ah mean, unless he was posting for popularity or just chat

[Trini _2026]

T&T National Men’s U-17 vs W Connection U-17 anyone know the score ?

[coache]

Socalion et al..if the tournament ...as viewed by the business community and the govt included don't feel that it's worth sponsorship ..then there no sponsorship. Do you really feel that the business community (mostly of  the east indian community ..more interested in cricket) or the govt (mostly of the east indian community..more interested in cricket) care about a struggling sport (mostly played by people of african descent)..the people like the sport are going nowhere fast ?
 As a matter of fact the FA trophy is an age old competition played by amateurs and no prize money was expected. I played in that tournament on many occasions and I never heard any cries for prize money.
The Pro League has to come up with a new way or new system so as to make it profitable for the Pro teams to participate.
One of the things the Pro League and the TTFF can do together is to sue Mr Warner for all the funds which he had pilfered overs the years thus leaving football in the dire state that it's in right now.
 There is no reason why Trinidad Foootball should be dependent on the govt.
Mr Warner was a school teacher who became the head of Trinidad Football. He single handedly  restructured Trinidad Football so that all monies would go directly to him. Tell me ..how could someone become a millionaire by being the head of the TTFA ? Tell me..how could someone become a millionaire by being a FIFA representative ..is the salary millions of dollars per month ?  Mr Warner became a multimillionaire by the sweat of  footballers whether amateur or professional.
Jack Warner made millions and millions and millions...ask him for some money.

[reggae-fan]

So T&T Government gets the blame for failure of a sporting body to attract sponsorships for its competition? Socialism at work?

[Bakes]

So T&T Government gets the blame for failure of a sporting body to attract sponsorships for its competition? Socialism at work?

Talk about entitlement and dependency.

[Football supporter]

So T&T Government gets the blame for failure of a sporting body to attract sponsorships for its competition? Socialism at work?

To be fair to the Govt, they recently increased the tax breaks on investment in sport up to $3 million p.a.  However, there are very real, non socialist reasons why the Govt should actively support football and encourage sponsorship.
The TT Pro League could be become a viable source of export dollars if a robust and organised developmental programme was in place.
With a decent 10 year program there could be much income generated from transfers. If they could assist with the Pro League, perhaps the league will be televised live by ESPN, Sky etc. They would probably love an exclusive deal for, say, £2 million. If we attract top Caribbean players from St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados etc, the league will be followed there, increasing the TV viewing (Look how Trinis watched Southampton, Sunderland, Ipswich, Swansea)  Then, of course, there are many social benefits in involving youths in positive pastimes like football. Many nations take football seriously and respect the benefits that can come from sport. The U.K. for instance, has an all-party parliamentary football committee.

And how it works is simple...you wanna do business in T&T, then plough some dollars into football. The govt call the shots. I know of a German company that's been here 16 years and has never put a dollar into the community, yet has made huge profits from T&T. We haveb a Brazilian company building the highway...what do they give back? It's all a tax write off, but unless they are "encouraged" they won't bother.

[dreamer]

Good points

[Bakes]

So T&T Government gets the blame for failure of a sporting body to attract sponsorships for its competition? Socialism at work?

To be fair to the Govt, they recently increased the tax breaks on investment in sport up to $3 million p.a.  However, there are very real, non socialist reasons why the Govt should actively support football and encourage sponsorship.
The TT Pro League could be become a viable source of export dollars if a robust and organised developmental programme was in place.
With a decent 10 year program there could be much income generated from transfers. If they could assist with the Pro League, perhaps the league will be televised live by ESPN, Sky etc. They would probably love an exclusive deal for, say, £2 million. If we attract top Caribbean players from St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados etc, the league will be followed there, increasing the TV viewing (Look how Trinis watched Southampton, Sunderland, Ipswich, Swansea)  Then, of course, there are many social benefits in involving youths in positive pastimes like football. Many nations take football seriously and respect the benefits that can come from sport. The U.K. for instance, has an all-party parliamentary football committee.

And how it works is simple...you wanna do business in T&T, then plough some dollars into football. The govt call the shots. I know of a German company that's been here 16 years and has never put a dollar into the community, yet has made huge profits from T&T. We haveb a Brazilian company building the highway...what do they give back? It's all a tax write off, but unless they are "encouraged" they won't bother.

So the government should take sparse public funds and invest it into some speculative venture of "developmental programme" of exporting footballers?  As a business proposal this is sheer madness... particularly when one considers that you are proposing that TnT enter an already mature market where there are already entrenched developmental and supply chains already in place.  We'll essentially be competing with the rest of the world in a race where the rest of the world is already comfortably ahead.  It's a nice fancy idea without legs.

As for forcing foreign investors to "plough some dollars into football"... apparently you have little appreciation for how the free market works.  Government is in a position where it has to make the barriers to investment as minimal as possible, not erect them higher.  We are competing for investments... we don't "call the shots" as you say.  It's like opening a store and telling your customers they have to drop $100 dollars in a bucket near the door for your kids college fund if they intend to come in and shop.  Madness... in a word.

[coache]

The Pro League and the TTFF need to do more groundwork it sounds like..

[Football supporter]

So T&T Government gets the blame for failure of a sporting body to attract sponsorships for its competition? Socialism at work?

To be fair to the Govt, they recently increased the tax breaks on investment in sport up to $3 million p.a.  However, there are very real, non socialist reasons why the Govt should actively support football and encourage sponsorship.
The TT Pro League could be become a viable source of export dollars if a robust and organised developmental programme was in place.
With a decent 10 year program there could be much income generated from transfers. If they could assist with the Pro League, perhaps the league will be televised live by ESPN, Sky etc. They would probably love an exclusive deal for, say, £2 million. If we attract top Caribbean players from St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados etc, the league will be followed there, increasing the TV viewing (Look how Trinis watched Southampton, Sunderland, Ipswich, Swansea)  Then, of course, there are many social benefits in involving youths in positive pastimes like football. Many nations take football seriously and respect the benefits that can come from sport. The U.K. for instance, has an all-party parliamentary football committee.

And how it works is simple...you wanna do business in T&T, then plough some dollars into football. The govt call the shots. I know of a German company that's been here 16 years and has never put a dollar into the community, yet has made huge profits from T&T. We haveb a Brazilian company building the highway...what do they give back? It's all a tax write off, but unless they are "encouraged" they won't bother.

So the government should take sparse public funds and invest it into some speculative venture of "developmental programme" of exporting footballers?  As a business proposal this is sheer madness... particularly when one considers that you are proposing that TnT enter an already mature market where there are already entrenched developmental and supply chains already in place.  We'll essentially be competing with the rest of the world in a race where the rest of the world is already comfortably ahead.  It's a nice fancy idea without legs.

As for forcing foreign investors to "plough some dollars into football"... apparently you have little appreciation for how the free market works.  Government is in a position where it has to make the barriers to investment as minimal as possible, not erect them higher.  We are competing for investments... we don't "call the shots" as you say.  It's like opening a store and telling your customers they have to drop $100 dollars in a bucket near the door for your kids college fund if they intend to come in and shop.  Madness... in a word.

Clearly, you don't appreciate how T&T works. This is a country who "invested" $5 million in a soca artist who had just won $2 million and was also likely to be found guilty of assault. This is a country who's sports minister, hear me, a SPORTS minister invested $10 million to bring Niki Minaj while the supporting local artists got $40,000 between them. This is a country who gave millions to Shaquille O'Neil for a photo op and spent more millions on a speculative basketball competition. This is a country where a man can take a regional football development centre and use it for weddings, events etc for his own pocket and nobody gives a sh*t. Are you really saying that all of these things are more worthwhile than developing a proper football industry that can bring rewards for decades?

Clearly, you don't appreciate how T&T works. This is a country where a certain government agency will gladly sponsor anything you want, provided that you give back 15% of the grant in a brown envelope. This is a country where a contractor can win a contract, not on price or performance, but by offering something behind the scenes. This is a country where the sports minister can give money to teams, not based on performance, accountability or transparency, but whether he likes the people running the team. Are you really naive enough to believe in free enterprise in sweet T&T? Christ, we had a flying squad for 6 months that nobody appears to know about yet it was govt funded.
Do you really believe that these same kickbacks could not be used to develop and support football?

As for competing in the transfer market being a "fancy idea" it seems you are willing to settle for our best players moving to some place ending in "stan" or the Finnish 3rd division. I happen to know there are many Pro League players who have the ability to play in much better leagues. This crap about a mature market and supply chains is just that...crap. If a club can buy player A from the Caribbean at half the cost of player B from Croatia, they will do so. Eastern European and African players are cheap, but their agents aren't. Our players are so  inexpensive that the Vietnamese can afford them.

A League 2 player in England earns TT$20,000 per month. That's 5 times more than an average player in the Pro League. A decent League 1 player may cost £250,000. I'd be happy to pick up $2.5 million for one of Centrals' players ....that's our entire years budget right there. And with a 10% sell on clause another Kenwyne Jones would bring in TT$8 million.

The only problem with shipping players overseas is their attitude and professionalism, which is why we need to develop them from age 14 or 15.

[Bakes]

Clearly, you don't appreciate how T&T works. This is a country who "invested" $5 million in a soca artist who had just won $2 million and was also likely to be found guilty of assault. This is a country who's sports minister, hear me, a SPORTS minister invested $10 million to bring Niki Minaj while the supporting local artists got $40,000 between them. This is a country who gave millions to Shaquille O'Neil for a photo op and spent more millions on a speculative basketball competition. This is a country where a man can take a regional football development centre and use it for weddings, events etc for his own pocket and nobody gives a sh*t. Are you really saying that all of these things are more worthwhile than developing a proper football industry that can bring rewards for decades?

Clearly, you don't appreciate how T&T works. This is a country where a certain government agency will gladly sponsor anything you want, provided that you give back 15% of the grant in a brown envelope. This is a country where a contractor can win a contract, not on price or performance, but by offering something behind the scenes. This is a country where the sports minister can give money to teams, not based on performance, accountability or transparency, but whether he likes the people running the team. Are you really naive enough to believe in free enterprise in sweet T&T? Christ, we had a flying squad for 6 months that nobody appears to know about yet it was govt funded.
Do you really believe that these same kickbacks could not be used to develop and support football?

Comprehension clearly isn't your strong suit, so let me break it down for you. You are highlighting examples of corruption, you are not making a case as to why government should be investing in local football.  You just f**king land in Trinidad and yuh feel you know the mores and the lay of the land better than me who born and raise there?  Are you so foolish as to conflate what ought to be proper government action with the corruption of THIS PP administration?  Are you so dense as to NOT recognize that Machel Montano and Nikki f**king Minaj are infinitely more popular than football or any footballers in TnT?  Are you so blind as to realize that this government will waste money behind ANY potential PR measure, such as making Machel an "ambassador" and trying to curry favor with the youth by latching onto the Nikki Minaj brand?  What the f**k can investing in football do for these demagogues?  Please make some kinda blasted sense.

As for competing in the transfer market being a "fancy idea" it seems you are willing to settle for our best players moving to some place ending in "stan" or the Finnish 3rd division. I happen to know there are many Pro League players who have the ability to play in much better leagues.

Right... because you's this great assessor of talent.  You know some secret that foreign evaluators don't know.  You see hidden gems where they only see mediocre talent.  What is your football background again... that anybody should be willing to take your assessment of these players talents seriously?  Oh... I thought so.  Bout you happen to know... GTFOH

This crap about a mature market and supply chains is just that...crap. If a club can buy player A from the Caribbean at half the cost of player B from Croatia, they will do so. Eastern European and African players are cheap, but their agents aren't. Our players are so  inexpensive that the Vietnamese can afford them.

Of course if a club can buy a talented player for cheap they will buy that player over an equally talented but more expensive player.  But that isn't the point... is it?  How much money is that other player costing taxpayers in his homeland?  What happens if that Croatian player is as cheap as or cheaper than the PFL player?  Given that the Croatian player likely would have already proven himself against better competition who do you think the club would buy?  And what then of investment of public funds in the PFL player?  The Vietnamese can afford our players because there isn't great demand for their services.  What so hard to understand about that?  All these great players you identified in the PFL, how come they eh even self playing in Vietnam?

A League 2 player in England earns TT$20,000 per month. That's 5 times more than an average player in the Pro League. A decent League 1 player may cost £250,000. I'd be happy to pick up $2.5 million for one of Centrals' players ....that's our entire years budget right there. And with a 10% sell on clause another Kenwyne Jones would bring in TT$8 million.

The only problem with shipping players overseas is their attitude and professionalism, which is why we need to develop them from age 14 or 15.

I have no idea why you mentioning what a League 2 or League One player making unless it is your contention that the current PFL crop have players who easily could play overseas.  I also want to know how you getting around the work permit requirement for these PFL superstars who better than League 1 and 2 talent in England.  If anything maybe the Min. of Sport should look into underwriting the cost of bringing over the foreign coaches and scouts to showcase the talent that already here... no different from subsidizing the costs of hosting economic/investment symposiums and conferences.  But the current model of government in TnT is one premised on the English model and even the frigging English are themselves moving away from that model.  Yet we talking about throwing money at sports and people can't get a hospital bed to sleep in when sick.

[Football supporter]

Clearly, you don't appreciate how T&T works. This is a country who "invested" $5 million in a soca artist who had just won $2 million and was also likely to be found guilty of assault. This is a country who's sports minister, hear me, a SPORTS minister invested $10 million to bring Niki Minaj while the supporting local artists got $40,000 between them. This is a country who gave millions to Shaquille O'Neil for a photo op and spent more millions on a speculative basketball competition. This is a country where a man can take a regional football development centre and use it for weddings, events etc for his own pocket and nobody gives a sh*t. Are you really saying that all of these things are more worthwhile than developing a proper football industry that can bring rewards for decades?

Clearly, you don't appreciate how T&T works. This is a country where a certain government agency will gladly sponsor anything you want, provided that you give back 15% of the grant in a brown envelope. This is a country where a contractor can win a contract, not on price or performance, but by offering something behind the scenes. This is a country where the sports minister can give money to teams, not based on performance, accountability or transparency, but whether he likes the people running the team. Are you really naive enough to believe in free enterprise in sweet T&T? Christ, we had a flying squad for 6 months that nobody appears to know about yet it was govt funded.
Do you really believe that these same kickbacks could not be used to develop and support football?

Comprehension clearly isn't your strong suit, so let me break it down for you. You are highlighting examples of corruption, you are not making a case as to why government should be investing in local football.  You just f**king land in Trinidad and yuh feel you know the mores and the lay of the land better than me who born and raise there?  Are you so foolish as to conflate what ought to be proper government action with the corruption of THIS PP administration?  Are you so dense as to NOT recognize that Machel Montano and Nikki f**king Minaj are infinitely more popular than football or any footballers in TnT?  Are you so blind as to realize that this government will waste money behind ANY potential PR measure, such as making Machel an "ambassador" and trying to curry favor with the youth by latching onto the Nikki Minaj brand?  What the f**k can investing in football do for these demagogues?  Please make some kinda blasted sense.

As for competing in the transfer market being a "fancy idea" it seems you are willing to settle for our best players moving to some place ending in "stan" or the Finnish 3rd division. I happen to know there are many Pro League players who have the ability to play in much better leagues.

Right... because you's this great assessor of talent.  You know some secret that foreign evaluators don't know.  You see hidden gems where they only see mediocre talent.  What is your football background again... that anybody should be willing to take your assessment of these players talents seriously?  Oh... I thought so.  Bout you happen to know... GTFOH

This crap about a mature market and supply chains is just that...crap. If a club can buy player A from the Caribbean at half the cost of player B from Croatia, they will do so. Eastern European and African players are cheap, but their agents aren't. Our players are so  inexpensive that the Vietnamese can afford them.

Of course if a club can buy a talented player for cheap they will buy that player over an equally talented but more expensive player.  But that isn't the point... is it?  How much money is that other player costing taxpayers in his homeland?  What happens if that Croatian player is as cheap as or cheaper than the PFL player?  Given that the Croatian player likely would have already proven himself against better competition who do you think the club would buy?  And what then of investment of public funds in the PFL player?  The Vietnamese can afford our players because there isn't great demand for their services.  What so hard to understand about that?  All these great players you identified in the PFL, how come they eh even self playing in Vietnam?

A League 2 player in England earns TT$20,000 per month. That's 5 times more than an average player in the Pro League. A decent League 1 player may cost £250,000. I'd be happy to pick up $2.5 million for one of Centrals' players ....that's our entire years budget right there. And with a 10% sell on clause another Kenwyne Jones would bring in TT$8 million.

The only problem with shipping players overseas is their attitude and professionalism, which is why we need to develop them from age 14 or 15.

I have no idea why you mentioning what a League 2 or League One player making unless it is your contention that the current PFL crop have players who easily could play overseas.  I also want to know how you getting around the work permit requirement for these PFL superstars who better than League 1 and 2 talent in England.  If anything maybe the Min. of Sport should look into underwriting the cost of bringing over the foreign coaches and scouts to showcase the talent that already here... no different from subsidizing the costs of hosting economic/investment symposiums and conferences.  But the current model of government in TnT is one premised on the English model and even the frigging English are themselves moving away from that model.  Yet we talking about throwing money at sports and people can't get a hospital bed to sleep in when sick.

Bakes don't spit out yuh Crix hoss. I knew this would wind you up like a clockwork soldier. "You just f**king land in Trinidad and yuh feel you know the mores and the lay of the land better than me who born and raise there?"
You like to tell everybody how you know their business better than them, but look how easy it is to get you to bite 

[Bakes]

Bakes don't spit out yuh Crix hoss. I knew this would wind you up like a clockwork soldier. "You just f**king land in Trinidad and yuh feel you know the mores and the lay of the land better than me who born and raise there?"
You like to tell everybody how you know their business better than them, but look how easy it is to get you to bite

Oh really... who have I said this to, you have proof of this?  Or just talking out your ass as usual?  Carrying on like you's some kinda football talent evaluator, get called on it and now yuh was just trying to wind me up.  Get the f**k outta here.

[trini_stallion]

Fenwick slams TTFF/ Gov’t for penniless FA competition
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868)

Pro League rookie club Central FC will aim to collect the first trophy in its brief history tomorrow night when the “Couva Sharks” face Neal & Massy Caledonia AIA from 8 pm in the TTFF FA Trophy final at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

But, if it was up to Central coach and ex-England World Cup player Terry Fenwick, Central and Caledonia would both find something more worthwhile to do with their Friday night.

Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) president Raymond Tim Kee was unable to secure any sponsorship for the competition and participating clubs lose money for every round in transport, meals and miscellaneous fees as well as physical wear and tear.

“There is no money for the FA (winners),” said Tim Kee, in a previous interview “just the conventional medals and trophies. The football has no money now. Every time a little money comes in, it is a matter of filling holes…

“You can’t get blood out of stone.”

But Fenwick, a former FA Trophy winner and Pro League Coach of the Year with San Juan Jabloteh, described the situation as a joke, particularly in light of the Trinidad and Tobago government’s supposed war on crime.

“I think it is ridiculous that the TTFF and the government are not prepared to back the FA Cup financially,” said Fenwick. “They keep on going on about crime and whatever else but you have the kids from the block working hard and trying to better themselves and make a career outside of crime and you are not backing them. It is a social injustice.

“How has the Hoops of Life benefitted anybody? (Former United States basketball star) Shaquille O’ Neal came and took his money and was gone while the kids here are still struggling for an honest dollar.”

Read More

And this is why my friend Fenwick will never get ah bligh at  the national team...he eh getting on he knees for nobody!

[Football supporter]

Bakes don't spit out yuh Crix hoss. I knew this would wind you up like a clockwork soldier. "You just f**king land in Trinidad and yuh feel you know the mores and the lay of the land better than me who born and raise there?"
You like to tell everybody how you know their business better than them, but look how easy it is to get you to bite

Oh really... who have I said this to, you have proof of this?  Or just talking out your ass as usual?  Carrying on like you's some kinda football talent evaluator, get called on it and now yuh was just trying to wind me up.  Get the f**k outta here.

   

[reggae-fan]

... If they could assist with the Pro League, perhaps the league will be televised live by ESPN, Sky etc. They would probably love an exclusive deal for, say, £2 million. If we attract top Caribbean players from St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados etc ....

Brother, this type of thinking is a lil' naïve if you ask me. Sky sports showing T&T league games? ESPN? The best you can hope for from any mainstream media entity is a 30 minute highlight show....not sure how that would benefit the Government in the long run. The strategy of developing players solely for the purpose of earning foreign exchange is also not sustainable from a Government standpoint...likely these players will end up moving abroad for small fees. For instance, how much did Kenwyn Jones local club get when Jones moved to England? Remember these players go abroad relatively unknown, so they wont be able to command 1M pound fees upfront.

[Football supporter]

... If they could assist with the Pro League, perhaps the league will be televised live by ESPN, Sky etc. They would probably love an exclusive deal for, say, £2 million. If we attract top Caribbean players from St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados etc ....

Brother, this type of thinking is a lil' naïve if you ask me. Sky sports showing T&T league games? ESPN? The best you can hope for from any mainstream media entity is a 30 minute highlight show....not sure how that would benefit the Government in the long run. The strategy of developing players solely for the purpose of earning foreign exchange is also not sustainable from a Government standpoint...likely these players will end up moving abroad for small fees. For instance, how much did Kenwyn Jones local club get when Jones moved to England? Remember these players go abroad relatively unknown, so they wont be able to command 1M pound fees upfront.

Fair points. However, stations like SKY are looking for new markets and low cost product. There are 800,000 people of Caribbean descent in the UK alone. Add to that the millions in USA, Canada etc and there may be some interest. If SKY offered £5,000 per match, there should be plenty of advertisers who could cover that cost. Virgin, B.A. and CAL would be 3 obvious choices. Then there's companies like B.P. who may use the opportunity of some CSR airtime. I haven't researched this area, so I'm only making suggestions.

Regarding the likes of Kenwyne, W.Conn probably only got maybe £50k - £100k from Southampton. But the sell on clause of between 10-15% is the money deal. That's my point. We can afford to let players move for free so that they can be polished and put in the shop window. It's the sell on clause that brings home the bacon.

Regarding the govt, maybe it is naive, but if they can invest millions in Hoops of Life, why not investigate the benefits of football?

[asylumseeker]

... and I hope there is a sell-on clause routinely.

[fishs]

 What the Pro league should do is set aside 10 per cent of the gate receipts from the whole FA Cup season and use that for prize money.

 It will be a wake up call for everybody concerned if the money ends up being 10 dollars or a million.

[Football supporter]

 What the Pro league should do is set aside 10 per cent of the gate receipts from the whole FA Cup season and use that for prize money.

 It will be a wake up call for everybody concerned if the money ends up being 10 dollars or a million.

Pro League gets no money from gate receipts. The competition is run by the TTFF. The only game I saw money taken at the gate was at the semi final and final. The whole competition was poorly run.

[ZANDOLIE]

T&T National Men’s U-17 vs W Connection U-17 anyone know the score ?

nobody cares about that, we talk big about 'yute' development but really don't give ah flying fack. tell them real madrid u17 vs bilbao u-17, you might get some answers

[ZANDOLIE]

 What the Pro league should do is set aside 10 per cent of the gate receipts from the whole FA Cup season and use that for prize money.

 It will be a wake up call for everybody concerned if the money ends up being 10 dollars or a million.

Pro League gets no money from gate receipts. The competition is run by the TTFF. The only game I saw money taken at the gate was at the semi final and final. The whole competition was poorly run.

steups. this latest iteration of the professional league was the grand vision of one austin jack warner, among others. perhaps it should be put to rest and completely rebirthed in a year or two. despite the herculean efforts of a dedicated few, the PFL brass continues to steadfastly REFUSE to take initiatives to foster long-term organic growth. The government should not be handing out money willy-nilly to an organization that carries on year in year out with the same old failed ideas, the same unrealized 'plans' and the same tired old out-of-ideas gang.

[ZANDOLIE]

this whole tired bit about funding football to 'help' de yutes' is for the most part about as tangible as holding onto a giant fart and painting it green. exactly by how much does every government dollar spent on the pro-league reduce downstream cost of crime and social malaise? and how does that particular figure compare to cost reductions by education spending, and initiatives by say...the Ministry of Social Services....on refurbishing or building new community centers, parenting classes, arts and crafts training, technical skills training, anti-drug awareness programs etc.

 The idea is simple...press for money by complaining 'de guvahment' do not care about football. Warner used to use that trick all the time, and it is pretty certain that  some of that OUR money was diverted from football into bankrolling the PP.  With all due respect to the people really trying to make things happen, the administrators in our clubs accross the nation are the ones upon whose shoulders the primary responsibility lies for making football a viable industry. They already had their chance to make a difference and they failed miserably

[trini_stallion]

this whole tired bit about funding football to 'help' de yutes' is for the most part about as tangible as holding onto a giant fart and painting it green. exactly by how much does every government dollar spent on the pro-league reduce downstream cost of crime and social malaise? and how does that particular figure compare to cost reductions by education spending, and initiatives by say...the Ministry of Social Services....on refurbishing or building new community centers, parenting classes, arts and crafts training, technical skills training, anti-drug awareness programs etc.

 The idea is simple...press for money by complaining 'de guvahment' do not care about football. Warner used to use that trick all the time, and it is pretty certain that  some of that OUR money was diverted from football into bankrolling the PP.  With all due respect to the people really trying to make things happen, the administrators in our clubs accross the nation are the ones upon whose shoulders the primary responsibility lies for making football a viable industry. They already had their chance to make a difference and they failed miserably

I'm not a PP supporter anymore, but they failed under the PNM regime, back in 2006 forward...I fault the PP for not doing anything about it!

[coache]

Disappointment..something we have grown accustomed to as a people. That's why it's easy for leadership to disappoint ..they know that the people wouldn't expect any different.

[Flex]

Fenwick: Marcano, Oliver can help Warriors.
By STEPHON NICHOLAS (NEWSDAY).

CENTRAL FC coach, Terry Fenwick, is adamant that three of his more senior players can make a positive impact on the national team.

Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Fenwick identified his club captain Jason Marcano, 38-year-old midfielder Marvin Oliver and goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams as having roles to play to help in the resurgence of the Soca Warriors.

Williams got the gloves in Trinidad and Tobago’s last international friendly against new Zealand on October 15, but Marcano has fallen out of favour while Oliver has been in the wilderness.

The Central FC coach was speaking just a few days after his team defeated Defence Force 2-1 to win the First Citizens Cup in a keenly contested final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

In a game where Central FC had to come from a goal down, Williams was in sensational form in goal to keep the charging ‘Army” at bay. Oliver, wearing the captain arm-band instead of the suspended Marcano, helped Central settle into the game in his usual languid, but skilful style of play.

“I am a big believer that Marvin would have a positive impact on the national team even if not for 90 minutes. He has the ability to calm a game and slow the tempo if needed,” the former England defender explained.

“Jan-Michael has been outstanding for us and the national team. Marcano to me has been one of the most unlucky players in Trinidad. He’s been playing very well for quite some time and doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. (Kenwyne) Jones needs service (in the national team) in terms of crosses into the box and that is what Marcano can provide,” he continued.

Commenting on the First Citizens final and the tactics employed, the Central FC coach elaborated on the changes he had to make after his team went down 1-0 after ten minutes.

“I thought for 30 minutes they (Defence Force) dominated and could have scored two or three. We have a lot of young guys and they seemed a bit overawed by the occasion. We changed tactics and then began to find our feet...We started 3-5-2, but reverted to a 4-5-1 (defensive)/4-3-3 (attacking) that stopped the supply of balls to their attackers. It simplified the game for us and gave the team time to settle,” he explained.

The sometime fiery coach acknowledged that Central FC, in just their second season in the top flight, are keen to play in the prestigious CONCACAF Champions league but they aren’t looking too far ahead just yet.

“We need to keep focus one step at a time. We have a lot of youngsters and we want to keep their feet firmly on the ground. I ensure there aren’t any ‘sweat’ in our sessions and we always have a theme so there is always something to be learnt,” he concluded.

[Sam]

Marcano is a decent player but his decision making is sometimes poor, he does run without sense sometimes.

Oliver is to slow for international football, like Theobald. Besides, we cant waste precious caps on a 38 old player.

[Coop's]

Marcano is a decent player but his decision making is sometimes poor, he does run without sense sometimes.

Oliver is to slow for international football, like Theobald. Besides, we cant waste precious caps on a 38 old player.

     I agree with you on Oliver but is years now that boy should of been on our national team,i am glad Fenwick mention it but it's too late now.they found all kind of stupid excuses not play him when he was the best midfielder in the country,he even won a car for being voted Pro league player of the year. I would simple say his hair style kept him back (discrimination at best).

[dreamer]

Agreed that he has been a great underappreciated unsung hero locally who might have missed or been denied a chance.  Too late for Oliver now. Too slow for the ferocious pace required of international ball. Nowadays every midfielder has to be very fit and track back faster than road runner. Could be easily used on the early Caribbean qualifiers if we cyah get the hylands and boucauds etc. Mind you them Caribbean qualifiers is serious business and we hah to bring out the full weaponry for dem hustlers in Grenada, Bermuda, Vincy and all ah dem.