Yorke blanks T&TFF.
By: Nigel Simon (Guardian).Dwight Yorke, captain of the Soca Warriors team that participated at the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany has blanked an offer by T&T Football Federation special adviser and Fifa vice-president Austin Jack Warner to make a return to the national team.
Earlier this month Warner, president of Concacaf had announced that at the federation’s Congress in Toronto it was agreed that T&T’s World Cup captain Dwight Yorke will be honoured at the upcoming Gold Cup and as such he would be expected to join the senior team for the tournament.
Warner added that an invitation went out from him to Yorke which requested his services for the Digicel Shield and the Gold Cup.
But Contacted yesterday, Warner said that Yorke, who will be making a return to the English Premiership with T&T team-mates Stern John and Carlos Edwards with Sunderland will not be available.
“A message was left on my phone by his agent which stated that Yorke will be involve in a Football Clinic from May 27 to the middle of June which makes him unavailable for both the Digicel Shield and Concacaf Gold Cup.
However sources close to the team have hinted that Yorke’s decision not to return to the team is in solidarity with the rest of the players over the non-payment of what they claim is reward money owed to them by the T&T Football Federation for their qualification and participation at the World Cup.
The source added, “I’m reliably informed that Yorke informed the T&TFF that he will only be available to play if the best team will be going and with most of the World Cup players locked in battle with the T&TFF, he had no other choice but to decline the offer.
Asked to comment on the T&TFF and World Cup players dispute Warner replied, “I don’t want to get involve, it’s a matter for them and the T&TFF and at the end of it all I will have my say.
T&T coach Wim Rijsbergen is facing the possibility of going into two major tournaments minus the core of players that represented T&T in Germany and has already expressed his desire to work with the best players.
Last month it was stated that the European-based quartet of Carlos Edwards, Clayton Ince, Dennis Lawrence and Jason Scotland had decided to make themselves available to the team.
Ince and Lawrence are not in the country and are said to be on vacation with the family while Edwards and Scotland were both involved in the Football Players Association of T&T “Football Fun Day” featuring the 2006 Germany World Cup Soca Warriors and a local Celebrities Team at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Sunday.
Other members of the team that played in Germany who were present on Sunday included Stern John (Sunderland), Kenwyne Jones (Southampton), Christopher Birchall (Coventry City), Kelvin Jack (Gillingham), Cornell Glen (San Juan Jabloteh), Marvin Andrews (Raith Rovers), Cyd Gray (San Juan Jabloteh), Brent Sancho (Gillingham), Anthony Wolfe (North East Stars), Densill Theobald (Caledonia AIA) and David Atiba Charles (W Connection).
However, when the live-in camp began at Crowne Plaza Hotel on Monday and Rijsbergen resumed training later that afternoon at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, ahead of the Digicel Shield semifinal against Caribbean Football Union champions, Haiti on Tuesday, only Theobald and Silvio Spann, who was replaced by Evans Wise in the World Cup squad, less than a month before the tournament, were present.
The other players in training included Keyeno Thomas, Seon Power, Osei Telesford, Keon Daniel, Romauld Aguillera, Jan-Michael Williams, Glenton Wolfe, Andre Toussaint, Daurance Williams, Gary Glasgow, Errol Mc Farlane Jr, Kerwyn Jemmott, Marvin Phillip, Dwayne Jack, Kerry Baptiste, Kendall Jagdeosingh, Trent Noel, Andrei Pacheco, Christian Baptiste and Nichcolson Thomas.
Speaking after Monday’s session Rijsbergen a former Holland international said that as a coach he likes to win, but doesn’t think he has been given a fair chance to prove himself due to the unavailability of the most of the European-based players.
Stating that his reputation as a coach was also being put on the line the Dutchman said, “Results of international competition not only reflect on the country but also on me.
Rijsbergen added, “The problem is that if we go to the Concacaf Gold Cup it goes around the world, and the only thing you will see is a result for the team, win or lose.
There is no explanation about which players are there. Of course, I don’t want to be the guy who is on the front page. I like to win. And if I get a fair chance to pick the best team, they can blame me if it’s not successful.”
Silvio Spann, left, is tackled by Kerwyn “Hardest” Jemmott during T&T Soca Warriors training session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Monday. ...Photo: Anthony Harris
Spotlight feature on Dwight Yorke.
By: Soccernet.Com.[/size]
Read all about the life and times of Trinidad and Tobago star, Dwight Yorke.One of the game's rare characters, Sunderland veteran Yorke has become a midfield player after converting from the striking position he made his name as a player with Aston Villa and Manchester United.
Yorke has been nervous once in his life, or so he says. His debut for Manchester United kept him awake the night before. He needn't have worried.
A £12.6million record-signing, Yorke was an instant hit with the Manchester United fans and by the end of that first season was named Carling Player of the Year.
His goals, his demeanour, his overall contribution, his obvious love for the game and gratitude for all that it has given him, all of this made him a very special player.
Brought from Tobago by Graham Taylor, he spent several seasons at Aston Villa. But it was with United, and particularly in his partnership with Andy Cole, that Yorke emerged as a world-class striker.
That relationship with Cole came as a surprise to critics who anticipated that the players were too similar. How wrong they were has been proven over and again, as the pair set scoring records in that first season.
Yorke's second season at Old Trafford was less dazzling. International calls (to the Gold Cup and for World Cup qualifiers) kept him on the move for much of the time. And yet he still managed 23 goals. Not bad!
But it was all downhill from there for Dwight, and by the 2001/02 season it became clear he did not figure in Sir Alex Ferguson's plans. A series of much-publicised off-field antics proved to be his downfall - not least his relationship with model Jordan which eventually saw her fall pregnant with his child.
Yorke was originally put on the market at £6million. Blackburn Rovers were desperate to land the player but refused to pay the fee.
After a long process of haggling, Yorke eventually signed for Rovers for just £2million in July 2002. An extra £600,000 could be payable on Yorke's appearances and Blackburn's performance. He signed a three-year contract.
Yorke scored 64 goals in 151 games for United. He was reunited with Cole at Ewood Park, who had moved to Rovers just months earlier.
The striker made his debut in a goalless draw at home to Sunderland, but netted the winner in his next game at Birmingham City. His first season at Blackburn was average, with just eight Premiership goals to his name.
And in the 2003/04 campaign he had a number of run-ins with boss Graeme Souness.
The pair were involved in a heated exchange in the canteen at the Brockhall training centre after clashing during a six-a-side practice match in March.
Yorke reportedly caught Souness with a painful late challenge and the fiery Scot then retaliated with one of his own, before words were exchanged after the game.
Yorke had been unhappy at being dropped from the Rovers starting XI and would have left in January had another club been prepared to match his wages.
He bagged just four Premiership goals in 2003/04, and it looked as though he would be on his way out in the summer after he was left out of the squad for a pre-season tour.
Portsmouth were said to be interesting in the striker, but after a meeting with Souness he was welcomed back into the squad and all seemed well.
But his performances in the first few games of the season were disappointing, and at the eleventh hour he moved on.
Celtic came in for the player hours before the transfer deadline passed in August 2004, and then Birmingham matched the Scottish club's offer.
Yorke chose to stay in the Premiership and moved back to Brum, where of course he played his early football.
Steve Bruce stepped in to land the striker for a 'substantial but undisclosed fee', with Yorke being handed a one-year deal with the option of another 12 months.
He was to last just the one year, the slide of form at Blackburn continued at Blues where he spent much of his time on the bench.
A move to Sydney FC followed, where he rekindled his love for the game, winning the title in the inaugral A-League season and converting to a midfield playmaker.
He fulfilled the same role for his country at the 2006 World Cup Finals, even ending up as the player who made the most tackles in the first round - an accolade few fans of Rovers or Blues could scarcely believe.
He returned to United's training camp to get fit for the World Cup and was welcomed by Sir Alex, despite previous run-ins. A good word may have been put in, along with his displays in Germany, because he was soon signing for old colleague Roy Keane at Sunderland, where he played in the midfield and became a cult figure among Sunderland fans. He made 30 appearances in the promotion season, scoring 5 goals from the engine room he now frequents.
