McComie milks spotlight.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
Public open CFU account
Defending Trinidad and Tobago Pro League champions, Bmobile Joe Public, have blown hot and cold this season as reflected by their place in the domestic standings-they lie in third but trail leaders CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh by nine points. Yet, they are still capable of the occasional tremendous performance.
Public's 2-1 Toyota Classic final triumph over CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh last Friday is one obvious example. They laid a marker down on Tuesday night too, with an emphatic 5-0 win over Dominican outfit, Sagicor Southeast FC, in their opening 2007 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya.
They are likely to finish atop the CFU Group B this evening after a 5 pm meeting with Aruban team, Racing Club ASV, at Macoya. It is a pity that, inadvertently or not, the Public rank and file find themselves routinely overshadowed by their coach Michael McComie on the big occasions.
A Pro League disciplinary committee will rule whether McComie's claim that he was racially abused by Jabloteh coach Terry Fenwick bears merit. But Jabloteh chairman Jerry Hospedales also voiced displeasure at the Public coach's "unbecoming behaviour" of late and suggested that the 2006 Pro League Coach of the Year was too interested in the spotlight.
Public, who are owned by FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president Jack Warner, might not pay too much attention to the opinion of a vanquished foe. But surely questions would be asked as to why McComie, a former national youth goalkeeper, played himself in Tuesday's fixture-theoretically, the region's top club competition-and as an outfield player to boot.
If Warner scoffed at the harsh opening day review of the CFU tournament by the Express, he could hardly ignore the sight of his head coach unsuccessfully attempting a Robinho impersonation near the left touchline. It is at least three years since McComie earned his living as a player and, even then, he was not paid to play right wing. His time on the field coincided with Public's worse spell of the match.
Five goals ahead at the half, McComie introduced himself as Public's final substitute in the 59th minute at the expense of national defender Keyeno Thomas. Ten minutes later, they were down to ten men as Roen Nelson was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge on opposing goalkeeper Franklyn Graham while an injury to midfielder Terrance McAllister meant Public ended with eight players and their coach on the field.
It was a patchy finish to what began as a comfortable outing for the "Eastern Lions". The Dominicans were never going to be a match for Public and only the patronizing play of the hosts-McComie's squad pulled out of tackles, casually underhit passes and opted against their customary defensive press-kept scores level until the 19th minute.
Thomas, who is hardly considered a threat from open play in domestic competition, bustled past the Southeast backline to open the score summary with a rifled strike into the far corner.
McAllister doubled Public's advantage, five minutes later, before three goals in the closing six minutes of the first half shattered the visitors' morale. Baptiste scored with two tidy finishes in the 39th and 45th minutes and won a penalty which his strike partner, Gregory Richardson, hit too close to the opposing keeper but was able to bundle home the rebound in the 43rd minute.
The tie was effectively over and McComie introduced Nelson for Richardson at the interval before adding the fresh-faced Shervon Jack and, surprisingly, himself to the fray before the hour mark.
There was a party trick from McComie-he stopped the ball with his right boot before flicking a pass to teammate Lyndon Andrews with his left-and at least one penetrative 30-yard pass into the run of Silas Spann but mostly a lot of walking and posturing.
Regardless of the physical state of Public players like Seon Power, Kendall Jagdeosingh and Kerry Noray-who remained on the sidelines as unused subs-there was more than a touch of self-indulgence about McComie's time on the pitch. His series of step-overs and shimmies near the left corner flag did not resemble the orthodox offerings of a stop gap player.
It is every goalkeeper's dream to play higher up the pitch for a match of some relevance. McComie might have fulfilled his fantasy on Tuesday. But his fun did little for the dignity of the competition. By capturing the Pro League title in his first attempt last year, McComie showed himself to be a coach of promise. Many of his problems thereafter have been of his own making.
Joe Public FC: - Jacomeno Barrett, Terrance McAllister, Larry Bacchus, Devon Caseman, Dale Saunders (capt), Lyndon Andrews, Carlos Gonzalez, Kerry Baptiste (Shervon Jack), Gregory Richardson (Roen Nelson), Keyeno Thomas (Michael McComie), Silas Spann.
Sagicor South East United: - Ralieghson Pascall, Franklyn Graham (capt), Gavascar Charles, Sean George (Ted Cuffy), Wayne Phillip, Elry Cuffy, Pharo Cuffy, Earson Fontaine (Tim Challenger), Prosper Dailey, Leo George (Curlson Prince), Monroe Phillip.
