Tallman - Wonderful Interview.
It put plenty things into perspective.
I think we should all put that Germany 06 Warrior team to rest. We will never see that again, there is too much division amongst the few pros we have and it is sad that we reach to struggling against Bermuda but we must throw our support to these new fellas and hope for the best.
Highlights for me in this interview...
Larry Loobie, who I felt was a freak of nature at that time. I'm not joking. He was very, very good.
...What happened to him he really was good.
I always said to myself, if every single day I could show the coach that I'm a good keeper, he cannot say that I'm not good enough. He must see me every day working hard and doing the right things. Those are the things that are within your control. You are only in control of your own performance. If the coach decides to pick somebody else, right or wrong, that is their prerogative. But you should never give the coach the opportunity to pick someone else because you are not being professional or you're making errors. He must almost be feeling guilty and going home and thinking about it if he selects someone else besides you, because he knows that you are absolute quality.
.....very inspirational all our players should take this advice.
you were the third string keeper. Clayton Ince was first and Shaka was second.
....I still maintain that is the order.
. I did my research on Beenhakker, because I was actually contemplating whether or not to be involved at all in the campaign. I read a few articles about him and I knew that he was a no-nonsense man, and I knew he was a fair man. So I felt that if I could make sure that I train well, and when I have the opportunity to play, play well, then I would have a chance. Fortunately, I got that chance.
Right then and there I made the decision that it made no sense for me to play for my personal glory when I'm not fully fit, and then let the team down. So I told the coach what was going on, and he asked me if I was sure. He asked “can you try?”. I said “no, ah cyar do it.”
WN: What was his reaction? Did he get vex, was he perplexed?
KELVIN: No, he just said “OK my friend.” Then he started looking at Clayton and Shaka. It's funny, because Shaka was doing a proper warm-up, and Clayton was off to the side juggling some balls and so forth. He looked at them a few times, and he called Shaka and said to him “You are playing. Are you ready?”, and Shaka said “Yes, I'm ready.”, and that was that.
................................Dat is Divine Intervention Right Dey....Watch the sequence of events...the injury..the acceptance...the decision by both player and coach....the acceptance by coach...the antics of the two players at that time...the decision...the belief...the performance...the outcome...the glory.....Shit we were really blessed that day yes!
I could only give my view on it. Mr. Beenhakker made the decision he felt was right at the time. No one will ever know if we would have won if Latapy played. Russell is a truly wonderful player and I'm just happy he was able to showcase his immense talent in the final game.
WN: I never expected him to play any full games. I had expected him to play something like a half-hour in every game. Significantly though, I remember on the flight back from Bahrain that Latapy told Theobald that the did not know if he was going to play in the World Cup. He did not know if he would be fit enough, and he did not want to just make up numbers. He also didn't want to deny a younger player the opportunity.
KELVIN: That's just a footballer being honest. He knows how he feels, he knows his situation.
.......Nothing more needs to be said. We go leave this right dey.
WN: Your colleague Clayton Ince was a witness for Mike Berry, and he testified against you in court. How do you feel about that, and do you currently have a relationship with Clayton? Have you spoken with him since?
KELVIN: We don't speak. For some reason he felt it was necessary to come and testify against me. I think everybody saw the outcome of that and what the judge said about his testimony. The judge's comments showed what he thought about Mr. Ince's testimony.
.....Well look ting...wonder why he get drop vs Bermuda, does he still have bad vibes in him?
WN: Since they made that decision, have your relationship with those players deteriorated?
KELVIN: All I could say is that it is a very sad thing that we had so much success two years ago and it has come to this now where you have some players, the minority, who didn't make the stand with the majority, when it was a right decision. Some things in life are yes and no, right and wrong, and this was right.
...........End of story, let us close this chapter on TT football.
WN: There were fans who went to the England game with black T-shirts in order to show their displeasure with what is going with the administration of T&T football. The front of the T-shirt says “I support all Soca Warriors”, and the back says “Red, White, and Blacklisted.” Brent and Birchall were presented with jerseys when they appeared on Andre Baptiste's show on i95.5 FM.
KELVIN: If that was done, then I have nothing but admiration for fans like that. That is proper football fans. Those are the fans you want to play for. Those are the people who make you proud that they have that level of passion and commitment towards Trinidad & Tobago football.
.....Appsssahhhh, Spidey, brownsugar and co. Take a Bow!
KELVIN: Fans are very powerful. Along with players, fans are the most important people in football. Without players you cannot have football. Without fans, you don't have anybody to watch the football. There are no wages to be paid without fans. Fans more or less pay a portion of a player's wage. Fans have more power than they think. Do not accept mediocrity. And I'm not talking about the players here. Fans deserve to be treated fairly. When I say treated fairly, they have paid good money to watch the game, and they deserve to see the best players.
........Amen!!
