More parallels:
JFF dissatisfied with Simoes' selection policy
Garfield Myers
Saturday, September 13, 2008
MANDEVILLE, Manchester - He did not say so in as many words, but chairman of the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) technical committee Howard McIntosh made it plain in Mandeville on Thursday night that dissatisfaction with team selection had much to do with the sacking of Rene Simoes as technical director of Jamaica's football.
"It really comes down to performance." was the reply from McIntosh when asked what were the "main concerns" that triggered the decision by JFF president Captain Horace Burrell to fire Simoes following successive, though not unexpected away defeats to Mexico and Honduras in CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.
But when asked specifically what would be expected of Simoes' replacement in terms of team selection, McIntosh was unequivocal.
"I would hope that the new technical director and his staff will pick the best 11 to represent the country and if it follows that that best 11 is really from overseas representation, then that's the 11 that should be picked. I always believe that the best 11 (from) the best squad of 18/20 players should be on the field all the time," he said.
Asked whether he thought Simoes, a Brazilian, who famously guided Jamaica to the 1998 World Cup was in the habit of selecting his "best team" during the current campaign, McIntosh was equally clear.
"No, I don't think the best squad was always selected.," noted the JFF executive who was in Mandeville as guest speaker at the Manchester FA's annual awards ceremony. McIntosh said while the move to fire Simoes was ultimately that of Burrell, senior executives were involved in extensive consultation prior to the decision.
"Ultimately the full responsibility falls on the president but it was through a process of consultation with senior executives of the federation, not only in Honduras, but also here in Jamaica, but at the end of the day, the president made the decision," said the long-time ally of Burrell.
He said there had been "an ongoing process of consultation" even before the game in Honduras.
Simoes drew raised eyebrows and criticism after preferring several youthful and inexperienced local-based players to seasoned overseas-based pros in the tough second phase of CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
The Brazilian's position was manifestly risky since Burrell has long held that Jamaica should always take the field with its strongest available team. Concerns that Simoes' immediate predecessor 'Bora' Multinovic "experimented" too much with the Jamaica team experiencing in the process a number of poor results were said to have contributed to Burrell's decision to fire the Serb shortly after taking the reins as JFF president late last year.
Currently, Jamaica, drawn in the so-called 'Group of Death' with Mexico, Honduras and Canada, have just one point from three away games after drawing 1-1 with Canada and losing 0-3 and 0-2 to Mexico and Honduras respectively.
To reach the final qualification round of six, Jamaica must now win their three home games in October and November while hoping that Honduras flounder in remaining home matches against Mexico and Canada.
McIntosh, a businessman, appeared open to the suggestion that for the three remaining games in this qualification phase, the JFF may look locally for a coach rather than overseas, although he stressed that the 'call' was Burrell's alone.
"I don't want to comment at this point in time. That will require some consultation and at the end of the day, the president will rule on that one.," he said when asked whether the JFF would be looking overseas or locally.
But in response to the question of whether a new coach would not be severely handicapped by the short preparation period, McIntosh was more expansive.
"It's going to be tough, but we believe that we have the talent pool and we have some people in terms of assistant coaches who can help in the continuity. When you are playing at the World Cup level, you only get together for four, five days. That's how it really works because you are bringing all the players from overseas primarily and you're integrating them with a number of local players and that's what we need to do," he said.
Theodore Whitmore, a former midfield wizard who was pivotal to the World Cup qualifying Jamaica team 10 years ago, has served as Simoes' assistant over recent months. Late last year, in the period between the departure of Milutinovic and the arrival of Simoes, Whitmore guided the Reggae Boyz to home victories against El Salvador and Guatemala.
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Jamaica Observer Editorial
The fall of Mr Simoes
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Job security doesn't count for much when you are an international football coach. That is probably one reason such people are paid so much.
Even so, most Jamaicans and very probably Mr Rene Simoes himself were taken aback at his dismissal as technical director of Jamaica's football.
In retrospect though, the writing was on the wall. Football fans will recall that Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and the man who dropped the axe, has long insisted that Jamaica should always seek to field its strongest available team.
Indeed, it was the expressed position of Captain Horace Burrell in explaining the decision to fire Mr Simoes' predecessor Mr 'Bora' Milutinovic late last year that among other faults, the latter had been cavalier in the selection of Jamaican teams. The feeling then was that "experimental" team selection had led to a number of defeats for the Reggae Boyz, triggering a headlong drop in the FIFA rankings.
So it was then that football watchers were puzzled by the decision of Mr Simoes - who so gloriously guided Jamaica to the 1998 World Cup in France - to ignore the claims of several experienced, overseas-based professionals as he entered the second phase of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. Readers will note that Jamaica are drawn in the so-called 'Group of Death' with powerful Mexico, Honduras and Canada. Only two can go forward to the final qualifying Group of Six which will determine the CONCACAF representatives for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, so there could be no room for error. To borrow from Jamaican folk culture "as yuh slip, yuh slide".
A 1-1 draw against Canada in that country was a fair start. The Jamaican management and coaching staff would surely have recognised that defeat against mighty Mexico at high altitude in the famous Azteca was the overwhelmingly likely result. The hope was that in Honduras, Jamaica would have at least matched the performance in Canada. Things looked good up to half-time with the Reggae Boyz holding at 0-0.
But then injury forced the withdrawal of central defender Mr Jermaine Taylor and suddenly the risky selection policy of Mr Simoes was cruelly exposed. Without an experienced replacement for Mr Taylor, the coach brought in a midfielder, Mr Jevaughn Watson, in only his second game at the international level and pulled back Mr Tyrone Marshall from central midfield to central defence.
The team lost its form and compactness in defence and Honduras would score two unanswered goals.
With three home games remaining, there still remains an outside chance that Jamaica can qualify for the final qualifying group. But by choosing to terminate his services at this point, Captain Burrell sent the clear message that he no longer trusted the judgement of the Brazilian.
We will probably never know all the reasons for Mr Simoes' decision not to bolster his squad with more hardened and seasoned players. In the end it may simply have had to do with personality.
We recall making the point in March shortly after his arrival, that Mr Simoes was entering a football arena that was very different from the one he found in the 1990s. Back then there were almost no home-bred Jamaicans playing professionally. As a result Mr Simoes developed an understandingly paternalistic relationship with a largely home-based squad.
Currently, we are told that more than 50 home-bred Jamaicans play professionally abroad. It was an entirely new challenge and we wondered how Mr Simoes would cope. Sadly, he didn't.
