Simpson supports move to employ high-profile coach
Simpson supports move to employ high-profile coach
published: Sunday | July 9, 2006
Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
Simpson: Get Erickson or whoever, but there has to be improvement all round. - File
FORMER REGGAE Boy Fitzroy Simpson is in full support of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) hiring a high-profile coach to take charge of the national programme and more specifically the national football team.
"Right now we are flat on our faces. People are saying that we are not worthy and it would be a good thing to get a high-profile coach to be in charge of the programme. That person could get sponsorship, generate interest and breathe new life into the programme," Simpson told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.
The 36-year-old World Cup veteran was adding his bit to the discussion which has been on the lips of supporters of the Jamaican football team since news broke on Wednesday in the British press that the JFF was preparing to approach former England coach Sven-Goran Erickson with big money to resuscitate the local programme.
Others named as possible candidates for the job include Jamaica-born former England international John Barnes, Carlos Alberto Parreira (Brazil), Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and former England manager Glenn Hoddle.
Jamaica's football, already on a low following the team's failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, took a further battering following dismal displays in 4-1 and 6-0 losses to Ghana and England respectively on May 29 and June 3. It is with this view in mind that Simpson, an England born and raised Jamaican, and one of the first England-born Jamaicans to cement himself in the national team, called for a high-profile coach.
"Those games in England were supposed to be an advertisement of what we could do, but now we are the laughing stock of the world," he said.
"I cried tears after the England game. It was an embar****ment beyond belief and we really killed ourselves. You can't even open your mouth now and say you are proud to be Jamaican. It is as if we don't exist. We cannot even hold an argument with a Trinidadian now," said Simpson of the depressing situation facing Jamaicans in England.
Like many Jamaicans, Simpson considered the Reggae Boyz a superior outfit to Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors and to watch the rivals' courageous display against England was like sticking a knife into an old wound.
HEART BLEEDS
"It was really hurtful to watch the World Cup game between England and Trinidad and Tobago. They played against an even better England team and only got 2-0. They can go on a world tour right now and where are we? They probably would not even want to entertain us with a game right now, and that is a crying shame. It makes my heart bleed," said Simpson, who won the hearts of supporters with his passionate displays in the colours of Jamaica.
For the JFF to snare a coach such as Erickson, or any of the others mentioned, the JFF will have to transform itself, according to the former midfield battler.
"I say to them get Erickson or whoever, but there has to be improvement all round. How can we interest a sponsor such as Nike with what now obtains. I have heard the names of John Barnes, Glenn Hoddle, Luis Felipe Scolari mentioned and these are all A-list coaches. You have to have A-list facilities and A-list communication. It will not work if everything is not up to par, and I want it to work."
What would also make the proposed partnership of the JFF and a high-profile international coach successful would be an able Jamaican assistant and Simpson, who previously offered himself for the job as national coach, is again presenting his credentials.
INSTILLING NATIONAL PRIDE
"All the people mentioned do not understand what they are getting into and I am not crazy enough to think that I could be the head coach right now, because I could not generate the kind of funds and interest they can, but I can play a part. In terms of instilling national pride, which will be one of the first things they will have to do, no one is better than me," said Simpson who owns a real estate business in La Manga, Spain and still plays and coaches part-time in the Conference in England.
He added: "I am qualified through certification with a UEFA B licence. My position is unique in that I played a part in us getting to the highest point we have reached so far and that is the World Cup. I have also played at the professional level for close to two decades, I am also a leader, I have the respect of the players both those at home and abroad. They respect me as a person and they respect my achievement. I have been there and done it."
"I am not begging for the job, but I can work in conjunction with any of them to rebuild this programme," Simpson said.
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