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Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #240 on: September 13, 2017, 01:39:26 AM »
Where next for the Warriors.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


This question must be hanging over the heads of the entire football fraternity and it is a most appropriate one.

Firstly and to the point: the emphasis on winning the final two matches must be still the top priority, regardless of what we believe the chance to qualify is feeble.

Dennis Lawrence and his staff must hold their commitment to success until the end of the road.

The next step following the final result will be to set a variety of targets, all leading up to various tournaments such as U-17, U-19, U23 Olympics and the 2022 World cup.

I have noticed just recently that the ball has begun to roll by the TTFA regarding the start of a youth development program which seems to have set a path from our hosting of the U-17 FIFA WC and spiralled through maybe the most successful progress line in our history of Football as our U-15 won the CFU champions in 2005. These players graduated into the U-17 age group and after a well organised preparatory process which included a series of international friendlies, the CFU qualifying and the Concacaf qualifying matches saw our team reach the U-19 Fifa World Cup finals in Korea in 2007.

The same was the case for the U-20 FIFA WC for which we qualified to play in Egypt in 2009. We may also recall our Olympic qualifying team very nearly made it to London, but failed to shake the strength of Mexico and Honduras.

However, there must be a methodical plan to keep the effort which National teams should engage itself by having a series of regular international matches. A good start for this will be to use the “Russian FIFA” Qualifiers for friendlies, which should start in early

January and get five of them to play against the Warriors. They will need the exposure and so will we, hence the reason for this option.

I am still qualified that there is need for further education for our coaches at the high levels of the game. Grassroots coaching and “C” and “D” licenses are fine for the youngsters between 13 and 15 years.

The game at higher levels seem to always evade the level of our experience and understanding of the game. This has shown itself on numerous occasions, providing us with evidence as to what quality of knowledge must be used.

I strongly recommend that our young local coaches with good potential should be made to attend international matches anywhere around us, with the specific instruction to learn more of what the experts do for success.

Finally, the current coaching staff should meet with the Technical committee who could present the picture which was offered to the team within the last six matches coming directly from the mouths and minds of the staff. This may well be the most essential challenge and could expose some lessons which we may have learnt under the guidance of the current staff.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #241 on: September 22, 2017, 01:37:28 AM »
99th in FIFA rankings accepted quietly.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


I suppose that we are all disappointed over the Soca Warriors ranking of 99th in the FIFA rankings. But many do not know how this low ranking will affect the game generally in T&T.

After a very mathematical formula by some experts in FIFA, the ranking tend to be based upon results against all the opponents each country has played.

The result of each country will be judged by the ranking of the opponent, the results of the matches whether competitive or friendly.

For a country which had enjoyed good results against some of the best countries in world football over the years. The placing is painful especially when teams like Haiti, Curacao, Honduras, Republic of Ireland, USA (28), Costa Rica (21) and of course Mexico.

Although we had some good results against Argentina, Columbia and even Sweden, our progress line did not show moves forward in the manner expected.

The major effects for our teams and players are usually downgraded by the scouts across the world, and when we negotiate with opponents, their judgement is based upon our ranking, while the scouts who are forever following the trail of players the world over, will veer away from our local lads, and if still interested, they will search for weaker ranked countries.

History of the Soca Warriors FIFA Rankings

August 1993 -85.
June 2001 -25.
October 2010 -106.
September 2017 -99.

Our coaching staff will also be theoretically be judged by the team’s results, which will offer very little chance of employment in the more recognised countries. The salaried scale for our local players are hardly rated in accordance with the ranking, but the progressive countries of the world will certainly do.

No wonder why players like Lionel Messi, Neymer Jr, Paul Pogba and many others, are given exceptional salaries and the advertisers follow their trail to get their garments onto these brilliant players.

This assessment must be of importance to all aspects of the game in the country. Visitors do not have the time to go in search of teams and players to all countries, which will make our attention span very menial to them.

This country knows what it has been within the top sixties and even higher over the years and our target must be based upon improvement up the ladder.

Friendlies against higher rated opponents and those against recognised confederations.

Not only will it address the quality of our players, bring better results to the fore and help to attract our players to the player trailers across the world.

Our coaching staff at all levels should understand the reason why we have reached to that low ranking, and view the reason as shortage in quality of their professions. It is not an embarrassment to admit one shortcoming in our profession.

A more productive solution is to go in search of football education, watch closely at the high profile teams and players to understand the various areas of strength and organisation of the game on the field.

We must begin our rise soon.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

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Should football return to Amateur status?
« Reply #242 on: September 27, 2017, 05:43:20 AM »
Should football return to Amateur status
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian)


The extent of the problems that currently exist in local football may well have been the reason why the thought of one Pro league Club owners had to openly reject the idea of returning to Amateur status even before it was suggested by anyone else.

It is probably the appropriate time that the clubs can open their eyes, recognise the numerous problems, financially, administratively, and leagues disorder right across the board.

There are many persons in life whose effort to engage in the business of change for the better is often aborted in fear that the future may be worse.

In the case of football, this is not the case. The country has sufficient evidence that change is inevitable simply because all of the EFA, the newly reconstructed (Super league), The Pro League, are all amidst some form of confusion.

The evidence of the Proleague’s problems have been clearly proven judging from the comments made by the Central FC owner, Brent Sancho, whose forceful demand for funding for all the “Professional” Clubs from the Ministry of Sport and the Sportt Company.

It is my belief that this issue may be viewed realistically before any action with regard to making any adjustment or complete change in structure should be attempted.

The first question is: why has the league not been able to bring out the fans to support matches played in that league? The answer lies in the mediocrity of the performances by the teams.

The game of football is the commodity which should be the main target for correction and unfortunately, there is an absence of football education on the benches of the clubs in the country.

For some unknown reason, this country has never placed great emphasis in the training our coaches need when they are working at the highest Club level of the game.

This education is not only about the game on the field, but specifically to define to the players themselves of the manner in which a professional approach is based upon the processes of commitment, intensity of training methods which include understanding the tactical ingredients, the use of clever understanding among the players in a team, and most of all, the portions of communication which must be practiced in order to produce quality of football that will satisfy the fans.

Sancho said that we must not return to Amateur status, but at this stage, we are currently operating in that category. The difference is that these players are demanding payment for their efforts, quite naturally because they are contracted to do same.

Not for the very first time did we hear of the need for government to finance the TTFA Pro league, and my reaction comes from the principle that the Club owners who have chosen to invest their money in a proleague franchise must have catered for all the preliminary financial commitments from Club registration, to players’ and coaches’ salaries, to supply all the regular areas of financial coverage such as balls, uniforms, medicine kits, Team internal travel and even external when the Concacaf clubs championship requires travel and hotel abroad.

The Franchise owner’s financial return comes from gate receipts, prize monies and investors from the business sector who may wish to support the club as shareholders.

These requirements appear to have failed and the team performances have not reached the level which fans will respond by attending matches.

I have seen a formula which the East Germans have used when they were separated from the West Germans. These clubs all got support from the business sector by employing the majority of players in their company’s pay package where team representation is primary in their terms of employment.

They employ excellently trained coaches and demanded maximum efforts from the chosen players.

This project worked so well, that in the year 1976, the East Germany won the gold medal in Soccer in the Montreal Olympics and also defeated West Germany in a world cup fixture.

That is the way forward, especially as our Government had already committed to allowing tax breaks for members of the business sector which are approached by clubs to be shareholders.

However, clubs must be trained to handle their administrative efforts from all angles. If the processes professionalism or Amateurism are not dealt with, then nothing will work.


http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/2017-09-27/should-football-return-amateur-status
« Last Edit: September 27, 2017, 09:41:29 AM by Tallman »

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #243 on: September 29, 2017, 01:45:00 AM »
Soca Warriors must compete with the USA.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


Yes, I can understand the discomfort of playing matches when the odds seem to minuscule for success.

I also understand part of the problem which emanated from players being penalised for making irresponsible decisions prior to the Honduras match.

Unfortunately, the behaviour of two players giving preference to playing fete match prior to a key World Cup game was a signal to you and everyone else their level of patriotism to our national programme.

Actually, your forgiveness to allow them to stay attached to the team was stretching your patience and at the same time, sending the wrong message to those who follow the rules.

As to the omission of eleven players who were attached to the squad for almost every qualifying match in this tournament, one wonders what the reasons behind the decision.

You agreed that in the previous matches that these guys were giving great effort and slipped along the way because of strategy which failed to get the results intended.

However, that being said, your weeks of preparation with those players showed some level of improvement.

Also keep in mind that these experienced players are the ones who can adjust to the heights and marvellous talents of Mexico (14th ranking) and the rigours of the USA (ranked 28th).

If these new players were capable of a national team shirt in the recent past, why were they not given the chances while our chances were still possible?

Coach, I have always been of the opinion that coaches do not expose players with potential, but incapable of outdoing the regular players, to play in World Cup competition.

Those players must be made to utilise the friendlies and if the national team is fully in control of one of the major tournaments, then slip one in for the short term experience.

Your decision to make this drastic change sends the message of one or two trends of thought. The first is that you have given up the ghost. The second is that you may see your decision to use these relative newcomers together is the way to prepare them for the future World Cup tournament five years down the road.

I humbly disagree. These present players have come through the mill and are probably in the prime of their football lives. Tossing them aside is tantamount to your desire to take pressure from the fact that you have failed to make it to Russia.

Maybe, you will recall that a great international coach called Bora Milutinovic carried a Mexican team to play Jamaica in Kingston, which was well short of almost all the top players, simply because Mexico has qualified. Jamaica got the result they wanted and qualified for France.

However, the Mexican coach was immediately fired for the decision even before they went to France.

International tournaments are special to every country and in a most indirect way, each country must play hard enough to force all opponents to work hard for points, whether they can qualify or not.

I hope that for your sake, your selected team will surprise us all and even the USA which is struggling and need three points against the Soca Warriors to keep its automatic qualifying birth alive in the tournament. There is also a shadow of stinging defeats which can destroy the future of our youngsters and cut our support to a minimum. Good luck.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline maxg

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #244 on: September 29, 2017, 12:16:29 PM »
 :thumbsup:

Offline Coach

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #245 on: September 29, 2017, 06:50:00 PM »
The decisions DL has made since given the TT coaching job shows he is not ready to be a head coach, hopefully the risk TTFA took by giving him the job will workout for TT football in the future.

Offline pull stones

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #246 on: September 30, 2017, 09:10:54 AM »
what a pile by alvin Alzheimer's corneal. we have absolutely nothing to play for ATM save pride, so to compare mexico's situation with ours is quite silly. mexico was on their way to the world cup then just as now and they played a rookie squad, we have nothing at stake so why not give the youngstars some valuable experience, nothing's wrong with that.

 in fact I think it's a grand opportunity to see how some of the rookies react to the pressure of playing before tens of thousands. this is quite topical of our people with the age ole scenario of too many chiefs and not enough indians all trying to stir the pot.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #247 on: October 13, 2017, 03:57:28 AM »
The Yanks were too cocky.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


The statement carries much joy for the football lovers of this country and even throughout the Caribbean. After six matches played in the hexagon, it was clear that our national team would not qualify for Russia.

With two games to go, the sport loving public actually dropped their guard when coach Dennis Lawrence decided to make drastic changes to the team which has been failing to get to the winning pole.

His catch phrase was “eleven starting players” were dropped and the focus in the selection process will be on the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

But as we looked at the names on the sheet, there were many who have been on the field during the 2018 campaign.

The news of some naughty players breaking the rules may have led the coach to take the irresponsible behaviour of the guilty and decided to veer away from them for the final two matches.

Nevertheless, Mexico and the USA could not be considered walkovers and the fans became jumpy as to who will take the field against Mexico. The story of a good performance by T&T public after the team’s 3-1 loss was much better than previous matches.

However, the majority of players were in the squad previously, except the newcomers Adrian Foncette, Kevon Villaroel, and to a lesser extent Shahdon Winchester.

The team started well and the brilliance of goalkeeper Foncette left us with a chance to hold a lead to victory. It did not happen, but the memory of excellent defensive play and the commitment displayed during the match revealed that the team could have done much better.

Away from home and against a highly ranked Mexico, was a fine effort by the Soca Warriors. The USA did not take notice of the T&T players change in attitude and speed level which showed up.

The USA came to Couva with only victory in mind, simply because they are following history of the past encounters, 1989 in particular.

It all started when the Americans attempted to utilise their mandatory practice session at the Ato Boldon Stadium to demoralised not just the T&T team, but the country by taking their protest of a waterlogged Athletic track to social media in which they posted players walking through water while others gave jockey backs to teammates as they crossed the athletic track onto the playing area. Their posts even made it to the traditional news media outlets in the USA and they did not forget to highlight the plight of their team.

USA coach Bruce Arena’s comment seemed realistic when he said, “both teams have to use the same field, so it is no problem.”

On game day it was a heavy surface, no water, as the conditions suited skilled players with quick feet.

The US players came with a certain degree of over confidence and kept on chatting over what they felt was a certain result. “We only need a draw, we are going for victory against the last placed country in our group.”

What they missed was the change of attitude demanded by T&T coach of his players. The speed of Lewis, and Caesar, the creativity of Leston Paul and Kareem Hyland, plus an energetic goalkeeper in Foncette, whose challenges in life very nearly ended his career by accident, be good enough. Did they observe the strength of the Warrior’s defence-line for seventy minutes of the Mexican Game?

They were too busy reciting their code message,” fait accomplit,” a feature which may have derailed their thoughts and taken them into victory road well before the match.

Coach Lawrence did his job well and in hindsight, many of us could not see exactly why some of the experienced players were omitted. A courageous decision, but the type which good coaches make.

It is history now. It is not about the Yanks whose desire to highlight our rainy situations.

This country did not qualify. Neither did the USA. However, I can’t help but feel that we learnt more lessons from the challenges that our team faced during our efforts to reach Russia.

Our next step could well provide the value of the lessons learnt, especially the commitment of our players who may now realise that talent is nothing with commitment and courage to be team players. We now look to prepare for the future.

Well Done, Soca Warriors.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #248 on: October 20, 2017, 03:21:55 AM »
Soca Warriors debate next move.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


What’s next for the Soca Warriors?

I suppose that the answer to that question is more complicated than losing a football match or even a regional tournament.

Our current ranking position of 83 tells its own story and being last in the Hexagon could relate to the status of the game at this juncture.

This brings to the table the opportunity to view matters in hindsight from as long as the appointment of former national coach Stephen Hart through to the victory over the USA by Dennis Lawrence and his squad. Starting from the beginning would be the work of Hart for the period that he was employed until he was replaced.

Some stability was brought to the national programme vis a vis team preparation and to a certain extent, communication with the foreign-based players, which was actually the ideal way to jump start his programme.

Knowing Stephen for many years during his career as a coach attached in different capacities for the Canadian national teams, I understood the former national Midfielder’s approach which bears similarity to the Canadian Pattern regarding local and foreign-based players.

However, as we walked along the road of challengers, a number of unforeseen problems began to show themselves coming from unexpected directions.

Firstly, the improper communication which existed between the T&T Football Association (TTFA) and the coaching staff which appeared to divide the players into different directions started casually affecting the smooth running of sessions, even when the selection process was said to be complicated with issues that had nothing to do with the game itself.When things appeared to be corrected and the team began to appear to be heading in the right direction, coach Stephen worked hard at trying to find the players with the right attitude as opposed to be prima donnas, an issue which most coaches undergo from time to time.

The fans were becoming more interested as the team was appearing to be good competitors in the regional setting.

However, a terrible start to the Hex started to scare the TTFA and they went for a change in coach, without even reviewing the progress that the team had made prior to the sudden losses.

Enter a new coach Tom Saintfiet, a Belgian whose claim to fame had nothing in his portfolio. His accepted contract was the joke of the century when he admitted that if he failed to win the next two matches in the Hex, he will be fired. So said, so done.

The selection of Dennis brought satisfaction as the former national defender had been under coach Roberto Martinez with Everton FC. Although his coaching certification was short of what is expected for national teams, his player’s experience plus his learning from high profile club coaches, got him the job.

Honestly, success for Dennis was far-fetched, especially after he defeated Panama in the early stages and fought Mexico down to the wire of a tough defeat.

Naturally, despite some impressive portions of the matches, it was clear that Dennis was short of some tactical adjustments and he was fast beginning to learn about player behaviour.

It must be recorded that he had done well in his analyses of some of the players whose commitments were far from what was expected. He made what appeared to be drastic changes, but the transition from mediocre turned into progressive and a route to better results. USA was his huge payday and that was enough to give him the chance to continue the job and prove his real test between now and the next Gold Cup.

A one year match schedule programme will be a key factor, even before Dennis documents his principled choice regarding the process for selecting our national teams. On completion of the above we shall wish to see the trail in search of success, the improved choice of his coaching assistants and most of all, his constant search of players from every part of the country.

Finally, it is necessary for coach Dennis to prove his worth by the quality of his team’s preparation, his analyses of previous matches by showing deficiencies using videos of each match and methods of improvement.

The onus of a coach is to show that his methodology, organisation and creation of major features for success within his teams. That is crucial for the longevity of his profession.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #249 on: October 21, 2017, 05:15:50 AM »
Corneal apologises to coach Lawrence.
T&T Guardian Reports.


My recent column published in T&T Guardian on Friday, October 20, 2017, which made reference to your qualification to coach our national team which was written in chapter six, was not meant to degrade your certification which you have earned during your stint in the coaching profession.

I will agree that, in hindsight, the comment may have challenged your ability to handle our national team, which was really intended to imply your inexperience to coach a national team before this assignment. The comment was NOT intended to degrade you or your professional qualification in any way whatsoever, therefore I apologise profusely to you and anyone who may have read the article.

As they may further have read in the same article, it was clear that I am completely in favour of you carrying on the job from the present position from which the national squad will approach the next major tournament. I also wish to extend my apologies to your employers.

Again, my sincerest apologies.

Regards
Alvin Corneal
Former National Coach


The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #250 on: October 21, 2017, 06:06:05 AM »
I suppose this is the offending comment:

Quote
Although his coaching certification was short of what is expected for national teams, his player’s experience plus his learning from high profile club coaches, got him the job.

Corneal's apology is as muddled as his writing.

Someone at the Guardian should invest in editing his contributions or the publication should end the relationship. Surely it can't be escaping the braintrust at the Guardian that the writer's contributions in their unedited form detract from the broader credibility of the newspaper.

We all want to learn from Mr. Cormeal's body of knowledge, but no one wants to wade through a bed of seaweed to get there.

Offline dcs

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #251 on: October 21, 2017, 07:07:20 AM »

Don’t think that warranted an apology....at least not as a stand alone piece.

Call it as it is even if you perceived as harsh.

If someone from the organization complained they need to relax. I guess they leveraging Anton being on board to get him to ease them up.  Don’t!!!

I think it is clear everyone, including Alvin wants to stay with Dennis for the long haul.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #252 on: October 21, 2017, 09:14:49 AM »
???

It is patently incorrect to state that "his coaching certification was short of what is expected for national teams". No ifs, no buts, no howevers.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #253 on: November 10, 2017, 05:04:42 AM »
A test for the Warriors.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


It is a new start, and one which will be important for all concerned.

Now that the pain of failure to qualify for Russia may have subsided, the country must now welcome the beginning of a new dawn.

The recent comments from the coaching staff and a few members of the team indicate that there is a certain degree of seriousness from the entire squad.

I suppose that the victory over USA will have lifted our spirits, despite the fact that we have not qualified, at least, the country’s ranking at FIFA has been consoling.

Grenada and Guyana will surely wish to bring their status to a new high by winning these matches against a team which defeated both Panama and USA. Some will recall the recent past when both these countries have played well enough to reach the Gold Cup finals (Grenada) and a defeat (Guyana).

On looking at the selected squad, there is every reason to believe that Coach Lawrence has viewed carefully the future of the country’s football by mixing the experienced with the newcomers.

However, all these players have previously had a taste of the matches in the Russian effort, and should have a more matured approach to what lies ahead for the warriors.

It is expected that there will be a series of targets which will be attempted in these matches, simply because the thought of defeat must be thrown far from the hearts of both fans and players.

Outside of wanting to win these matches, there is need to demonstrate that our technical chemistry must be recognised by superior ball possession, recognisable system of play and an improvement of the clinical accuracy in our passing and shooting at goal.

Conceding goals against these teams will expose the inconsistency of our discipline, although they have shown their strength, albeit, inconsistently.

I look forward to seeing the quality of our midfield which seemed to have been dominating against both Mexico and the USA. Maybe the selection of Leston Paul in recent matches will bring a semblance of a Latapy style in the middle and expose the opposing defences by his exquisite penetrative passes.

Having realised that the bright young talent of Levi Garcia has not been as successful in results as we expected, his experience gained between these matches and those of his foreign team, should now bring out the best in him.

The relative newcomer Foncette has brought some excitement to our fans by his excellent performances in the two key matches.

So the major challenges in these fixtures will be tested are having clean sheets in terms of goals and a reasonable target of scored goals which should prove our superiority.

Four goals scored by our forwards in each match will be giving notice to all and sundry that lessons during the ten match series must have left us with some lessons.

Our supporters must come out to see the improvement in all aspects of the game.

To the coach, he is given a new start which should be carefully observed from game to game. There are no obstacles and his knowledge of the players is no longer a problem.

He will be fully responsible for his own destiny and the future of the country’s football direction will determine the fate of both players, coaching staff and management.

Good luck to all.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #254 on: November 17, 2017, 05:29:12 AM »
A second draw for the Warriors.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


It may not be the result expected by the national team coaching staff, but the thought of failing to defeat teams with a lower FIFA ranking and also following two impressive victories, may have worried Dennis Lawrence and his staff.

Having not seen the first game, I made it compulsive to attend the second against Guyana, who had defeated us not too long ago. After reading the reports given to the media by the coaches of both teams, it led readers to believe that both teams were more than ready for a serious encounter.

The Guyanese coach indicated that his team was more than prepared for this game, as he knew a number of the Warriors players and some of his players played with and against them in our Local Pro league.

On a slippery surface, but ideally suited to good football, Pregame comments were important. After some careful caution by both teams, what was seen was an initial plan of the warriors playing the possession game in their own half of the field, but being unable to move forward into the opponents’ portion.

My first observation was that the practice of possession was really a case of passing around the responsibility of their defence players, and gradually searching for inroads to the midfielders.

Their opponents almost robotically awaited the attacking thrust from the home team, and were able to win the ball easily when it was played forward.

Some were because of inaccurate passes while others were because of an absolute lack of creativity among the midfield four.

Maybe inexperience, but it appeared more as thought they were short of the tactics which invites passing lanes and cohesive rotation in order to force the Guyanese to reshuffle or lose their defensive direction.

The percentage of inaccurate passes became the initial problem, either through good interception by the opposing midfield, or/and by pathetic ball distribution from the back.

Having checked the consistency of possession through consecutive passing, the strings of accurate passes did not go above eight, and when it did, most times it was in their own half of the field, hence the reason for the scarcity of shots taken.

The visitors decided to pay respect to the World Cup contenders who mastered both USA and Panama, which made sense, but also had the problem of using the ball effectively when they won it.

What was even more disconcerting was the desire of the key warriors’ players to utilize their individual skills instead of team building aggressive sequences towards goal, another reason for a terrible shortage of shots at goal.

In defence while the players appeared to have the physical capability to perform, they were far short of communication when the opposition was coming into their portion of the field.

Guyana got one 30% opportunity when a ball was played towards their striker Holder who, at the time was marked by both warrior central defenders. Lack of communication caused both defenders to allow the young man to collect the ball on his chest with one metre from both. He recognised the crowd and decided to make a pass from the penalty area to his wing midfielder on the left side and it was neatly headed into the far corner of the goal.

Up to that time, goal chances from either team was A SCARCITY. However, the home team increased the velocity of movement and appeared to be more effective at times. But the inaccuracy of key passes were easily lost to a defense line whose claim to fame was listening to the instructions of their coach.

The tension rose higher, but so did the anxiety and disorder of organised by both teams. A counter-attack coming to the end for Guyana very nearly gave them a match winner, except for a superb piece of goalkeeping. Eventually, Levi Garcia moves smartly into the middle from an accurate left side ground cross with five metres of the Guyanese goal. The promising youngster allowed the ball to roll across him and his right footed attempt missed an open goal and possible victory for the warriors.

Despite all the investments of young players, the signals appear to be some distance away from what our national team standard should produce.

More training is needed and in some cases, the fundamental principles of good team play.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Deeks

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #255 on: November 17, 2017, 07:10:17 AM »
Despite all the investments of young players, the signals appear to be some distance away from what our national team standard should produce.

More training is needed and in some cases, the fundamental principles of good team play.



Reality bites!!!

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #256 on: November 24, 2017, 07:06:42 AM »
Concacaf’s advice to clubs in the Caribbean.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


Although my duties at Concacaf and Fifa have been in the area of technical and football oriented issues, it would have been remiss of me if I did not seek to learn from the management style of the most popular international Sports federation in the world.

Admittedly, it was not difficult to recognise the efficiency of Fifa if one wished to judge them on the basis of their competence in running World Cup activities in countries which are not first world in every aspect of the word. So when the president of the TTFA delightfully mentioned to the country that Concacaf has given strict instructions to all the Caribbean countries to demand from their affiliated clubs, the level of management which will provide evidence of club structure, and annual financial statements, I was encouraged to see the revival and reinforcement of this requirement.

There is even a deadline date for clubs in the country to provide these details to the TTFA and failure to do same, these clubs will not be able to participate in the national competitions.

Strangely enough, this principle has always been the policy of Fifa, simply because their desire was to have well run management in each country. They granted some huge financial subventions to each country in order to raise the quality of good administrative practices.

However, there seemed to be much of a secret for the administrators who were mandated to streamline the organisational function of the country’s football.

The only problem with that structure was that the instructions from Fifa which should have come from the members of the hierarchy from the CFU and Concacaf, hardly ever reached the ears of the ordinary clubs.

Even the countries themselves were not adhering to the instructions of Fifa, even though the funding was being handed over as regular as was promised.

The stagnancy of the Caribbean countries as far as the quality of the game and the management teams, appeared to be non-functional and the leaders in Switzerland made efforts to enquire about the reasons for the failure of their financial aid to reap the benefits for the region. It is well known that the majority of the Caribbean countries were never presenting audited financial statements to Concacaf and Fifa for many years.

Surely, the new regime may have done similar surveys and came up with the new pattern whereby, the demand was made through Concacaf, that all clubs in the region must provide these details to their associations in order to retain their membership.

Excellent! This important step will be the ideal recipe for competence in the future, especially when we are all aware that there are a number of “teams” playing football than “organised Clubs,” which means that audited statements are like speaking broken Dutch to many of the management committees. Having said that, should there be a successful attempt to get these requests from the clubs, the stability of our football will rise rapidly, but in the offices and on the football fields.

Poor management and insular behaviour from a few over ambitious people, created the dismantling of the major leagues across the country through the use of numerous extraordinary, and sometimes unorthodox administrative adjustments. Having learned much from some of the finest experts in Sports Administration such as deceased Eric James, Ken Galt, Ernil Paul, St Elmo Gopaul, Oscar Harvey, and a few others in the era of the fifties to the seventies, it was easy to understand why the club structure which was as solid as Malvern, Maple, Casuals, Shamrock, Colts, Dynamos, Juniors, Lantern Giants, Sporting club, Naiads, Corinthians, Ebonites, and all the well-managed clubs in the East, Central, South, have deteriorated totally in a short space of time.

Each of these clubs had regular meetings, communicated with their members, demanded monthly fees from each member, player or not, and best of all, they had club houses, they enjoyed social activity among their members and friends. In other words, there was the creation of bringing together members in our societies to live, laugh, play harmoniously, and still compete against each other among thousands of fans.

The sport then, never depended upon Fifa or any other international organisation and are not known to be in debt after their successful seasons.

So the challenge has been thrown at the current “clubs” to put together their financial statements before a particular date, otherwise they will not be able to re-join the arms of the TTFA.

I believe that it is fair, it is a step forward, and should be pursued. However, the example must come from the top of the table, and our friends at the head of the association must be prepared to assist these clubs while they are taking care of their own audited financial statements at year end.

The foundation seem to have started with the expansion of having their own stadium, land space for two training fields, a hotel and the funds to do same.

If the request from Concacaf to the TTFA regarding these new concepts is implemented, maybe we shall see a better future for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline coache

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #257 on: November 24, 2017, 10:33:58 PM »
I love to read Alvin Corneal's articles about the great days of Colts, Maple, Malvern, Lantern Giants, Juniors, and Casuals..those teams have been out of existence or at least out of the top flight for close to fifty years..
How can we get back to those good ole days eh ..?

I feel we should stop Pro league go back to amateur days ..let  de fellas go and learn trade ..dey could do plumbing and welding during de day and train on evenings..de best players make a few extra dollars off gamblers who bet on how much goal he score..bring back de ole time days..

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #258 on: January 24, 2018, 12:51:24 PM »
He travelled to his first two FIFA world cups in 1978 and 82 as a part of the then TTT's television coverage crew, and he has since witnessed every competition for the better part of the last three decades operating in various capacities as a FIFA employee.

Alvin Corneal's work as a coaching instructor and member of FIFA's technical study group has been hugely rewarding and is set to continue when he heads to Russia in 2018. He gave some insight to Gyasi Merrique.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/PY56pSCuaP0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/PY56pSCuaP0</a>
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline maxg

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #259 on: January 24, 2018, 01:52:00 PM »
Oh Gorm Alvin, not even Anton get ah lil quick course self...  :devil:

btw, we need a women's coach all now..an DL could use ah refresher, wha yuh say ? how about coaching instead of just doing critiques. We need help, bad.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #260 on: March 02, 2018, 05:11:34 AM »
I support Concacaf structural changes.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


It is always been good sense to view unsuccessful situations carefully before deciding to make drastic changes. This statement goes for almost anything area in life, where times have changed and the call for adjustment and sometimes complete change processes, should enter our minds.

The CONCACAF has just taken a decision to restructure the format of the long reigning Gold Cup competition in a manner which seem superficially adequate, but somewhat complex when viewed from all aspects of the original formula of many years ago. The increase number of qualifying teams will not be challenged.

Originally, the venues for tournament finals were often directed towards the USA and Mexico, until it appeared to bring success to the Mexicans more regularly than expected by the Americans.

Then the host country has been the USA alone, leaving the other countries to have to strategise ten times more, in relation to travel arrangements, time changes, climate conditions and in some unusual situations where the inability to get some selected players from some Caribbean countries deprived through Visa permission, from travelling to the tournament.

It is not surprising that the two major countries USA and Mexico have always been victors of the Gold Cup. Admittedly, the input from other countries have improved considerably and names like Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Haiti, and T&T, challenged profusely, not consistently, to keep the dream of winning the Gold cup sometime in the future.

Because of my method of studying changes carefully before a reply one way or the other, I shall bring the details of my observation so that readers can make their own decisions.

Pending U-16 Pro League campaign

I wish to discuss the recent decisions of our Under-16 national squad members which are preparing for age group competitions later this year.

My information through the media is that these young selected players have been asked to sign forms to play in the youth division as members of a youth arm of a Pro League team.

Reports are that parents are challenging the decision of the proposal, especially since their sons have been asked to sign forms even before some of the parents were aware of same.

In the first place, in International football, there is a rule which calls for parents to be the signatories for their children when it comes to legal documents and this falls into that category.

This is a practice which the ruling body (The TTFA) must pay close attention too, especially when these youngsters are still at school and their future participation in obtaining football scholarships in North American universities can be affected because of operating within the professional ranks of competition.

It also appears to invite these youngsters to leave their commitment to their schools in order to enter this decision for the U-16’s to play elsewhere.

These extraordinary decisions need to be addressed seriously by taking all aspects of movement into consideration in a manner which does not conflict with the association’s constitution or even the academic and football educational rulings which may be unfair to the students and schools or even unethical to parents and children themselves.

I will seek to examine the value of such a move and try to document the reasoning positively or adversely for the benefit of the sport itself and also the students.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #261 on: March 09, 2018, 05:17:43 AM »
How will regional teams benefit?
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


The history of Concacaf premier competition could only be remembered by those who have been around in the early sixties when the number of affiliated countries in the Caribbean was less than what exists today.

Like every new kid on the block, the leaders of Concacaf, all of whom have not been around the confederation's in-depth participation of countries, a factor which deprives them from understand the problems that existed in the past, not normally through errors of the past administrators, but because of the inability of the small populated and less developed football territories.

Today it is easier to recognise the trend of the past decade or two and therein lies the serious disadvantages which face the smaller Islands (now called countries). There was a time when Haiti was a popular venue for the regional finals. Despite their weak economy, they were ably assisted by France.

The facilities were not comparable to even the other Caribbean countries like T&T, Barbados, Jamaica, or even Antigua.

So there is no surprise regarding the new structural change when the ten leading countries are chosen to lead the pack into the finals of the competition.

I suppose that the reorganising of the minnows may be allowed at least three matches in order to find a place and none of the matured countries are among them.

Immediately, my thoughts ran upon the financing of such a venture for the islands whose economies have in the past deprived them of the process of team preparation, the scarcity of fans in their pint size venues.

OK! FIFA has not clearly informed the Concacaf region as to the financial assistance which are (or will be) available to each country, especially to the Caribbean participants.

Then there is the question of development and performances improvement for same, where money does not necessarily bring about improved quality of play among the communities, clubs and national teams.

Occasionally, we have seen Grenada, Martinique, St. Vincent and the Grenadians, creeping into the higher echelons of the Gold Cup final, but they hardly ever sustain their consistency to leave their mark.

There are other issues as well, especially regarding the question of team preparation and the opportunities which these “tiny tots” can get face to face with teams which are more advanced in the world of Football, such as a South American, or European. These are the opponents which provide the lessons in a practical sense and bring the level of intensity, the dedication, and the open minded to their efforts with a burning desire to reach the bright lights of Canada, America and Mexico, whether it be practice, or official competitive matches.

Finally, money is always placed dangling before those countries are awaiting to start their program. But unfortunately, the area which is needed urgently to bring the improvement in the CFU must be coaches Education.

The decision to supply funds for improvement will hardly achieve the success of quality football. It never has and always seems to be insufficient, (as long as FIFA and/or Concacaf) place great emphasis of coaching courses of high quality. There is also the concept of a difference between teaching and coaching, whereby, the age group of kids under ten years must be taught to develop the fundamental skills, of passing, collecting, heading and shooting. Add to that the guidance for these kids to utilize on the movement on the field when they are not in possession.

These are teaching methods which, if not effectively mastered at the early ages, will not reflect themselves when the players enter the middle to late teens.

In the year 2014, as a member of FIFA's Technical committee, I had the opportunity to present an evaluation of the current position of the Concacaf and what I would recommend to the authorities for an improved Confederation. The comparison between what I recommended and what has now been put in place, appears to bear resemblance, except there was an absence of the financial requirement for a better Caribbean success in Concacaf football. Maybe, that is next on the list.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline maxg

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #262 on: March 09, 2018, 09:12:37 AM »
Can’t seem to get google to translate, could someone please bear with my lack of understanding  and explain

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #263 on: March 09, 2018, 09:29:27 AM »
Can’t seem to get google to translate, could someone please bear with my lack of understanding  and explain

The Guardian should be fined ... maybe they will respond to that.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #264 on: March 23, 2018, 04:02:22 AM »
Our football is in ruins.
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian).


The silence is deafening these days regarding the the aborted Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the TTFA last week.

At this point in time, the variety of confusing issues could make the image of the local game become more difficult to accept and it can even push away the start of the upcoming season for all the Football leagues in the country.

My understanding is that the AGM which was scheduled some time ago and was postponed because of the absence of a quorum.

A restart was attempted and while the original number of participants did not reach the quota stage, the ruling indicated that the meeting must continue with the number present.

Nevertheless, my question is: why was the original meeting date did not bring the participants together, especially when the substance of the meeting was the financial statement, one which need to be addressed by all key stakeholders on the TTFA.

FIFA has committed itself to a large sum of money which literally covered the various areas of the administration, the national programmes, the youth development, the women's' senior and junior teams.

We are all aware of the poor management skills of the TTFA over the years and the current administration should be more than careful as to the request by the general council to display the figures where the FIFA contributed, and where the moneys were disbursed.

The request turned into turmoil because the request for the document could not be made available by the executive committee.

Cross talk followed the refusal to carry on the meeting by the leader ignited a “he say, she say” exchange of words, few of which referred to the spent funds. From what was said in the news, it was clear that the floor members were upset over the desire of the hierarchy to terminate the meeting.

Whether this was so or not, surely the reasons should have been explained to the gathering and maybe share some thoughts on the next move forward.

This apparently did not happen and the meeting turned itself into an environment which more resembled an unruly fish market.

It would appear that some preferred to go the route of personalisation among the group which had the responsibility to conduct the business of Football and none could have request for the financial statement examined.

And almost simultaneously. Another group called the “Proleague” executives, some recently resigned their positions, decided to ignore the august body for Football and went straight to the Minister of Sport office in search of special grant of funding for their league, which is a franchise oriented league.

This was confusing to my own mind, simply because I was always of the belief that the Government's subvention to sport in the country must be shared through the national associations whose duties in turn must provide a budget which will identify the direction of the funds allocated by the TTFA..

This is not the case and immediately, the thought of this process of funding to a “Private” body which calls itself the professional league is tantamount to a number of business who invested their money in the game of football with the hope of making a profit on same.

The poor performances on the field provided them with concrete evidence that better quality football is the answer to earn a profit and continue with the investment.

If the government accepts the request to hand out monies to the Proleague, then they will have to continue their precedent and finance the clubs affiliated to the northern, eastern, central, southern and the Tobago leagues.

These are the leagues which need the financial support most, especially as they do not have gate receipts, they have to pay their referees, and they have to pay registration fees for club.

Their community grounds are not well kept, a factor which invites postponed games because of uncut grass and sometimes two teams scheduled for the same field.

This quagmire has to stop and the clubs must make their present felt in the midst of serious dialogue regarding the restructuring of all football in the country. There were successful methods used in the past and the fans supported the game. To return to a successful past is not unproductive, but rather more intelligent.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline gawd on pitch

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #265 on: March 23, 2018, 06:12:31 AM »
It sad that DJW is the elephant in the room (in more ways than one).. and no one seems to have a clue on how to oust him. I think his house of cards will fall soon. I expect one or two or more of his supporters to jump ship soon. People on that level of corruption usually don't do their due diligence.. someone will start to sing soon. Well at least I hope so.

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Football financial corridors open
« Reply #266 on: May 04, 2018, 06:34:22 AM »
Football financial corridors open
By Alvin Corneal (T&T Guardian)


The pendulum seems to have swung drastically within the corridors of the Sports Company of T&T (SporTT) and the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. It was not too long ago, the rumours of promised payments by the former Minister of Sport to the Pro League was hot among social media and elsewhere. Then suddenly, we found out that this will not actually happen.

A newly appointed Minister of Sports has brought a shining light with loads of money for eight of the ten clubs and suddenly, the League’s kick off date is June 1.

Then the Cricket administrators decided to ride on that bandwagon, seeing that the precedent was set by the new Ministry of Sports.

It would not surprise me if the Super League and the Zonal Associations jump into the fray justifiably so seeking their handouts too.

Now, out of the minds of two different ministers, the decision to finance clubs who have made themselves professionals, have received a slap followed by a kiss, just by crying crocodile tears as a result of their failure to make their primary individual investment become profitable.

Quietly, the TTFA was not even concerned about the Pro League issue, seeing that they had absolutely no control of the “professionals”.

Actually, this absence of interest shown y the TTFA extends towards their own Zonal Associations, all of whom have been “scrunting” because many of their “affiliated clubs” have not been paying their registration fees and as soon as their results on the field became southward, they casually dropped out of the league, simply because they can no longer in line to get prize money and they will have to travel from venue to venue for matches away from their home venues.

If they happen to be in winning ways, then they will battle against their opponents, most of whom have paid their registration fees, referees’ payments and maintain the cutting process of their community fields.

Who cared when these administrators from the zonal areas were unable to pay their prize monies to winners in their zones, to the clubs which have honoured their financial commitments to be eligible to participate legally.

Funnily enough, this definition of “professional leagues” namely the “Pro League” and the “Super league” has no difference from all the clubs in the TTFA. There is NOT a single amateur organisation of Football in this country again.

The word Amateur was removed from the TAFA to TTFA, which means that all clubs could undertake the challenge of paying some of all of their players if they wish.

In other words, there is absolutely nothing wrong in a club decides to pay their players to play in the Zonal leagues.

The question is, will that allow them to receive financial assistance from the Ministry of Sports?

Eventually, the majority of footballers, especially those who play in the zonal leagues will become disgruntled and see themselves as bastards in a football family.

No wonder why we are witnessing horrible behaviour on and off the field, players disrespecting referees, and our zonal administrators have no hard feelings when they refuse to pay prize money, neither do they care if referees or players become exposed to the dangers of being confronted by ill-disciplined behaviour without any form of security to protect their players or spectators or even children alike.

Will some of the people who are party to this quagmire of football administrative confusion and unfair practices, sit up and lend your thoughts to the development of the greatest game in the world?
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #267 on: May 13, 2018, 01:39:33 AM »
Pro League football begins June 1.
By Alvin Corneal (Guardian).


After all the complexities of problems within the football fraternity, the listed date for the season is carded for June 1.

Not much has been divulged by the Pro League about their shaky financial situation over the past few months.

We must now await the promise of financial aid to the league which may well have put the teams in place of the details.

Venues for their matches, players who may now have been settled in their terms for salaries and bonuses are to be registered on the rosters.

While silence has been the role for the Pro League administration, the Super League has been demonstrating their vigilance in getting their act together.

Already clubs have been kicked out of that league because they have not paid their $50,000 franchise fee. This may bring sudden but joyful news for some of the unknown clubs who can be accepted from their zones into what some will call huge promotions.

Together with this positive move by the leagues, the next step for all the clubs will be their search for new players to strengthen their performances on the field exercise.

This means that player transfers from club to club and the conditions which will be placed on departing players from their club to another have actually rigorously started.

Strangely enough, the method of the transfer process will provide much confusion to the clubs.

Even in the zonal competitions, the clubs who fought to finance their team registrations, paid their players’ expenses vis a vis uniforms, their training equipment, supplying some of their players with boots, transport, and in the case of my own club, lending financial support when our team travels on tour, all these forms of expenditure, referees payments, when accumulated, without any help of gate receipts.

Thanks to sponsors Malta Carib, our club and some others may have gained financial help; The task is enormous, though.

I am aware of three clubs seeking to gain transfers for players from the zones, but they do not expect to have to pay transfer fees of any kind.

The T&T Football Association (TTFA) has rules for transfers and must protect the lesser financially capable clubs. It will be interesting to see whether these (financially equipped professional clubs) will be allowed to just take players from the minority organisations, without going through the confirmation of the transfer forms to be given from the TTFA.

Funny enough, seeing that both Pro Leagues are conducting their affairs autonomously and may assume that they are working on issues like transfers and almost anything else.

It is still my opinion that the management of the TTFA must pull every team that falls under their jurisdiction to discuss the grey areas among players, clubs, referees, disciplinary committees, technical committees for the purpose of which players are eligible to be considered for national selection of all age-groups.

These discussions should take place before the start of any league, and the grey areas must be cleared.

It will also be a positive move if the financial statement concerning the activities of conducting all the affairs can be placed in the hands of the clubs, a factor which should be a regular practice at the start of every year.

We shall all await these happenings. I wish all the leagues and clubs, good luck for the upcoming season.


The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #268 on: September 14, 2018, 12:43:05 AM »
Football is a ticket to your career.
By Alvin Corneal (Guardian).


In what ap­peared to be an en­thu­si­as­tic open­ing for the sec­ondary schools 2018 sea­son, the news of schol­ar­ships must be great for the ears of par­ents who are hop­ing that the foot­ball tal­ent of their chil­dren will get them to the USA to play foot­ball and get an ed­u­ca­tion in ex­change.

The at­trac­tive open­ing for the sea­son is ap­pro­pri­ate for all con­cerned and the school's foot­ball fans must be ex­cit­ed. Hav­ing been lit­er­al­ly a pi­o­neer for this type of ex­po­sure for our out­stand­ing school­boy foot­ballers to the Unit­ed States Uni­ver­si­ties, whose de­sire for de­vel­op­ing the qual­i­ty of foot­ball since the late six­ties, our stu­dents have ben­e­fit­ted im­mense­ly.

Ad­mit­ted­ly, the ear­ly en­try in­to the North Amer­i­can Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem was sim­ple and did not war­rant a guar­an­tee of strin­gent Aca­d­e­m­ic stan­dards from our stu­dents, most of whom were aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly strong. I dis­tinct­ly re­call the names of per­sons like Alvin Hen­der­son (now Doc­tor), Ian Bain, Kei­th Look Loy, Neil Williams, Dr. Trevor Lei­ba, Sha­ka His­lop, through to Dex­ter Skeene, David Nakhid, Mar­lon Charles, Veron Skin­ner, Derek Lewis, Richard Chi­napoo, Dami­an Coop­er, Graeme Ro­driguez, and lit­er­al­ly hun­dreds ben­e­fit­ting from the op­por­tu­ni­ty.

In those days, those play­ers were bril­liant stu­dents hence their ab­solute suc­cess at at­tain­ing their suc­cess in the class­room and at the same time im­prov­ing the qual­i­ty of foot­ball, enough to earn na­tion­al team se­lec­tion.

This trend had con­tin­ued for a pe­ri­od of time. Then the NCAA de­cid­ed that en­try in­to the sys­tem need­ed a bet­ter aca­d­e­m­ic base such as five sub­jects, a good SAT score and even de­mand­ed that stu­dents who wished to en­joy the op­por­tu­ni­ty to gain schol­ar­ships must re­frain from join­ing pro­fes­sion­al ranks at home pri­or­i­ty to at­tend­ing uni­ver­si­ty.

The added de­mand af­fect­ed the num­ber of schol­ar­ships, be­cause of the in­abil­i­ty of many stu­dents who were promis­ing foot­ballers, was not aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly strong and were not ac­cept­ed.

Strange enough, the de­sire to have stu­dent gain schol­ar­ships dug deep in­to the hearts of some school prin­ci­pals and the ab­sence of at­tend­ing school for the gift­ed foot­ballers, did not af­fect their se­lec­tion in the School teams.

Our sec­ondary schools dur­ing the re­cent past, have been re­cruit­ing play­ers from one school to an­oth­er, some­times even pri­or to their fi­nal year, so that they can strength­en an­oth­er school.

My ob­ser­va­tion has been a more chal­leng­ing op­por­tu­ni­ty to find the top foot­ball play­ers who can aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly qual­i­fy to gain the schol­ar­ships that are avail­able.

What we have seen is that dif­fer­ent sys­tems of en­try in­to Ju­nior col­leges for the “not so bright”ones have un­der­tak­en over from the Uni­ver­si­ties of ad­vance cred­i­bil­i­ty, de­spite the less qual­i­fied stu­dents.

To­day, the op­por­tu­ni­ty of­fered by some Uni­ver­si­ties to our cur­rent play­ers should be a form of en­cour­age­ment to stu­dents who aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly strong enough to gain en­try to these in­sti­tu­tions.

There are SAT class­es all around the coun­try and the em­pha­sis to pre­pare the stu­dents must come from the school teach­ers, whose love for pro­vid­ing the foot­ball teams with the tal­ent­ed ones, must ex­tend their role as aca­d­e­m­ic teach­ers as will­ing­ly as they view the stu­dent's foot­ball ca­reer.

Maybe I could have learnt the sys­tem dur­ing my col­lege days, when the prin­ci­pal of Fa­ti­ma Col­lege, in­sist­ed up­on the ath­letes get­ting spe­cial class­es be­fore they re­turned home, but hav­ing our ded­i­cat­ed school teach­ers to en­sure that they do their home lessons.

We are in search of stu­dent-ath­letes for the uni­ver­si­ties abroad. To­day's stu­dent-ath­letes just need to look at the his­to­ry of the stu­dents who were pi­o­neers in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and see where their pro­fes­sions have tak­en them be­cause of foot­ball. Par­ents, this is a les­son for you as well. We need well-round­ed young­sters and you have a role to play.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Re: Alvin Corneal Articles
« Reply #269 on: September 21, 2018, 12:54:27 AM »
Money just in time for Women’s qualifiers.
By Alvin Corneal (Guardian).


Since the day of achiev­ing the chal­lenge to com­pete in the CON­CA­CAF World Cup qual­i­fy­ing se­ries, most fans were look­ing for­ward to the qual­i­ty of play which we saw in Ja­maica could be raised in or­der to meet and beat USA, Mex­i­co, af­ter tak­ing their three points from Pana­ma in the open­er.

Well, sur­prise! sur­prise! When we were all look­ing for the team to en­gage in prac­tice ses­sions and match­es, even though the op­po­nents may be lo­cal teams, the ex­er­cise will have been worth the while and the girls will be im­prov­ing their phys­i­cal and tech­ni­cal abil­i­ty. Un­for­tu­nate­ly, the con­fus­ing state of ad­min­is­tra­tive com­pe­tence seems to be the most dif­fi­cult hur­dle.

First, it was the ques­tion of se­lect­ing a coach to pre­pare the team for the pe­ri­od of 20 days be­fore the first match against Pana­ma. Hints of who will coach the team was not of­fi­cial­ly an­nounced un­til a few days ago, and when it came to a fi­nal arrange­ment with ref­er­ence to the fi­nan­cial com­mit­ment, a so­lu­tion came on­ly three days ago af­ter some un­cer­tain com­ments which were ex­pressed by one of the over­seas play­ers and fol­lowed by a plea from the team man­ag­er.

It was strange that the gen­er­al sec­re­tary, the pres­i­dent and maybe one or two oth­ers, were chastis­ing the “team man­ag­er” for mak­ing a di­rect re­quest from the Min­istry of Sport di­rect­ly, re­al­is­ing that time is pass­ing quick­ly and not a sin­gle word of progress is reach­ing the ears of the play­ers.

Did we not re­call a sim­i­lar in­ci­dent re­gard­ing late re­quests for fi­nance just a month ago? Why then should the same oc­cur? That is why I agree with the team man­ag­er, whose re­spon­si­bil­i­ty it was to en­sure that every­thing is put in place, so that the peace of mind for the play­ers, can rekin­dle their ef­forts to prac­tice and to play as hard as pos­si­ble.

Hon­est­ly, if our prac­tice ses­sions and match­es were ad­e­quate­ly done and the se­lect­ed coach could have planned some form of strat­e­gy, sure­ly the prob­lems which were un­solved must have been leav­ing some form of psy­cho­log­i­cal dis­com­fort, which may eas­i­ly re­tard their men­tal fo­cus.

Here are some of the things which were se­ri­ous­ly miss­ing from our prepa­ra­tion. First­ly, we must send a scout to go in search of the prepa­ra­tions of our op­po­nents, the sys­tems which they will play and the key play­ers, to­geth­er with the fit­ness lev­el?

If so, who would have done same and where would they have seen the "Yanks" and Mex­i­cans play or prac­tice? Sec­ond­ly, I have heard noth­ing about bring­ing the full squad to­geth­er for as many prac­tice ses­sions as they can. How about set plays, both in de­fence and at­tack?

All these is­sues are part and par­cel of team prepa­ra­tion and get­ting to the venue for one of the mem­bers of the coach­ing staff is of high pri­or­i­ty to our team plan­ning.

Al­ready, we are aware of the pa­tri­ot­ic form of crowd sup­port when play­ing the USA at home? This calls for a par­tic­u­lar ap­proach in the ear­ly part of the game against them be­cause they have a his­to­ry of throw­ing down the gaunt­let ear­ly against a shaky op­po­nent and the in­ten­tion is to un­set­tle their op­po­nents.

Against T&T, that will prob­a­bly be the plan for the more ad­vanced coun­tries, see­ing the num­bers of un­solved dis­trac­tions which our girls have un­der­gone.

I shud­der to think of the fi­nal re­sults but my ex­pec­ta­tion is for the team to work as hard and as con­sis­tent as they can.

First­ly, do not start your play from the keep­er’s ser­vice with short pass­es to de­fen­sive play­ers. Both the USA and Mex­i­co will start the ball win­ning process as high as out­side of our penal­ty area.

Our mid­field­ers must win the ball in cen­ter­field and not al­low the back four de­fend­ers to be chal­leng­ing “de­fend­ers” but sup­port­ing de­fend­ers, which means that the op­po­nents will al­ways have lim­it­ed space to per­form their strat­e­gy.

In the Ja­maica match, our de­fend­ers ap­peared vul­ner­a­ble in de­fence against the "Reg­gae Girls" whose in­tense at­tack tend­ed to weak­en against the speed of two of our for­wards.

Our main form of pen­e­tra­tion must come from the long balls which must be served on the flanks and some­times di­ag­o­nal­ly to­wards cor­ner flags. We have the speed with Kay­la Tay­lor and one of two oth­ers and our mid­field­ers can shoot the ball well from out­side the op­po­nents’ penal­ty area.

In­ten­si­ty must be the name of our game and there could be the chance of re­duc­ing the ef­fec­tive­ness of our op­po­nents.

Our task is a dif­fi­cult one, but nev­er im­pos­si­ble. Give it your best shot.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

 

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