Angus Eve Thread.

[Deeks]

“I am not one who makes excuses”; Wired868 marks Eve’s overview of T&T’s Concacaf U-20 campaign
Lasana Liburd

Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-20 Team head coach Angus Eve suggested that “a lack of belief” and poor use of the football during the first 45 minutes of their Concacaf Under-20 Championship Round of 16 contest with Costa Rica was a significant factor in their 4-0 loss yesterday at the Estadio Yankel Rosenthal in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

https://wired868.com/2022/06/26/i-am-not-one-who-makes-excuses-wired868-marks-eves-overview-of-tts-concacaf-u-20-campaign/

Angus is not ready for this dual role. Is either the senior or the juniors. Bring in somebody to coach the juniors. Let him stay with the seniors.

[asylumseeker]

“I am not one who makes excuses”; Wired868 marks Eve’s overview of T&T’s Concacaf U-20 campaign
Lasana Liburd

Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-20 Team head coach Angus Eve suggested that “a lack of belief” and poor use of the football during the first 45 minutes of their Concacaf Under-20 Championship Round of 16 contest with Costa Rica was a significant factor in their 4-0 loss yesterday at the Estadio Yankel Rosenthal in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

https://wired868.com/2022/06/26/i-am-not-one-who-makes-excuses-wired868-marks-eves-overview-of-tts-concacaf-u-20-campaign/

Angus is not ready for this dual role. Is either the senior or the juniors. Bring in somebody to coach the juniors. Let him stay with the seniors.

People are harping on the dual role, but in my view the issue is more fundamental and the sole relevance of the dual role critique is that he has TWO venues - rather than one venue - in which to replicate his errors.

I think there is enough evidence that the deficiency  isn't primarily a question of AE not having enough time with the U-20s.

If he had 10 matches in Honduras, he would likely have replicated his errors 10 times. Moreover, I am fairly comfortable in asserting that the Costa Rican or Haitian or Surinamese or Mexican coaches, if in charge of our squad, would have extracted more against both their own players and the other opponents, than AE did with his own team.

Conversely, I doubt he would have extracted the same performance ratios from any of the other squads had he been their tactical leader.

That is where the rubber meets the road.

[Tallman]

Support Us: Eve pleads for more help for football
T&T Express

He has two qualifying games to prepare his team for in March but his home-based players are not playing football.

National coach Angus Eve is a man with a problem, and he wants more support.

Yesterday, Eve brought out a group of players at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for a training session as he prepares for CONCACAF Nations League B, Group C matches against the Bahamas away and Nicaragua at home in March. The group included Joevin Jones whose last season in Major League Soccer in the United States was hampered by injury.

Speaking with the media, Eve said with no competitive football taking place, “the guys here are a bit disadvantaged with the opportunities to make the team; so what we doing along with the TTFA Normalisation Committee, we carried a plan to them to get these guys fit enough and get a couple of matches in before February month-end, so that they can have an opportunity to address the selectors to be a part of the team come March.”

There has been no Pro League or Super League football in the country since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March, 2020. In November last year, the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee announced plans for a new national competition early in 2023, but to date, no formal announcement or details have been given to stakeholders.

Eve said he has been keeping in touch with the overseas-based players, monitoring their game time and, “just emphasising to them how important those two games are to Trinidad and Tobago’s football, and for the most part the guys are 100 per cent on board and very enthusiastic and just can’t wait to come back and represent the country.”

The national coach is hoping to line up friendly matches against Caribbean opposition ahead of the Bahamas and Nicaragua assignments.

“We got knocked out in the Caribbean phase of the World Cup, so we have to build from the bottom up. And you don’t want to be unfair to these guys by putting them against international teams where they have not been playing competitive football.

Eve admitted that for him, “there is no fluidity in the job. It’s a lot of stop-start.”

He revealed: “There is a lot of administrative things which I’m not going to get involved in that goes on off the field that affects all the stuff we trying to do on the field. Every week different things are happening, different letters are coming by...”

The coach pleaded for a more collective effort in local football.

“I wish that football people could really come together,” he said. “This is our country. If John is coaching the team, support John, support the effort because when we win, it’s not John wins, it’s Trinidad and Tobago wins. I would like to see that we really come together and work together and get football back to where we think it should be.”

Eve stressed that the lack of support was not coming from the Football Association. “I’m talking from the wider standpoint.” And chuckling, he gave an example.

“Just to get this pitch here (at the HC Stadium) was a feat with Carnival and stuff like that,” he said. “This is the culture we have. We tend to get on board when the team is doing well late down...”

And Eve parted to attend to his players with these words: “For these players to reach their true potential we need investors to come on board because people making money.

“If you look at the financial reports of all the major companies, they making money; so come on board and support something positive.”

[Deeks]

Sorry to buss your bubble Angus. We are no longer a football loving country. Murders, yes!

[Tallman]

Soca Warriors coach – Do more for youth players
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday)

THE Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), by itself, cannot develop the country's young players for the senior national team.

And with the absence of the T&T Pro League and Super League domestically, since March 2020, young footballers transitioning from secondary school have limited options locally to expand their budding careers.

So said Soca Warriors head coach Angus Eve on Wednesday, who believes more must be done to continually develop players during this crucial transitional stage.

Eve made these remarks at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, during his first official training session, for 2023 with locally-based players. The squad of over 30 players is preparing for the upcoming Concacaf Nations League in March.

The camp includes a mixture of youth and experience, with the likes of Joevin Jones, Khaleem Hyland, Real Gill, Che Benny and Gary Griffith III among them. Some are yet to make a senior international appearance.

The lack of post-secondary school transitional programmes and tournaments must be amplified to give youths a better chance at familiarising themselves with different environments and varying style of competitive game play.

“We need to expose the youngsters. Back in the day, we used to carry locally based players to camps in Brazil where we played against Corinthians and those kinds of teams. This is how you build that experience.

“You can’t just build, play here or train here (in TT). The college league is not good enough, from a national standpoint, to develop players for a national team.”

Eve, who is also coach of the T&T U20 team, referred to their performance at last year’s Concacaf U20 Championships in Honduras, in July. T&T were eliminated in the round of 16 courtesy a 4-1 loss to Costa Rica.

Previously, in the group stage, they drew 4-4 with Haiti in their opener, lost 5-0 to Mexico and then beat Suriname 3-0 to advance.

Eve said the U20 team was good on paper but lacked much-needed experience outside T&T. Additionally, the tournament came just five months after a two-year stoppage of sport, owing to the pandemic.

“We did pick the right U20 team to go to the tournament but again, we went there with a lot for the kids never left Trinidad before. The level of experience they had was nil. It was the first time players played a national game for T&T.

“Not having a domestic league and a lack of competitive opportunity consistently contributes to where TT is now, as a football nation,” he added.

The national coach also highlighted that T&T law restricts national team selectors from scouting foreign-based players whose grandparents only have local lineage.

Eve knocked the law, which he said, is hampering the growth of TT’s player pool, while other smaller nations capitalise on the ability to sign players on these grounds. T&T can only invite foreign-based players for national team selection if their parent/s  are of local lineage.

Chapter two, section 17 (ii) of the T&T Constitution says: “A person shall not become a citizen of TT, if at the time of his birth – (a) neither of his parents is a citizen of T&T.”

Eve confirmed teams like Jamaica, Grenada, French Guiana, Curacao and other Caribbean territories are using their law to field players from multiple other countries.

When asked about the effect this local rule has on football, Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe said, “I would need to speak to Angus Eve, the normalisation committee head (Robert Hadad) and the Ministry of National Security to see what exactly the policy is before I comment. I prefer to get that answer back to you.”

Eve will use the coming weeks to amplify training with the local bunch as they seek to attract the eyes of national team selectors ahead of the Nations League, which also serves as a gold Cup qualifier.

The local bunch will use friendly Caribbean opposition for practice matches in the lead-up to team selection.

He said, “What we’re trying to do is have the guys (local crop players) training and bring them up to that level of match fitness so they can have an equal opportunity. They’re really disadvantaged (without domestic football being played).”

T&T play their opening Nations League match on March 24, away to Bahamas, and their second against Nicaragua at home, at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Tobago.

[royal]

they have been saying they're looking into that law for decades now and nothing has been done. Also, some one said before there was a loophole in that law     

[Tallman]

they have been saying they're looking into that law for decades now and nothing has been done. Also, some one said before there was a loophole in that law     

What does it matter? We doh even make proper use of the players that are actually eligible to represent us. It go just be more players to ignore.

[Thomo]

Eve needs to shut up about foreign born players and the rule that narrows our pool. It's not as if he's gonna pick them anyway. He's still chatting bs about developing players locally when the league is dead and he's got a competition in 2 months.

[Trini _2026]

they have been saying they're looking into that law for decades now and nothing has been done. Also, some one said before there was a loophole in that law     

What does it matter? We doh even make proper use of the players that are actually eligible to represent us. It go just be more players to ignore.

Wait  there are other better players out there with Trinidadian  parents( they interested ?  if so  angus start the passport process

[Trini _2026]

they have been saying they're looking into that law for decades now and nothing has been done. Also, some one said before there was a loophole in that law     

If the player is under 18

https://nationalsecurity.gov.tt/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Required-Certificate_Citizenship-Child.pdf

[Tallman]

they have been saying they're looking into that law for decades now and nothing has been done. Also, some one said before there was a loophole in that law     

What does it matter? We doh even make proper use of the players that are actually eligible to represent us. It go just be more players to ignore.

Wait  there are other better players out there with Trinidadian  parents( they interested ?  if so  angus start the passport process

It is better to open the dialogue when the players are younger and assist them with paperwork if needed. If they are good enough to legitimately have shot at representing their birth country, then they may not want to commit right away, which in understandable. But you have to engage with them, keep tabs on them, and check in with them periodically. We does have this foolish mindset that the play has to declare this unwavering allegiance to us from jump street. It doh work that way. One just has to look at how other countries do it. It is a recruitment process. And typically it is the less talented player who will reach out to us on their own.

And to answer your question, yes there are better players out there who are eligible and there are some where their eligibility has to be further verified, but what are we waiting for? And we have to be professional in our approach, which is an achilles heel for us. By definition

[Trini _2026]

they have been saying they're looking into that law for decades now and nothing has been done. Also, some one said before there was a loophole in that law     

What does it matter? We doh even make proper use of the players that are actually eligible to represent us. It go just be more players to ignore.

Wait  there are other better players out there with Trinidadian  parents( they interested ?  if so  angus start the passport process

It is better to open the dialogue when the players are younger and assist them with paperwork if needed. If they are good enough to legitimately have shot at representing their birth country, then they may not want to commit right away, which in understandable. But you have to engage with them, keep tabs on them, and check in with them periodically. We does have this foolish mindset that the play has to declare this unwavering allegiance to us from jump street. It doh work that way. One just has to look at how other countries do it. It is a recruitment process. And typically it is the less talented player who will reach out to us on their own.

And to answer your question, yes there are better players out there who are eligible and there are some where their eligibility has to be further verified, but what are we waiting for? And we have to be professional in our approach, which is an achilles heel for us. By definition

I agree 1000% More effort is needed to start a dialogue ... TTFA needs  good representatives ...

[Flex]

Eve: We will prepare for any opponent.
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian).

T&T Soca Warriors coach Angus Eve has stated his team will be prepared to face any opponent when the draw for the preliminary qualification matches for the 23 Concacaf Gold Cup takes place on Friday.

The T&T coach left here yesterday for the live draw, scheduled to take place at the SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, USA. The draw will start at noon PT/local time (3:00 pm TT Time) and will be hosted by TUDN sportscaster Valeria Marin, Fox Sports Lead Soccer Analyst and US Men’s National Team legend Alexi Lalas and ESPN play-by-play commentator Fernando Palomo.

Concacaf president and FIFA vice president, Victor Montagliani, will participate in the event, alongside the teams’ head coaches and important guests.

The 17th edition of the Gold Cup is scheduled to take place between June 16 - July 16, 2023, with the Final at SoFi Stadium, on Sunday, July 16, which will crown Concacaf’s best men’s national team and will conclude two months of elite football in the region that also include the 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Final and 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League Finals.

However, before the Soca Warriors can step foot on the Concacaf Gold Cup group stage they will have to get through two rounds of preliminary qualification matches after failing to qualify directly from their four-team Concacaf Nations League B Group C round-robin home-and-away series.

Speaking before his departed on Thursday, Eve said we don't know who we are going to be facing but our preparation will resume in earnest once the draw has been confirmed.

"The good thing about the draw is we do have some idea and intimate knowledge of what we can expect from some of the teams left as possible opponents, after facing off with Guyana, and St Lucia in recent times, who are coached by T&T nationals Stern John, and Jamaal Shabazz respectively, but at the same time, their team personnel are likely to have changed as well.

'As for the other nations that we can face, we also have videos to go over and analyze and do our tactical planning if we are drawn against them.

The T&T coach while confident in his team's chances of advancing to the Gold Cup noted that the local squad was in a transitional stage and while he understands the disappointment felt by many in the team not qualifying directly to the Gold Cup, he did feel that recent positive results may have heightened expectations.

"We have a good core of players, but a lot of the guys have just recently resumed activities locally as well. We also have a few players like Alvin Jones and Joevin Jones, who were named in the Team of the Week" not being attached to clubs, so it's a work in progress, but at the same time we have also seen lower-ranked countries pull the upset over so-call 'big nations', so we will be taking that into account well and not take these teams lightly."

Last month, Eve's men entered their final League B Group C match against table leaders Nicaragua at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago needing a win to secure the top spot in the group, promotion to League A of the Concacaf Nations League, and automatic qualification to the Gold Cup.

However, Eve’s men could only muster a 1-1 draw to end with 13 points, one behind Nicaragua to miss out on being among the 12 automatic qualifiers. for the 2023 Gold Cup, joining Asian Champions and guest nation, Qatar along with League A group winners: Canada, Mexico, Panama, and the USA, the four League A runners-up Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Jamaica along with the League B group winning quartet of Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, and Nicaragua.

The 12 other teams to qualify for the Gold Cup preliminary qualifiers were League A third-place finishers, Curaçao, Grenada, Martinique, and Suriname along with League B second-place finishers French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guyana, and T&T and League C group winners Puerto Rico, St Kitts/Nevis, St Lucia, and Sint Maarten.

And last month, in the 2023 Gold Cup preliminary draw which was carried out using a single-blind system and one pot and based on the Concacaf rankings as of March 31, 2023, the teams participating in the prelims were seeded into a Round One matchup or placed in Pot One, as follows Round One matchups (six highest-ranked teams): T&T (#1), Martinique (#2), Curaçao (#3), French Guiana (#4), Suriname (#5), and Guyana (#6), and Friday, they will be drawn against one of the teams from Pot One (Six lowest ranked teams) in Guadeloupe, St Kitts/Nevis, St Lucia, Grenada, Puerto Rico, and Sint Maarten for the first round of the preliminary round playoffs.

From the first round of the preliminary round of playoffs, the winners will then advance to the second round where it was determined that the winners of T&T's match will face the winner of the Guyana match (#1 vs #6) for a spot in the Gold Cup main draw while #2 meets #5, and #3 comes up against #6 to for the other two spots in the Gold Cup Group Stage draw which will be carried out using a double-blind system, involving eight pots.

Two years ago, with Eve as the interim coach for just under a month after the sacking of Englishman Terry Fenwick following the Soca Warriors' disastrous Qatar World Cup Concacaf qualifying campaign, and failing to get past the first round, T&T also had to go through a preliminary stage to get to the Gold Cup.

Back then, T&T hammered Montserrat 6-1 before getting the better of French Guiana 8-7 in sudden-death penalty-kicks after a 1-1 draw to reach the main draw where they drew goalless with Mexico, went under to El Salvador 2-0 and drew 1-1 with Guatemala in Group C.

In the history of the tournament, T&T has qualified for the Gold Cup main draw 11 out of 16 times with its best showing coming in 2000 under coach Bertille St Clair when they were edged out by Canada 1-0 in their semifinal while they topped their main draw group comprising Mexico, Cuba, and Guatemala in 2015 under Stephen Hart before losing 6-5 on penalty-kicks to Panama in the quarterfinals after a 1-1 draw.

T&T was also beaten 1-0 by Mexico in the quarterfinals in 2013, the only other time they have managed to qualify out of their round-robin pool.

[Trini _2026]

The T&T coach while confident in his team's chances of advancing to the Gold Cup noted that the local squad was in a transitional stage and while he understands the disappointment felt by many in the team not qualifying directly to the Gold Cup, he did feel that recent positive results may have heightened expectations.


We have a good core of players, but a lot of the guys have just recently resumed activities locally as well. We also have a few players like Alvin Jones and Joevin Jones, who were named in the Team of the Week" not being attached to clubs,

 

[Trini _2026]

Here we go


Group A               Group B            Group C                    Group D
USA                        Mexico                 Costa Rica                    Canada
Jamaica                Haiti                   Panama                      Guatemala
Nicaragua                Honduras          El Salvador                    Cuba
Prelim. 3 winner         Qatar              Prelim. 2 winner             Prelim. 1 winner

[ABTrini]

The T&T coach while confident in his team's chances of advancing to the Gold Cup noted that the local squad was in a transitional stage and while he understands the disappointment felt by many in the team not qualifying directly to the Gold Cup, he did feel that recent positive results may have heightened expectations.


We have a good core of players, but a lot of the guys have just recently resumed activities locally as well. We also have a few players like Alvin Jones and Joevin Jones, who were named in the Team of the Week" not being attached to clubs,

 

 I just don't get the excuses for failure before you play the matches. Look considering all, this team was a goal short of qualifying. It is a good measure from which to build success. Don't go grip[ping about transitional  team rebuilding- fak we been doing that  since the last  time we qualified for the WC!!!

But your best foot forward train your arse off  go you tube some tactical foot ball strategy and come back and coach  if that is the level you are at but don't start the defeatist attitude- leh we faking comet together and play some TnT  football that   got us to be above in the region. Have them  young men watch the glory dys of TnT football beating teh likes of Mexico and Argentina.

[Flex]

Angus Eve: I'm no Guardiola, but my style is working
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).

IN a stern defence of his coaching style, Soca Warriors head coach Angus Eve said he has little similarities with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. However, he noted that his pragmatic approach has been getting results for T&T, and he will stick to his guns.

Eve and his staff named their 23-man squad for the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup which kicks off on June 24 in the US and Canada.

T&T will play in Group A alongside regional powerhouse US, Jamaica and a team from the Gold Cup qualifying tournament.

T&T will face a yet-to-be determined qualifying team in their opening match on June 25, followed by Jamaica on June 28 and US on July 2.

Speaking to T&T Football Association media on Thursday, Eve said, “I think defensively we have been very good as a team. It does not matter what group we put on the park…Yes, I am pragmatic, yes, that is my style. I am not Pep Guardiola, but the style is working. We have played six games for the season and we only conceded one goal so far. The team was picked with that in mind.”

There are a few experienced defenders in the Soca Warriors team with the likes of Sheldon Bateau and Aubrey David. Wing backs Alvin Jones and Shannon Gomez are expected to bring their attacking flair to the team.

The Soca Warriors were initially supposed to begin their Gold Cup qualification tournament campaign on Friday. However, T&T qualified directly to the Gold Cup after FIFA penalised Nicaragua for fielding an ineligible player. As a result of Nicaragua's punishment, T&T qualified for the main draw and also replaced Nicaragua in Concacaf Nations League A.

Eve is glad to welcome Molik Khan and Real Gill who represented the national under-20 team last year, along with experienced players like Bateau, David, Levi Garcia and Kevin Molino.

“We have a nice balance of youth. Some nice young players who played (T&T) Under-20 and have now graduated and with a good blend of senior players and some players in between which augurs well going forward in the future.”

Talking about the group T&T have been drawn in, Eve said, “No fear for us.”

Having said that, Eve knows his players are not playing in the top leagues in England, Spain or Germany, but he is still confident in their potential.

“The truth is we don’t have (English) premiership league players anymore…but I have 100 per cent faith in the guys, 100 per cent belief in the guys and 100 per cent believe in the team structure that we have created. I think we have a good solid staff with people complementing each other all over the park.”

Eve said his players will have to bring their A-game against Jamaica and US. “We know Jamaica is stacked with a lot of premiership players and players playing in very good leagues around the world similar to the US team. Although this time they seem to be picking more of a locally-based team from the MLS (Major League Soccer) primarily…All the football in Concacaf now is very competitive as we go into a World Cup campaign.”

T&T Squad

Goalkeepers:

Marvin Phillip, Nicklas Frenderup, Denzil Smith.

Defenders:

Sheldon Bateau, Alvin Jones, Kareem Moses, Shannon Gomez, Triston Hodge, Aubrey David, Leland Archer.

Midfielders and Forwards:

Joevin Jones, Neveal Hackshaw, Andre Rampersad, Molik Khan, Ajani Fortune, Daniel Phillips, Kaile Auvray, Real Gill, Ryan Telfer, Kevin Molino, Kadeem Corbin, Malcolm Shaw, Levi Garcia.

[Deeks]

Let's see how your style work in the GC in the group with JA, US and a team to be announced. The US took it to Mexico last in a 3-0 win. Rough, rough game. both teams ended with 9 men.

[Tallman]

No decision on coach Eve or replacement—Hadad
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)

T&T is waiting with bated breath, for the appointment of a national football coach, following the expiration of the contract of coach Angus Eve.

The FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad, is expected to decide on who the coach will be this week after a comprehensive review of the team’s performance and results at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Nations League and other matches and Eve will be a part of that process.

On Tuesday, Guardian Media Sports reported that former national coach Stephen Hart has been tipped to replace Eve from sources who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity.

However, Hadad, speaking to Guardian Media Sports yesterday said that Hart was one of many coaches that the normalisation committee/T&T Football Association contacted to be part of the coaching set-up.

He revealed that he had also been communicating with Russell Latapy, a former national midfield maestro among others on T&T football matters.

However, Hadad admitted that in the case of both coaches (Hart and Latapy), they had encountered in-court issues which have now been cleared up.

“We have a lot of people we’re talking to, so why they didn’t mention any other names? We’ve been negotiating with Stephen Hart for years. Stephen Hart was owed a ton of money too. We’re talking to Russell Latapy. Russell was owed a ton of money too. I’m not saying either of them is being considered, I’m saying a lot of these people have served their time and have done an amazing job for this country and we treated them like rubbish, we didn’t pay them their money,” Hadad explained.

He noted further, “They had court judgments and they weren’t paid, so we’ve been talking to all of them, so I don’t understand why someone singling out Stephen, I can’t understand that one.”

Quizzed further on whether payments were made to them, he said, “We have negotiated their balances already, so there’s nothing more being owed to them.”

The Courts had ordered the TTFA to pay both coaches over a combined 1.2 million dollars in outstanding salaries owed to them over several years.

Meanwhile, Eve, who took over the coaching reigns from Englishman Terry Fenwick in September 2021, has a record of 12 wins, nine draws, and seven defeats. Fenwick had failed to move T&T past the preliminary rounds of the Caribbean qualifiers to the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Soca Warriors defeated St Kitts and Nevis 3-0 in their opening match in Group A of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. However, T&T was beaten 4-1 by regional rivals Jamaica and that was followed by a 6-0 rout by the Americans in the final group-stage fixture.

The results have since made Eve, a former national standout, the target of both criticism and sympathy from the football fraternity.

Eve, who has achieved his mandate of qualifying for the Soca Warriors to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and into the ‘A’ League of the CONCACAF Nations League has also helped T&T moved three places up the FIFA ranking to position 101st.

Hadad explained that “Angus is still the coach, so we cannot start a process for a man who is still there. No decision has been made on what we do with him as yet. We have a group of people we put in place to deal with that, to do an evaluation but it takes time, you don’t do these things in a day.”

[ABTrini]

No decision on coach Eve or replacement—Hadad
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)

T&T is waiting with bated breath, for the appointment of a national football coach, following the expiration of the contract of coach Angus Eve.

The FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee, led by businessman Robert Hadad, is expected to decide on who the coach will be this week after a comprehensive review of the team’s performance and results at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Nations League and other matches and Eve will be a part of that process.

On Tuesday, Guardian Media Sports reported that former national coach Stephen Hart has been tipped to replace Eve from sources who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity.

However, Hadad, speaking to Guardian Media Sports yesterday said that Hart was one of many coaches that the normalisation committee/T&T Football Association contacted to be part of the coaching set-up.

He revealed that he had also been communicating with Russell Latapy, a former national midfield maestro among others on T&T football matters.

However, Hadad admitted that in the case of both coaches (Hart and Latapy), they had encountered in-court issues which have now been cleared up.

“We have a lot of people we’re talking to, so why they didn’t mention any other names? We’ve been negotiating with Stephen Hart for years. Stephen Hart was owed a ton of money too. We’re talking to Russell Latapy. Russell was owed a ton of money too. I’m not saying either of them is being considered, I’m saying a lot of these people have served their time and have done an amazing job for this country and we treated them like rubbish, we didn’t pay them their money,” Hadad explained.

He noted further, “They had court judgments and they weren’t paid, so we’ve been talking to all of them, so I don’t understand why someone singling out Stephen, I can’t understand that one.”

Quizzed further on whether payments were made to them, he said, “We have negotiated their balances already, so there’s nothing more being owed to them.”

The Courts had ordered the TTFA to pay both coaches over a combined 1.2 million dollars in outstanding salaries owed to them over several years.

Meanwhile, Eve, who took over the coaching reigns from Englishman Terry Fenwick in September 2021, has a record of 12 wins, nine draws, and seven defeats. Fenwick had failed to move T&T past the preliminary rounds of the Caribbean qualifiers to the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Soca Warriors defeated St Kitts and Nevis 3-0 in their opening match in Group A of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. However, T&T was beaten 4-1 by regional rivals Jamaica and that was followed by a 6-0 rout by the Americans in the final group-stage fixture.

The results have since made Eve, a former national standout, the target of both criticism and sympathy from the football fraternity.

Eve, who has achieved his mandate of qualifying for the Soca Warriors to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and into the ‘A’ League of the CONCACAF Nations League has also helped T&T moved three places up the FIFA ranking to position 101st.

Hadad explained that “Angus is still the coach, so we cannot start a process for a man who is still there. No decision has been made on what we do with him as yet. We have a group of people we put in place to deal with that, to do an evaluation but it takes time, you don’t do these things in a day.”

 Not getting this NC- ent dey was suppose to restore things to a sense of normalcy? yet they have NOT taken care of the debts owing to former coaches? just more BS.; more  lack of competency; more inept management.
 How could anyone take what these idiots say as gospel?  FIFA did a brilliant job in wrecking the programming. the progress and the state of football in TnT-  Possible reprisal for the JW  fiasco.

[pull stones]

Angus didn’t put in his resignation yet?? as soon as fenwick was back from st kitts he announced his resignation and went back to his coaching school. that’s the problem with our local coaches, you have to pry their fingers away from the seat of power.

When fenwick flunked out of the competition, who mind you, was facing way more adversity than what angus faced with the pandemic and lack of funds, and even when he lost no games in qualifying, you heard all the football pundits and former players calling for Terry’s head, but usa slammed us with a 6 nil drubbing and for the first time jamaica beat us in a competitive match by so many goals, yet the place has an airy silence, not a single out cry from the local football gurus, not one. Where’s Brian Williams, where’s Clayton Morris? the double standard is real in la trinity. you better believe that.

[lefty]

One thing I hate about some of my countrymen is the lack of accountability when we fail and fail badly.......is never we fault and because is not we fault we should be allowed to carry on like nutten happen.........hood is now d women's coach did he not have failures multiple time in this post

[Tallman]

TTFA extends Angus Eve’s tenure as Head Coach
TTFA Media

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is pleased to announce that Senior Men’s National Team head coach Angus Eve’s tenure has been extended to March 2024.

After leading the Team to promotion to League A in the Concacaf Nations League, Eve will marshall the team against Curacao on 7 September 2023 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium before travelling to play El Salvador on 10 September 2023.

Commenting on Eve’s extension, Normalization Committee Chairman Robert Hadad stated, “Angus has come into the role bringing stability, quality and belief to the team.”

“We have navigated challenges together along the way and believe that he is the right individual and character to take us into League A.”

Meantime, Eve stated, “This is a great honour to continue to serve my country and serve in a positive manner.”

In addition to Eve’s extension, the TTFA has commissioned a Technical Advisory Panel that will be available to assist Eve. The names of the members of this Panel will be finalized and announced within the next few days.

In related news, tickets for the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League encounter with Curacao at the Hasely Crawford Stadium go on sale this week online www.islandetickets.com. Tickets are priced at $100 (covered), $50 (Uncovered) and kids under 12 are free. Tickets will also be available at the venue on matchday. Kick off is 6:00pm.

RELATED NEWS

Angus Eve back as T&T men's football coach.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).

TWO weeks before Trinidad and Tobago's men's football team meet Curacao in a Concacaf Nations League match, the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, headed by chairman Robert Hadad, has finally named a coach.

In a press release on Tuesday, the TTFA said Angus Eve's contract was extended to March 2024. Eve's contract ended when T&T exited the Concacaf Gold Cup on July 2. He has been the TT coach since June 2021.

Hadad said, “Angus has come into the role bringing stability, quality and belief to the team. We have navigated challenges together along the way and believe that he is the right individual and character to take us into League A.”

T&T advanced to League A of the Concacaf Nations League after Nicaragua was demoted for fielding an ineligible player in League B competititon. TT had initially finished as runner-up to Nicaragua.

Eve said, “This is a great honour to continue to serve my country and serve in a positive manner.”

TTFA also said it has commissioned a technical advisory panel that will be available to assist Eve. The names of the members of this panel are expected to be finalised and announced within the next few days.

Prior to the TTFA's release, former Soca Warriors defender Brent Sancho condemned the silence of the TTFA in naming the head coach.

On Monday night, the TTFA started advertising the match against Curacao scheduled for September 7 at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo at 6 pm. The ad gave fans details, saying the covered section will cost $100 and the uncovered section will cost $50. Children under 12 are free.

Sancho said, "I think the challenge in all of this has been the lack of transparency in everything, which is really sad. There is and has been high expectations with the normalisation committee to operate on those sorts of levels, but particularly over the last year it has gotten worse in terms of transparency when it comes to decision making and giving a full account of how things work particularly in these departments: coaching, selection process, the understanding of the evaluation of coaches and how they come up with these decisions."

The former defender said hiring a new coach so late would be like shooting one's self in the foot.

"A new coach can come in, but I think from where we are and our current situation here in T&T – I think it will be a very foolish decision if that is the case. We are basically asking someone to come in under a veil of secrecy to work with what I would consider a group of players that are possibly in a transition phase."

T&T had a disappointing Gold Cup campaign with defeats to Jamaica (4-1) and a second-string USA (6-0) erasing the euphoria of a 3-0 opening win vs St Kitts. T&T bowed out at the group stage.

Prior to the Gold Cup, Eve boasted that his "pragmatic" approach had been working. However, he was heavily criticised for sidelining local-based players in favour of their foreign counterparts for the Gold Cup.

Sancho lamented that there has been no post-mortem about that campaign.

"From the position of the governing body we have not heard one iota of conversation relating to the result of the Gold Cup – none, zero, we have heard nothing."

Sancho did not only point fingers at the normalisation committee, saying the TTFA membership has been dormant and not asking enough questions and challenging the local governing body.

[Trini _2026]

OMG OMG OMG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yes given another year to waste time  and earn a salary

[Trini _2026]

<sup>Commenting on Eve’s extension, Normalization Committee Chairman Robert Hadad stated, “Angus has come into the role bringing stability, quality and belief to the team.”

“We have navigated challenges together along the way and believe that he is the right individual and character to take us into League A.”</sup>

  good thing he keeps away from interviews We in group A due to an oversight by Nicaragua  .. that is it

[Flex]

Angus Eve back as T&T men's football coach.
By Jelani Beckles (T&T Newsday).

TWO weeks before Trinidad and Tobago's men's football team meet Curacao in a Concacaf Nations League match, the FIFA-appointed normalisation committee, headed by chairman Robert Hadad, has finally named a coach.

In a press release on Tuesday, the TTFA said Angus Eve's contract was extended to March 2024. Eve's contract ended when T&T exited the Concacaf Gold Cup on July 2. He has been the TT coach since June 2021.

Hadad said, “Angus has come into the role bringing stability, quality and belief to the team. We have navigated challenges together along the way and believe that he is the right individual and character to take us into League A.”

T&T advanced to League A of the Concacaf Nations League after Nicaragua was demoted for fielding an ineligible player in League B competititon. TT had initially finished as runner-up to Nicaragua.

Eve said, “This is a great honour to continue to serve my country and serve in a positive manner.”

TTFA also said it has commissioned a technical advisory panel that will be available to assist Eve. The names of the members of this panel are expected to be finalised and announced within the next few days.

Prior to the TTFA's release, former Soca Warriors defender Brent Sancho condemned the silence of the TTFA in naming the head coach.

On Monday night, the TTFA started advertising the match against Curacao scheduled for September 7 at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo at 6 pm. The ad gave fans details, saying the covered section will cost $100 and the uncovered section will cost $50. Children under 12 are free.

Sancho said, "I think the challenge in all of this has been the lack of transparency in everything, which is really sad. There is and has been high expectations with the normalisation committee to operate on those sorts of levels, but particularly over the last year it has gotten worse in terms of transparency when it comes to decision making and giving a full account of how things work particularly in these departments: coaching, selection process, the understanding of the evaluation of coaches and how they come up with these decisions."

The former defender said hiring a new coach so late would be like shooting one's self in the foot.

"A new coach can come in, but I think from where we are and our current situation here in T&T – I think it will be a very foolish decision if that is the case. We are basically asking someone to come in under a veil of secrecy to work with what I would consider a group of players that are possibly in a transition phase."

T&T had a disappointing Gold Cup campaign with defeats to Jamaica (4-1) and a second-string USA (6-0) erasing the euphoria of a 3-0 opening win vs St Kitts. T&T bowed out at the group stage.

Prior to the Gold Cup, Eve boasted that his "pragmatic" approach had been working. However, he was heavily criticised for sidelining local-based players in favour of their foreign counterparts for the Gold Cup.

Sancho lamented that there has been no post-mortem about that campaign.

"From the position of the governing body we have not heard one iota of conversation relating to the result of the Gold Cup – none, zero, we have heard nothing."

Sancho did not only point fingers at the normalisation committee, saying the TTFA membership has been dormant and not asking enough questions and challenging the local governing body.

[asylumseeker]

Seven months to do no harm. 

[Tallman]

Trust the process: Eve ready to move on with rebuilding ‘Warriors’
By Garth Wattley (T&T Express)

Given a fresh mandate by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), Angus Eve is ready to move the game along for the national senior team.

“We need to widen the pool of players that we have. We need to expose more of the young players at this point in time,” Eve told the Express yesterday, a day after the TTFA announced that it had extended his tenure to March, 2024.

Eve was first hired on an interim basis in 2021 to replace Terry Fenwick following T&T’s failure to get to the final round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

He recently took T&T through a CONCACAF Nations League B campaign after which, T&T earned promotion to League A after Nicaragua’s disqualification. His last assignment was the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June when T&T failed to get out of their group which also included the United States, Jamaica and St Kitts-Nevis.

In commenting on the decision to stick with Eve, Normalisation Committee (NC) chairman Robert Hadad said: “Angus has come into the role bringing stability, quality and belief to the team. We have navigated challenges together along the way and believe that he is the right individual and character to take us into League A.”

Eve himself was happy for the TTFA’s display of confidence. “They have shown a level of faith in what me and the staff have been rebuilding, especially the players that we have been exposing. and also (it is) a satisfaction in that we have met all of the mandates that they have given to us,” Eve said.

That mandate included qualifying for the 2022 and 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup group stages and getting the team into the Nations League A. “The signs are there where we are progressing,” Eve added.

As he looked forward to what he described as the “massive task” of qualifying the Soca Warriors for the 2026 World Cup, Eve stressed the need to expose more players.

“I know our country is result-based but over the past two years we have been building to something. We have been moving in progression,” he said. “Some people don’t like process, but now is the time that we have to bring in a lot more of the younger players into the team along with the senior players of course; keeping some of them around to try help build towards the final goal which is trying to qualify for a World Cup.”

Eve will continue to work with a pool of 60 players. And asked if it was time to move on from some of his senior players, Eve noted: “All of the senior players will still be a part of that 60-man squad. But in widening the pool, because every window that we have it’s a competition, we don’t have the affordability to expose people in practice matches like used to happen in the past.

“So now that every window is now a competition match, we now have to play these (newer) players in competition matches and it’s not going to be a bad thing in the sense whereby they will be playing games that mean something, so they have to put out their best.”

Eve’s first assignment in his new tenure will be a League A clash with Curacao at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on September 7.

T&T and Curacao are in Group A of League A, along with Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador and Martinique. Group B contains Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras, Cuba, Suriname, and Grenada.

After group stage play in the FIFA match windows in September and October, each group’s first and second-place finishers will advance to the quarter-finals, where they will join the four top-ranked League A national teams.

Speaking of the preparation for the Curacao match, Eve said, “we continue to monitor what the players are doing on the outside and what the players are doing here.”

In particular, Eve will be concerned about the fitness of Greece-based attacking player Levi Garcia, who picked up a thigh injury on Tuesday in AEK Athens’ 1-0 loss to Royal Antwerp in their UEFA Champions League first leg playoff in Belgium.

“We tried making contact with him today, was unsuccessful but we’ll try before the day is out, hopefully we’ll get on to him,” the coach said.

[Tallman]

Angus Eve: I never stopped working
By Stephon Nicholas (T&T Newsday)

NATIONAL football coach Angus Eve said the six weeks of uncertainty before he was retained at the helm of the men's programme was not lost time.

Eve told Newsday since his contract ended when Trinidad and Tobago exited the Concacaf Gold Cup on July 2, he has been watching tapes and scouting opponents for the Concacaf Nations League.

T&T begin their League A Group A campaign at home against Curacao on September 7. Group A also comprises El Salvador, Guatemala, Martinique and Panama.

On Tuesday, the TTFA announced that Eve's contract has been extended until March 2024.

TTFA normalisation committee head Robert Hadad said Eve has brought "stability, quality and belief to the team.”

Eve said, "The possibility that I might get back the job was always on the table. I never stopped working and scouting our opponents – plus we saw Curacao (qualifying round) and Guatemala play in the (2023) Gold Cup, so we have information on them, and El Salvador also."

T&T's Gold Cup campaign ended disastrously with heavy defeats to Jamaica (4-1) and USA (6-0) in Group A. Asked if he would have been disappointed to have those losses as the lasting memory of his tenure, Eve said society should remember what he has achieved since taking over in June 2021.

"We had a very stable run. I would give it 50-50. We broke even.

"There are a lot of issues we have to deal with. Football, like a lot of other things in the country, is not positive, because the negative outweighs the positive.

"I'm happy we've been able to stabilise the team. We've been able to bring in young players and try to give them the opportunity to represent the country, and although we haven't moved massively in one direction...I know it sounds small, but we moved up two spots (102nd in FIFA rankings). There are a lot of positives that we have done so far."

Looking towards the Nations League competition, Eve said his players need to match the aggression of their primarily Latin American opponents.

"They play quick, aggressive, high intensity. The Latin people have this never-say-die mentality, so that sort of aggression we would have to match, or else we will be overrun in the games."Eve said it remains a difficult balancing act introducing new players to the national programme while also needing to get results.

"Every window we play now is an international window with a competition inside there. It's difficult to expose players. It's a difficult balancing act to achieve.

"For this tournament on September 7, the locally-based players are playing until August 31. The foreign players eligible for selection are playing up until the 3rd (September). The window opens on the 4th (September). You have basically two days to prepare for the match."

Asked whether foreign-based players will continue to be given preference over their local counterparts in team selection, Eve replied, "I hate that term about 'foreign' and 'local' – they are all Trinidadians.

"I think it's only about four of our players weren't born in Trinidad. Most of the players, Kevin Molino, Joevin Jones, they learned their football here, they never left here until they were about 21 years old. Unlike what Curacao and Jamaica are doing, we actually have home-grown players who are playing abroad."

Eve has been criticised for omitting top local-based players like forward Nathaniel James (TTPFL top scorer), attacker Reon Moore and defender Justin Garcia from the Gold Cup squad, but he insisted that the best team on paper was selected.

"When we went out, nobody said we picked foreign over local. They thought that was the best team we could have selected on paper.

"I've told the 60 players in the pool, we have to use competition matches to expose players and evolve the team. As we go along we may pull players out and change players in."

On the introduction of a TTFA technical advisory panel, Eve said he welcomed the decision.

"Angus Eve and my staff alone cannot qualify for any tournament. We need government, corporate, technical committee. I welcome it. I welcome going in front a panel and explaining why we did this or didn't do that.

"Accountability is always necessary. Sometimes in these committees you might hear something you don't want to hear, but it might build you going forward. I welcome it because it's a support mechanism."

Eve said he will be keeping a keen eye on the Concacaf Caribbean Cup, which Defence Force and AC Port of Spain are competing in, before he names his 23-man squad for the Nations League opener.

[Trini _2026]

40 man prov  squad named