Angus Eve Thread.

[Thomo]

Eve claims to have been working behind the scenes and nothing shows as nothing has changed. He picked the same useless people. Not one new face. You telling me Darius Lewis at Botafogo, Antwoine Hackford at Sheffield both said "1. nah I good 2. I not ready yet 3. let me get right with my club 4. my passport expired or I don't have one".
But he pick useless Kareem Moses, Joevin, slow big belly Neveal & paper knee Molino still.
SMFH

[asylumseeker]

Eve claims to have been working behind the scenes and nothing shows as nothing has changed. He picked the same useless people. Not one new face. You telling me Darius Lewis at Botafogo, Antwoine Hackford at Sheffield both said "1. nah I good 2. I not ready yet 3. let me get right with my club 4. my passport expired or I don't have one".
But he pick useless Kareem Moses, Joevin, slow big belly Neveal & paper knee Molino still.
SMFH

Notable.

[Trini _2026]

Imagine the jamaican coach name his 23 man  but angus keeping his a secret . The Plane tickets done book  say who are the players

[Fyzoman]

Thomo is ah man after my own heart on this!! I was laughing hard, hard, hard

I wanna add Mr. Bateau -- who cannot make a decent 7 yard pass to foot, or to lead the person he's passing to -- to your list!!

IMFO, Hackshaw is the main reason why Eve doesn't deserve to be the coach...for glaringly obvious friggin reasons.

[asylumseeker]

Yuh mean Bateau who has been named Mechelen club captain or the imposter/impersonator who shows up for NT duty but doesn't "show up"?

[Trini _2026]

Seems like molino has called it quits ...

[Thomo]

Seems like molino has called it quits ...

Good call by him. He has to look after his future and with all those injuries he can't be playing too much for TNT. He has to manage his body differently now. Joevin, Bateau and Moses need to go now but we all know donkey, Eve will pick them instead of approaching the young lads in UK who can bring more to the team.
The number 10 spot belongs to Molik Khan now I say. Shaping up to be a complete midfielder from the highlights of his recent games.

[Thomo]

Thomo is ah man after my own heart on this!! I was laughing hard, hard, hard

I wanna add Mr. Bateau -- who cannot make a decent 7 yard pass to foot, or to lead the person he's passing to -- to your list!!

IMFO, Hackshaw is the main reason why Eve doesn't deserve to be the coach...for glaringly obvious friggin reasons.

I dunno how he gets a look in everytime. I could be wrong but he never looks fit.
Plus he's too slow but hey that's just me.

[real madness]

Let's not get carried away. Highlights in ah US 4th division game is not enough to assign him the #10 spot. That being said Molik is one of the young group of players we need to build around assuming they continue to develop. In addition to him, there are players such as Ajani, Dantaye, Auvray, Nathaniel James, Lindell Sween, etc. who can have an impact with the "older" heads such as Levi, Keston Julien, etc.

[Tallman]

Angus Eve: Support the footballers, even if you don't like me
By Roneil Walcott (T&T Newsday)

After vital wins over Curacao and El Salvador to start the 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League (CNL) A campaign, T&T men's football coach Angus Eve has urged the public to not let their personal feelings about him cloud the excellence of his young team.

He said that more support should be given to the young players who are representing their country in a positive manner.

"(The fans) may not come out and support Angus Eve because they may have an issue with Angus Eve," the T&T coach said, during a media briefing at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on Friday. "Let's support these players who are trying to do something positive for their country and nation. It's extremely important that people come out and support and understand that this is a new beginning.

"The campaign has started like a house on fire, but it's a new beginning. There is a lot more work to be done but we are well-placed and we have a good platform to build on."

Eve again pointed to the spate of violence in the country, and he said the T&T footballers are a beacon of hope.

"Our country is in a state where we're losing young people every day through violence and gun violence. And to see young people do something positive for the country (is great) – to see these people go out and give their hearts to their country. It may be a case where we need to come out and support that."

T&T sit atop their Nations League group with a maximum six points from two matches, with matches still to come against Guatemala (October 13) and Curacao (October 17) respectively. With a win vs Guatemala, T&T can book a spot into the CNL quarter-finals where they will meet one of the four seeded Concacaf nations; Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico or the US.

Eve stressed on the importance of the 12th man, and he urged the T&T supporters to give their players that extra lift when they face Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium next month.

"Any team at home is dangerous. Some places don't think home advantage means anything, but it means a lot to these fans in (the Concacaf region). We need to capitalise on home advantage and we need to capitalise on this start we have gotten.

"Hopefully, the fans will come out and celebrate these kids and push them forward so they can continue to achieve excellence."

Despite their perfect start to the group, Eve says survival in Nations League A remains the first goal.

"If I ask any of you here today if you feel we would've been in this position, you'd say no. We are in a good place. We are in a place where we didn't expect to be, especially with what we're trying to do.

"Our first inclination would have been trying to stay in (Nations League) A, just like any team who (has been promoted) to the Premier League. We have to take it one game at a time. If we get a point, we are guaranteed a spot in the Nations League A. If we get three points, then who knows, the sky's the limit for us."

Following a disastrous 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup where T&T made a group stage exit after heavy losses to Jamaica (4-1) and the US (6-0), team captain and playmaker Kevin Molino announced his retirement on September 1, despite being named in the provisional squad for the Nations League.

Veteran Costa Rican-based defender Aubrey David was then named as Soca Warriors captain, and was subsequently selected in the Nations League A Best XI for the September window. Eve commended David's leadership.

"Aubrey David's leadership was exemplary. You heard the things he said and you saw his actions on the pitch. You would have seen how he conducted himself."

The 51-year-old coach says his players are focused and have put the Gold Cup disappointment behind them.

"We believe in ourselves and we believe that if we go out and do the work we can do, and match these teams' intensity, we can compete at this level."

[asylumseeker]

Angus Eve is in need of a media advisor. Suddenly public sentiment is about him PERSONALLY? Wow! Perhaps he should carefully revisit the themes pertaining to emotional intelligence to which he was recently exposed. He is starting to dribble himself by the corner flag.

He is the only MNT coach in recent time who gets a grade that's deemed passing, but insufficient. Think the CXC Grade III of yesteryear. Reasonably good for one's confidence or self-assurance, but frustratingly ineffective as a matter of advancing.

Others have either failed or passed outright, absent marginal performance. Perhaps he should work on giving himself better margins.

His battle is not with the footballing public of Trinidad and Tobago, nor the people of Trinidad and Tobago with him. His battle is with and within himself. He should focus on his margins rather than on the false narratives.

Improve your product, Angus Eve. Both on the field and in media delivery. You've made several justifiable decisions, but your public argument (both on the field and in the media) is not yet airtight or watertight such that it should be free of debate.

We doh have time for Angus against a world of straw men.

[Controversial]

Yes Angus we don't support puppets or sell outs...

live with it, save us the talk and resign with Hadad the other puppet...

we have had enough with our football being hijacked by a bunch of people who are beholden to foreign entities that are not working in our best interest

So yes Angus we don't like you or what you stand for or your lack of ability in coaching our national team

[Tallman]

Hating on Angus
By Fazeer Mohammed (T&T Express)

Now that a whole highway has been named after Leroy Deleon and Warren Archibald, what about replacing the Haig Street sign with “Angus Eve Street?”

I mean, we’re talking here about a Carenage native who has represented the senior national men’s football team 118 times, scoring 36 goals. There aren’t too many around in the global game with those sorts of numbers. And now, carrying the mantle of head coach of the same team he represented for so long, he has taken Trinidad and Tobago into the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Nations League and yet another of those end-of-year decisive duels with the United States.

There seems to be a reluctance to give Eve much credit for this run, moreso now that Kevin Molino has properly washed his mouth on his former head coach with accusations ranging from him being more keen to do the bidding of the Normalisation Committee than seeking the interest of the players, to lacking in tactical acumen, and the now standard presumed kiss of death phrase: losing the dressing room.

And yet, here we are, even in the aftermath of an embarrassing 5-3 loss away to Curacao a week ago, into the knockout phase of the Nations League. It is something no-one was prepared to forecast ahead of the group stage, where the side showed spirit and tenacity in coming from behind on more than one occasion, culminating in the dramatic 3-2 defeat of Guatemala at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

So was all this down to the players alone? Is Eve not deserving of any credit at all for what they were able to achieve against the odds, even if they also required other results to go their way following the whipping from Curacao?

Of course, the defensive showing in Willemstad last Monday was worse than a joke. I only watched the first half but in that 45 minutes, the frequency with which players were dispossessed or gave away possession or were caught out of position made you wonder what the so-and-so was really going on. And now that we know the Americans are the next opponents in a home-and-away tie, can we really expect to survive with so much amateurishness at the back?

If we are going to cuss Eve for such a shambolic showing, shouldn’t the players also bear their share of responsibility? As incompetent as many will want to argue that he is—including 95 percent of the players according to Molino—isn’t passing the ball to a teammate rather than an opponent, especially near your own penalty area, a skill so fundamental that it shouldn’t require the intervention of a tactical genius to ensure that it is accomplished regularly and properly?

What doesn’t help Eve’s cause though are statements which are either contradictory or just plain nonsense.

One minute he suggests no attention should be paid to rankings when Trinidad and Tobago are 100-plus on the FIFA table, only to change tune now that his side has advanced into the double digits. After the 5-3 loss to Curacao, one of the many excuses was that the players were “leggy,” the suggestion being that two games in five days had taken its toll. But isn’t that going to be the same situation against the States in a month’s time, so should we brace for a proper cut-tail whether or not the Yanks are at full strength?

Rather than judge Eve the coach on the basis of superfluous issues though, like saying one thing today and something else tomorrow, or lacking the charisma of a Jose Mourinho or the combative feistiness of an Alex Ferguson, maybe we should use results as the ultimate baseline.

In that regard he hasn’t done badly. In fact, he has exceeded expectations by getting Trinidad and Tobago to the quarter-finals of the Nations League. No amount of dismissive references to him being just very lucky will change that fact. Whether or not he is a Robert Hadad stooge the reality is that under his watch the players are putting in enough of an effort, notwithstanding an array of glaring deficiencies, to overcome several hurdles.

However overcoming the Americans is a different challenge altogether, and while we will always be able to point to that shock win at the Ato Boldon Stadium six years ago which led to their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, every reliable indicator points to elimination four weeks from now.

So, should the concept of an “Angus Eve Street” in his hometown of Carenage hinge on pulling off an even bigger upset against the USA than what has been achieved so far? No, it should be based on the value placed on his body of work as a player, coach and representative of his community.

Everything else is peripheral.

[ffisback]

Placing 2nd without playing the 2 top teams in the group has more to do with luck of the draw than anything else I would rather play the 2 top teams loose and not qualify for the quarterfinals than to be humiliated in the quarterfinals the last nation league games we reached the Gold Cup through the back door and got humiliated and now we qualify for the quarterfinals through the back door to get humiliated again this is embarrassing.

[Tallman]

Angus is the right man: Shabazz, Theobald endorse Eve ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers
By Ian Prescott (T&T Express)

Has Angus Eve done enough to remain as Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men’s national team head coach when his current contract ends in March, and FIFA World Cup qualifying begins?

Guyana head coach Jamaal Shabazz and former national captain Densill “Bleeder” Theobald both believe that 51-year-old Eve has done enough to retain his place for the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

Since replacing Englishman Terry Fenwick in June 2021, under Eve’s guidance the Soca Warriors qualified for back-to-back CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments and for the Nations League quarter-finals for the first time.

T&T was promoted and will also remain in CONCACAF Nations League A in 2024 and also still has a chance to qualify for the 2024 CONMEBOL.

“I feel they can keep Angus and continue to upgrade the staff around him,” stated Shabazz, a former T&T men’s and women’s national team coach. “Of course there are areas he can develop, but I believe Angus has given a good account of himself.”

Likewise, Theobald also feels his former teammate had proven himself. “I would love for him to extend his contract leading into the World cup qualifiers, given the opportunity of course,” stated Theobald.

“I think Angus deserved the right to prove himself in the international arena as a national coach,” he continued.

“More so for the last couple of games, barring the game that we played in Curacao. Not only the results, but the performances as well.”

He added: “Being able to beat Curacao 1-0 with a late goal. Being able to go away to El Salvador, a difficult place, and get that result there. And then being able to come back home and beat Guatemala and the USA.”

Trinidad and Tobago has just a meagre five wins, and only three in official competitive matches, against the USA, in their 23-match history.

However, the last two visits by the American team to the Caribbean nation have resulted in 2-1 defeats-- both occasions managed by local coaches, Dennis Lawrence in 2017, and Angus Eve 2023.

Even the highly-regarded Dutchman Leo Benhakker, who coached T&T to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, failed to beat the United States during his tenure as head coach.

A member of T&T 2006 World Cup team in Germany, Theobald says victories over the Americans are not easily won. He was ecstatic about Monday night’s victory-- against a country with over 330 million more people than the twin-island Republic.

“Oh my God, I was so happy and pleased,” Theobald exclaimed. “Not only the result in our favour, but the performances of the team in the last two games especially.”

He went on: “During my time of playing, I never had the opportunity to beat the USA or even hold on to a draw with them. That’s why I’m so pleased for the boys. You are able to see now that the landscape of football, that gap, is getting closer and closer. So, that any given day in football, anyone can beat anyone.”

Meanwhile, Shabazz rated highly T&T’s victory over the USA.

“I am so proud of Angus Eve and his staff. Not just because of this game, but for the rest of results he has gotten. Results matter,” Shabazz stated.

“His detractors have literally wanted him to turn water into wine,” Shabazz continued, “What he has shown as a young coach, at different times with the senior team, is an ability to grind out big results.”

Eve’s current staff, mostly locally-based, consist of former national players such as Derrick King, Reynold Carrington, Anton Pierre, Clayton Ince, manager Richard Piper, along with other support staff.

Shabazz believes Eve should remain head-coach, while at the same time continuing to improve his backroom staff.

“Trinidadians feel that our programme is of the magnitude where we could hire and fire coaches. But just as we want a coach to build a team, the Association must help to build the staff,” added Shabazz.

As head-coach of Guyana, Shabazz has recently been afforded privileges which he did not have, when taking a chance with the Golden Jaguars many years ago, when they were among the poorest of South American and Caricom countries.

Shabazz now functions like a traditional English Premier League manager, with specific coaches to implement his strategies. He has a first-rate match analyst, travels with two physios, two equipment managers.

“I have a backroom staff second to none. In little Guyana,” Shabazz revealed.

“It is their expertise and work ethic that has contributed to the resurgence of Guyana football.”

[Tallman]

Angus Eve on hold: Coach still waiting on extension; claims lack of support from fraternity
T&T Express

NATIONAL SENIOR men’s football team head coach Angus Eve is without a contract past the March 23 Nations League match against Canada next year.

And there have been no discussions to date to extend his contract with the Normalisation Committee (NC) whose term comes to a conclusion at the end of March, 2024.

Eve made the revelation during an interview with on the I95 sports radio programme over the weekend.

“They (NC) are a little bit finicky to do something about it (the contract) because, the football fraternity, I don’t know if they want me to sign a new contract,” Eve said, referring to the lukewarm response from the TTFA Zones. “I have not heard from any of them since I have been doing this job.”

Eve added no discussions have so far been held between the NC and him to extend his contract. “I was to have that conversation with them this (last) week but we have to leave to go to a seminar, so when I come back, we supposed to have that conversation.

“But they are a little bit hesitant to do anything because they are studying what the members will think. So the members have not really shown me any support. Except the president of the South Zone Dennis Latiff and Ross Russell (North Zone president) who is my friend, no other president has reached out to me or spoken to us.”

Eve suggested it would be prudent if he signed a contract before the Canada game. The former national player added that he and his staff had achieve their objectives and mandates set out by their employer, including qualifying for the Gold Cup; returning the national team to the A division of the Nations League, and qualifying as one of the last eight teams fighting to qualify for the last six for Copa America.

“We have never been in this place before. We have never reached out of the group stage and into the knockout stage and try to reach in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Nations League before. So I think we have achieved all of our targets, all of our objectives that have been placed in front of us.”

Eve claimed after the NC had stabilised the game locally, a lot of people felt left out of the process.

“Win, lose or draw,” he explained, “I could possibly not be the coach (after March). Through the whole tenure it has been like that. I think there is a distinct lack of support. A lot of the things you read on social media is like if people don’t want me in the job, so I tend to want to focus on the guys,” stated Eve.

He added that getting the national team to this point has been a rough challenge. “It has been a re-building process and it has gone pretty much better than we expected. Nobody expected us the way we got into the A, nobody felt that we belonged and we were under pressure from the first match.

He continued: “Also there was some other stuff happening behind the scenes with some of the older players and it probably took a little of the focus away from the honing in on the games. We were fighting against a lot of stuff and I think that the staff and the Normalisation Committee pulled together, the people who support us.

“We insulated ourselves and I think you saw the fruit of that re-building where we won three of the four games and that was fantastic,” Eve added.

As for the support of the public? “I think I know the culture of the people...Once you are winning, the crowd will come and support the team. It’s been building from the first game that we won to the last one that we played on the 20th of November, a day after the remembrance of that Strike Squad game 34 years ago. There was a lot of nostalgia in the air and a lot of people came out remembering that time, remembering that era.

“And I thought it was tremendous—from the young people I felt the energy from the bench, I felt the energy of the fans. And I know if I felt it the players definitely felt it. It is your country. Come and support them. It is your country...The fans were great in the last match.”

[Fyzoman]

Angus needs to focus on selecting the best team and approach to beat Canada.

Why would he be given a new contract BEFORE the Canada game (and the exit of the NC???), that's mad people thinking.

The new TTFA may be of the view that he is not the coach to get us thru qualifying and to the 2026 World Cup?

He also needs to be reminded of the bacchanal that was created at the GC that caused Molino to come forward. After that, all of a sudden we rebuilding? All the non-payment of money and the -- alleged -- plea by him to the players to "not bleed the NC" or words to that effect?

If Molino hadn't come out in public, he, Joevin, and Kareem them may still have been there moving in slow-motion on the team. When he finally started selecting the right players, all of a sudden we getting results.

How does Tyrone Charles factor in to a team that's being rebuilt, and WC 2026, he's 35 (I think?)

He should focus on beating Canada, and hope the new TTFA give him ah lil bligh to keep getting all that big money the NC now throwing at him.

 

[Trini _2026]

 Fyzo like he now discovered these players in the local league.even  if we qualify he should not be given an extension .

[Controversial]

Like I said they are controlling him... hes a sell out

[maxg]

Paper Knees look real happy like pappi tonight  !

[Tallman]

Matter of principle: Hadad explains decision not to give Eve new contract
T&T Express

Angus Eve will not receive a new contract before the Normalisation Committee’s term ends next March.

This was confirmed on Saturday by chairman of the NC, Robert Hadad.

Last week, national senior team football coach Eve confirmed he had not yet had discussions about a new contract but expected to have such following his return from a Copa America Teams Seminar in the United States.

Eve’s Soca Warriors are due to play Canada next March in a playoff that will qualify the winners for the Copa America series in the US. That month will also mark the end of his current contract extension.

However, Hadad has ruled out another extension by the NC, whose own extension of tenure will also cease in March.

“His contract ends in March when our term ends, so in principle we agreed that we wanted the coach to run the same time-lines as the Normalisation Committee,” Hadad said on the ISports radio programme on Saturday.

“Subsequent to that, the new in-coming president and the new in-coming ex-co (executive committee) can decide who they want to be their coach. Angus would have every opportunity with them to prove himself before (the end of his tenure) and hopefully, they would continue and they would make that decision. But in principle, we did say all along that we do not think that we should be hiring a coach or anybody for that matter to exist beyond our term.”

Asked whether because of the playoff with Canada coming on the agenda belatedly, the Normalisation Committee had considered extending Eve’s contract beyond March 2024, Hadad said, “we did discuss it...but at the end of the day, we see this as being a decision for the new executive committee and the new president, for them to put in place who they think will do the job to get us to 2026 World Cup.”

Hadad expressed reluctance for the NC to extend itself more than necessary before its tenure ended. “...the Normalisation Committee has been making a lot of decisions without a technical committee in place and we believe that we need to give the new, in-coming executive committee the opportunity to set the football and Trinidad and Tobago Football Association up the way they want it,” he said.

However, the NC chairman gave his full backing to Eve, who got T&T to the quarter-final stage of the CONCACAF Nations League. “Angus though I would say is exceptional,” Hadad said. “He’s done a fantastic job, Angus and his entire team. I would expect him to be very professional because it is in his interest, if his desire is to continue coaching Trinidad and Tobago, to perform in that game on the 23rd.”

Hadad added that the NC’s confidence in Eve had been steady. “We were very optimistic that we would perform well all along,” he said. “Angus took us to where we are today and we had faith in Angus all the way through. We understood what his development plans were. He was very candid with us. He explained to us what he was doing and when something didn’t go right, he would not be running and hiding, he would be discussing the matter with us.

“We thought him (to be) the best option to get us to where we are today. Now that he has gotten us here, yes, it is a little uncomfortable that his term ends in March and he has this very big game, but we believe if he gets us into that game against Argentina (opening Copa America match) and we manage to defeat Canada, we think that the new executive committee would consider him.”

[madness]

They still need a high-profile coach to take the football to a higher level. Starting from the U14 team to the senior level

[Tallman]

Eve's rollercoaster 2023: Adapting to styles while finding identity
By Roneil Walcott (T&T Newsday)

Trinidad and Tobago men's football team and their head coach Angus Eve have endured a rollercoaster 2023, but have ended the year riding an emotional high.

T&T first missed out on promotion to Concacaf Nations League A, before Nicaragua's expulsion for fielding an ineligible player pushed Eve's team into the region's top tier. This was followed by an embarrassing first-round Concacaf Gold Cup exit, an injury-plagued spell for star striker Levi Garcia and the sudden retirement of then captain Kevin Molino.

But the year ended with a fine turnaround in fortune for the Soca Warriors, as they advanced past their 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League A group and qualified for the quarter-final of the competition for the first time. And despite an exciting 4-2 two-legged quarter-final loss to Concacaf giants and defending Nations League champions USA, Eve and his team have a chance to book a historic spot in the Copa America 2024 tournament via a playoff with Canada in Frisco, Texas on March 23, 2024.

The Soca Warriors began 2023 ranked 104th in the Fifa rankings and 11th by Concacaf. Eve, whose contract was extended to the end of March 2024 by the T&T Football Association's (TTFA) normalisation committee, was also in the hot seat as public opinion appeared to be divided on the former midfielder.

Asked about his job stability post-March 2024 and the playoff with Canada, Eve told Newsday, "If you hear the utterances of knowledgeable people throughout the football, nobody expected us to be where we are.

"I would say based on the job and the transformation we have done, our constant rise and meeting all of the KPIs which have been given to me and the staff, if we do anything to go Copa America 2024 that is just a bonus. That will be the icing on the cake."

Eve said there were "a lot of positives to look back on," and he was excited to see local fans flocking to see their national team once again.

"When you look at the players we have been able to bring through, we have done what we have done in a very short space of time. That also says progress. Progress is measured by achievements."

WARRIORS HEADING TO USL

Eve said his players are reaping the rewards of their on-field endeavour and he said three young members of the squad will be plying their trade in the United Soccer League (USL) next year. He also highlighted the 19-year-old pair of Kaile Auvray and Nathaniel James who transferred to Jamaican champions Mount Pleasant Academy in September. Both Auvray and James debuted for the Soca Warriors in March 2023 in friendly action away to Jamaica.

In 2023, the senior team played a total of 15 games – recording nine wins, two draws and four losses. T&T were unbeaten in friendly competition this year while utilising mainly a local contingent, with victories against Guatemala, Jamaica and Saint Martin. The French-born Auvray, who has a Trinidadian mother, represented Saint Martin against T&T in January, before getting the opportunity to play for T&T six weeks later.

In competitive action in 2023, T&T grabbed six wins, lost four matches and had the solitary draw. T&T's competitive draw came in a 1-1 duel with Nicaragua on March 27 in Bacolet, Tobago in a 2022/23 Concacaf Nations League B encounter. At the time, the result had qualified Nicaragua for the 2023 Gold Cup and the 2023/24 Nations League A cycle, with T&T set to remain in Nations League B.

However, Nicaragua's infraction was punished by Concacaf's disciplinary committee and T&T were elevated to the Gold Cup group stage and Nations League A.

T&T were grouped with Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis and 2021 champions USA in the Gold Cup. T&T got a comfortable 3-0 win over newcomers St Kitts and Nevis, before heavy defeats against Jamaica (4-1) and USA (6-0).

Eve said he had to take the losses on the chin.

"I tend to learn more when I lose. You tend to learn more lessons when you lose as opposed to when you win. Sometimes, winning can hide your faults. You tend to look at the final results and not (an) in-depth (analysis). I had to look really deep inside myself and make some very tough decisions.

"At the end of the day, I am not only making decisions for myself, but I am representing my country as well. I have to do what is best for the country at the point in time. If it works, I will accept the accolades which come along with it. But if it does not work, I will take the criticism or condemnation, which I have been taking for decisions I made throughout the season which people did not like."

After T&T's final Gold Cup game on July 2, Eve endured a seven-week wait before the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee announced an extension to his contract on August 22 – 16 days before their Nations League A home opener against Curacao on September 7.

Six days before facing Curacao, the T&T team were thrown a curve ball when Molino, 33, said goodbye to T&T football via an Instagram post. Molino had been named in a 40-man provisional squad for the game. On November 2, another Soca Warriors stalwart retired from the international game, with veteran goalkeeper Marvin Phillip "hanging up my gloves with immediate effect from the national stage" after appearing in an under-17 World Cup for his country and making over 90 appearances at senior level.

Eve said the door was not closed on any of the recently retired players.

"This is no disrespect to the senior players as they have given so much to T&T. At that point in time, I felt it was needed to revitalise the team and freshen up the team a bit.

"I wish all the players all the best. I have not physically retired anybody. I do not think it is right to do so."

With T&T Premier Football League (TTPFL) standouts such as Reon Moore, league MVP Justin "Shiggy" Garcia, goalkeeper Denzil Smith and TTPFL top-scorer James all firmly part of Eve's Nations League A plans, and defender Aubrey David taking over the captain's armband, T&T got three consecutive victories against Curacao (1-0), El Salvador (3-2) and Guatemala (3-2) to secure their Nations League A spot for another cycle and line up a quarter-final appearance as well.

James netted dramatic late winners at the Hasely Crawford Stadium against Curacao and Guatemala, with the towering Shiggy scoring a looping header to edge El Salvador in a five-goal thriller at the Estadio Nacional Jorge "El Magico" Gonzalez in El Salvador. Moore scored three times in five appearances and looks a potent force up top, although he mainly plays on the wing for TTPFL champions Defence Force.

It is fair to say the Soca Warriors found a new lease of life in their Nations League A campaign, and James quickly became the new darling of the T&T football public.

TTPFL VITAL TO EVE

During the inaugural TTPFL season which spanned from March to July 2023, Eve said the league would benefit the Soca Warriors in the long run, but he did not see it having an immediate impact on T&T's 2023 Gold Cup fortunes. As a result, players such as James, Moore and Shiggy were controversially left out from T&T's 23-man squad for Concacaf's showpiece event.

Post-Gold Cup, there was a different look to the T&T team, with at least ten local players named in the 23-man squad to face Curacao.

"Basically, it was about giving the young players an opportunity to shine. You can only pick 23 players at one time. It has actually worked for us really well," Eve said.

He said the TTPFL is now having an influence on his squad.

"(The TTPFL) is a major cog in what we are doing. If you look at the squads I have picked, a large concentration of the players come from the local teams. I respect everything the local coaches are doing.

"When you play at international level, you realise the pace of the game is different and the tactical awareness of the players is different. If you look at what happened in the Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship, it would have proved what I said that we were not ready just yet because none of our teams advanced from the group stage. It is not a knock on anybody, it is a reality of where the players are trying to reacclimate themselves to play football consistently."

T&T's games in the Nations League A were exciting and also nerve-racking for fans, with end-to-end action. T&T scored ten goals in the Nations League A group phase – equalling Jamaica as the highest scorers. With the Greek-based Levi Garcia making the lone substitute appearance in T&T's six Nations League A matches, T&T had eight different goal scorers in the campaign – with Moore's three goals being a team-high. T&T also conceded 13 goals in their six matches, which was inflated by a surprise 5-3 loss away to Curacao in the final group game.

FINDING IDENTITY, ADAPTING TO STYLES

Speaking on his team's identity, Eve, who has said he has a pragmatic style, said the Soca Warriors needed to tighten up at the back.

"We need to marry the offensive flair we have with a resolute defensive mindset to build a platform for those attacking players to go and express themselves. That is what we are aiming to get for that balance in defence.

"We always seem to give away early goals and come from behind to get the result we desire. You cannot get away with that for too long in international football."

The standout individual performances by the T&T players were recognised by Concacaf, with a handful of players being named to the Concacaf Nations League A Best XI in the three windows. David, whose leadership has been praised by Eve and the T&T players, was named to the Nations League A Best XI in the September window alongside flanker Ryan Telfer.

In the October window, Moore and Alvin Jones were named to the Nations League A Best XI, with Jones also included in the Nations League A Best XI in the subsequent November window. Omitted from the T&T squad for their games against Curacao and El Salvador in September, Jones registered an assist and scored a spectacular free kick against the US on November 20 in a thrilling 2-1 second-leg win for the Warriors. T&T eventually fell short in their comeback quest against the US, but they showed they had the ability to push a Concacaf powerhouse to the brink, albeit with a man advantage.

"There is a lot of work to do but you are seeing glimpses of what the team can potentially do. We played the number-one team in Concacaf and the number-(12) ranked team in the world. We played two different styles against the US.

"In the second match, we showed we could play a different style of football and it was more attacking, advanced and high-pressing football. The team has shown they can play different styles and adapt to different styles before we get our real identity which we hope to work towards."

Even as his team look towards their Copa America playoff with Canada, Eve also has an eye on the 2026 Fifa World Cup which is being jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the US.

"The (TTPFL) is showing a lot of young players. I do not know if we are ready for the 2026 World Cup, but we are going to give it a good shot. Whether it is me, or other coaches, I think we definitely have the players."

Eve said T&T have shown the ability to compete with teams such as Mexico and the US in the past. He wants his squad to find consistency and take it up a notch.

"We want to take it to the next level where we can qualify for another World Cup, and hopefully it is 2026."

Currently ranked 96th by Fifa, Eve and his T&T team will resume their mission to take on the world on March 23 with a meeting with Alphonso Davies and the Canadian team. If Eve is given the chance, he will try to steer the Soca Warriors to a second appearance at the Fifa men's World Cup.

Eve sent his best wishes to the T&T public for the festive season.

"A lot of crime is happening around the country and I hope everyone will be safe in this busy period. I want to wish all the families out there all the best going into the new year."

[Controversial]

select the best players Eve, you need to start collaborating with SW online and get these players our board has been scouting

[Trini _2026]

Eve is  campaigning to extend his contract.

[Tallman]

Door still open: Eve extends invitation, olive branch to discarded players
T&T Express

Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men’s football team head coach Angus Eve said the door remains open for former skipper Kevin Molino and others who were benched following the team’s failed 2023 Gold Cup campaign, to return to the squad in the future.

Eve selected a new-look squad for the Nations League A campaign which followed T&T’s failed Gold Cup campaign. And following being omitted from the Nations League set-up, Molino announced his retirement from the international game.

Without calling any names, Eve, in an interview with TTFA head of media Shaun Fuentes, which was posted to the TTFA Youtube channel, said: “The door is always open to the guys.”

“I think some of them have served Trinidad tremendously through difficult times. I think sometimes people don’t know the struggles players go through and as a past player myself, I understand,” adding, “I never want somebody to go out of the game feeling that they are dissatisfied and we didn’t treat them right and didn’t give them a proper send-off.”

The T&T head coach also noted that age is not a factor for him once players continue to perform. He continued: “I have no right to retire any player. The door is open to those guys once they continue to perform. I think age is not a factor.”

In explaining the post Gold Cup shake-up, Eve said: “I just believe at that point in time we needed to clean up shop and we needed to get guys to buy back into the philosophy and what we were trying to do, and the project we were building.”

He also noted that he never dropped any of the players from the training squad and that if some players do come back into the team, they will have to conform to what the team needs from them.

“Some players took it on their own to come out and say they are retired but I would say the door is not closed for the guys and if they do get an opportunity, then they must conform to what the team wants to do. No one man is bigger than the team, not even me,” Eve noted.

Looking ahead to the Copa America play-off next year, Eve said: “Nobody thought we would have been here. We are now in the last eight in CONCACAF and fighting in the last four for a place in the Copa America.”

He added: “There is a lot more to be done in T&T football. Player development, exposure for players is also important and playing at the highest level consistently, then we will probably get more players to play outside of Trinidad like we used to back in the day.”

[Tallman]

Work unfinished for Eve
T&T Express

ANGUS EVE, Trinidad and Tobago men’s senior national football team head coach thinks that despite a satisfying end to 2023, there is still much work to be done as the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America qualifying playoff with Canada approaches in March, and FIFA 2026 Men’s World Cup qualifying gets going later in the year.

The Copa América qualifying playoffs will be contested by four CONCACAF teams to earn the final two places in the tournament featuring the top teams in South America and CONCACAF. Both playoff matches will be held on March 23, 2024, at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The lowest ranked of the four teams, T&T (#96), face #48-ranked Canada, while Honduras will play Costa Rica in the other match.

n an end-of-year interview with TTFA Media, Eve expressed satisfaction that the Soca Warriors can again be mentioned in the same breath as the top CONCACAF teams.

“We said we want to go back to where we are competing against these teams. We are now in the last eight of CONCACAF, fighting in the last four for a place in the Copa America. Who would have thought in a couple of months we would have been here?”

In two-and-a-half years, the Soca Warriors have gone from the low of being knocked out in the first round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, following drawing a goalless with minnows Bahamas in early 2021, to defeating #11-ranked USA 2-1 in a 2023 CONCACAF Nations League A quarter-final second leg.

The win against the Americans was redemption for 7-0, 6-0 and 3-0 defeats against the same opponents in their three previous encounters.

Having seemingly turned things around, Eve said the work continues.

“There is a lot more to be done,” he said. “Player development; exposure for players is so important and playing at the higher levels consistently. Then, we will get more players playing outside of Trinidad and Tobago like we used to.”

A former head coach of the North East Stars and Club Sando teams, Eve also wanted local clubs and coaches to understand they had a key role in building both their footballers and the national team.

“The clubs have to understand that sometimes you need to take the players for four days,” he said. “We have to work in tandem with each other to get the players where we want them to be.”

Going forward, Eve begged for a more professional approach, improved staffing, proper processes put in place and regular exposure for his charges.

“The local players need to be playing more,” he declared. “Even if we get an international game every two months.”

Eve said with exposure, local players like goalkeeper Denzil Smith, Justin Garcia, Nathaniel James, Real Gill and Nathaniel James have all been able to come in and make contributions to the team.

In one of his post-match speeches captured on film by TTFA Media and shown during the interview, Eve commended the players for their effort when selecting mostly a locally-based team and defeating Guatemala 1-0.

“You showed the world today, and you showed your trust in me,” Eve stated. “Because when I pick somebody, ah next person from a club saying why ah didn’t pick he (someone else). That doesn’t bother me.”

He continued: “We will always select the players fairly. It have no favouritism. What we see sometimes, may not be what you see daddy, and then what you see may not be what I see.”

Eve stressed: “This project is not for today. We didn’t bound to take this game. We could have taken the easy way out. But we didn’t take the easy way out, because we need to expose everybody.”

Eve also expressed trust in his technical staff and said it only took the word of goalkeeping coach Clayton Ince, the former T&T national team and UK-based goalkeeper, to give custodian Smith the starting position, following the retirement of the long-serving Martin Phillip and injured Nicklas Frenderup.

“From the time we came in 2021, Denzil was a part of the squad. He was the fourth keeper at that point in time because Adrian Foncette was still in the team,” Eve said. “When he (Ince) said to me he thinks this guy (Smith) is ready, then there was no need for us to try to have a stop-gap by bringing back one of the experienced players”

Similarly, defender Garcia, James, Kaile Auvray and Gill have all benefited from continued exposure.

“The first team I selected in 2021, Justin (Garcia) was a part of that team in that Gold Cup. He has come on leaps and bounds,” added Eve. “Nathaniel and Kaile, we were carrying them in all of the practice matches, friendlies and such.”

Eve confessed that he too has benefited from exposure via coaching courses and also being present at the official draw for both the Gold Cup and Copa America, rubbing shoulders with top coaches in the region.

“It has motivated me even more to do well because of the level of professionalism; the type of people you’re rubbing shoulders with,” Eve said.

“You learn by having conversations,” he explained. “The most that I would have learned is when I have conversations with other coaches at the side, or with the tutors and lecturers.”

Going forward, Eve hopes for greater Government and corporate support to improve the capabilities of the national team set-up.

“America came down with about 35 (staff) members. They had a whole hospital set up,” he noted. “They had a whole technical department set up with all the analytics and things. Our department is one guy, McShine and the other department is one guy, Derek King. And the other department (medical) is one guy, doctor Danai.

With an ironic chuckle, Eve told Interviewer and TTFA media officer Shaun Fuentes: ”We have one guy (for media), Shaun Fuentes. Everything is one guy, when other people have departments for these things.”

[Controversial]

Well we have to thank the pnm government for the one man approach. They can put more money in sport but the governments are more concerned with lining their pockets and not about investing in the people...

When things get extremely hard in the coming year and years, a revolution is needed to change the order of our country..

[Tallman]

Eve’s tenure extended to December 31, 2025
TTFA Media

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is delighted to announce that Senior Men’s National Team head coach Angus Eve has been given an extension of his tenure to 31 December 2025.
This extension will be for the duration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification campaign.

In August 2023, Eve was given his first extension from September 2023 to March 2024 after leading the team to promotion to League A in the Concacaf Nations League.

In the League A fixtures in September and October 2023, Eve led the team to a second-place finish in Group A recording 3 wins against Curacao, El Salvador and Guatemala and 1 loss against Curacao.

These results earned the team a berth in the Quarterfinals of the Nations League against the USA in November 2023. In the first leg, the team fell 3-0 to the USA in Austin, Texas, but in the return leg, Eve led them to a memorable 2-1 victory at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. The USA advanced 4-2 on aggregate to the Concacaf Nations League Semi-Finals and qualified for the 2024 Copa America tournament however our team’s performances earned plaudits internationally and further opportunities on the global stage.

We will now play Canada in the 2024 Copa America Play-In which will be held on 23 March 2024 in Frisco, Texas.

Eve’s latest extension means that he will continue to lead the team when they begin their qualification campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June 2024 and throughout the 2024/2025 Concacaf Nations League tournament.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue to serve the country in a positive manner,” said Eve.“Hopefully we can develop and harness the young talent that we have, to give ourselves the best opportunity to qualify for another World Cup”.

Upon Eve’s return to Trinidad, after the 2024 Copa America Draw and Workshop in Miami in early December 2023, the Normalization Committee and Eve discussed plans for the Senior Men’s National Team programme.

Normalization Committee Chairman Robert Hadad stated, ”a few months ago, Angus was given an extension as we believed he was the right individual to take us into League A and what he, his staff and the players have been able to achieve is commendable.”

“The Normalization Committee’s tenure is winding down and we have been consistent with a cautious approach to the negotiation of contractual agreements with staff beyond our time (tenure). We met with Angus, explained our position, and discussed plans for the future. Angus has led the team extremely well and we believe that we have been able to (now) settle on a new agreement that is a win-win, in the best interest of the Association and Angus”.

“It was critical that any agreement allowed for each party to be protected and so that the Association has little to no risk of making missteps as in the past, which resulted in significant unpaid debts to coaches, team members and suppliers.”

“We are excited for the future as we head into a World Cup qualification year,” Hadad added.

[Controversial]

I had a feeling they would do this to sabotage our football.. Create a problem where the incoming TTFA will have an issue to get rid of him and replace him with the right coach

The NC and Fifa strikes again