TT football have ‘Foot in Mouth’ Disease

TRINIDAD and Tobago football seems to be plagued with the epidemic called “foot in mouth” disease. It is very apparent due to the fact that a lot of persons involved with the sport locally are those who will simply talk the talk and not walk the walk.

Let’s get straight to the point — what is George Hislop trying to prove by his involvement in the recent players’ strike? Is he, along with Edgar Vidale, Ken Butcher and Bertille St Clair, a group of persons with axes to grind? No disrespect to the legal qualifications and expertise of Hislop but it is no secret that he stepped into the ring simply because his son Shaka is captain  of the national football team. Hislop is part of another group — Guy Boldon, Caryl Kellar and Frank Stone included — individuals actively involved in the administrative affairs only because “mih son” or “mih daughter” is participating; at no other time will they give support to the upliftment of sports locally. So we are back to square one. The 19 striking players had their suspensions lifted by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), no provisions have been made with regards to their grouses (payment of outstanding match fees, improved training and playing conditions) and the game remains disorganised, both on and off the field.

The disgruntled players took strike action on the eve of an international friendly against Finland here at the hasely Crawford Stadium on January 29 last. The TTFF received a lot of criticism over their handling of the matter, some justified and some unfairly, but what has been said about the players? No word has been said about three fundamental flaws in Trinidad and Tobago football, the lack of quality playmakers (at most age groups — male and female), the inability to take spot-kicks and the absence of genuine left-footed players. Following the retirement of Russell Latapy, Hutson “Barber” Charles and David Nakhid from international level, Trinidad and Tobago are suffering from a dearth of a genuine playmaker. Let’s face facts, Lyndon “Chubby” Andrews is inconsistent, Silvio Spann is inexperienced, while Arnold Dwarika and Otis Seaton are non-committal to the cause, leaving Brent Rahim as the only current member left with any idea about creating plays in attack. Kerry Baptiste is the only central midfielder in the Under-23 team, Josimar Belgrave the same in the U-17s and Terrence McAllister alone leading the way in the U-20s.

Lone exception is the women’s teams where Tasha St Louis, Nadia James, Leslie Ann James, Alania Burgin, Aveann Douglas and Ahkeela Mollon dominate the midfield. Can anyone explain the relative inability of the seasoned players to take corners and free-kicks? How often, at all levels, have we the supporters and the media, seen free-kicks being attempted with little thought,  everyone banging the ball against the wall instead of getting the ball to swerve in the air? It merits the questions, what do the coaches do during training sessions and what do the players do during set pieces? And the corner-kicks are no less innovative, with a number of the shots aimed directly at the goalkeeper. Only the women’s teams seem to have devised a new tactic, where a player lazily drags the ball from the semi-circle at the touchline and a teammate crosses the ball into the penalty box, a move that catches the defence off-guard. Besides Jerol Forbes (Under-23 and U-20) and Gorean “Mickey Rat” Highley (U-17), the plain truth is that there are no left-footed players who can command a place on any national team.  The problem has been further compounded with the use of Jabloteh’s stopper Ian Gray as a stop-gap in the senior team while Evans Wise (yes him!) has earned a recall to the senior ranks for the forthcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers.

The Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) has done little for the betterment of local football. How many occasions have players with potential/talent been denied entry into American universities due to poor academic results? Do the SSFL have a link with the Ministry of Education whereby players are encouraged to perform creditably both on the field and in the classrooms? Transfers of students from mediocre schools into excellent ones (as was the case with St Anthony’s College) are okay, the students can devote a lot of time towards enhancing their skills while concentrating on their classwork. But, for heavens sake, must a player with barely one or two passes, repeat O’Levels twice and three times strictly on the basis of football? And, what about the players who are currently involved in the college ranks in the USA? A classic example is Vladimir Suite,  an outstanding striker for QRC in the early 1990s, nothing was heard about him for ages until he re-emerged as a member of Joe Public midway during the 2002 season.

The TTFF has fared no better over the past 10-15 years.  The dismissals of Everald “Gally” Cummings in 1989, Muhammad Isa and Zoran Vranes in 1996, as well as Clayton Morris in 2002 have placed the organisation in the firing line from a demanding public. Things have not changed over the years,  ad-hoc player and management selections, fluctuating ticket fees for matches and little foresight at the administrative level.  Can anyone state what is the position with the proposed training base for national football teams at Petrotrin Forest Reserve? Does the Ministry of Sport have a concrete plan for the improvement of local football? Will the T&T Pro League find a stable sponsor? Will the players help themselves before they seek rewards from the “powers-that-be”? Judging from the state of the TT game, it will be no surprise if things continue zig-zagging, while USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras and Jamaica dominate proceedings within the CONCACAF region.