Aspiring T&T Pro League club South End are wasting no time and have added former Trinidad and Tobago star player Leroy De Leon as one of their senior coaches to work alongside technical director Anthony Rougier.
Farrell is adamant that 2009 will be their debut year in the Pro League, saying: "We are at the moment finalising sponsorship deals which we are confident will come through. So we can confidently say that we will be part of the League this season."
Rougier, who worked alongside Farrell at North East Stars at the beginning of last season, holds the role of technical director, while De Leon will be one of the senior coaches.
"...Leroy is someone who has been there and done it. I think his role with us will be beyond coaching. He knows what it is to be a great player and we hope he will motivate our players into becoming better than they think," said Rougier, who believes De Leon is probably the best player of all-time to come out of Trinidad and Tobago.
Now 60 years old, De Leon was last based in the United States working in coaching academies, while Rougier only retired as a player two seasons ago, with his last club being United Petrotrin.
Rougier mentioned that he is on the verge of signing another coach with Reynold Carrington and Clint Marcelle being two of the names on his shortlist.
Rougier began screening sessions last month and will continue in February before a final cut will be made.
He preferred not to name any of the players that are already on his shortlist but assured that he will have a unique bunch when the final cut is made at the end of this month.
"Obviously we are a new team. We will have to look for players from all over. But we want to play a unique style of football that will be appreciated and we will have some very interesting players when we make that final cut next month," said the former European-based professional.
"They (players in screening) are not contracted with us so we prefer not to release the names. They are not contracted so basically we don't own them."
South End hope to attract interest in areas such as Cedros, Siparia and Penal as they look forward to their debut Pro League season. However, a title chase is not at the top of their agenda, according to Rougier.
"I am sure that I will have a well-prepared and disciplined team that the people in Trinidad and Tobago will appreciate. I respect all the teams in the Pro League and their coaches so it's difficult to say that we are going to come into the League and say that we are going to win it. But what I can say is that we are going to prepare our players for the bigger challenges of life and 2009 will be a learning period.
"I was fortunate through my experiences abroad as a player to develop myself for life after football and I will now take this opportunity to better prepare our players," added the former T&T defensive midfielder.