There may be life after Joe Public for Arnold Dwarika after all.
Almost two months after being booted out of the Centre of Excellence by Public owner Jack Warner, Dwarika is on the verge of being rescued by a move to defending Professional Football League (PFL) champions Vibe CT 105 W Connection.
Connection coach Stuart Charles told the Sunday Express yesterday that the club was interested in acquiring the discarded player who was axed from Public for playing in a minor league competition.
The deal would hinge on the willingness of Dwarikas former employers to allow the talented Trinidad and Tobago international to join their bitter rivals.
But Charles is convinced that Dwarika can be of use to the faltering Savonetta Boys who have managed just one win from their last six outings.
Dwarika, for me, can add to our goalscoring potential, said Charles. Since we lost Earl (Jean)... we have not been able to replace him with a goalscorer of equal effect. And I feel Dwarika can add to our potential to get goals.
Dwarika is a player who can both create and score.
It is left to be seen though, how Warnera FIFA vice-president and former major PFL financierresponds to an approach for the player who was the cornerstone of his Public outfit since landing at Macoya from Scottish lower division team, East Fife, in 1997.
According to another daily newspaper, Public manager Sam Phillip placed a $250,000 price tag on ex-striker Nigel Pierre who was sacked along with Dwarika.
And although Connection president David J Williams would not give details before a meeting with Public officials, a similar demand is likely to scuttle the move with the Pro League September 15 transfer deadline looming.
Williams is hopeful that Dwarika can help to compensate for a long injury list which he blamed for Connections drop in form.
Strikers Jose Manoel and Leonson Lewis are both unavailable through injury as well as Ronaldo Viana, Renato Pereira, David Charles, Addison Belfon and Jefferson George.
We have a long injury list and Dwarika can help us, said Williams. But we need to strengthen for the Caribbean Club Championship as well.
Charles said that at present, he is going through his worst spell at Connection and pointed to several possible reasons for the slump, including a depleted squad and an early pre-season due to the March Concacaf Champions Cup.
Still, he gave credit to Connections opponents including table-proppers, North East Stars who, he said were significantly improved following the acquisition of several Guyanese internationals.
Charles insisted though that Connection would recover.
In spite of the difficulties, we feel very much at the top so to speak, said Charles. The important thing to us now is to get back our rhythm and our confidence before the team reaches the final round.
Dwarika, they hope, would play a big role in making that possible.