EXPERIENCED local football coach Terry Fenwick is saying that more support from coaches and administrators is needed to help elevate the career of footballers in Trinidad and Tobago.
The TT Football Association (TTFA) has been scrutinised for a lack of judgement after hiring Belgian Tom Saintfiet to replace Stephen Hart as the national football coach in December.
After just one month in charge Saintfeit announced his resignation on January 11 citing a lack of support from the TTFA.
The TTFA has reportedly narrowed down its options to Englishman Fenwick, St Lucian Stuart Charles-Fevrier (coaching W Connection for over 15 years) and Colombian Francisco Maturana, who had a brief stint with the T&T team from 2008 to 2009.
The new coach is expected to be announced today.
Fenwick, who first started coaching in T&T in 2001, explained that there are talented players in this country but more support is required.
Fenwick said, “so many wonderful young kids have come through my development, believe me Trinidad and Tobago are producing some fabulous young footballers, I just want the coaches and administration to give them a bit of support, they need that.
We are going through very difficult times as a country, but these kids some of them are not academic, they need help and support, they are very good footballers and if we do that we could provide them with an opportunity not just here in Trinidad but outside and that’s really my goal.” Fenwick says with two pivotal World Cup qualifiers coming up in March a local based coach with a knowledge of T&T players is crucial to the success of the national team.
“I still feel that (a local coach is needed) only because you’ve got two games coming up in March that are critical.
We still got to recognise that United States of America are underneath us (in the World Cup qualifiers), they will still feel like they could qualify, if they could do it why not us.
But whoever takes over the reigns must have a huge knowledge of local footballers, they must have a bit of determination and discipline behind them so we could get things back on track.”
TTFA Statement.
TTFA Media.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association wishes to state that following several hours of its statutory Board Meeting on Wednesday evening at the Association’s Head Office, it is yet to come to a final decision on the selection of the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s Senior Team Head Coach.
The TTFA expects to make an announcement on the selection by this coming weekend.