It is a new start, and one which will be important for all concerned.
Now that the pain of failure to qualify for Russia may have subsided, the country must now welcome the beginning of a new dawn.
The recent comments from the coaching staff and a few members of the team indicate that there is a certain degree of seriousness from the entire squad.
I suppose that the victory over USA will have lifted our spirits, despite the fact that we have not qualified, at least, the country’s ranking at FIFA has been consoling.
Grenada and Guyana will surely wish to bring their status to a new high by winning these matches against a team which defeated both Panama and USA. Some will recall the recent past when both these countries have played well enough to reach the Gold Cup finals (Grenada) and a defeat (Guyana).
On looking at the selected squad, there is every reason to believe that Coach Lawrence has viewed carefully the future of the country’s football by mixing the experienced with the newcomers.
However, all these players have previously had a taste of the matches in the Russian effort, and should have a more matured approach to what lies ahead for the warriors.
It is expected that there will be a series of targets which will be attempted in these matches, simply because the thought of defeat must be thrown far from the hearts of both fans and players.
Outside of wanting to win these matches, there is need to demonstrate that our technical chemistry must be recognised by superior ball possession, recognisable system of play and an improvement of the clinical accuracy in our passing and shooting at goal.
Conceding goals against these teams will expose the inconsistency of our discipline, although they have shown their strength, albeit, inconsistently.
I look forward to seeing the quality of our midfield which seemed to have been dominating against both Mexico and the USA. Maybe the selection of Leston Paul in recent matches will bring a semblance of a Latapy style in the middle and expose the opposing defences by his exquisite penetrative passes.
Having realised that the bright young talent of Levi Garcia has not been as successful in results as we expected, his experience gained between these matches and those of his foreign team, should now bring out the best in him.
The relative newcomer Foncette has brought some excitement to our fans by his excellent performances in the two key matches.
So the major challenges in these fixtures will be tested are having clean sheets in terms of goals and a reasonable target of scored goals which should prove our superiority.
Four goals scored by our forwards in each match will be giving notice to all and sundry that lessons during the ten match series must have left us with some lessons.
Our supporters must come out to see the improvement in all aspects of the game.
To the coach, he is given a new start which should be carefully observed from game to game. There are no obstacles and his knowledge of the players is no longer a problem.
He will be fully responsible for his own destiny and the future of the country’s football direction will determine the fate of both players, coaching staff and management.
Good luck to all.