T&T Football Association (TTFA) board member Keith Look Loy has publicly apologised to his one-time youth player, national coach Dennis Lawrence, for comments he made after T&T's recent CONCACAF Gold Cup performance.
Under Lawrence, who played for Malick Secondary under coach Look Loy in 1990, the T&T team finished Group D of the Gold Cup with just a point from a 1-1 tie with Guyana in their last match of the group phase. In the other matches, the Soca Warriors were beaten 2-0 by Panama and humiliated 6-0 by the United States. The performance prompted an avalanche of criticism from the public and football stakeholders, including Look Loy.
In fact, at a press conference at the Normandie Hotel in St Ann's on July 10, Look Loy was highly critical of Lawrence's tenure as coach as he made out a case for his removal.
Yesterday, however, attorneys for Lawrence wrote to the outspoken T&T Super League president calling on him to apologise.
“Your comments have brought my client to disrepute and odium and have held up my client to ridicule among the people of T&T and his peers in the football community, both locally and internationally. I, therefore, call upon you to publicly apologise to my client forthwith to avoid further legal action,” the lawyers wrote.
Lawrence's lawyers said he took particular offence to Look Loy's claims that there were players in the team who were not used, misused or abused.
Apart from the apology, Lawrence's lawyers also called on Look Loy to pay $5, 500 in legal fees the T&T coach would have expended on sending the legal letter.
Contacted yesterday, however, Look Loy said he was astonished by this development, noting coaches are subjected to criticism in every country, especially when their results are poor.
Look Loy said, "I am advised that this claim has no legal merit but nonetheless, I have chosen to respond to this via public media in accordance with Lawrence's wishes.
"I, as a loyal supporter of T&T football and moreso, as a TTFA board member, has a responsibility to ensure that the TTFA and the country receive value for money spent. My criticisms were made with this in mind."
He added: "However, if it is that Lawrence is suffering unsustainable personal hurt, occasioned by what I believe to be legitimate criticism of his abysmal record, if Lawrence believes that my critique as a TTFA board member, his employer, that his performance as national coach is damaging to his reputation, even in the face of his catastrophic record, then I am sorry."
Look Loy, however, sought to put into context Lawrence's record, which shows of 23 matches played, the T&T team has won four, drawn five and lost 14 in his two years on the job. He pointed out that Lawrence replaced previous coach Stephen Hart, who was fired after two losses.
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Look Loy ‘sorry’ for sorry Lawrence record.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).
T&T coach threatens to sue outspoken critic…
OUTSPOKEN board member of the TT Football Association (TTFA) Keith Look Loy has tongue-in-cheek publicly apologised to national men’s coach Dennis Lawrence for his criticism of Lawrence on the heels of the T&T team’s embarrassing showing at the recent Concacaf Gold Cup.
Lawrence, via his attorney Marsha King, has threatened legal action against Look Loy for statements made against him which were “untrue, unfounded, malicious and disrespectful.”
Lawrence has demanded that Look Loy publicly apologise to avoid further legal action and pay his legal representative $5,500, presumably for services rendered.
According to his attorney, Lawrence referred to a few statements made by Look Loy at a recent media conference.
In one of his statements Look Loy said, “It looks like the national coach needs armchair psycho analysis because he goes all the way to when he was in Malick when I was his coach 30 years ago.”
Look Loy mentioned in another statement, “(Lawrence) have MLS players in (the Gold Cup) that were either not used or misused or abused.”
According to Lawrence’s attorney, “On 7 July 2019, my client wrote an email to the TTFA Board, of which you are a member, requesting an apology from you within seven days thereafter. You responded twice by email on 7 July 2019 categorically refusing to apologise to my client and intimating that you would counter-sue.”
In a written statement and subsequent video, which both were released to the media yesterday, Look Loy said Lawrence’s claim was without merit and doubled down on his criticism of the former Soca Warriors World Cup defender. He said Lawrence’s coaching record was “abysmal” and he maintains the belief that he has shown “clear incapacity for handling the job.” Lawrence’s record as T&T coach (including friendly matches) is five wins, six draws and 15 defeats.
Look Loy, however, said, “If Lawrence believes that my critique, as a TTFA board member, of his performance as national coach is damaging to his reputation, even in the face of his catastrophic record, then I apologise.”
Brent Sancho, who was Lawrence’s teammate at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and a former player, under Look Loy, at Malick Senior Comprehensive (now Malick Secondary) said yesterday, “There is a line between criticism and slander. If the statements that Look Loy made (are) considered slanderous, then (Lawrence) has a case.
“At the end of the day, you’ll always face criticism in the sport but criticisms have to be done in a particular structure or manner,” Sancho continued.
With regards to Lawrence’s team selection at the Gold Cup, Sancho said, “It’s always a coach’s prerogative to select (who he wants). He’s the one who’s in training, he would know what (are) the attitude of the players like in the camp. Coaches live and die by their decisions.”
On the other side of the coin, Sancho said, “Look Loy is a very experienced coach. He was in FIFA so he has every right to make any pronouncements as it relates to football. However, you have to be careful that you don’t cross the border from criticism to slandering somebody.
“Dennis’s record would show that it hasn’t been good, but I’ve held the fact that he has a big challenge on his hands,” he added. “I don’t think the crop of players is good enough. That is the challenge that he has.”
This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.
OUTSPOKEN board member of the TT Football Association (TTFA) Keith Look Loy has tongue-in-cheek publicly apologised to national men’s coach Dennis Lawrence for his criticism of Lawrence on the heels of the T&T team's embarrassing showing at the recent Concacaf Gold Cup.
Lawrence has threatened legal action against Look Loy for statements made against him which were “untrue, unfounded, malicious and disrespectful.”
Lawrence has demanded that Look Loy publicly apologise to avoid further legal action and pay his legal representative $5,500, presumably for services rendered.
In a written statement, and subsequent video, which both were released to the media today, Look Loy said Lawrence's claim was without merit and doubled down on his criticism of the former Soca Warriors World Cup defender. He said Lawrence's coaching record was "abysmal" and he maintains the belief that he has shown "clear incapacity for handling the job." Lawrence's record as T&T coach (including friendly matches) is five wins, six draws and 15 defeats.
Look Loy however said, “If Lawrence believes that my critique, as a TTFA board member, of his performance as national coach is damaging to his reputation, even in the face of his catastrophic record, then I apologise.”