Taming of the Tiger?

It was probably one of the very few times that "Tiger" seemed in the mood to live up to his nickname. Yet even then, Lincoln Phillips' succinct, deadpan assessment of the game in this country was delivered at a TTFF media conference 15 months ago with no accompanying roar of anger, not even a snarl of bitterness. No sir, the man who has just been relieved of his duties as Technical Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation was merely saying it as he saw it: no ill will, no malice, no hidden agenda attached.

Maybe those in the know at the Federation can say otherwise, but I never got the impression in the occasional interviews with him over the past six years that Phillips was about anything other than making a worthwhile contribution to a sport and a country that had given him the opportunity to achieve so much. Indeed, his perpetual smiling appearance and insistence on almost always being positive on the particular aspect of the footballing discussion might have left the impression that here was another apologist administrator, interested only in saying the right things to retain his place at the feeding trough.

Surely he didn't need to go kissing up to anyone on the matter of footballing pedigree though. His record here as one of our finest ever goalkeepers and an even more impressive resume as a coach in the United States—his home for 37 years before returning in 2004—suggested that, if given the opportunity, the former Queen's Royal College schoolboy was certainly capable of establishing the developmental structure and consistency of philosophy necessary to take football in T&T beyond the descriptive "talented but tactically naiive".

That verdict—both encouraging and damning at one and the same time—was delivered by a seasoned Italian football writer, Giancarlo Galavotti, in the immediate aftermath of the November 19, 1989 loss to the Americans at what was then known as the National Stadium. Almost 22 years have elapsed since that unforgettable day and in the interim, we have been represented at five FIFA World Cup finals (four age-group events and one of the real things—Germany 2006).

Yet have we really advanced beyond what the Italian scribe opined? It says a lot about the mentality of most of us in this country that Jack Warner was hailed as a Trini to the bone for his determined and persistent efforts over the years as a big pappy in FIFA to increase our chances of World Cup qualification, culminating in November 2005 with an historic two-legged playoff victory over Bahrain after finishing fourth out of six teams in the final phase of CONCACAF qualification for the showpiece in Germany.

Phillips' unflattering assessment of the state of our football, as quoted at the start of this column, came as a prelude to Warner's announcement in March of last year that Russell Latapy had been retained as head coach of the men's senior national team. And while the man who is now Minister of Works and Transport praised his Technical Director's contribution, it was almost as if the words of the "Tiger" were of no consequence, as if the retention of "The Little Magician" was supposed to make a difference just so.

Well, we all know how the story went, a succession of poor performances culminating in defeats to Cuba and Grenada, and therefore failure for a second consecutive occasion to qualify for the Gold Cup. Yet, up and down the country, so-called diehard "football people" continue to bemoan the dissing of their beloved former midfield maestro, as if there isn't more than enough evidence all over the place that an outstanding playing career in any sport in no way guarantees success on the coaching front.

But this is not a place for flying with high aspirations but falling with style. Perception trumps fact and winning over the crowd with an elaborate display of pyrotechnics is almost too easy. In such an environment, Phillips wasn't so much doomed to fail but destined to be frustrated, simply because his long-term objectives would have run counter to the imperatives of others in giving the people what they want, or at least pretending to give them what they want.

Acknowledging that coaches were ultimately responsible for the pitiful state of play, he spoke frequently of the desire to "create an atmosphere to facilitate development". Yet he often sounded as if he was trying to convince himself that, despite all the cronyism and self-congratulation, such an objective was actually possible in a reasonable time-frame.

At times like this you wonder what goes through the mind of someone who has come back to his roots to try and make a difference, and now leaves the scene with that desire clearly unfulfilled. Is there bitterness and anger or sadness and regret?

People come and go in football as in other sports, so the departure of one Technical Director of itself would appear to be no big thing. Why it has occurred at this juncture, with a new head coach in place and momentum being built towards another World Cup qualifying campaign, we can only speculate.

Let's hope one day the "Tiger" from Bengal Street in St James (the "Bengal Tiger," now that's a nickname!) steps out of the penalty area and tells the tale.