Former national football coach Russell Latapy is scheduled to leave for Europe today to continue his coaching career. It remains uncertain what Latapy’s next step will be but it is understood he will explore options in Scotland.
Latapy was relieved of his duties in April after first taking up the position two years earlier. He was also assistant to Francisco Maturana from January to April 2009. Latapy was an assistant coach from 2003-2009 at Scottish club Falkirk which it is understood has expressed interest in his services.
Latapy’s record with the national team was somewhat inconsistent with a 1-0 victory over El Salvador and a 2-2 draw with Mexico in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers among the best while three consecutive wins over Haiti (4-0), Guyana (2-1) and St Vincent and the Grenadines (6-2) preceded a disappointing display at the Digicel Caribbean Cup finals last year when the team lost 2-0 to Cuba and Grenada 1-0 before defeating hosts Martinique 1-0.
Supporters of the former national captain are of the view that he was never given quality resources during his tenure, with the top overseas players unavailable due to financial constraints while the TTFF failed to provide proper international warm up matches.
After retiring from the T&T team in 2001, Latapy returned in 2005 during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers following a plea from the TTFF and scored in his return match in a 3-2 win over Guatemala which kept T&T’s qualifying hopes alive.
With T&T needing to avoid a loss away to Guatemala to remain in the qualifying race for 2010, Latapy again accepted an invitation to play, helping T&T earn a much needed 0-0 draw and he subsequently scored in a 2-1 victory over United States in October 2008.
The 42-year-old ex-Glasgow Rangers player was then appointed assistant coach of the national team in January 2009 before taking up the head coach post. Latapy’s record as national head coach included 11 losses, three draws and nine victories.