PANIC is brought about by the combination of lack of information and the misunderstanding of clearly defined goals.
Following a dismal performance by the T&T football team in this years edition of the Digicel Caribbean Cup final round in Barbados, the country has been thrown into a state of panic, disappointment and consternation.
This has been fuelled by many members of the mediaprint, radio and television.
Knee-jerk reactions are not needed and are in fact unwarranted, especially by members of the media who hold the ears, hearts and minds of the population in their grasp.
Clearly, we must realise that there is one goal and one goal only, that being to qualify for our first ever World Cup Finals in Germany 2006.
Secondary competitions such as the Digicel Cup and the Gold Cup, therefore, become irrelevant with regards to suggested changes in structure and approach.
While it may have been a great confidence boost to win the Digicel Cup, placing third overall does not affect the World Cup standings in any way.
The fact of the matter is that in the semi-final group of Concacaf qualifying, T&T played some of the worst football in the history of the sport in this country. However, following our progress into the final round, Coach Bertille St Clair was not fired. He was given the responsibility to take T&T into battle against the most formidable opposition available in our region.
Whether or not he should have been fired at any juncture of the campaign preceding the final round is debatable.
In my opinion, he should not have waited to be fired following the debacle in the Hasely Crawford Stadium versus St Vincent, late last year. He should, in my view, have hand-written his resignation on the reverse side of his starting lineup. He did not, and he was able to keep his job by some form of divine intervention.
Thus far, we have only played one game out of ten matches in the final round. This game was the Ash Wednesday loss to the USA by a margin of 2-1. This result must be seen in a positive light. USA is ranked 11th in the World. They have qualified for every single World Cup since Italy 1990. In South Korea and Japan during the 2002 World Cup finals, they made it to the quarterfinals (last eight teams).
The USA played their strongest eleven against T&T on February 9. T&T has not beaten the USA in a competitive game of football in almost thirty years. Based on our teams fifteen previous outings, a 4-0 drubbing (or worse) was on the cards before kick-off on Ash Wednesday.
A 2-1 defeat was, in fact, a good result against a team guaranteed of qualification in Germany 2006.
Bertille St Clair must only be judged on his teams performance during the competition for which has been hired.
He was not selected to win the Digicel Cup, the Gold Cup and, or any number of international friendlies.
Consequently, great performances and, or, victories in these matches cannot provide him with any greater job security and conversely poor results cannot be used to remove him from his position.
One can now see that members of the media now calling for his head, either have not taken the time to analyse the entire situation, or are simply pandering to the obvious public opinion, in the search for increased ratings. This situation is simply irresponsible.
We have our next World Cup Qualifier on March 26 in Guatemala. St Clair can and will be judged on his teams performance in this match. A failure to earn a point in this game should lead to his immediate removal as head coach (view appendix I, printed in the Trinidad Guardian Sports Arena on February 2, 2005).
Any calls for Bertilles removal at this point in time are not only unjustified, but also counter-productive to the national goal of qualifying for World Cup 2006.
Remember, as a coach one must formulate a plan and stick to it. The backbone of this plan will be the major competition during the training cycle. No matter what sort of criticism or ridicule is hurled the coachs way he/she must stand firm.
A case in point. In 1993 I had the privilege of coaching a young, talented swimmer named Sangeeta Pari. She had just moved up from the 11-12 age-group to the 13-14 age-group. The star of the 13-14 group was three-time Sportswoman of the Year, Siobhan Cropper, who was being trained by another local coach of a rival swimming club.
Our main focus was the July Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships in Havana, Cuba. Due to the heavy workload that I was inflicting on my charge, she lost every competition for the year against Siobhan, which did not go unnoticed by both the media and the general public.
However, at the CCCAN Championships she won four gold medals and broke two CCCAN records and five national records, leaving Siobhan in her wake. He who laughs last, laughs best.
With regards to our dismal performances against Jamaica and Cuba, let us keep in mind that seven starters from Ash Wednesday were not in Barbados for this competition. Missing were, Shaka Hislop, Marvin Dog Andrews, Brent Sancho, Carlos Edwards, Dwight Yorke, Kenwyne Jones and Stern John.
It is, therefore, totally unfair to compare the performances of this team and the true World Cup squad and then make assertions as to the way forward.
The standard of play was simply pathetic. At times it seemed that T&T had never played football before. Control was non-existent, passing a luxury, running off the ball woeful, marking was very loose while most tackles were mistimed.
It is clear that a synergy must be found between a greater percentage of foreign-based professionals and some, high quality locally based players.
Eventual champions, Jamaica and runners up, Cuba have both been eliminated from the World Cup. Thus, the Digicel Cup and, by extension, the Gold Cup, now form the focal point of their very existence. This means that the desire and passion of these teams will be far greater than T&T.
St Clair was hired to take us to Germany 2006. His next evaluation will take place on March 26, 2005, in Guatemala. Fail to get a point... Adios señor.
Until then, DONT PANIC.
NB: St Clair... running and hiding from the media is not the answer