Chairman of the GFF Normalization Committee Clinton Urling said that none of the Golden Jaguars coaches inclusive of head-tactician Jamal Shabazz will be sacked despite Guyana suffering a first round exit in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Guyana suffered a first round elimination at the hands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines via the away goal rule, finishing their two legged affair 6-6 on aggregate following a 4-4 draw at the National Stadium on Sunday.
In the opening leg at the Arnos Vale Stadium, Guyana and the Vincentians battled to a 2-2 stalemate. Guyana were eliminated on the away goals rule after the visitors scored four goals away from home compared to the Golden Jaguar’s two away goals.
In an interview with Stabroek Sports, Urling said “We have no intention of sacking any of the coaches of the Senior Men’s National Team for failure of the team to advance to the next round of the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. The NC will meet today (June 16) and we will discuss how we move forward with both the Golden Jaguars and the U23 squads”.
Urling declared “We have to take the team’s failure to advance into context. This is a team that was put together five months ago after a nearly two and half year hiatus from playing international friendlies. The fact that the team’s first international friendly was in February and since then they have played 6 international “A” matches, including the two WCQ matches, is quite an achievement.
“That is around one match per month. Moreover, of the six matches we have only lost one, drew three, and won 2. That is a meritorious achievement considering the circumstances,” he added.
According to Urling “As a footballing nation we have to recalibrate how we measure football development. While the national teams’ programmes are an important part of the equation it is just part of an overall and holistic process. From the beginning of our tenure, the NC has repeated that we favor a ratio of 80% development (Grassroots, youth, women, facilities, Coaches certification, Referees, Leagues, etc.) to 20 % National Teams.”
Urling declared that once all the cylinders from the developmental end are firing, “We will see a direct correlation in the success of all our national teams.”
He noted the committee has started the developmental process with many initiatives being implemented recently such as “The acquisition of the Providence Ground to begin construction of a training center, Club licensing requirements, reactivation of the women’s program, design of an Elite League, Coaches certification programmes, Referees recruitment and training programmes, youth football development planning and the design of a comprehensive development plan entitled the “Next Generations” programme”.
According to GFF Chief “As you can imagine, development takes time to develop and to see the fruits of the labour, hence we all need to be patient and support the programme’s maturity until it’s pregnant enough to field higher quality home grown players. The media and other stakeholders need to begin to shine the spotlight on these developments so as to change the conversation as to what constitutes football development”.
He further said “The proposed Elite League deserves particular attention since it has the potential to become the most important on-field initiative that can propel Guyana’s football to the next level. Immensely more than any domestic or international knock out competition can. We have to ensure that the league is sustainable and is a priority of the GFF for years to come; way after the NC has left the scene”.
“While the failure to advance was disappointing, it is not fatal to the Guyana programme. There is a World Cup every four years, which provides new opportunities for success at that level, however, the critical thing is what we do at the ground level from now until 2019 (next qualification round) that will determine if Guyana’s football is on the right path” he added.
