It will be the fourth coming of Trinidad and Tobago native and former Caledonia AIA manager Jamaal Shabazz, who will today be appointed once again, the Golden Jaguars senior men’s head-coach by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
This was disclosed by a source close the federation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. According to the source, Shabazz, who recently resigned from the post of St. Lucia Men’s head-coach on August 25, will replace Marcio Maximo at the helm of the program.
“Jamaal Shabazz will be the next coach of the senior’s national program once more. He recently resigned from the St. Lucia post in August. It is unsure of the length of the contract or what will be his financial package and arrangement offered by the federation following his appointment. That is often kept quiet but he is presently on local shores and is expected to be unveiled as the head coach to replace Maximo by the federation.”
The GFF is officially scheduled to announce the appointment of the new senior men’s head-coach at 11:00am at the National Training Centre, Providence.
Shabazz, 57, who has been at the helm of the national setup on three previous occasions (2005-2008, 2011-2012, 2015-2016), created history when he oversaw the local unit’s record setting FIFA World Cup 2014 campaign.
The local side under the stewardship of the Trinidadian, qualified for the CONCACAF semi-finals of the World Cup qualifying campaign for the first time in its history. He also achieved another first when he led the Golden Jaguars to their best ever FIFA ranking of 86th during the month of November 2010.
He will replace Brazilian native Marcio Maximo at the helm of the program, after the latter’s contract was not renewed by the federation. The GFF, the local governing body of association football, and Maximo, reached a mutual agreement to terminate the latter’s contract as the head of the Golden Jaguars Senior program.
The release further stated that the mutual decision was finalised following the coach’s disastrous campaigns in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Playoffs. The Golden Jaguars were dumped out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, after concluding the group campaign with a record of three losses and a win.
Guyana lost to Trinidad and Tobago (4-0), St Kitts and Nevis (3-0), and Puerto Rico (2-0), with their only victory occurring against The Bahamas (4-0). In the regional tournament, Guyana suffered an embarrassing defeat to Guatemala (4-0) in the first round.
Maximo who was appointed to the helm of the program in 2019 ahead of the League-B campaign in the CONCACAF Nations League, ended his tenure with a record of four wins, six losses and a draw, of which four losses have occurred in their last five fixtures.
