Victorious coach Stern hungry for more silverware

VICTORIOUS coach of 2018 First Citizens Cup winners Central FC, Stern John, is hungry for more silverware in his new role on the sidelines. The legendary 40-year-old ex-national striker is the all-time leading TT international scorer with 70 goals from 115 appearances.

John is in his first full season as Central FC coach, having replaced ex-national teammate Dale Saunders midway into the 2017 campaign. And he won his first title as coach on Friday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, as Central FC defeated Defence Force 4-2 via kicks from the penalty spot. The scores were locked at 2-2 at the end of 120 minutes of regulation and injury time.

“I’m feeling good,” said John. “I’m hungry for success. I want to do well.

“Hopefully I can continue my trade and apply (it) well because I’m passionate about (TT) football and getting (it) back where it’s supposed to be,” he added. “I’m one of the young coaches, I’m going to make mistakes along the way but that’s part of it. I’m willing to learn.”

Keron Cummings scored both goals for Central FC, in the 42nd and 83rd minutes. The goal-getters for Defence Force were Dylon King (64th) and Devorn Jorsling (65th).

John praised the mentality of the players, as they have been dealing with financial struggles for the past year.“The last couple of years we’ve always been able to field some of the best in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “With the financial problem we’re having now, we’re at a rebuilding stage. I think for the team, they’ve been working under real difficult conditions. We have to give the players a lot of credit.”

Central FC were only able to field 15 players with no back-up goalkeeper to Marvin Phillip.

“We have to grind it out,” John said. “If Marvin went down in the game, we would’ve been struggling. For what we had to work with and what we’ve done, I have to give credit to the boys.”

He added, “Army was talking about how 13 men can’t beat them. These boys showed resilience, they showed passion and I say they deserve this 100 per cent.”

Regular captain Densill Theobald was an unused sub and ex-national utility player Anthony Wolfe left for a contact in India.

According to John, “Theobald, give credit to him. He’s one of the older players around and he’s steadied the ship. He makes my job a lot easier. We have (youngsters) Rhondel (Gibson) and (Taryk) Sampson – they’re really hungry for success – and I’m willing to work with them.”