TTFA’s gambit

COACHES are important. They provide guidance. They boost morale. No matter how talented players are, those players will never shine without an effective marshal.

The TTFA’s decision on July 31 to throw Angus Eve overboard, with less than a year to go before the resumption of the national football team’s qualification route for the upcoming World Cup, is a bold move. As much as the TTFA says thinking, deliberation and consensus are behind it, it is a gambit. Whether it will pay off is anyone’s guess.

And that’s the problem.

In announcing its decision, the TTFA sought to give the impression it had no beef with Mr Eve. Yet it was only in January that his contract was extended.

The coach’s initial response to his dismissal, in which he deferred comment, saying he had to “let things mellow,” underlined a sense of turmoil, surprise and defeat. Last year, he had ominously urged the public to support the team even if “they may have an issue with Angus Eve.”

Association president Kieron Edwards said this week, “We need to have a head coach with a different style of coaching for this period. We’re looking for a different pathway for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”

He called for all hands to be on deck, noting the pivotal roles played by the Government, the private sector and citizens.

But the clock is ticking. There is less than two years to go before the World Cup, due to be held in Canada, Mexico and the US.

In theory, this is in our backyard. Still, with each host country getting an automatic berth, its arguable things are somewhat tighter for the remaining three CONCACAF slots, even though odds were probably already in favour of the host nations as serial qualifiers. It’s not a good sign that a caretaker is to be appointed while a coach is to be found.

Also worrying is talk of immigration law reform to widen the pool of talent, something that introduces more uncertainty.

Was the coach dropped with no plan in place?

To Mr Eve’s credit, he steered the ship to a sense of normality over three years in the wake of the tumultuous fallout from the FIFA scandals that saw a normalisation committee take over local football.

Many will link his dismissal with the installation of new TTFA leadership in April and to a desire on the part of officials to flex their muscles for the good of the country. These officials may have also baulked at a recent 2-2 draw with Grenada.

What is clear: two decades after the Soca Warriors made global history by appearing in a World Cup, that achievement is at risk of becoming little more than a distant memory.