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Simoes ... 'I had invitations from other Brazilian clubs and I said 'no, I go back to Jamaica because I promised Captain'.
Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer
FOR A while, René Simoes shied away from Jamaica's embrace.
Six years coaching the nation's football programme, he said, meant it was time to move on. The Boyz' s flagging results near the end of his tenure did not help persuade him to stay either.
The glow that followed the man with 'Jesus Saves' written on his shirt during the '98 'Road to France' campaign was finally wearing off.
Other coaches
So, Simoes was gone by February 2000. His family visited Jamaica afterwards, but he never returned. He claimed his presence would have caused an unnecessary distraction for whoever was in charge, and feared word would spread that he had come back for his old job.
"I said I could not be a visitor," the Brazilian explained in late July while in the United States with the Reggae Boyz. "Once I (visited), they'd say 'coach is here', some rumours, comments. I didn't want to get in trouble with any coach."
There were quite a few during his absence. Countrymen Clovis de Oliveira and Sebastaio Lazaroni came and went. So, too, Jamaicans Carl Brown and Wendell Dowsnwell.
None could duplicate the success of 1998. The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) changed administrations too, but the Reggae Boyz tumbled in the world rankings and failed to reach World Cups 2002 and 2006.
Simoes stayed away, but not totally out of the picture. He kept in touch with current JFF president, ex-army Captain Horace Burrell, and general secretary Horace Reid, key figures who helped chart the '98 course.
They talked on the phone, exchanged emails and, occa-sionally, met in places around the world. Yet, there was no defining moment when Simoes decided to come back to Jamaica. There was no need.
"Always I want to return," he said.
Opportunity lost
That opportunity almost came five years ago. According to Simoes, who was then living in Qatar, Burrell called on November 23, 2003, and offered him his old job. He agreed.
But that same day Burrell was defeated by Crenston Boxhill in the race for JFF president. The comeback plan crashed, but did not totally burn.
"So, he lost," Simoes said of Burrell, "but we kept talking."
That is, until Simoes was again summoned by Burrell after his re-election early last November. The Captain had inherited from Boxhill's term Bora Milutinovic, a coach with a huge reputation and pay package, plus a six-game losing streak and floundering rankings.
The Serb was cut loose on November 9, 2007.
In January, Simoes and his assistants returned to the country he had once adopted as his own.
"Jamaica was different," Simoes said, recalling his first stint. "It was not just a job. It's a life experience."
Despite its engaging culture and warm climate, Jamaica was not - or is - paradise. Simoes agreed there are "tough, hard" times too.
But he shrugged off the misgivings.
"This is the life," said Simoes.
Now, he notices how much Jamaica has changed since he left. The football clubs are better. The coaches teach more. Other things have caught his eye, like the many large cars on Jamaica's narrow roads.
He offers one theory with a puzzled smile: "I thought they enlarged the island."
Misfortunes
But it could be worse. At some points, it has been for the Brazilian.
He could not duplicate Jamaica's '98 triumph in Trinidad and Tobago and left.
T&T later qualified for World Cup 2006, using players that Simoes had once left out.
More recently in Brazil, where Simoes had built a successful run with Coritiba, things turned sour.
The club's leadership changed and, according to Simoes, those in charge of charting the new direction did not suit him.
"I never work with somebody I don't like," he said.
So, late last year, he called Burrell to accept his standing offer. It was about keeping his word.
"I had invitations from other Brazilian clubs," said Simoes, "and I said 'no, I go back to Jamaica because I promised Captain'."
Looking for talent
He also pledged to treat players fairly. English-born Nathan Koo-Boothe, who represented Jamaica at the youth level, testifies to that.
In late 2006 Koo-Boothe suffered a broken leg while playing for his club in Britain. Out of contract, he came to Jamaica to rehabilitate. Simoes invited him to join the Reggae Boyz. Less than two months after he resumed playing, he was part of Jamaica's squad to play El Salvador.
"To be where I am, I'm really grateful," Koo-Boothe said on the day of the game. "I thank Simoes and the JFF for giving me this chance."
Yet, for Simoes, decisions like the one regarding Koo-Boothe are not based on sentiment. The player was not picked for the 1-1 draw with Canada on August 20.
Simoes doesn't worry who is upset by his team selections or coaching strategy.
"I'm looking for the right ones, not the best ones," he told a reporter who questioned his selections after the Canada game. "We are good collectively."
One advantage of being successful before, he explained, is that Jamaicans now understand his ways.
"In that time (his first stint), I was a Brazilian coach that come to the island and if somebody says something about me I have to go there and say 'no, they are wrong'," Simoes said. "Now if somebody says something about me, the Jamaicans are going to say 'no, I know René Simoes, this is René Simoes'."
Their support translates into the rousing atmosphere at 'The Office' on game days.
Performance
Yet, Simoes knows Jamaicans will demand his removal if the Boyz slip up on the road to South Africa. He accepts that as normal.
"It doesn't matter if they like you or they don't like you," he said with a shrug. "Professionally, if you don't produce, you're going to be fired. I am not there to make a group of friends. Of course, if it comes, it's good. But the main point is you have to be professional."
Even if the numbers don't add up. Ranked 108th or not, Jamaica must squeeze into the top 32 countries at World Cup 2010.
Change or no change, Simoes understands the bottom line: It's win or go home.
Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.
