In praise of de Oliveira

The EDITOR, Sir:

IN A stunning announcement after the 0-1 loss to Honduras, Capt Horace Burrell, President of the Jamaica Football Federation, announced that Coach Clovis de Oliveira had been fired.

Among other things, he said that the coach "lost the handle on the discipline of the team, on and off the field".

This is going to be a very unpopular decision, as the coach is very well liked by the majority of the players, and the country in general - a definite people-person. On the two occasions that I interacted with Clovis, I found him very warm, honest and personable (possibly contributory to his downfall).

Without knowing the inner workings of the football politics, I join the band of people in opposition to this decision. Obviously, there has been some problem prior to this ­ I refuse to believe that, as a result of not making the finals, the coach has been dismissed. If there has been a problem for some time, then he should have been dismissed long ago. Why wait until we are no longer in contention? The timing is terrible. Plus, we have two more games to play.

Now, what do we do? Is this going to keep happening every 2-3 years? Where's the continuity?

Having qualified for the finals in the youth tournaments, it's obvious that we have some talent to nurture......we can't keep chopping and changing like this. Respect to Clovis, a good man.

I am etc.,

ANDRE GOODEN

andre.g@cwjamaica.com

15 St. Lucia Way

Kingston 5

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