My thoughts on…the return of the Reggae Boyz
November 21st 2007 -
The JFF has been seriously shaken up as of late. Crenston Boxhill and Bora Milutinovic have apparently run the football programme into the ground, as the Road to Germany was filled with more potholes than a back road during heavy rains, plus our world ranking has plummeted from 33 to 103. Shameful. So like a superhero movie franchise, the JFF has rebooted itself, in the hopes of recapturing its former glory. “Captain” Horace Burrell is back, and it is said that he’ll bring back Rene Simoes, the man who whipped our Boyz into world class shape. And so far, it looks like we’re on the road to South Africa, as evidenced by our 3-0 thrashing of El Salvador. It’s good to know that for once we weren’t on the receiving end of such a score.
It was refreshing to see the Jamaican colours flying proudly in the stands, and that Jamaica, in spite of everything, was still behind our Boyz. But there’s one thing I’m worried about. Though Burrell seems to have kicked the Boyz out of its lethargy, I’m wondering if it’s too little too late. Plus a lot of the Reggae Boyz are inexperienced youngsters, as most if not all of the original Boyz are playing overseas. So if Rene comes back, he won’t be as familiar with them as he once was, and he’ll have to recultivate the talent he did with the original team, or maybe even exceed that. So I’m a bit skeptical. I have faith in my team yes, but there are just too many things wrong with the programme for me to blindly believe that things will suddenly return to normal. In closing, I don’t think Bora deserved to be dumped the way he did. He was working with a limited pool of talent, talent that needed time to develop. And we Jamaicans expected him to turn these rookies into world class ‘ballers. With these unrealistic expectations, it’s little wonder why he failed.
Jamaipanese Says:
November 21st, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I’m just glad the captain is back ^_^
we whipped Guatemala since night as well.
Rene might not be coming back as expected though.
Mad Bull Says:
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:50 am
I basically agree with you re Bora. He is a big coach, you know! He has carried at least three teams to the World Cup before!
taylor2nd Says:
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:04 am
the streets was clad with jamaican colors tooo. wondering if a man from guatemala was in the isl how him would feel walking round kingston.. like jamaican colored gang vibe..
scratchie Says:
November 22nd, 2007 at 10:23 am
I agree. I think we are also expecting South American results on Jamaican budget and lifestyle. Most of those “always winning countries” have footballers paid as full time employees whose jobs are football, football and football. We use a spare time approach and expect full time results.
The Seeker Says:
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:08 am
Boy I cant agree with you on the Bora Issue… as a leader of an Organization I believe it is within your right to assemble a team you feel most comfortable with and that you have total faith will accomplish what you desire….
Having seen the captain in action Before.. I have faith in his Judgment… If he feels that Bora’s time was up then so be it… thats Just the way things work in international football
Melody Says:
November 22nd, 2007 at 11:51 am
Ah heard this alliteration recently: Burrell badly bulldozed Bora & ‘ballers.
Esteban Agosto Reid Says:
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Congratulations to the Reggae Boyz on their victories over El Salvador and Guatemala.Hopefully,overtime, the Reggae Boyz will become more successful and restore the glory and fame of 1998 and be competitors in South Africa.RESPECT!!