Thursday, September 18, 2008

Liverpool FC Legend John Barnes Is New Jamaica Coach

LIVERPOOL legend John Barnes will take over as Jamaican national team coach on November 1 - with the task of guiding the tiny nation to the World Cup finals.

Barnes, whose only experience of coaching was a stint at Celtic from June 1999 to February 2000, has signed a one-year contract.

Born in Jamaica he was the unanimous choice of the Jamaican Football Federation.

Jamaican chief Horace Burrell said: “John has a lot of experience playing at the highest level.

“He’s in fact an icon to many black players. He has had a short stint in coaching, but we believe that this individual has enough in him, and with a good support staff, we can see Jamaica through to this round of the qualifiers and beyond.

“In international football you need an individual with international stature. Having a coach of international repute opens a number of opportunities for our national team.

“Many countries will invite you to play friendlies only because of the image and reputation of your coach.

“When an icon like John Barnes becomes the coach of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz team, immediately the international spotlight shines on Jamaica in every single aspect of the sport.

Former Tranmere star Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore will lead the Reggae Boyz in their next two CONCACAF Group B semi-final World Cup qualifying games against Mexico and Honduras in Kingston next month. Barnes’ first match in charge will be against Canada on November 19.

Brazilian technical director, Rene Simoes, was sacked last Thursday. The Boyz crashed to Honduras 2-0 in San Pedro Sula the night before – a result that flung the qualifying campaign to the 2010 South Africa World Cup in a spin after “top players” were consistently left out of the team, with Hull striker Marlon King in particular consistently overlooked.

Burrell added: “The JFF feels very confident that with the new adjustments, we will make it to South Africa 2010.

“We have to go for the experienced players. Mexico, Honduras and Canada all have professional players.”

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