Trinidad and Tobago head coach Otto Pfister has officially gone on leave.
Whether he returns to T&T when his contract ends on December 31 is another matter.
And the loan spell for Trinidadian Jamaal Shabazz as Guyana head coach has ended.
Whether he returns to the Golden Jaguars when they continue the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign next year is also to be determined by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) in due course. Such information was disclosed yesterday by Lennox Watson in his inaugural address as acting TTFF president.
Watson spoke yesterday morning at a breakfast meeting at Jaffa Restaurant, Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain. He replaces Oliver Camps, who recently resigned.
Watson will hold the position until the TTFF calls a special congress in a few months’ time to appoint a permanent successor to Camps.
“Our senior technical staff and Mr (Otto) Pfister’s contract comes to an end in December. These contracts will be reviewed and a team put in place which allows us to move forward. Coach Pfister, meantime, proceeds on his leave,” said Watson.
He said that the TTFF had also received many calls concerning the standing of former Trinidad and Tobago women’s coach Shabazz, who coached Guyana as they qualified for the CONCACAF third round of World Cup qualifying at the expense of Trinidad and Tobago, who they beat 2-1 at the Providence National Stadium in Guyana last Friday, rendering the Soca Warriors 2-0 victory in Tuesday’s return match meaningless.
“Mr Shabazz is an employee of the TTFF in the capacity of assistant director of women’s football. The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) approached the TTFF for Mr Shabazz to serve on a loan as Guyana national coach. The TTFF released Mr Shabazz and today we congratulate him on a good job done.
“His loan with Guyana is now at an end and he (Shabazz) is expected in the next few days to return to his post with the TTFF. Should he be required again, the TTFF will have to deal with that,” added Watson.
The TTFF also announced plans to fill the vacant technical director’s position by year’s end and to build a strong Trinidad and Tobago national team.
Watson annnounced plans for the senior national team to play at least seven international matches in 2012, beginning with a January 2012 home match against Finland.
“Our plans are to use a group of players who can serve in the next five years, and work towards building a national team capable of not just qualifying for a World Cup, but of playing with sustained excellence.
“The national Under-23 team is a good place to start, but there are senior players who are young and full of potential. We will integrate them into a national outfit of which we can be proud,” Watson said.
“We will work towards a set of goals which will have us ready for an ultimate goal of a World Cup place in 2018. Of course, we must also regain Caribbean supremacy and claim a place at the next (CONCACAF) Gold Cup.
“We are aware of the criticism being levelled. Some of them are justified, among them is that the national team was inactive for eight months. The TTFF was very scarce on resources during that time and funding was a challenge. Our failure to make it to the Gold Cup also contributed to our team’s lack of sharpness,” added Watson, who said that now is the time to move on.
(Source http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Pfister_sent_on_leave__-134096833.html)
