THREE-TIME National Premier League winning coach Lenworth Hyde Snr, who was sacked by Kingston College (KC) midway through the schoolboy season, said he was surprised and disappointed, but that it was actually the school’s loss. Hyde, who is one of the most successful local coaches, having led Portmore United,

Tivoli Gardens and Harbour View to National Premier League titles, was dismissed by KC following a humiliating 0-7 defeat to fierce rivals St George’s College last Saturday. The famed ‘Purples’ from North Street are the third most successful school in Manning Cup history with 14 titles, but they have not won the prestigious trophy for 28 years, dating back to 1986.

“They are not professional down there and that’s what I went to teach and let them know how football is run,” Hyde told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. “We (Hyde and Max Straw) win and we know what it is to win. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the time. But I think it’s their loss,” noted Hyde.

KC, who also lost 0-3 to St George’s on September 20, were second in Group A with 12 points from six games and were on course to advance to the next stage of the competition, until they were shocked 4-2 at home yesterday by Waterford, who climbed to one point ahead into second place.

However, KC have a game in hand against winless Campion College. “I am very disappointed. It says that we were doing something right and we are learning and it doesn’t take one or two seasons to see the fruit.

“These players that we have now have at least two more years, so I think with more time we would have seen a better brand of football and the players get more committed,” he added.

Hyde, who replaced KC old boy Donovan ‘DV’ Hayles earlier this year, claimed a lot of meddling by the old boys and persons close to the team contributed to his demise.

Hyde, a football icon and one of Jamaica’s greatest players, further pointed out that he came under fire because he left out a particular player that went overseas and missed preseason, as well as another player who was left out for disciplinary reasons.

“There were some deterrent sometimes in the preparation, but I am not crying,” he said while watching his son Jaheel Hyde’s school Wolmer’s Boys’ playing Trench Town High yesterday.

“It ranks with the Premier League. You run from the Premier League because of that reason and go into Manning Cup and it is even worse, because you have people interfering same way,” Hyde further claimed. “Managers telling you which formation to play, managers shouting from the stands telling players to go into midfield,” he added.

Hyde, who is upset with the manner of his dismissal on Monday, believed he had something good going on at KC. “Seeing that it was our first year and before I got the job, I think it was a rebuilding programme.

Even before this meeting, in the last meeting, the principal told me he would do the analysis at the end of the season and take it from there.

So I was surprised in the second meeting, I got this letter,” said Hyde, who explained that he was called to a meeting just after 1:00 pm on Monday when the dismissal letter was delivered to him.

“It was surprising because I don’t think the team is doing badly. Even the game that was lost we didn’t do badly because we created chances.

We had players out and our captain and goalkeeper was out from the Waterford game, so that was a big setback for the team, but we persevered,” said Hyde. KC’s new track and field head coach Neil Harrison, who played youth football at Clarendon College when Hyde was leading the daCosta Cup team to success in the 1970s, will be in charge for the remainder of the season.

Harrison, who last season was the head coach of Munro College’s track and field team, has some amount of football coaching experience at Clarendon College, St George’s College and Munro College.