Dear Editor,

There’s a lot of talk in the media recently that Reggae Boyz Head Coach Theodore Whitmore’s job is in jeopardy.

The entire Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) organisation was quite confident going into the Concacaf Gold Cup competition. They performed rather poorly.

In the current World Cup qualification matches they were off to a rocky start. If the team fails to make it to Qatar then a coaching change could be inevitable.

In all fairness, though, the team has improved a lot in their recent games. And with a little bit of luck they could be right up there. They completely outplayed Costa Rica and only came away with a draw. Honduras scored a 90-minute equaliser and they were robbed against the United States after scoring the winning goal. If they had won those games which were quite winnable they would have been right up there. Therefore, they should be no rush in making a coaching decision at this time. The players gave Whitmore a vote of confidence, even though we all know that results matter.

In contrast, Cricket West Indies should part ways with their 20/20 captain and their coach. Both gentlemen went out of their way to defend the team selection of the recent 20/20 tournament, which was a disaster. They were the defending champions, and before and after each game both men had a lot to say — which didn’t amount to much. Now we are hearing that the team wasn’t good enough. Perhaps the team selected wasn’t good enough. They were banking on the older guys with experience to bring them through. Again, as I have said before, experience can only take you so far. What is needed is a group of young, talented, and hungry players.

I don’t like losing. But I’d rather lose with a group of younger, inexperienced players than a group of older, experienced players, because the younger players are the future.

For example, we hear talk about recycled players. Well, Ramario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford didn’t fall in that category; they were future young stars who weren’t selected even though they should have been.

The recent Test matches against Sri Lanka is another embarrassment. The batting performance, to say the least, was dismal. The head coach and batting coach should spent a lot more time with the batsmen to correct any visible weakness that surfaced. There are videos to be analysed. If a batsman has trouble with a particular delivery it should be worked on during practice. You guys are all professional, so there’s no excuse for such performance; six for 18, that’s total humiliation. And just like in the 20/20, you guys were blown away in the Tests as well. And, because results matter, the coach should go. It cannot be business as usual. I don’t see any improvement on the horizon. Bring back the English coach who was doing such a good job.

Noel Mitchell

Westchester, New York, USA

nlmworld@yahoo.com