FORMER National Senior Women’s Head Coach Charles Edwards has blasted Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for what he says is a failure to put the Reggae Girlz in the best position ahead of the Concacaf W Gold Cup Qualifiers next week.

Xavier Gilbert was named interim head coach after not being able to secure a permanent boss ahead of the upcoming fixtures. A source close to the Jamaica Observer revealed that one of the main candidates for the job scoffed at the salary offer from the JFF while the other, Jonathan Morgan, is currently under investigation by Sheffield United over alleged misconduct.

In addition, the team will also be without over 20 of their stars, including Captain Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, after they stated they were unavailable for this international window.

In a statement on Friday afternoon the JFF said they wrote to the players who rejected the call-up but were left uncomfortable with the response of the players in a meeting scheduled for Friday. Football’s local governing body said they decided to suspend any selection of the players in question until these issues are resolved.

Edwards says the JFF has taken a major backward step in terms of growing women’s football in Jamaica.

“It is just a very sad situation because the first time we made it to the World Cup we had a pay issue, with the Girlz threatening to not play for Jamaica again and [now] it’s de ja vu all over again,” said Edwards.

“Another situation after such a high note, and this is now where we’re dropping the baton in terms of capitalising on the momentum and developing the women’s programme. It’s very disappointing and my question to the JFF is: ‘When will we get it right? When will we able to have a situation where the girls are being looked after and you have everybody in the camp being happy and ready to rumble?’ “

Edwards says he has high respect for Gilbert, who has been assistant coach of the Reggae Girlz and also has had success in the women’s game locally, but he believes the job ahead is extremely difficult.

“Being a coach, I would not be happy with the situation because if you’re appointed into the top position you’d want your best players. Now you’re going to get a set of Girlz who have not been in any form of competition, so your taking them from zero to go and play qualifiers for the Gold Cup is not an ideal situation,” said Edwards.

“I’m happy for Xavier but I don’t think I would have accepted it under these conditions because this looks like a set-up for failure, and as a coach it’s not good for him. And I hope he finds a way to resolve it, get some good results from it, come back with some good showings, and can move forward from there.”

Edwards, who has won multiple national women’s premier league titles with Barbican, has urged the JFF to improve their way of operating before it’s too late.

“The federation needs to get their house in order and find a way to resolve these issues proactively. You know the situation and I’m pretty sure if you call up the Girlz and say, ‘This is the situation facing us and we can find a way to resolve it quickly but we’d like for you to represent the country,’ maybe we can avoid a lot of these issues.”

“I’d love to see them set up a communication system where there can be constant dialogue with the team and have issues resolved before they hit the media and create this nasty thing for them because the public on a whole is getting tired and fed up of it,” Edwards reasoned.

The JFF said they are “eager to clear up all the concerns that team members may have in accordance with the contracts”.

“If there is a grievance or concern this must be placed squarely on the table to be addressed and documented to the JFF,” the JFF said.