Lion, Lennie no longer in love
… Effortville community lashes ‘reserved’ RSPL coach
MAY PEN, Clarendon — On October 15, 2010, Lenny Hyde was introduced to the media as head coach of Humble Lion with the expectation of eventually transforming the fledging football club into Premier League champions.
The mood at the Effortville Community Centre that day was fittingly euphoric. Players and fans alike were a picture of optimism as they hoped for a successful future with Hyde as their commander-in-chief.
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Two years later, his two-game “break” from the club is being greeted with pretty much the same delight. Players and fans — the community at large — are happy Hyde is no longer round.
It’s not exactly sure what’s the situation with Hyde’s absence — club president Mike Henry, who is calling the shots in the interim, said the coach is only on a break — but it’s indeed a sad turn of events for a coach from whom much was expected, given his credentials (three league titles with three different teams).
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Hyde and his longstanding assistant, Max Straw, were brought in to facilitate the club’s transition “from a community structure to a professional unit” after previous coach Christopher Bender failed to meet the president’s expectations.
They did manage to secure a decent fourth-place finish, their best ever league placing, last season, but that’s so far the only glimpse of success.
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They have also managed to get the team playing a better brand of football, but in reality, Hyde just never settled in at Effortville. He struggled to win over the support of the entire dressing room and the community, which made his job extra difficult.
Players complained constantly about his man management skills, claiming that he’s unprofessional — similar sentiments to the ones mentioned during his last days as Tivoli Gardens coach.
“Lenny is a man like this,” said a player who wished not to be named, “if yuh and him fall-out him nah give yuh no game.”
In his early days at Effortville, the community did shower Hyde, who was unavailable for comments, with the respect that a three-time premiership championship coach deserves.
In Hyde and Straw, they thought they had found the combination that would help to give their community a positive image, so even when results weren’t good enough in his first season, they kept faith with him.
However, Hyde’s seemingly reserved personality painted a picture of a coach who detached himself from the community.
He wouldn’t stick around after training sessions or match days to mingle with the man on the ground. The community felt as if their hero, the man who they expected to help transform the image of Effortville, wanted nothing to do with them.
He gradually became a victim of frequent verbal abuse — laced with expletives and other distasteful comments — whenever Humble Lion perform poorly at home, which he often complains about.
“Him nuh love the community so how we fi work with a man who don’t love we?” a disgruntled member of the community commented recently. “As match or training done him gone; we can’t even get in a word with him.”
“Him don’t make the players dem love him, either,” he added. “The players dem nuh have no joy; to how dem afraid fi lose the ball dem tense when dem deh pan di field.”
Hyde, according to Henry, is set to resume his regular duties this morning, and by the look of things, he certainly faces an uphill task to get this Humble Lion team playing like they did last season.
He’s still faced with a demanding home crowd and players who think they have not been treated unfairly.
Humble Lion are four points above the Red Stripe Premier League relegation zone in 10th on 16 points, pretty much where Hyde left them two games ago.
Except for Sunday’s poor 0-0 draw at home to leaders Harbour View, they are playing better football than their position suggests, but just can’t seem to put together a decent run.
A poor pre-season was blamed for their slow start to the season, but you can bet a good buck that the recent off-the-field squabble certainly played a part in what’s happening on it.
It’s not exactly clear what is the outcome of Henry’s attempts to assume coaching duties in Hyde’s absence as he attempts to “correct a few administrative and coaching issues”, but it’s interesting to see how Hyde will be greeted by fans and players if and when he does return to the team’s technical area.
