WHAT value for dollar is Trinidad and Tobago getting from Leo Beenhakker at $800,000 a month?
Granted that this is “chick feed” for international coaches, and that a top-level international coach would have cost us two or three times that.
After all, strong overtures were made to retain Kevin Keegan, until he declared his expected salary (“in the millions”, some say).
That is all well and good; a man must be well-paid for his expertise, but what about value for dollar?
What are we getting for this … over $22 million from FIFA for qualifying?
Over $11 million to sport Adidas outfits before billions of television viewers, along with myriad undisclosed endorsements, deals and benefits?
(And I’m not talking here about who or whose company is actually getting this as either adviser, rights owner, etc., etc., etc.)
And is that sufficient … money?
If so, should the acquisition of money through World Cup qualification justify paying Dutchman Leo Beenhakker over $800,000 a month?
My point is, in exchange for what?
Beenhakker is not required to take a hands-on approach to TnT’s football development.
That is left to local coaches: the same local coaches whose combined salary for their part in producing national players does not even amount to $800,000 a year.
His job is basically to come here five days before the match, when all foreign-based players are available, and have them play scrimmages so he could decide on a starting 11.
When they leave, he leaves.
I guess that is one of the conditions he set for coming out of virtual recluse after getting a string of one-season jobs.
He is not required to stay in TnT and move around to see matches in the Pro League or Schools League.
In fact, he has already declared local players too poor to be worth his while.
So, the end result is that he would leave here without having helped developed a single local player and, in so doing, put us on course for preparing for the next World Cup qualifying campaign.
It is strange because he is the one who publicly stated that the team that qualified would not be the team that plays in the finals.
To back up his point, he noted the age of the players, saying the team averaged 28 years. Unless this was a psychological ploy to force Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke into getting and keeping in top shape or face the sack, Beenhakker, having stated his intention to exclude local players, was saying he intends to look only beyond these shores for replacements. (Now note his propensity for readymade stuff. He has no intention of developing us for the future).
The average age of these foreigners is left to be seen, as is the question of whether it permits them to represent TnT with any credit in the next qualifying campaign.
His approach is unfortunate. And the technical director, noticing the shortfall, hurriedly organised a Goal 2014 youth training camp, with which he is quick to associate the national coach by saying Beenhakker would be monitoring the short listed talent pool and new player database.
So, from all appearances, Beenhakker is part of a grand plan for the future: but that is not really so.
It has been a month and a half since TnT qualified for the World Cup and, outside of that training camp with vacationing university-based players in mind, there has been no semblance of preparedness for this World Cup or the next; no capitalisation on the revived hopes of local players; no search to unearth that missing link in some remote community; and definitely no involvement whatsoever of Beenhakker.
And there won’t be until March in the brief period around that World Cup warm-up; and it won’t involve locals.
Never mind that veritable ad in the Express captioned “Beenhakker returns January 15” (two months after World Cup qualification).
Don’t be fooled by its claim that he would be here to “further look at some of the home-based players”; that is a blatant lie.
The last time he was back here was to secure his contract extension so he could parade with the other three Dutch coaches who would be leading teams into the finals.
This time, January 15, he would be here for another big public relations event: the World Cup trophy display parade that Franz Beckenbauer is now embarking upon. Some people would say otherwise but don’t be fooled.
Yes, new assistant coach Anton Corneal is keeping himself active and plans may indeed come true to have fellow Dutch assistant Wim Rijsbergen join him one week before Beenhakker’s arrival and Beenhakker may even make planned a guest appearance before the cameras.
But, again, don’t be fooled: This is no opportunity to see the guys on the team “and also to see some others”.
It is spin doctoring to cover up Beenhakker’s pronouncement on local players.
It is window dressing to give the impression that something has been done in the two months since World Cup qualification.
It is imagery to make fools feel that, with this hint of activity, $50 million on a so-called budget is money well-spent even though there won’t be enough warm-ups for that $50 million to make TnT a better prepared team at the World Cup finals.
And with a single appearance at the advertised local training this month, one would be left the impression Beenhakker is worth $800,000 a month.
At that cost, a respectable country would expect to get more out of a coach that would ensure continuity for a long time after that coach ceases to be associated with the country. One would expect to make the same demands on him as is made on local coaches. Beenhakker’s predecessor Bertille St. Clair, for example, was made to work with all-local technical staff in spite of his wishes.
No similar demand has been made of Beenhakker. He is allowed to use an all-foreign staff -- even in the area of physical fitness.
Beenhakker comes to TnT when he wants but local national coaches must be on the job at all times.
Beenhakker can discriminate against the quality of players here, being made to work at raising their level, yet St. Clair was ridiculed for “discriminating” on disciplinary grounds (such as deportment).
Beenhakker is allowed to focus only on foreign scouting while his predecessor took licks for persisting with a local core since the foundation stages of the campaign (like the Digicel Cup appearance), that included Anton Pierre, Nigel Pierre, Kerwyn Jemmot, Angus Eve, Atiba Charles, Kerry Baptiste and Kerry Noray.
And the former, local coach was said to be asking for too much, yet $800,000 -- not from the money circulating in football but from our tax dollars -- must go to Beenhakker without question.
Alvin Corneal has a point when he said something to the effect that this is because of our fear and misplaced respect for those of European extract.
But who is to blame?
None other than the local coaches: The ones who snoop on each other then run off to e-mail news to “Massa”; the ones who set up each other to be fired in exchange for a bone.
They need to straighten their act and unify.
If not, go get yourselves properly qualified so as to remove those insecurities.
They are stinking up the game.
As for Beenhakker, let’s see if he manages to do as much for us as Rene Simoes did for Jamaica, in that, let’s see if, as a result of his work here TnT qualifies for every other youth finals over the next few years.
Fools may see my point then.
By that time, though, his extended vacation, which we have so spiced up, would have been long over and he would have returned to the serious work of football development elsewhere, with a lot of petro dollars in his pockets.
I thought someone said somewhere “this time” Trinidadian and Tobagonians would be getting more out of their oil.