Just halfway into the 2010 Digicel Pro League season, Caledonia AIA coach Jamaal Shabazz has already conceded the title to Defence Force, who won the first round by playing unbeaten in their opening ten matches.
"I think Defence Force will win the season with rounds to spare," Shabazz said yesterday.
"Since last year I found that they had the fiercest attack with Devon Jorsling, Carter (Kevon), Richard Roy, and Baltazar (Jerwyn). This year they have taken their chances better than any team in the league. They have collectively found a way to outscore opponents and in Jorsling they have a striker that has been in double figures for all of the last four seasons."
Shabazz also credited a change in the Pro League schedule for bringing back keen rivalry to local football. This season the Pro League will be decided over just two rounds, as opposed to the long drawn-out competition of the past. There will also be no Big Six playoff at the end.
"We are very happy for the change in the league. It has made things a lot more exciting. Unfortunately for us, (Caledonia AIA) we have made a bad start to the league and have only now started to settle down with half of the competition already done. Ironically, in the past when the competition was much longer, we had started very well, but finished weakly."
Shabazz felt that Caledonia played well generally, but struggled to get goals. He has also fielded a very inexperienced back four, including under-21 central defenders Nuri Muhammed and Daneil Cyrus, who do not have a total of 30 Pro League starts between them.
But after working with ex-Trinidad and Tobago defenders Marvin "Dog" Andrews and Dennis "Tallest" Lawrence, Shabazz's back four have not conceded a goal in their last five matches and the coach thinks he now has a settled team.
"I think we might have missed out on the league because of the poor start, but we still have about five cup competitions and we are praying to meet Defence Force again now that we are more organised and have settled down."
And Defence Force coach Ross Russell has also spoken highly of his team's milestone achievement of a perfect record after round one.
The Defence Force have been Trinidad and Tobago's most successful team in the past, winning 20 league titles, six FA Trophies, two First Citizens Cups, a T&T Pro Bowl, and two CONCACAF Champions Cup (1978 & 1985) tournaments. But they have had relatively lean times recently, last winning the league in 1999.
However, they began a revival in 2009 by lifting the First Citizens Cup.
Russell, a former Army goalie, concedes that although Defence Force have dominated in the past, they always dropped points against former top rivals such as ECM Motown, Trintoc and Arima United. Now none have emulated the current team.
"It's a great achievement by the players because it wasn't an easy task to achieve," said Russell after guiding the squad to a perfect run in round one of the 2010 Pro League.
"Teams have had long runs in the past , but no one has had a perfect record in a round and that alone explains our achievement."