Trinidad and Tobago football coach Bertille St Clair confesses to one objective: Getting the national team to the World Cup Finals next year in Germany. And he says he is receiving no help from his fellow coaches who are critical of his efforts. Today he continues his exclusive interview with Newsday correspondent ANDRE E BAPTISTE which was recently broadcast on i95.5FM Radio.
AB: Dwight Yorke’s return, you wanted it for a long time. Finally it happened, too late?
BS: Not really too late, but better late than never, and Dwight Yorke has a contribution to make to football in Trinidad and Tobago, whether we like it or not.
AB: In the midfield?
BS: Anywhere!
AB:Your preference would be where for him?
BS: Uhm, depending on the structure I play, I use him, you know, because I am saying that he has the ability, one, and he has the experience to play football. So I will use him for which best he is suited within the arrangements that I make.
AB:You mentioned structure, what is the best structure?
BS: There is no best structure. You see, everybody jumps up and says “system”, and what is system? The system is based on the type of players, and that is the first thing you have to do. You have to put in a system according to the kind of players that you have, and you see, no system in the world could work if you can not control the ball, pass ball, cannot or will not run.
But I am saying that you must put the structure in place according to the kind of players you have. I was reading an article of the Olympics where I believe it was Korea who changed their structure about four times in a day. When they played Azerbedjan they played 4-4-2 and then suddenly switched to 4-3-3. They thought they were good in the back so they put more players up front. You have to have players who can adapt quickly.
AB: Do we have that?
BS: Well, as I say to you, with some of the guys who come back with experience you may be able to do that. For the others at home, you have to work and drill it in and drill it in to get that to work.
AB: David Nakhid, his return?
BS: David Nakhid’s presence in the team brings a sense of discipline. And what we do not like in Trinidad and Tobago is people who speak their mind and letting you know clearly that wrong is wrong and right is right. We have underminers, and that is how I view all the coaches, underminers. It is not like they would say “Come let’s talk”. No, instead they go through another channel, which is so sad.
AB: Do you see David Nakhid having a role to play on the field?
BS: Well, maybe, when I am training he works out with the guys. Hey, Nakhid in my opinion looks better than Kerwyn “Hardest” Jemmott for example, who is one of the more talented players we have for the moment in Trinidad. And as I said earlier, Frank Sinatra said: “My way”
AB: Why did David Nakhid not play against the USA?
BS: He just got back in the fold and I did not see him work. I was working with the youngsters and the players who came from away. They played in a practice match and I had seen them, so you have to give them the opportunity to play. If Nakhid works and works and is capable, here and there you give him a match.
AB: If you were able to go back in time, would you have let him play that USA match?
BS: No regrets. I thought we had an equal opportunity; we could have come out with two/three points or one in that match. We did not take our chances and as I said to you earlier, the man above had decided. And I add to that, if we had beaten USA we would have felt that we had reached, but now that we lost we have to work even harder to come there.
AB: Russell Latapy, you talk about his recall.
BS: As I said earlier, and I say it all the time, that this team is Trinidad and Tobago. Once you like Trinidad and Tobago, you will want to come here, that is also why I took this job, because I like Trinidad and Tobago. I had a job in the USA, and I had something else in England, but they said the national team and that comes first. The money out there was bigger than this. That is my challenge. So, I never close the door on anybody.
AB: But there is talk that he would want the role as a coach.
BS:Yes, but naturally everybody would want to do that. But if I am a young coach, I would take my time.