Oral Tracey | Whitmore is frustrated, and so are we

The recent outcry from national senior football coach Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, stating emphatically that he does not like what is happening as it relates to the overall preparation of the national team for the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League and beyond, is ringing out loud and clear across the local football fraternity.

Whitmore spoke vaguely of areas or positions on the team that are of concern, and the fact that he has spoken numerous times about it. He emphasised that there is still a lot to sort out and that they have not got there as yet, all relating to the whole team and where we want to go.

'Tappa' sounds like a very frustrated football coach, and frustrated with good reason, intimating that he continues to embark on the unenviable task of using 'basket to carry water'. It is obvious that coach Whitmore wants some specific players to complement the local-born core he's been working with, but from the sound of it, he is struggling to get the support of the Jamaican football hierarchy.

Even without getting the memorandum directly from the coach, it stands as an obvious and clear-cut reason that the technical staff, led by the coach, must at all times be looking to improve the quality of the squad and the player pool. Whitmore's rant is obviously emanating from his basic desire to select Jamaica's best available players, whether foreign-born or local-born.

Conspicuously in that regard, since the German Winfried Sch‰fer left Jamaica in late 2016, none of the numerous England-born players has worn the national colours. Even if the shunning of England-based professionals was an initial push back from a bitterly disappointing World Cup-qualifying campaign, that period of malice should by now be over, toppled by the pursuit of balance in selecting our best possible team.

Despite the overdone and overbearing England-born influx into the programme at the time, I remember warning of throwing out the baby out with the bath water by going to the next extreme, which is exactly what is happening now.

Gold Cup run

Whitmore, in this his latest stint, has used only players born in Jamaica who ply their trade primarily between the local leagues, the MLS and USL - admittedly with some degree of success, after guiding them to the final of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Apparently, those run of Gold Cup results left the impression somewhere that Whitmore has what he needs in terms of players, thus no need for the foreign-born legion.

It absolutely cannot be, though, that Jamaica's best team at a given point in time must either be all foreign-born and based players and at another given point in time, the other extreme of all local-born players. Mutual exclusivity cannot be applicable in this scenario. There must be middle ground in striking that elusive balance.

My information is that Whitmore has long been asking for specific members of that foreign cast since taking over from Sch‰fer. The likes of Adrian Mariappa, Michael Hector, Gareth McCleary and others are certainly still good enough, pending their commitment to the cause to add value to the current core.

The sad fact of the matter facing Whitmore is that if Jamaica had a foreign coach, he would not be met with this silent resistance to his request for particular players.

That hypocrisy constant aside, though, the real question is, does the team need these players? The appointed coach thinks so, and that is all that matters. His failure to have these important pieces to the puzzle in place continues to frustrate Theodore Whitmore, as it should all well-thinking Jamaican football fans.