Let bygones be bygones

Reggae Girlz coach Lorne Donaldson has called on football fans to put the recent break-up with former coach Vin Blaine in the past and throw their support behind the team for the upcoming Concacaf Women’s Championship in Mexico, July 4-18.

Donaldson said a lot of deep emotions have been expressed regarding the players’ role in Blaine walking away after the majority of the squad signed a letter to Jamaica Football Federation president Michael Ricketts criticising the coach’s methods.

However, Donaldson insists that the country must come first and wants fans to put the negative feelings aside.

“The girls are going into a very important tournament and they are going to need the support of the public.

“A lot of stuff has been said about the girls and right now we need to move on and get on with this. And it would be good to have the public behind them,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Kayla McKoy and Sydney Schneider are set to join the provisional 26-player squad late for a two-week training camp scheduled to start June 16.

McCoy has a final examination to sit while Schneider has not yet been released by her club.

Donaldson also noted that the visa application process for former Chelsea midfielder Drew Spence and Liverpool’s Jade Bailey was well under way and should be completed in time for the start of the tournament.

“A few players will not be there from the start but we should have about 18 to start with and the others will come in a few days late.

“The visas are coming on nicely. It is just a matter of when they have their appointments. But the staff members on the ground in Jamaica are working on them and trying to get everybody their visa,” he assured.

With only two weeks to implement his ideas, Donaldson said ensuring the players have the fitness to compete will be his first task and after that he will focus on team tactics.

“We have to get right to it. We have to get as much work done as possible. We want to make sure their fitness is good, if their fitness is not good we are not going to go to Mexico and do well. We have to be able to cope for 90-plus minutes in each game. So we hope everybody comes in a decent shape, so we can progress with the football part of it.

“But we have to ensure their fitness is at a very high level. From there we will see how we are going to play. Then we can start looking at teams and formulate our training sessions and get ready,” he said.

Only 23 players will make the trip to Mexico and Donaldson will not name a final squad until the camp is completed.

“We just want everybody to compete for a spot and the best 23 that suit this trip will travel.

The Reggae Girlz have been drawn in Group A with world champions United States, hosts Mexico and Haiti. The four semi-finalists will make it to the World Cup.

“We play three teams that play three different styles. We want to have an identity to how we play and we also need to be adaptable to situations and be flexible enough to change something if we want to, so we can give a good account of ourselves,” Donaldson said.

Jamaica will play their opening game on June 4 against Mexico.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com