Ferguson takes Manning Cup, JPL successes in stride

HAVING ALREADY secured four schoolboy titles with Old Hope Road-based Jamaica College, head coach, Davion Ferguson, last Sunday added another jewel to his crown, helping Mount Pleasant Football Academy lift their first-ever Jamaica Premier League (JPL) title following a 2-1 victory over Cavalier.

Ferguson, assistant coach to Theodore Whitmore at Mount Pleasant, believes his latest achievement doesn’t really prove anything from his vantage point as he knows too well the qualities that he possesses.

“I’m not one to try and prove anything to anybody, so I don’t know what this proves. I’m always quietly confident about my abilities as a coach. I might not be the favourite of many, which I don’t mind, but at the end of the day, I know how to get the job done and that’s how I’ve always operated,” he remarked.

Ferguson, who is no stranger to winning titles, said despite the obvious difference in the level of the Manning Cup and Premier League, there are similarities in terms of how a coach goes about getting the best out of the players.

“There are a lot of similarities as the key at any level is basically the mindset. From you can get the mindset of your players right, then you need the buy-in of all those who are around, from the support staff, playing staff and who controls the programme,” Ferguson believes.

In recent years, there has been a trend where the most successful coaches at the schoolboy level and at the Premier League level are asked to contribute to the national programme.

NATIONAL LEVEL

That being said, there have been those who have wondered if Ferguson’s career will go in that direction as well.

“Not for me to say. I know what I can contribute to football and I know what I’ve been contributing to football for years, at any level that I’ve been placed at. It’s for the authorities to decide, there’s always ambition of wanting to be part of your country’s national programme, but that’s not for me decide. I’m really comfortable at Mount Pleasant and at Jamaica College and for me, I think those are my two main focuses.”

While not advocating for himself in a role with the national team, Ferguson does believe the trend where local coaches have been coaching at the age-group level with the national programme should continue, the one exception at the moment being Hugh Bradford, who coaches the Jamaica under-20 Reggae Girlz.

“One of the things I’ve always stressed is that at the lower level, the age-group teams should be coached by a local coach. I think that is something that I’m seeing again, especially on the female side, where we have people who are not local-based working with the younger age groups. I think at the lower level we can do a little bit more for our local coaches.”

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com