Bell credits players for Portmore resurgence

Anthony Minott, Gleaner Writer

IN football, they say whenever the team wins the players get all the glory, and whenever the team loses, most of the blame is hurled at the coaching staff.

This time, a lot of the praises are being showered on Portmore United's head coach, Neville 'Bertis' Bell, who, in just 15 games, turned around the fortunes of the team to ensure that they will remain in the Digicel Premier League.

When Bell arrived Portmore were in dire straits, hovering just above the relegation zone on 23 points from 22 games, and desperately in need of a lifeline.

progress slow

In Bell's first game in charge, they lost 1-0 to August Town, and suffered an identical 1-0 loss to Arnett Gardens in their next game.

It was not until Bell's fourth game that they tasted victory when they surprised Boys' Town 2-1. They have progressed nicely after that, winning five games and drawing four.

At Ferdie Neita Park last Sunday, through veteran striker Roen Nelson's 43rd minute strike, the Sunshine City team defeated Rivoli United 1-0 and rose to 46 points, seventh overall in the standings. Rivoli remained on 42 points.

Bell, being the modest man he is, didn't want to take all the credit, but diverted it to his team.

"I don't even think it was about me. This team was a good team (before I got here). When I got here, the team was lacking in confidence. I tried to get them to understand that they were really good players and they needed to play with confidence, and finally it came and we have been unbeaten for nine games, and next year we will be in the Premier League," said Bell.

"The plan was to make it to the top six and that didn't happen, so plan B was to remain in the league and I thank God for that."

He added: "The deal was to work here until the end of the season. As far as I know I leave Portmore at the end of that match on Sunday."

Bell, who led St George's College to back-to-back Manning Cup titles, said his confidence allowed him to make the transition from a schoolboy coach to top-flight football.

praise for quality players

"I have a lot of confidence in my abilities, but no coach can work effectively without quality players and this club has a lot of quality players and that's the reason they will be in the Premier League next season, not Neville Bell," he said.

Rivoli, meanwhile, are not yet out of the woods and could still be relegated should they lose on Sunday.

Their coach, Oneil Thomas, thought his team wasted the few chances they got to score.

"It was a good game in the sense that good football was played, but in the other aspect we didn't score any goals. Portmore got three chances and they scored one, while we also got three chances, but failed to score."