J’ca has good pro players, competitive league – Downes
Published:Friday | August 6, 2021 | 12:09 AM
ENGLISHMAN WALTER ‘Wally’ Downes is very impressed with the professionalism of the players and the competitiveness of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL).
Downes, technical director of Mount Pleasant Football Academy, recently assumed sole responsibility of the senior team at the club after they parted ways with former coach, Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis.
Downes said he had been working very closely with the senior players since he arrived in August 2020, and over that time he has found the players to be very professional.
“My guys have worked with me from last October and I like the way they’ve maintained their enthusiasm for different times when they said the season was going to be played,” said Downes.
“They said it was going to be played in November, then it was Christmas and then February. Each time those dates were taken away from the players, they carried on training every day, twice a day. So their enthusiasm, professionalism and commitment is absolutely spot-on,” he noted.
He also pointed out that all the players in the JPL know each other well and this, he believes, gives the league a certain intensity.
“It (JPL) is very competitive. The players all seem to know each other. They have all played for different teams in the league. Some clubs have players for Portmore, Waterhouse or Arnett Gardens and so there is a great rivalry.
“They know each other and that builds the rivalry, so it is always competitive. Even though there were a couple games that finished three-nil, they were competitive up until the end when players got tired,” he assessed. “But you expect that, after not playing football for 14 months the (players) are very competitive among each other.”
Impact of COVID-19
Downes says the impact of COVID-19 has been severe and it would be hard to make a fair assessment of the league.
“I could not start making any suggestions (league) because it is absolutely COVID-based,” he said. “One game we got there (venue). We had to spend 45 minutes sitting on the coach (bus). We changed in a tent outside. We had a team talk inside with our information on the wall and when we came in at half-time we had to go to a different room and none of our things were there.
“When we were finished we had to leave the field as well, so it was very difficult to offer any constructive criticism on how the league should be run because everything is completely judged and affected by COVID,” he said.
Nevertheless, he believes the respective teams have done a great job in getting ready over such a short period.
“For any of the (JPL) head coaches out here, despite getting some good last-minute information and preparation out of the players, match days here are very difficult, but the standard of the games, I think, is very high,” assessed Downes.
“I would have loved to have had six preseason friendly games. We have played five (JPL) games so far, so I would expect us to be getting up to speed now. But for a start, for the first five weeks I have been impressed with how teams have gone about their business,” he said.