Arnett head into 2023 hoping for resurgence

Not willing to use the extended rest period as an excuse for their inconsistent form, Arnett Gardens head coach Paul Davis is hoping that the January transfer window will allow for a mini overhaul of his squad for them to provide consistency this season as they hope to put together a title run.

Arnett Gardens’ final Jamaica Premier League game of the 2022 season ended in a 1-1 draw with Vere United on Monday where both teams capitalised on defensive errors, errors that Davis believes are a microcosm of the slow start that the club has experienced since returning from their World Cup hiatus.

“The World Cup (break) threw us off because we haven’t been playing enough games. I don’t want to use it as an excuse but it has. We have to get back the guys’ mindset in the game because if we continue on this trend, you never know what may happen,” Davis told The Gleaner.

The ‘Junglists’ have only scored once in their last five games and since returning from the World Cup break are winless in their last two which include the Vere result. It was a game where both teams benefited from defensive lapses, the last one coming from Arnett goalkeeper Eric Edwards who could not collect a routine catch and allowed Vere to storm through and equalise after taking a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Davis said that the resilience that he wanted to see from his team did not come, something that he hopes will change soon.

“When the goal was scored it was like players dropped their heads. Things like that will happen but you need to get up and bounce back. We just need to get ourselves back in good shape, so we can kick on,” Davis said.

Anticipating a difficult stretch of games in the new year, Davis says that he is looking to get active in the transfer market come January with positions all across the field being targeted for additions to bolster his unit.

“We have some tough games coming up, so we have to get ourselves together. It’s going to take a while to get back that momentum again. Hopefully, we can get some additional players from goalkeeper to midfielders to attackers,” Davis said.

Arnett will hope to celebrate the new year with a win when they face Chapelton Maroons tomorrow at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex at 5:30 p.m.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm,.com