Duckie: Wrong time to ban Bailey
FORMER NATIONAL assistant coach Donovan Duckie strongly disagrees with the decision by Reggae Boyz head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson to suspend in-form Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey.
Bailey was suspended after he broke the team’s 10 p.m. curfew and missed a team bus to training during the team’s last camp.
However, with the Reggae Boyz heading into their Concacaf Nations League semi-final against the USA in the United States on Thursday, Duckie argued that there are other ways they could have disciplined the player and still allow him to play in one of the nation’s biggest football matches.
He noted that players breaking curfew has been a recurring problem for the national team, pointing to former Reggae Boy Marlon King who was suspended twice for the same incident under Theodore Whitmore’s stewardship.
He believes the best approach for this particular violation is to hit the players where it hurts most, in their pockets.
“He (Hallgrimsson) is a senior coach, j ust like Duckie, Pep Guardiola, Jose (Mourinho). All of us are senior coaches.
“But if Messi left his camp before the World Cup semi-finals or final, would they have played him [anyway]? Most people would say yes, because it’s Messi.
“What they would have done is, they would have fined him,” he reasoned.
“The only way to control players at that level is to hit them in the pocket. What if the entire back four and goalkeeper went out that night. What if half or two-thirds of the team left camp? What would have happened?
HIGHEST LEVEL
“You cannot cut off your nose to spite your face. You are dealing with a country at the highest level. We are in the Nations League semifinal, which is unprecedented. Fine the player. Tell him he has £10,000 to pay. If he can’t pay the £10,000 he is out. And if he pays, it’s a lesson to everyone.” He continued that there are different stages and levels of football. How you reprimand a high-earning professional football must be different from a schoolboy, and he said history has shown that suspensions do not work in this case.
“They kicked King from the squad for the same reason and he came back and did the same thing.
“How are you going to change this if you keep pacing the same pathway. You are going to have the same outcome. The coach has the path he wants to take. But if it was me I would have imposed a heavy fine,” Duckie said.
Most local football pundits and the wider public have supported Hallgrimsson’s move to exclude Bailey, including former Boys’Town and Humble Lion coach Andrew Price and Harbour View General Manager Clyde Jureidini.
“I am one who would want to err on the side of good discipline. Trivante Stewart and Bailey broke that rule.
FUTURE
“If you are making a stand, you make a stand. You don’t count the cost, you count the reward. Hopefully, it will reward him and the squad in the future,” Jureidini commented.
Although Demarai Gray and Shamar Nicholson will also miss the match, Jureidini believes the team’s chances are still very good.
“It’s unfortunate that two of the other attacking players are not available. But you stand on principle, and that is a sign of good leadership.
“We hope the players that come in will give a good account of themselves. This is the richest squad we have had. We have had lesser squads and done well with discipline and team work. The talent is there in abundance and at the coach’s disposal.”
Price also believes that the situation is unfortunate but it is a great opportunity for others to step up and shine.
“The other players are going to get an opportunity to shine and they should use it to prove themselves, with World Cup qualifiers and Copa America coming up.
“He (Bailey) will be terribly missed. No Leon. No Demarai. No Shamar. It’s going to hurt us. But I believe it is time for players to step up and fill the breach,” Price said.