Bailey rebuilding confidence at Tivoli Gardens
Sometimes it takes the sound of a different voice in the changing room or a different way of doing things on the training ground to turn things around at a football club and these seem to be the things that technical Director Glendon “Admiral” Bailey has brought to tivoli Gardens.
The West Kingston-based club were way outside of the running just a few weeks ago, but since Head Coach Phillip Williams stepped down from his position and Bailey has taken over the day-to-day coaching of the team, there has been a change of fortune for the former premier league champions.
They were trailing league leaders Dunbeholden FC 0-1 at half-time in their game on Sunday in their latest Jamaica Premier League match, but found a way back into the game in the second half, to snatch a precious point at the full-time whistle.
Bailey said that he charged his players to respond to the situation they were in, in a manner similar to the response they showed just a few weeks ago.
“I said to them at halftime when we were one goal down…i reminded them about when we were three goals down in the first half against [Harbour View] and we were able to get back. So, I said to them, let us just go out there, one step at a time and just make some adjustments.
“We made some adjustments in the changing room, and it paid off. They came out and believed in what I said and started to show that effort on the field.”
But Bailey also thought that things could have been much different if his striker Stephen Barnett did not fluff his lines when he missed an easy chance, just moments before Dunbeholden scored.
“But as you know football, I think if Barnett had scored that first chance that he had gotten, then the game would have been somewhat different. Because when you score early against your opponent it puts them on their back foot, especially a quality team, which is the number one team at this moment in the country,” he suggested.
The result on Sunday, however, was exactly what Tivoli had worked for, which left the technical director feeling pleased.
“We worked all week at this. We know that it would take blood, sweat and tears and a lot of guts and a lot of determination to at least come away with a point and we did that. So, we are pleased because what we came here to achieve, we did that.”
Tivoli Gardens have played six games since Bailey has taken over the reins, drawing four and winning two, a statistic that the has now left them hovering around the playoff positions.
“Since the coach has stepped down and I stepped in as the technical director and taking over fully, we have gone six games unbeaten. It’s just that some of these points that we dropped, the one point, if we had turned them into three, we would have been much better off.
The point earned on Sunday saw Tivoli remain in the top six for two hours as Harbour View defeated Portmore United 2-0 in the feature game at the Stadium East Field and leapfrogged them back into sixth spot, with five games to go in the second round.
“We are grateful, we are in the top six for now and we have to keep fighting. I think the team is improving more and more and believe in themselves. Regardless of the situation we find ourselves in, we are able to overcome that situation and when you start to build that confidence then you can only go upward,” he said.
Tivoli Gardens are now in seventh place on 22 points, one point and once place behind Harbour View who now occupy the final play-off spot with their 23 points.