5 days ago
10
AS VERE United’s season points towards relegation following their 2-1 defeat to Tivoli Gardens in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) on Sunday, coach Lewnworth Hyde points to inexperience and defensive frailties as their main weaknesses over the campaign.
Nevertheless, he believes they have learnt a lot from the experience and insists that whether they are relegated or not, they will look to add some experienced heads to balance their squad.
“We are the team that gave up the most goals (70) this season and that is why we are where we are. So defensively, we are poor and I can put that down to, we are inexperienced.
“Most of the players, it is their first time in this league. Most of them are coming out of the Manning Cup.
“It is a learning process for the team moving forward. We just have to take from it what we learnt this season; and if we have to go down and play and come back up, that is what we have to do.”
He noted that the main objective of the club is to expose and export players, and that the JPL remains the best outlet for this locally, so their long-term goal is to be competitive in the JPL
“Mr (Craig) Butler, the technical director and owner of the club, that’s the direction he is taking it. He is now in Europe looking [for] clubs for some of the players.
“We will continue with the youth, but we will have to blend it with some seasoned campaigners.
“Experienced players, I think that is what we will add going forward. We will continue with the youth. We have more players coming from Manning Cup, daCosta Cup, so we just have to continue [to] work with the youth and coach them as best as we can. When they garner some experience and learn, they won’t make the same mistakes twice,” he said.
Vere sit at the foot of the JPL table on 23 points, nine points behind second-from-bottom Molynes, with three games remaining in their season.
In order for the Clarendon team to avoid demotion, they need to win all their remaining matches handsomely.
However, a point for either Molynes or Humble Lion, who sit just above the relegation zone on 32 points as well, would seal Vere’s fate.
Nevertheless, Hyde said they will battle until their chance of survival has expired.
“We have to play the last three games and see what we can get out of it. Our next game is against Arnett, at Arnett, so we just have try [to] motivate them to go out and play. There is no pressure on them now. So in case we are out of the league, we have to use the next tier and try to come back up and continue to play football,” he commented.
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