Blaine takes it on the chin
Says coaching staff holds part of the blame for not leading Group C
Published:Tuesday | February 22, 2022 | 12:08 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
WHEN VIN Blaine was appointed national senior women’s head coach in November, he said it was important to earn the players’ trust as they worked towards qualifying for back-to-back World Cups.
Two games into their qualifying campaign, he says that the relationship is slowing building as they are halfway towards the final round of qualifying.
The Reggae Girlz returned home yesterday after their 6-1 win over Grenada at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium on Sunday afternoon, their second of the first round. Despite braces from Khadija Shaw and Jody Brown as well as strikes from Tiffany Cameron and Alika Keene, the team left the field somewhat disappointed with their efforts, unable to increase their scoring tally to match the Dominican Republic’s, who lead the group with a +13 goal difference. The teams are tied on six points.
For Blaine, it was the first opportunity since his appointment to work with the team and says that he is focused on building the relationship with his players, which he believes will need more time than just this window.
“I have found out a lot of things about the players since I have been with them for a couple of games. Still not where I want to be with them but I have to build the relationship. I think sometimes as a coach you have to build a relationship with your team,” Blaine told The Gleaner.
“I’m not sure if they are trusting me after two games, (but) I want to make sure that we get to a stage where they understand what I’m trying to achieve.”
Jamaica are currently in second place in Group C with only the group winners going through to the final round in July.
With an eye on transparency, Blaine said that he discussed the Grenada game at length with captain Khadija Shaw as well as with a couple of the senior players to dissect and to find solutions heading into the month-long break.
“They are a bunch of experienced players and I think what they were doing most of all is to go over what happened. What they think went wrong. I accepted some of the responsibility there and we decided to have further conversations. Because there was something that we as a coaching staff did wrong. I’m very transparent when it comes on to that,” Blaine said.
With elevated expectations for the Girlz to get to the next round, Blaine has accepted the pressure that comes with being the favourites in the round, hoping for more time with the players before the April window, which would feature a showdown with the Dominican Republic on the final day of the first round to decide the group.
“I don’t know about the coaching staff but on me, it’s a lot of pressure. I think everyone is looking forward to us, with a good team, going through. So the pressure is on me to get it right. Make sure that we prepare them properly. I think we will have a little bit more time with them before the Cayman Islands.”
Jamaica will play the Cayman Islands on April 9, before hosting the Dominican Republic on April 12.