Girlz will benefit from Gough’s experience – Busby Jr

Reggae Girlz head coach Hubert Busby Jr said the team’s late start to preparation was the main reason highly-experienced and qualified coach David Gough was added to the coaching staff for the upcoming Concacaf Women’s Olympic qualifiers later this month.

Busby Jr expects Gough, who joins Andrew Price as assistant coach, will provide a vital service to the Reggae Girlz at the tournament.

Gough, who also served as assistant coach for England at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, will focus mainly on working with Busby Jr to break down analytical data for teams they will play against.

He has worked in 17 different countries on three separate continents and has served on the Welsh FA and UEFA in coaching development as well the Football Association (the FA). Gough also worked with Cardiff City’s youth academy during their time in the English Premier League.

“I have known him for a couple years now and obviously, all our programmes need help with analytical breakdown, so we added another piece. So, in time, we can do it ourselves, and we can both spend time breaking down the opposition, and that’s very crucial when you don’t have a lot of time to prepare; so that was the reason behind bringing him in,” Busby Jr explained.

The local contingent of the squad left the island on Friday for a two-week training camp, scheduled to be held in Houston, Texas, until January 27th. The delegation will depart to Edinburgh, Texas, on the 27th for the qualifiers.

NO PRESSURE

Despite the last-minute arrangements, Busby Jr said there is no pressure as he looks to take the Girlz over their final hurdle towards Olympic qualification.

“No (pressure) at all, football is like this; you have to deal with what you have to deal with. I am grateful for the opportunity and support. We have people backing and supporting us, including the coaches who are not with us, and all we need to do is go out and focus on the job. It’s a huge ask but we knew that, so the goal is to go out and do the best we can,” Busby Jr said.

He added that he was confident the team can cop one of the two available spots for the Olympics with the group of players available.

“Obviously, this is a good core of what we took to the World Cup, and included in it are some younger players who did well in Peru at the Pan Am Games. So we are confident this group can go out in two weeks’ time and get a positive result.

“It’s been a progress to get to where we are and the players in the squad have some confidence, especially on the back of going to a World Cup. And we should have some continuity in terms of what we are looking to do heading into the Olympic qualifiers,” Busby Jr added.

The qualifiers will be played from January 28 to February 9. Jamaica have been grouped with Canada, Mexico, and St Kitts and Nevis. The Reggae Girlz play their opening game against Mexico on January 29.