The fat lady hasn’t sung just yet
Recommendation for Tappa’s sacking now with JFF executive
Published:Friday | November 19, 2021 | 12:11 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
The technical committee of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), on Wednesday, voted unanimously to fire Reggae Boyz head coach Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore after a two-hour-long virtual meeting.
According to a source close to the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity, the technical committee has handed its recommendation for the sacking of Whitmore to the executive committee of the JFF for them to rule.
It is also understood that the JFF executive committee, which comprises president Michael Ricketts, general secretary Dalton Wint and vice-presidents Bruce Gaynor, Raymond Anderson and Peter Reid, are scheduled to meet over the next few days to decide on the technical committee’s recommendations, with a decision expected as early as Monday.
Meanwhile, efforts to get comments from Ricketts and Wint proved futile, with several calls to their mobile phones going unanswered.
The technical committee’s recommendation comes on the heels of the Reggae Boyz 1-1 draw against the United States in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on Tuesday at the National Stadium, and a draw against El Salvador in San Salvador last week.
The 49-year-old Whitmore has been under pressure since the start of the Reggae Boyz final-round World Cup qualification campaign, with the side only managing seven points from its first eight games.
Whitmore’s problems were evident early, after Jamaica lost 2-1 to Mexico away and then 3-0 to Panama at home. With no points from two games, including one at home, the rumours had already begun.
FAILURE
Then, when Jamaica’s failure to get three points against Costa Rica in a 1-1 draw was followed by a 2-0 loss to the United States, the situation began to look grave, though still retrievable.
But then the man they call Tappa seemed to have had a mini revival with a scoreless draw against the attractive Canadians, followed by a workmanlike 2-0 win over Honduras away.
Was the campaign back on track?
Since that 2-0 win in Honduras, Tappa has had no luck. The Reggae Boyz gave up a last-minute goal against El Salvador in El Salvador that would have given them much to play for, and, after coming from behind to draw level with the United States on Tuesday inside the National Stadium, failed to come up with the winning goal, even after putting the ball in the back of the net.
This is Whitmore’s second stint with the national senior team, having vacated the job in 2013 after 53 games as the boss.
Whitmore took charge in June of 2009, winning 24 games, drawing eight, and losing 21 with a win percentage of 45.
The former Reggae Boy would return to the helm of the senior side for the second time in January of 2017. To date, he has been in charge for 52 matches but has not fared any better than he did in his first stint, winning 23 of those games, drawing 13 and losing 16 for a win percentage of 44.2. Along the way, though, Whitmore did take the Reggae Boyz to the 2017 Gold Cup final, as well as the 2019 Gold Cup semi-finals.
Combining his matches as interim coach, Whitmore is joint top with Rene Simoes as the coach with the most wins in charge of the senior programme (55).
He managed his 100th game for the Reggae Boyz on November 17, 2020, in a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia.