Dixon pleased with Haile Selassie progress

FORMER REGGAE Boy standout Linval ‘Rudy’ Dixon is of the opinion that his playing days spent at the senior level marshalling troops from the centre of defence has spilled over into the way he coaches at the Haile Selassie High School.

Dixon, who had 127 caps for the Reggae Boyz over the course of a decade, hopes that mindset could help the Payne Avenue-based school claim their first-ever schoolboy title.

“Well, that (defensive mindset) would come naturally but it is mixed in with attacking, because if you look, we are scoring a lot of goals. We have some players who are doing well in front of the goal and they aren’t a selfish bunch,” said Dixon.

Dixon, who played in the daCosta Cup for Clarendon College, said this crop of players are working well as a team and believes building a strong defensive unit augurs well for its progress.

“These players aren’t a selfish bunch, as this is a team that tries to maximise their potential. Of course, as a former central defender you want to build your team from the back to make sure that you have a strong unit.”

Haile Selassie sit atop Group C after four games with 20 goals. They have only conceded one goal, a goalkeeping error against Denham Town.

“So far, we’ve been scoring a lot of goals so it’s (not conceding) really a plus for the team. It says a lot of the team and their understanding on what every player’s role is and what they have to do on the field.”

The former Reggae Boy highlighted that every player on the park has to be tuned in if there is to be success, and that improvement is a collective learning process.

“We’ve only conceded one, and yes, you could say it was a goalkeeping error but it came from something else to lead to that. In that instance, our wingback was ball-watching a bit but it’s always a learning process for the players and the goalkeepers.”

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com