Gilbert aims to hit ground running
“It’s always a pleasure to serve your country”
Published:Friday | October 20, 2023 | 12:11 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
NEWLY appointed interim head coach of Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz, Xavier Gilbert, has described his latest appointment as a “pleasure” following news from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) that he will take over the reins of the national team, which is set to compete in Women’s Gold Cup qualification later this month.
Gilbert, who was assistant to former head coach Lorne Donaldson, will oversee the team’s matches against Panama on October 25 and Guatemala on October 29.
“It’s always a pleasure to serve your country. I think it’s important as whenever you’re called to serve, you just have to do what you have to do,” he stated.
Gilbert, who is also the coach of Jamaica Premier League club Arnett Gardens FC, added that despite the current difficult period for the national team, they will just have to work together in order to make it through the inaugural Women’s Gold Cup qualification.
“It’s a difficult period, and the turnaround time for the two games will be short, but we will have to give it our best shot to see how things work out,” he said.
The appointment comes on the heels of Lorne Donaldson’s exit from the national set-up after the governing body, the JFF, opted not to renew his contract. Donaldson had earlier guided the Reggae Girlz to a historic berth at the round of 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. However, despite the off-field issues, coach Gilbert believes the only challenge he now faces will be to get the girls playing well on the day as they will enter their upcoming fixtures not having gone through many training sessions. He added that the majority of the players would have been together at some point in time so that there’s a level of cohesiveness among them.
“A lot of the players have been part of units before and played together at some point in time. So as it relates to getting them to gel, it’s going to have its challenges, but I don’t think it will be that difficult. Playing-wise, that will have challenges because you wouldn’t have had many training sessions before the games,” Gilbert added.
According to the JFF, the squad for the two upcoming fixtures has already been picked and will be announced in short order.