The gamble that never paid off
Harbour View sack coaches after Tivoli Gardens thumping
Published:Thursday | November 28, 2024 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
HARBOUR VIEW president Carvel Stewart admitted that their gamble to hire physical trainer Jason ‘Buju’ Henry as head coach of their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) team has clearly not worked and that they have to urgently “correct” the situation.
On Wednesday, the club announced that it was sacking Henry and his staff after a poor start to the JPL campaign, which has seen the team losing six of 11 matches, with just three wins.
The series of bad results came to a head on Sunday after Habour View were roughed up in a 6-0 defeat to an also struggling Tivoli Gardens.
Late Wednesday, Harbour View released a statement on the issue.
“Effective immediately, the HVFC Coaching Staff of Jason Henry, Donald Stewart, and Chevaughn Bailey are relieved of their responsibilities,” read the release.
Criticised for coaching pick
Prior to the start of the season, the east Kingston club was harshly criticised for choosing Henry over long-time assistant Sean Fraser, who made his desire to be head coach an open secret. But the club stood by their selection and put their full support behind the beginner coach, Henry.
However, after only two months and one of the poorest starts to a JPL season, Stewart said the experiment has definitely not worked and that they have to now look in a new direction, with the first round still to be completed.
“It clearly has not worked out,” Stewart commented.
“The intentions are all very pure, but the results are not justified. I take no pleasure in having to make such a decision.
“It was crucial though for what we saw as the survival of the club in the Premier League, that we couldn’t continue beyond this stage and enough time had been given to see if we could not only improve, but get a system going that would enable us to prevail,” he said.
In their last seven matches, the former champions have tasted victory just once while they have been on the losing end five times, and Stewart said they weren’t seeing the improvements they wanted.
“It was a continuing thread, and there didn’t seem to be any improvement or changes. We have, in fact, played 11 games and have lost six, more than 50 per cent. This is an unusual space for us at this stage of any competition over the decades. So we clearly need correction,” he insisted.
Former player Nicholas Beckett will take charge of the squad in the interim as they look for a long-term replacement for Henry.
Harbour View are eighth in the JPL standing on 11 points. They will take on Vere United in their next game on Monday.