Coach King drops Pierre, Ince, Rogers

Senior Multimedia Reporter

walter.alibey@guardian.co.tt

There has been another reshuffle on the staff of the senior national football team ahead of the Concacaf Nations League and the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, which will continue in September.

Following the sacking of senior coach Angus Eve and the hiring of his assistant Derek King as his replacement on an interin level, three more removals have taken place, according to a source close to the development, with King on the job for about two weeks.

Guardian Media Sports has confirmed the sacking of equipment manager Anton Pierre, goalkeeper coach Clayton Ince, and physiotherapist Ryan Rogers, all contracted to 2025, and worked alongside King under Eve.

King and his new staff will be preparing for the Nations League and World Cup qualifiers in the coming months.

King, a former national youth coach, has brought in Walt Noreiga, the AC Port-of-Spain coach who has so far made a name for himself in the two seasons of the T&T Premier Football League Tier 1 with a second-place finish that was followed by the 2023–2024 title season.

Noreiga, who publicly said he patterns his style of football from English Premier League giants Arsenal, will be King’s assistant coach, while former national goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach Ross Russell has been picked as the replacement for Ince, another former national goalkeeper and coach, and Joey Rooplal comes in as the replacement for Rogers as the physio.

However, there has been no replacement for Pierre, a former national defender, as he was not a contracted staff member, Guardian Media Sports was informed.

When contacted yesterday, Ince said he was not informed by anyone that he was being replaced.

“Nobody contacted me to say anything, so I am not aware that I was removed as the goalkeeper coach,” Ince said.

Pierre could not be contacted either, as calls to his cellphone went unanswered.

President of the T&T Football Association, Kieron Edwards, and his vice president, Colin Murray, both said they were not aware of the changes in the senior national team staff.

However, they said the new coach would have the authority to pick his own staff, despite him being a caretaker coach.

The football association has begun a process to recruit a new head coach for Eve, who was fired on July 31 despite having more than a year left on his contract, and it does not rule out King, who can boost his chances with victories in the coming Concacaf Nations League matches next month and in October.

The Soca Warriors are scheduled to face Honduras in their opening game of the Nations League on September 6 and will then take on French Guiana four days later, on September 10. Thereafter, they will face Cuba in a pair of matches on October 10 and October 14.

Edwards said it is a normal procedure for coaches to select their own staff, and it’s no different here. “I do not know about the changes, but it could only be if King mentioned to the coaches who he wants to work with on his staff, so I am cool with that,” the local football boss explained.

Murray, too, said that while he was unaware of the shakeup on the staff, he could see the new coach deciding who he wanted to work with on his staff. “This is only normal,” Murray said.

Recently, one executive member of the TTFA revealed that former national striker and now-coach Dwight Yorke and ex-United States coach Gregg Berhalter were names that the Board of the T&TFA was expected to consider as part of its recruitment process.

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