The presidential promise to retain Coach Paul Put represents
official endorsement of the coach's sterling performance ever since he took
charge of the team. Before him, the team was notorious for its lacklustre
performance. Coach Put has turned things around for the team, guiding the boys
to outshine some of the big names in African football. Last Saturday's
breath-taking performance against the once majestic Teranga Lions signposts the
indomitable spirit that now pervades the team.
This is not to say that Coach Put discovered the boys; he never did. But to his credit, he was able to polish the raw talents that he met and infused them with a positive mindset that brooks no defeat. This is the magic of Coach Paul Put.
So despite not taking The Gambia to the Nations Cup or the
World Cup, President Jammeh has decided to get Coach Put to carry on with his
job. What the President seems to say is that it is not Coach Put's fault that
The Gambia lost an opportunity to put itself on the map of African football. At
least, Coach Put did something that none of his immediate predecessors ever did
- he made
We disagree with cynics who say that the Scorpions' last Saturday gallantry was a pyrrhic victory in the sense neither them nor Senegal have qualified for the next stage of the joint qualifying series for the Nations Cup/World Cup in 2010. What we are celebrating is the breakthrough of Gambian football from being underdogs to a new beginning of an emerging superpower in African football.
That is why it is crucial that Coach Put who shares the same
wavelength with the boys is kept at his job until 2012 when the team shall make
its first ever appearance in the Nations Cup. We are optimistic because these
boys will have matured in skills and temperament by then to be a dominant force
in African football.
"Where there's life, there's hope".
Terence
