RENE SIMOES got so used to achieving success by doing things his way that even in the face of failure, he risked being sacked for doing otherwise.
After all, the little Brazilian who carried the big message 'Jesus Saves' on his back during his first tenure as Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) technical director, had resurrected the Reggae Boyz from what appeared certain elimination in the six-nation CONCACAF Finals for the 1998 World Cup Finals in France.
Unlike that occasion when the Boyz were lying bottom of the group with one point and nearly all their first-round matches completed, Simoes was not extended the luxury of patience this time by Captain Horace Burrell, the JFF president who had hand-picked the Brazilian on a coach-seeking tour in 1995, before reinstating him this January following an eight-year hiatus.
Quick meeting
In the hallway of the San Pedro Sula Airport, in Honduras, before 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 11, the 'Captain' gathered the players, management, coaching and technical staff for a quick meeting while the flight was being boarded; then huddled with the Jamaican media a few minutes after to inform them that he had summoned Simoes to his hotel room at '0100 hours' and fired him.
Somewhat shrouded in his delivery - probably more so due to the element of surprise through their great friendship - was the subtle, but nonetheless clear message from the army man that Simoes had failed to follow orders.
"It's unfortunate, it's not something that I really wanted to do but Jamaica's football programme is bigger than any individual," Burrell said.
In fact, a vast number of individuals with better quality and bigger experience were never members of the Jamaica squad selected by Simoes for any of the big and difficult overseas World Cup qualifying assignments against Canada, Mexico and Honduras.
And while Canada may have worked somewhat, there were some glaring tactical blunders, mainly through the usage of inexperienced players, that contributed to Simoes' demise.
As a result, a sub-standard squad delivered similar performances that have left the country's hopes hanging by a thread, heavily dependent on hugely unexpected losses by Mexico and mainly, Honduras, as well as their own transformation of grand proportions for maximum points from three victories when the qualifiers hit Jamaican shores.
After three games apiece, Mexico lead with maximum nine points. Honduras have six and Jamaica and Canada are lagging way behind on a point from their drawn encounter in Toronto. Only two will advance in the qualifiers.
Marlon King, the team's best natural striker, versatile Omar Daley, the enigmatically dangerous Jermaine Johnson, Claude Davis, the centre half Stewart brothers, Damion and Demar, Khari Stephenson, and others were missing from the important away games.
And even a top quality like Jermaine Hue, who was present, spent far more time on the bench than youthful talents who were clearly not ready for the big occasion.
In the meantime, Jamaica's other professional footballers, including King, who since showing open dissent when being substituted as much as four and a half games back against the Bahamas in Kingston, have not been seen.
Asked time and again to explain the selections, or lack thereof, Simoes flatly refused, stating he doesn't call the names of players not in his squad.
In fact, after the 3-0 loss in The Azteca to Mexico that he himself described as a 'shame', the Brazilian went a step further, accepting the 'blame' for largely the planning of their arrival a day ahead of the game, which ultimately contributed to an uncharacteristic showing that woefully lacked self-belief.
Such brave acceptance of fault, not for the first time, would no doubt have found more receptive ears and consoling hearts on another occasion for the much-loved and respected Brazilian, especially if it weren't crucial World Cup qualifiers.
Throughout the course of nearly five years here on his previous tour of duty, Simoes made it quite clear he wasn't afraid to discard individual talent to maintain team principles. He reinforced that belief in a story written by senior journalist Gordon Williams - who is based in the United States - and published in The Gleaner a few weeks back, going even further to state that no amount of criticism this time would deter the way he went about his duty.
Underestimated the mandate
Evidently, he lacked the quality of the '98 squad and clearly underestimated the mandate to beef up the squad for results to boost not only qualification hopes, but the programme.
The senior national team is largely the bread-winner of the programme. It's very success or failure decides that of Jamaica's football.
For instance, if in the next series of games on October 11, if Jamaica fail to beat Mexico and Honduras win against Canada, there's no guarantee of a full stadium for any of the two remaining games as the country would be eliminated.
Contrastingly, a Jamaican win could guarantee another two full stadiums - for the next match against Honduras, then the final one against Canada, as the team would still have a chance going down to the wire.
Consider the team even making a miraculous recovery to the CONCACAF finals, a six-nation home and away series with five home matches. That's plenty of money from just the gate.
In the '98 campaign, business firms were clamouring for their little piece of sponsorship just to be associated with the Reggae Boyz and similar success, it's anticipated, would attract deals of that ilk. And on a larger scale, Air Jamaica and American Airlines were battling to be the official carrier of the Boyz, allowing the JFF huge discounts to move its teams and fly in its many professionals who are based largely in Europe and the United States; while several sports goods manufacturers were jostling to suit up the national teams.
These are just some of the benefits to be accrued internationally for financially poor countries like Jamaica, but the only guarantee is success, especially that of the senior team.
With that not happening and more than capable hands on the sidelines, there was bound to be some amount of prompting from officialdom - something that is as common to the game as the size of the egos that make or break the individuals participating in them.
There have been some largely publicised spats too, some easy to remember, like that between English Premiership club Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner, Roman Ambranovich, and its once extraordinary Spanish coach, Jose Mourinho, over playing time allotted to Russian striker Andrei Shevchenko.
When the team is winning, the coach generally wins the battle.
But given Jamaica's falterings, Simoes was standing on very shaky grounds and his own steadfast principles, or folly if you rather, have now made him a victim as he succumbed to the age-old unwritten football rule: Players win, coaches lose.
