BLISSETTNodley Wright, Staff Reporter
THE PLACE which provided a lifeline to the flagging national programme at a time when it was finding wins hard to come by could again come to Jamaica's aid in another time of need.
Jamaica-born and England-raised Luther Blissett, who had 14 caps for his adopted country, last week expressed his willingness to assist the Jamaican coaching staff as a strikers' coach. According to Blissett, goalscoring is an area in which the Reggae Boyz are falling short.
"I said for some time that I would be interested in whatever position I would be able to help (the Jamaican team) with," the 45-year-old, who was born in Falmouth, Trelawny and left Jamaica at age five told The Gleaner.
"I would of course be interested because I could help Jamaica to improve on what they have achieved so far and work with some of their players. It is something I have really thought about," Blissett said.
"I have seen bits and pieces of games and instruction in goalscoring is something that is needed," continued the man, who along with John Barnes, lighted up the stage for Watford in the mid to late '70s.
For Blissett, who scored freely for Watford and Bournemouth, for which he played after a year spent with AC Milan, it is vital for any team to have a specialist working on the attacking aspect of football
"They have got specialist goalkeeping coaches and the attacking part of football requires specialists also. You need someone who knows a bit about it and I have played there all of my career, so what I would like to do is to pass on that knowledge to the players with the abilities that they have so that they could go on and use it the best way they can," explained Blissett who did commentary on Jamaica's friendly against Nigeria in May 2002 at Loftus Road, the home of Queens Park Rangers.
"The thing about forward play is that it is about capitalising on all the hard work done by the team. To play this position one has to be decisive about what he is going to do, be very single-minded and very determined. Some times you could get one chance for the game so when it comes you have to be prepared to take it," he continued.
Blissett said he has been thinking about the Jamaican team seriously for the past three years.
"I have speaking about it with a friend of mine for about three or four years. I spoke about the team in general but especially the forwards. The forward part interests me more because I enjoy that more and know more about anyway," he said.
"Jamaica is where I was born. I represented England as a player but one thing I have always said is that one day I would like to be the national coach for one of the Caribbean islands because that is where I am from. I would like to give something back."
As far as realising his dream of working with the Jamaican team is concerned no contacts have been made by either party but if that happens then Blissett would be more than willing to enter into a discussion. In the meantime he works as a scout for a number of teams in England such as Queens Park Rangers and Watford.
