Powell: MBUFC on the right path

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:After an inauspicious start to the season, during which they experienced a myriad of problems, including resistance to a name change, poor results and high rental charges to use the Montego Bay Stadium, Red Stripe Premier outfit Montego Bay United Football Club (MBUFC) has finally hit a comfort zone.

"Things are now looking up," said Orville Powell, chairman of MBUFC. "While we are not yet totally satisfied, making the competition's second end-of-round final is a major boost in terms of our long-term ambition for this club."

At the start of the 2011-12 season, there was much public consternation in Montego Bay when Powell bought the old Seba United franchise and renamed the Club MBUFC, arguing that the move would strengthen the club's capacity to become marketable on the strength of the western city's global popularity as a premier tourism destination.

Things got even more troublesome for MBUFC at the start of the NPL competition when, in addition to their less-than-impressive start and the refusal of former Seba United fans to support the team, they ran into the heavy overhead cost to using the Montego Bay Stadium.

"We really had some rough times," said Powell, who once contemplated moving the team to St Elizabeth in the hope of establishing a support base.

"Things are now getting better and we are satisfied that we are moving in the right direction," added Powell. "In hindsight, we might have handled the name change badly but we really meant no disrespect to Seba United's rich legacy."

After their dismal performance in the NPL first round, in which they won a mere three games, drew one and lost seven, MBUFC acquired the services of Brazilian coach Nedier Dos Santos and top-flight local coach Dr Dean Weatherley, who have been steadily turning around the fortunes of the team.

"We have spent a lot of time working on improving the fitness of the players and getting them to make better decisions on the field of play," said Dos Santos. "We are not exactly where we want to be but the players are working hard to get us there."

Since the start of the NPL second round, MBUFC have been on a roll, completing the fixture unbeaten and qualifying for the second end-of-round final. In 11 games, the team won five and drew six. Strikers Mouricio Gordon and Allan Ottey are turning out to be 'twin terrors' for their opponents.

not satisfied

"The west has not won any silverware in club football for a very long time so we are not satisfied with just reaching the second end-of-round final, we want to win this trophy," said Powell. "This would be a perfect way to go into the third round."

In terms of the use of the Montego Bay Stadium, Powell said that on account of the intervention of PLCA boss Edward Seaga, they now have a workable deal with the St James Parish Council, which manages the stadium.

While the club's recent good form has been a source of motivation and inspiration, Powell said the club was far from being fully satisfied and was still hoping to get better through the acquisition of more quality players.

"We are still in the bottom six of this 12-team competition and we want to get into the top half," said Powell. "The team is playing reasonably well but we are still eyeing a player like Rusea's striker Brian 'Rambo' Brown, who is obviously a quality player."

Brown, who scored 38 goals in guiding Rusea's to the 2011 daCosta Cup title, recently told The Gleaner that his focus was not on the NPL at this time as he wants to give priority attention to his upcoming CXC examinations.