Still no head coach, time runs out as major competitions approach
DELAY in appointing a new football head coach for the national senior men’s side to prepare for upcoming major competitions is one of the challenges facing Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF).
This was highlighted by the SIFF President Donald Marahare during an interview with High Park Communication Team of FIFA in Parish, Tuesday this week after meeting with the FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Preparation by the national senior men’s side to lift their standard of play and compete well is a challenge.
“I would say it’s a – it’s a big, big issue for us at the moment. I say that because I think there are a lot of challenges.
“It’s not going to be easy, given the recent performance of the national team at the recent OFC Nations [Cup] held in Port Vila: we were up against Vanuatu and New Zealand; we didn’t make it beyond the pool stage.”
He said, the main challenge now is appointing a new head coach as time is running out before two important events.
“But we see the challenge there. We currently (are) facing a transition in terms of, you know, given the fact that the former national head coach had left, and now we’re in the process of securing the services of a new head coach. And that has to be…we’re running against time.
“We know that time is of the essence because we have to get the appointment as soon as possible and get the person who’s going to be appointed as the head coach to start getting going with the team.”
Marahare said, last minute preparation ahead of a tri-nations friendlies in September and the world cup qualifiers in October will be tough and Solomon Islands need to start preparing now.
“It’s not going to be easy, because as we’ve already witnessed at the last OFC Nations Cup, every team basically went to compete, and all the teams performed to a very high standard of football. “And we’re going to see that again at the [up]coming qualifiers. We understand that we’ve now been pooled together with, I think, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. I think with Fiji as well, yeah. And it’s not going to be easy.
“But the challenge now is to ensure that we start preparation as early as possible, to have proper preparation, adequate preparation, which we are in the process of sitting down and then coming up with plans for those preparations, that we are having a tri-nations tournament in Fiji in September between Fiji, Hong Kong and Solomon Islands.
“That will be an opportunity as a prelude,” he said.
SIFF had earlier indicated that a new coach would be appointed at the end of July. However, this was not done time is ticking towards the September friendlies with Fiji and Hong Kong-China.
A 42-men extended training side is currently under the guidance of technical director and interim coach Moses Toata.
They are having three days a week training.
By MOFFAT MAMU
