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**A Nobody** » 2013-01-20 13:41

So now Curtis is gone, who is in charge?

In fact, who is in charge of selecting a replacement?

**The Brixtonian** » 2012-10-27 17:33

Thank goodness he's gone. Tom Curtis is an unknown in the Uk (I had never heard of him before he took up the post with the Antigua & Barbuda football team). Would an unknown Antiguan national been given the same opportunity with the English national team in Britain. ... I think not!

Find a hungry, high profile - and qualified coach - to move the Benna Boyz onwards and upwards.

**Federal Palm** » 2012-10-23 21:50

Hey
Tom Curtis has left. His job is done. It is not the sub, it is not the defensive play. His job is done. Everyone now has to deal with the next level. We need a new team for 2018. Is ABFA ready for that. Are the national youth teams U-21, U-19, U-17, U-15 U-13 in place. Are the youth league for U-17, U-15 and High School championships in place.
Premier Div must now be played with a game clock for the players to see. We are not to have another debacle of a player being subbed in the 88th minute of a 90 minute game. Tactical timing is part of the game for players and spectators.

**Osbert R. Frederick** » 2012-10-23 20:45

When matches are won, the players get all the praise. When matches are lost, it is always the coach's fault. Wow!!!!

**Emperah** » 2012-10-23 20:37

Concern citizen you seem to have all the answers and stats. I think you should apply for the job since you're BLACK and will not give a mediocre product. Remember when Zoran Vranesh was here and developed our football? People like you were the reason he left....and took Trinidad to the World Cup instead. I agree with Mr. Curtis. Resign before these ungrateful 'stand/tv/stree t corner coaches' influence the decision to be axed. We will forever be an UNGRATEFUL nation because our mentality will NEVER change.

**down to earth** » 2012-10-23 18:27

concern citizen, your statistics don't make any sense to me. I'm not getting into any race issue with you. But explain to me, who you are comparing his performance to, other than his own?
Which other coach has ever got our national Football team to play against that level of competition? Did we ever draw a football match against the USA before this coach arrived? Don't forget that the USA is coached by the great Juergen Klinsmann. An inexperienced team achieving a draw against Klinsmann's USA team can hardly be called mediocre.

**concern citizen** » 2012-10-23 17:04

My comments has nothing to do with race. it has to do with the mediocrity we so readily accept from anyone who is different from us. Obviously, you cannot see the forest for the trees. I outlined his win lost record and you made no mention of that. Obviously, you fail to realize that he has a dismal record. Again, he coached 70 games won 22, lost 41 and drew 7. You do the math. The local coaches are not paid his kind of salary and showered with the kind of perks that he received. Obviously, he has no clue about team preparation. Our players tire easily, they constantly pull up with cramps, they do not run sufficiently during the games. In short, the team is ill prepared. Oh!. by the way the competition that the Barracuda play in is equivalent to fourth division soccer in America. For two years now they came in last in the competition. When we speak we do not speak by emotion. We speak by facts. Check his record.

**Reality Check** » 2012-10-23 14:53

Greece Won 1 - 0 absorbed a lot of pressure and scored on their only shot off their only corner kick

OFFICIAL STATS BY UEFA
Category Portugal Greece

Total shots 17 4
Shots on target 5 1
Possession 58% 42%
Corners won 10 1
Fouls committed 18 19

**Please** » 2012-10-23 14:48

Concern Citizen....Wow! players go on a field and do not perform and its a race issue...Please!
How many of the local BLACK Head Coaches that led the National team got us this far? Maybe they were not black enough? or were they too black? Please....!
It this a race or football issue?......Please.....
A #$^&^mazing!

**Reality Check** » 2012-10-23 14:41

Maybe some of you should check footage of Euro 2004 which was won by Greece...Greece played an a defensive counterattackin g tournament. With most of their goals coming from set pieces(corner kicks etc)
Italian World Cup soccer: Again a very defensive system with 4 World cups won
Surprisingly, Brazil is also has a very defensive zone system but with players who have the discipline and the skill to create exceptional football
Defense wins championships! and a coach must take into consideration the strengths of the players. Antiguan footballers lacked the discipline to be effective at counterattackin g .. I think that Coach Curtis did just that.

Thanks to Coach Curtis and the Team for giving an old footballer hope.

**concern citizen** » 2012-10-23 14:24

Speaking of the coach. Antigua national team won 8 games under his coaching, lost 10 and drew 4. Under Barracuda in 2011 he won 9 games, lost 13 and drew 2. In 2012 under Barracuda he won 5 games, lost 18 and drew 1. So, Barracuda record did not get better with time. In total he coached 70 games. won 22, lost 41 and drew 7. Make your **sment from his numbers. Not from your emotions. We should not settle for mediocrity. Good riddance. We as Antiguans believe because you are white you are right.

**Reality Check** » 2012-10-23 14:21

I am very proud of what Coach Curtis & the Benna Boyz accomplished......
The reality of coaching at that level is that coaches are always blamed for losses and it is not unusual for a coach to resign after these types of results.
Case in point..Canadian Head Coach Steve Hart (from T&T) resigned after Canada lost to Honduras. He has the best win percentage of any Canadian coach ever. Gone..
What did Coach Curtis and the Benna Boyz do well? I think this is the first time that ANU have gotten this far in qualifying for the World Cup. They tied a USA team that has players playing at the highest levels of professional football.Theref ore they have more experience.
Question is how do we build on this?

**Watching!** » 2012-10-23 11:23

Ungratefulness leads to God's curse!

**Onlooker** » 2012-10-23 10:57

In my oppion the coach did very well with a young football nation that was going up againts more experience teams, plus to hold there own againts one of the Football giants in our Zone USA. Some people keep saying he was playing to Defendsive and he needed to play more offensive, if we had focus on more offensive plays i think we would have a more dissapointed proformance. i think the style of play he did was suited for enexperience antiguan team, the discipline was not there. altho we were playing a defensive game we still got a number of goals scored on us, i dont think we could handle counter attacks if we had played a more offensive games. The strategy was to concede as less goals as posibble or even none at all while talking advantage of the 1 & 2 opertunities we had available but then again the decipline was not there. football is not only a physical sport, there are strategies involved also, did we study the other teams, did they watch tapes of them self and see what improvments need to be made. this is what football is all about now, but congrats to the benna boys for making it that far, and wish the team all the best in the future and upcoming matches

**young analyst** » 2012-10-23 09:47

Is he is a coach or technical director? What is quite clear is the results and with the Benna boys its was not good enough. I have had the honor to watch the team play and yes they were proberly the least professional, however talent wise we can stand up to any. Here i**hink Mr. Curtis failed at, game time decision making, the substitution, they all just seems systematic one set of subs all the time. Its seems like he have no confidence in other players. What i am most worried about is our future players four years from now is a program in place, for our young players?

**Duncy Bat** » 2012-10-23 09:27

I wonder what the host of the morning talkshow with infinite knowledge of all sports ever played from BC to AD has to say about this now his war that was waged for the coach's departure has materialised.

**Have Mercy!** » 2012-10-23 09:24

Mr. Curtis I wish you all the very best.

**Wondering** » 2012-10-23 09:07

You ungrateful set of people finally got you all wishes Let's see where the benna boys go from here then we would be able to make a strict determination if they should stick to music.

**Gratitas** » 2012-10-23 09:02

A cricket umpire credited his divorce to his prolonged absence from his family. I think Tom Curtis' decision to quit for personal reasons is just that. He wants to be with his family.
The making of a world-class athlete starts from a very early age - diet, rest, strong intellect, mental preparation, sound and regular competition, resources, etc. Natural talent is the cherry on the top, but those qualities constitute the whole cake.

**wada** » 2012-10-23 08:34

I am not sure why we launched a campaign to have this man leave. As a previous post indicated, we rose to a level never seen before. ABS TV's report this morning stated that we were at the bottom of the table. Let's look at it from a different perspective, Antigua & Barbuda Benna Boys were in the final group of 12 from 35 teams in CONCACAF. While we were "last" we were up against some pretty experienced team which included scoring twice against the USA's Tim Howard who is Everton's custodian in the English Premiere League.

This man has done us well, thanks Tom, and I wish you all the best.

**Common Cents** » 2012-10-23 08:23

Antigua was ALWAYS up against it. Yes many mistakes were made during the games but it was the first time, a learning experience, and for such a small team with such a limited experience we played far better than we ever had, even managing a draw against Jamaica, and a couple of other creditable performances. I think that the coach did a good job with the team, hopefully whoever comes after will continue to improve the Benna Boys performance

**kitty** » 2012-10-23 07:13

what did tom curtis do wrong.

**Heaven help mankind** » 2012-10-23 03:05

I feel very sorry for most of you who have been nothing but negative towards this guy. The guy bought Antigua far, and deserve some praise. We want everything to happen overnight and we got to realize that Antigua is an inexperience soccer team, and played against more competitive and developed teams. However, I am not using this as an excuse, but sometimes we as spectators need to understand the different aspect of the game, and not what we demand.....Yeah yeah let's blame the coach. Coaches are always made the scapegoat. He isnt the one in the players mind telling them to lose concentration when things are going right. As professionals, you would think they'll know that a game is 90 minutes plus extra time. Was it a bad sub, of course it was, but that doesn't mean the team should stop playing when THE GAME WAS STILL GOING ON. No discipline.

I"m proud of the guys, proud of the team, let's build on this. But let's not put all the blame on the coach. Or if we choose to blame the coach for the loses, let's also give him credit for getting us thus far.

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