Post by QPR Report on Jul 12, 2009 8:39:01 GMT
Jamaica Observer - Stewart booted from Gold Cup squad
IAN BURNETT @ THE CONCACAF GOLD CUP in the USA
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Miami, USA - Jamaica's national senior team defender Damion Stewart was booted from the CONCACAF Gold Cup squad here last evening by the coaching staff for what they said was the player's "constant breaching and challenging of team rules, which was seen as disruptive and inconsistent with general objectives of the team".
However, the player in his defence yesterday just prior to his departure from the team hotel to the airport, told the media that in addition to doing nothing wrong to be sent home, he was not given a hearing to defend himself from the charges.
According to a statement from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), the "coaching staff of the Jamaica national team has taken a decision to withdraw defender Damion Stewart from the squad currently participating in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States".
The JFF release quoted head coach Theodore Whitmore as saying: "Damion never gave us the impression that he was focused and wanted to be a part of the team and how it operates. He questioned and challenged everything even team tactics. Even his teammates were not pleased with his behaviour and general attitude.
"I have tried to keep him in line, but he has not shown a willingness to change. We cannot have a situation where the team is damaged because of the selfishness and indiscipline of one man," Whitmore said.
During the one-week pre-Gold Cup camp in the Cayman Islands, Stewart was among a group of players fined for breaches. He and Jermaine Johnson were also fined heavily for missing the flight from Jamaica to Miami at the start of the Gold Cup tournament.
But the player challenged the coaching staff's charges against him and how the situation was handled.
"I am just trying to clear myself to let the public know that I didn't feel like I did anything wrong to be going home," Stewart, 28, said, before adding that he was hurt.
"Well, definitely, it is the ultimate insult, and I am not going to tell you that I'm not feeling bad. I'm feeling very bad right now because every time I put on the shirt, whether I'm playing idle football or even friendly football, I always give my all, especially when I'm playing for Jamaica, so I don't see how on earth they could draw that conclusion that I don't want to be here. That surprised me," he said.
The Queens Park Rangers fans player of the year and players' player of the year explained that at about 11:20 yesterday morning he went to the room of the head of delegation Bruce Gaynor to collect his per diem, when he was made aware of his fate.
"Well I was told that I didn't look like I was interested or I didn't look like I wanted to be here. That's the reason I was given to say that I was going home... at about 11:21 today, which is when aI went there to collect some per diem from the head of delegation.
"I saw like the vice-president, Mr Anderson (Raymond), the coach and head of delegation, and they said that the coach has come to a decision to send me home. At that point they told me that I was going to be on the 1:30 flight, so I told them that that was a little bit too quick for me, so I would need a later flight."
The player said he requested a private meeting with the coach in order to get a clearer idea of what his crime was supposed to be. He said the coach told him that he didn't look like he wanted to be here along with "other stuff", without elaborating.
Stewart, popularly called 'Stew Peas' added that they were joined by the assistant coach Bradley Stewart and during that argument, the issues of him being fined in the Cayman Island, as well as being heavily fined for missing the flight to Miami came to the fore. He also claimed that he was told that he questioned everything that the coach asked him to do, and that he should just follow instructions.
But he said he informed them that he was an opinionated person. "It didn't matter what I said. They had already made a decision that I would be going home, because even in the meeting with the coaches they are saying whatever the coach says you do, you don't follow instruction, but I told them I'm a very opinionated person, and if I have an opinion I am going to share it. We are not robots, nor programmes, so that's just me, that's who I am."
The player argued that after being given the captain's armband in the Cayman Islands and then starting in the first two games of the Gold Cup, he was surprised to find himself banished to the grandstand for the game against El Salvador, before an ankle injury to Claude Davis gave him a reprieve.
www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/html/20090711T200000-0500_155241_OBS_STEWART_BOOTED_FROM_GOLD_CUP_SQUAD.asp
IAN BURNETT @ THE CONCACAF GOLD CUP in the USA
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Miami, USA - Jamaica's national senior team defender Damion Stewart was booted from the CONCACAF Gold Cup squad here last evening by the coaching staff for what they said was the player's "constant breaching and challenging of team rules, which was seen as disruptive and inconsistent with general objectives of the team".
However, the player in his defence yesterday just prior to his departure from the team hotel to the airport, told the media that in addition to doing nothing wrong to be sent home, he was not given a hearing to defend himself from the charges.
According to a statement from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), the "coaching staff of the Jamaica national team has taken a decision to withdraw defender Damion Stewart from the squad currently participating in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States".
The JFF release quoted head coach Theodore Whitmore as saying: "Damion never gave us the impression that he was focused and wanted to be a part of the team and how it operates. He questioned and challenged everything even team tactics. Even his teammates were not pleased with his behaviour and general attitude.
"I have tried to keep him in line, but he has not shown a willingness to change. We cannot have a situation where the team is damaged because of the selfishness and indiscipline of one man," Whitmore said.
During the one-week pre-Gold Cup camp in the Cayman Islands, Stewart was among a group of players fined for breaches. He and Jermaine Johnson were also fined heavily for missing the flight from Jamaica to Miami at the start of the Gold Cup tournament.
But the player challenged the coaching staff's charges against him and how the situation was handled.
"I am just trying to clear myself to let the public know that I didn't feel like I did anything wrong to be going home," Stewart, 28, said, before adding that he was hurt.
"Well, definitely, it is the ultimate insult, and I am not going to tell you that I'm not feeling bad. I'm feeling very bad right now because every time I put on the shirt, whether I'm playing idle football or even friendly football, I always give my all, especially when I'm playing for Jamaica, so I don't see how on earth they could draw that conclusion that I don't want to be here. That surprised me," he said.
The Queens Park Rangers fans player of the year and players' player of the year explained that at about 11:20 yesterday morning he went to the room of the head of delegation Bruce Gaynor to collect his per diem, when he was made aware of his fate.
"Well I was told that I didn't look like I was interested or I didn't look like I wanted to be here. That's the reason I was given to say that I was going home... at about 11:21 today, which is when aI went there to collect some per diem from the head of delegation.
"I saw like the vice-president, Mr Anderson (Raymond), the coach and head of delegation, and they said that the coach has come to a decision to send me home. At that point they told me that I was going to be on the 1:30 flight, so I told them that that was a little bit too quick for me, so I would need a later flight."
The player said he requested a private meeting with the coach in order to get a clearer idea of what his crime was supposed to be. He said the coach told him that he didn't look like he wanted to be here along with "other stuff", without elaborating.
Stewart, popularly called 'Stew Peas' added that they were joined by the assistant coach Bradley Stewart and during that argument, the issues of him being fined in the Cayman Island, as well as being heavily fined for missing the flight to Miami came to the fore. He also claimed that he was told that he questioned everything that the coach asked him to do, and that he should just follow instructions.
But he said he informed them that he was an opinionated person. "It didn't matter what I said. They had already made a decision that I would be going home, because even in the meeting with the coaches they are saying whatever the coach says you do, you don't follow instruction, but I told them I'm a very opinionated person, and if I have an opinion I am going to share it. We are not robots, nor programmes, so that's just me, that's who I am."
The player argued that after being given the captain's armband in the Cayman Islands and then starting in the first two games of the Gold Cup, he was surprised to find himself banished to the grandstand for the game against El Salvador, before an ankle injury to Claude Davis gave him a reprieve.
www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/html/20090711T200000-0500_155241_OBS_STEWART_BOOTED_FROM_GOLD_CUP_SQUAD.asp
