Sinclair slowly winning hearts of Boyz fans

Sinclair

Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter

OF all the English-based players who were invited to join the national team prior to the 1998 World Cup in France, defender Frank Sinclair was arguably the most unwelcomed by the majority of Jamaican fans.

While Paul Hall and Deon Burton were winning the hearts of the fans by scoring goals and Fitzroy Simpson was winning them over with his all round play, Sinclair who was seen as plodding and clumsy by most, came in for some verbal abuse.

Even sections of the press were unimpressed and continued to question his place in the team. Despite the fact he was used by all the coaches between Simoes and now Clovis de Oliveira, his credentials were still questioned.

A mistake in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Miami last year when he allowed a goal against Colombia and then scoring a couple of goals on his own team, Leicester City in the English Premier League did nothing to warm the hearts of the often times unforgiving Jamaica supporter.

His being axed from the team for nearly a year along with four other English-based players after an alleged night out on the town before a friendly international had seemed the end of his International career after only 20 games.

Sinclair, however, never thought the door was closed on his career and kept his ears open for another call. When that call came a few weeks ago just prior to a friendly against Cuba, Sinclair said he leapt at it and vowed to make the best of it.

He told The Gleaner recently that he was surprised at how public the situation with the players had been dealt with. In his first interview with the local press he said he would have preferred if it was dealt with inside the team firstly and then made public later as would have been the case at an English club.

He has made the best of his recall so far and has not put a foot wrong. He has been steady if not brilliant, playing in the middle of the defence in four games, a friendly against Cuba and three straight World Cup qualifiers, a 0-0 draw the United States, a 2-1 loss away to Costa Rica and the historic 2-1 away win over Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.

Sinclair who made his debut for the national team in 1998 described his performance against Cuba as "fantastic" and said it was important for him to get off on a positive note.

He said he was surprised by his been dropped because of the incident last year as he was injured at the time and would not be playing in the game anyhow. He conceded however that Technical Director Clovis de Oliviera was new to the position at the time and might have needed to put his foot down and show that "no one was bigger than the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF)" or the programme.

All this is in the past however and what is important for him Sinclair said was what is to come and that is to qualify for a second World Cup.

Sinclair who turns 30 in December, has been used in a number of positions on the field and while he says he can play many positions, he is more comfortable in the middle of the defence, playing a marker's role.

He was put in at right wing back by former coach Rene Simoes when he first came here and also played there last season for Leicester while battling injuries. He says however he is willing to play wherever the coach wants him and will give his all regardless.

Sinclair whose father is from St Ann and his mother from Clarendon said he had to adjust his game to fit into the national squad seeing that the English game was different from the international game.

The international game, he said, is slower and the ball was bounced around more while in England the players took a more direct route to the goal.

"The learning curve was difficult but having played professionally for 13 years, it was another challenge I had to overcome to improve by game," Sinclair said.

"It is not the mistakes that you make but it is how you react to them that determines your success."

With that in mind, his recall by de Oliviera, Sinclair said, was an easy decision to make.

Despite having won a number of major trophies while playing with Chelsea in the English Premier League, Sinclair said it was a no brainer when he was first asked to play for Jamaica, especially when he had a chance to play at the highest level. At Chelsea he was part of the team that won the English FA Cup and the European Cup among other major titles.

Sinclair who was born in England but came to Jamaica for first time at age three, said he took his whole family here last year and received "a hero's welcome" when they went to Clarendon to visit with relatives.

Sinclair said players such as Clinton Morrison and David Johnson who had chances to join the Reggae Boyz but turned their backs on the programme might be missing an opportunity they might never have anywhere else.

The 29 year-old Sinclair who said he is a close friend of Morrison who was being pursued by the national coaching staff, said he spoke to the player who had called him up to asked his advice on joining the Reggae Boyz.

"Morrison rang me up and asked me about the whole situation and I told him how good it was here and how much I enjoyed playing in the last World Cup," Sinclair said.

He added that while he could not tell Morrison what to do, he gave his advice on what he would have done if he got that chance. He went on to say however that with Morrison's age the player might be willing to sit out and wait for bigger things.

Sinclair said he has signed a new three-year contract with Leicester City two days before joining the Reggae Boyz prior to the Cuba game that will take him up to age 32 said he was looking to play as long as he was able to do so and avoid major injuries.

"One thing about football is that you have to enjoy it while you are there because you are easily forgotten as new players are coming up every year intent on taking your place." he said.

For those who might not know the type of person he is Sinclair says, one thing they can be certain is that every time he goes on the field, he is going to give 100 percent. Off the field he says he is a "respectable person who will listen to other people's opinion." He might not agree with some of the opinions he hears but he "will still take it on board and use the good parts."

Back to Sport