By Paul-Andre Walker, Staff ReporterWATERHOUSE FOOTBALL Club will go into its first official pre-season training session today under the watchful eyes of new coach Peter Cargill.
Officially signed to the club two weeks ago, the transition in coaching duties of the former national Under-23 coach has not gone down well with his predecessor, Kenneth 'Bop' Campbell.
Assigned the task of finishing last season after the previous coach, Harold Thomas, had a string of bad results, Campbell put a pep in the step of a Waterhouse team that needed motivation. In his view, his ability to do that should have augured well for an extention of his contract. Even more irksome for the former Waterhouse head, however, was the unceremonious manner in which his tenure was brought to an end.
"It kind of caught me off guard because I had thought I had done quite well because when I got the job the team was very flat and the most I could do was to motivate them," Campbell told The Gleaner yesterday.
"I can't see the reason for it. I should tell you that, to this point nobody has called me and said anything to me about my dismissal," he said.
"I think that kind of behaviour is way out of line. This hasn't been the first time that they have done this to me and so I can safely say that I won't ever be going back over to Waterhouse, this is what you could call the grand finale," he said.
In response to Campbell's aggravation, Waterhouse's public relations officer David Henry, apologised for the misunderstanding but explained that Campbell was not sacked.
"There was no sacking as the word suggests, he was just completing the season," Henry said.
"Not informing him would constitute a breach in protocol, because we should have called him and addressed him and for that we have to apologise to Mr. Campbell. In the two stints that he has done with the club he probably has a 70 per cent win record."
Despite that however Henry maintains that the decision to go with a new coach was the right one.
"On the surface, on the basis of track record and the status of football now the present coach will be in a position to offer the club more than it has been getting," Henry said comparing the two coaches.
FITTING IN
Cargill does not foresee any problems with his new team and says he has been fitting in well.
"I think things are going well. We have the same objectives so I think we have started on the right path and we'll just continue to get all things in place and keep working," said Cargill, the former coach of Harbour View.
The Waterhouse administration is also optimistic that things will go well.
"I think that the collective thought from the executive is that the knowledge that he (Cargill) has gained over the four years of national coaching, two years in the national programme, another three or four years in a professional programme in the Middle East and to be among two different professional coaches would mean that he has a lot to offer Waterhouse," said Henry.
