Interim Head Coach looking add something ‘new’ to team

CONCACAF Nations League…

The door has been closed on the tenure of Michael Johnson as Golden Jaguars Head Coach; but a new door has been opened for the introduction of Márcio Máximo as interim Head Coach, and on Friday morning he interacted with media operatives in this regard, sharing some of his views on the team, and how he would like to go forward.

The new Golden Jags Head Coach Marcio Maximo conducts a training session

Given opportunity to lead the Golden Jaguars following resignation of the Jamaican Michael Johnson, who has been given a better offer, Maximo, a Brazilian national, has been in Guyana, and has been working with a local 31-member provisional squad for the CONCACAF Nations League, which will begin on September 5.
Speaking on his appointment, Maximo said he is elated to be working with the Guyanese outfit, and hopes to add something meaningful to this team.
“I’m really, really happy to be here, and I hope that in the near future we start to add something. I didn’t come here to change, I came here to add something to Guyana football,” he declared.
Whilst reflecting on the moment when he received the job offer from Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde, Maximo said he has every intention of utilizing a team that is a mixture of foreign and local talents.
“When Mr. Forde invited me to take the job, it was very clear that it should open new opportunity for our youth and local players. You can’t only depend on foreign players. Of course, foreign players are very important for us, because they open markets for our local players; but not only (them), you should create a system that you can use our local players as well,” he said.
The Head Coach emphasized the importance of having a balanced team, saying that “local players don’t have the experience that foreign players have.”
When Guyana begin their Nations League campaign on September 6 against Aruba, the coach admitted, the team will have an uphill task, but he remains positive about its preparations.
“I think that it is a medium- to-long-term programme. The competition will be tough for us; we have three days, but we study videos, we know some of the players, and we have three days there to implement something to add (to what we already have). We can’t change too much,” he explained.
GFF President Wayne Forde has disclosed the reason behind that Federation’s ability to find Johnson’s replacement as quickly as had been done.
“Clearly, we had a short space of time to make a decision, and I think the good in all of it is that we anticipate things, as any good management would do. So we were already considering if certain eventualities appeared before us, what (are) the decisions that would likely be taken.”
Probed about the new direction the team is likely to take under fresh stewardship, Forde stressed that the team is not looking to restart, but rather to build on the foundation that has already been laid.
“It’s not by any means a restart. I think what will be new is that, with every new head coach, they bring their own playing philosophy, their own model. So you may see some of that along the technical lines, but in terms of the strategic direction of the Guyana Football Federation for the Golden Jaguars brand, it remains the same,” he explained.
The GFF boss has praised former Head Coach Johnson for the work he had put in during his year-long tenure, and has expressed positive hopes for the Golden Jaguars’ future.
“We are very proud of the work that Coach Michael Johnson did during his tenure. The records will show for the rest of Guyana’s football existence that Coach Johnson took the Guyana Golden Jaguars to the Gold Cup, the team performed credibly there, and we now have to build on that success,” he said.